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Installing an Automator Action and Saving it as a Finder Plug-In

I’ve had a few people ask about how to install my Automator Actions as well as how to use them as Finder plug-ins. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to do it! You’ll need Mac OS X 10.4 or later to use Automator.

Installing an Action:

1. First, download one of my Automator Actions by clicking the arrow next to the name.
2. Depending on your browser, you’ll get either a zip file or an action file on your desktop. If it’s a zip file, double-click the icon to expand it, and then throw out the zip file.
3. Next open your home folder, and then the Library folder you see there. If you see an Automator folder, open it. If not, just create one. Make sure it’s spelled exactly, including the uppercase A.
4. Drag the action file from your desktop to the Automator folder.
5. You can now open Automator and you’ll find the action listed under the appropriate application. If Automator was already open, quit and re-open it.

Making a Finder Plug-In:

1. Open Automator if it’s not open already. If you don’t have an empty workflow already, choose New from the File menu.
2. For these instructions I’ll use my Make Names Web-Friendly action as an example, but you can do this with any workflow you can think of. Make sure the action is installed, and choose Finder from the Library list on the left side.
3. In the second list, choose Make Names Web-Friendly from the list of actions. If you select an action you can read some more information about it at the bottom.
4. Drag the action into the workflow area on the right.
5. You’ll see a warning that the action will change your files. In the case of Make Names Web-Friendly, it will modify your file names, and it cannot be undone (unless you change them all back manually). If you click the Add button, it will make a duplicate of your files before changing them.
6. Select whatever settings you’d like to use. If you’d like to be able to change these settings every time you run the action, click the arrow next to the word Options. Check the box “Show Action When Run”.
7. If you like you can add other actions to your workflow now. This is optional. Perhaps you use Transmit, for example, and you’d like to upload the files to your server by adding the appropriate action.
8. When you’re done, choose “Save As Plug-In” from the File menu.
9. Enter “Make Names Web-Friendly” or whatever else you like for the name. Select Finder from the “Plug-in for” menu, and click Save.
10. Now you can select some files in the Finder, hold down the control key on your keyboard and click for a popup menu of options. Move your mouse to the Automator option, and you’ll get a popup list of the plug-ins you’ve created. Choose “Make Names Web-Friendly” (or the name you entered in the last step) and the action will run!

Deleting or Editing a Finder Plug-In:

1. Open your home folder, and then go to Library/Workflows/Applications/Finder/
2. If you’d like to delete a plug-in, just drag it to the trash.
3. If you’d like to edit a plug-in, just double-click it to open it in Automator. Change it however you like and then save it. Use the regular “Save” command, and not “Save As Plug-In”, otherwise you’ll end up with a duplicate!

While you were saving the Finder Plug-In, you probably noticed the list of other applications you can create plug-ins for. There are a ton of cool things you can do! You could create a workflow that starts playing your favorite iTunes playlist, and then save it as an iCal Alarm. Then you can create an event in iCal, choose “Run script” as the alarm, and select your plug-in. Then you can wake up to your favorite music! If your computer may be shut down or asleep, you can set it to turn on automatically in the Energy Saver pane of the System Preferences—that way you’ll be sure your alarm goes off!

If you can’t find an Automator action that does what you need, check out Apple’s Automator Actions download section. If you still can’t find what you’re after, I may be able to create one for you. Contact me to discuss your idea and get a quote.

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