Mac Automation: Automating Manual Tasks with QuicKeys Video

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Mac Automation: Automating Manual Tasks with QuicKeys

[Music Playing] Welcome to Mac Automation made simple. This series focuses on providing tips and tricks for using Apple scripts and automator in Mac OS X. Hi! Welcome back to Mac Automation Made Simple. I am your host Ben Waldie. In this episode, we will continue our discussion of third party utilities for automating key strokes and mouse clicks in Mac OS X. This time we will be focusing on QuicKeys. The utility available from Startly Technologies for $79.95.00. A 30 day fully functional demonstration version is also available for download. In episode 2, we used the recording feature of Automator to automate the manual process of exporting a pages document to PDF. In episode 4, we performed the same exact process with ikey another automation utility. Although we can certainly automate the same process a third time with QuicKeys. Let us try something different. A handy feature of Safari is the ability to save a web page as a web archive. Saving a web page in this format does not just save the html source of the page, it saves the entire page, including the graphics and links which will continue to work as long as their destination is remained accessible. Saving web archives can be a useful way of archiving web pages for future reference or offline viewing. Unfortunately, this feature of Safari is not directly accessible to automator or even apple script therefore to automate this process a worker end is needed. I will begin by opening QuicKeys, and selecting new shortcut from the new shortcut button in the tool bar. This displays a new shortcut window. First, I need to specify a script for my shortcut. I only want the shortcut to be accessible when I am in Safari. So I will specify a scope of Safari. Next, I will specify how the shortcut will be triggered. QuicKeys offers a variety of ways of triggering shortcuts. For example, shortcuts can be configured to run when an application is opened or quit at a specific date and time, when you press the certain mouse button from a key command and more. In Safari, command “S” performs to save as. So I will use the key command, option command as to trigger my saved web archive shortcut. To do this, I will choose hot key from the trigger pop up then I will click on the default hot key and I will enter my new key command. Option command “S.” Next, I will begin adding steps to my shortcut. I will start by clicking the add step button, and choosing user actions menus, menu selection. I will leave the menu pop up set to select menu. I can now manually enter the menu details or I can have QuicKeys help me do it. To do this, I will click the choose menu button. A window appears and I can choose the application I want to target. In this case Safari. Next, the menu bar changes to the chosen applications menu bar. So I can simply choose File, Save as, which is then inserted in to the step. Now let me go to Safari and perform the step manually. As you can see when I do this, a save panel is displayed and it contains a format pop up. As the next step in my shortcut, I need to make sure that this pop up is set to web archive. I am going to go back in to quick keys and I am going to add another step. I will choose add step, user actions, pop up menu. Let me shrink this down to give myself a little bit more space here. Again, I can manually configure the step or I could get QuicKeys to help. Down at the bottom of this step, I will click the Set Pop Up Menu button. A panel appears and asks me to place the cursor over the desired pop up and press the Caps Lock key. So let me move this window over a little bit and go back in to Safari, I will place the cursor over the format pop up and I will push Caps Lock. The name of the pop up is recorded and I can click OK to insert it into my step. Next, I will go back into QuicKeys and I got to specify the menu item that I want to select. I will enter the name, web archive. And you may have noticed that this shortcut step is set to look for pop up called page source. Because of this, if the pop up is already set to web archive rather than page source, then

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[Music Playing]

Welcome to Mac Automation made simple. This series focuses on providing tips and tricks for using Apple scripts and automator in Mac OS X.

Hi! Welcome back to Mac Automation Made Simple. I am your host Ben Waldie. In this episode, we will continue our discussion of third party utilities for automating key strokes and mouse clicks in Mac OS X.

This time we will be focusing on QuicKeys. The utility available from Startly Technologies for $79.95.00. A 30 day fully functional demonstration version is also available for download.

In episode 2, we used the recording feature of Automator to automate the manual process of exporting a pages document to PDF. In episode 4, we performed the same exact process with ikey another automation utility. Although we can certainly automate the same process a third time with QuicKeys. Let us try something different.

A handy feature of Safari is the ability to save a web page as a web archive. Saving a web page in this format does not just save the html source of the page, it saves the entire page, including the graphics and links which will continue to work as long as their destination is remained accessible.

Saving web archives can be a useful way of archiving web pages for future reference or offline viewing. Unfortunately, this feature of Safari is not directly accessible to automator or even apple script therefore to automate this process a worker end is needed.

I will begin by opening QuicKeys, and selecting new shortcut from the new shortcut button in the tool bar. This displays a new shortcut window. First, I need to specify a script for my shortcut. I only want the shortcut to be accessible when I am in Safari. So I will specify a scope of Safari.

Next, I will specify how the shortcut will be triggered. QuicKeys offers a variety of ways of triggering shortcuts. For example, shortcuts can be configured to run when an application is opened or quit at a specific date and time, when you press the certain mouse button from a key command and more. In Safari, command “S” performs to save as. So I will use the key command, option command as to trigger my saved web archive shortcut. To do this, I will choose hot key from the trigger pop up then I will click on the default hot key and I will enter my new key command. Option command “S.”

Next, I will begin adding steps to my shortcut. I will start by clicking the add step button, and choosing user actions menus, menu selection. I will leave the menu pop up set to select menu. I can now manually enter the menu details or I can have QuicKeys help me do it. To do this, I will click the choose menu button. A window appears and I can choose the application I want to target. In this case Safari.

Next, the menu bar changes to the chosen applications menu bar. So I can simply choose File, Save as, which is then inserted in to the step. Now let me go to Safari and perform the step manually.

As you can see when I do this, a save panel is displayed and it contains a format pop up. As the next step in my shortcut, I need to make sure that this pop up is set to web archive. I am going to go back in to quick keys and I am going to add another step.

I will choose add step, user actions, pop up menu. Let me shrink this down to give myself a little bit more space here. Again, I can manually configure the step or I could get QuicKeys to help. Down at the bottom of this step, I will click the Set Pop Up Menu button. A panel appears and asks me to place the cursor over the desired pop up and press the Caps Lock key. So let me move this window over a little bit and go back in to Safari, I will place the cursor over the format pop up and I will push Caps Lock. The name of the pop up is recorded and I can click OK to insert it into my step.

Next, I will go back into QuicKeys and I got to specify the menu item that I want to select. I will enter the name, web archive. And you may have noticed that this shortcut step is set to look for pop up called page source. Because of this, if the pop up is already set to web archive rather than page source, then

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