Host: Welcome to MAC Automation Made Simple. This series focuses on providing tips and tricks for using AppleScript to an Automator and MAC OS X 10.
Ben Waldie: Hi, welcome back to MAC Automation Made Simple. I'm your host Ben Waldie. For the past two episodes, we've been discussing how to use Automator to control Microsoft Office. So far, we've explored Word and Excel. In this episode, we’ll be working with PowerPoint. As a reminder, let me give a quick disclaimer. The Office Automator Actions we’ll be discussing are included with Office 2008 for MAC and Office 2008 for MAC Special Media Edition. They are not included with earlier versions of Office or with Office 2008 for MAC Home and Student Edition.
If you've never used Automator with PowerPoint, one place you may wish to start is with the sample work flows provided by Microsoft. You can access this work flows directly from within PowerPoint using the built in script menu or under Microsoft user data, PowerPoint script menu items. All of this sample work flows can be opened in Automator and edited or incorporated into your custom work flows if desired.
One of the sample work flows provided by Microsoft is called send images from a presentation to iPhoto. If you run this work flow, what it would do is scan through your presentations slides, locate any images used within those slides, save them and import them into your iPhoto library. However, suppose you want to import the entire slides themselves rather than just the images contained on the slides, let’s create a work flow that does just this.
Start by creating a new Automator work flow, when the starting points panel appears, choose to create a files and folder work flow. Next, choose to get content from My MAC and ask for files and folders now, then click CHOOSE.
Next, Automator prompts you to choose a file to process. Locate a PowerPoint presentation and click the add button. Automator then inserts a get specified finder items actions into your work flow and sets it to get the presentation file you’ve specified. Next, scroll down and select the presentation category in Automators Action Library.
Here’s where you find all of PowerPoint actions. In the search field, enter the word convert. Select that convert format of PowerPoint presentations action and drag it to the end of your work flow. Next, set the format pop up to convert presentations to portable document format, PDF. Now, you can't presently import a PDF into iPhoto, so we've got to convert it to an image format. Click on PDF’s in the action library then type image into search field, locate the action render PDF pages as images and drag it to image of your work flow.
Now, we’re ready to import it into iPhoto. Click on photos and type in import in the search field. Drag the import files into iPhoto action to the of end work flow. Next, let's set this action to import the images into a new album named PowerPoint slides. And then to delete the source images after importing them, and we’re done. Let's test the workflow. Click run in the toolbar, first Automator opens the presentation and converts it to PDF format then the PDF is rendered as image files which are then imported into iPhoto.
Now, that your slides are in iPhoto, you can configure iTunes to sink them with your iPod or your iPhone so you can view them on the go. Let's try another variation on this work flow. Suppose you want to convert a presentation to a quick time movie rather than images, I'm going to go back into Automator and let's close this work flow. Choose file new for the menu bar, again choose to create a files and folders work flow to get content from my MAC and to ask for files and folders now, then click CHOOSE.
Locate your presentation file and click ADD. Again, Automator starts our workflow by inserting a get specified finder items action and configuring it to get the presentation we’ve specified, okay. This time the first step in our work flow will be to open the presentation. So scroll down and click on the presentations category then type in the keyword OPEN. Select the open PowerPoint presentations action and drag it to your work flow. Next, type in the keyword of movie, select that convert PowerPoint presentations to movie action and drag it to work flow. Enter a name for the movie such as my presentation and specified an output folder. I’ll leave mindset for the desk top.
Next, let's have the movie open so we can view it after it’s been created. Click on files and folders in the action library. The open finder items action is already displayed. Apparently, movie is one of the keywords for this action. If this action is not displayed, try typing the word open into the search field to find it. Next, add the open finder items action to the end of your work flow.
Finally, let's close the presentation. Click back on presentations again and then type close into the search field. Select close PowerPoint presentations and drag it to the end of your work flow. Now Automator displays an alert here indicating the PowerPoint may display in alert when closing the presentation if it’s unsaved. This warning suggest adding a saved PowerPoint presentations action first to prevent the save panel from appearing. Since we’re not actually modifying the presentation, we shouldn’t get a save alter, so click don’t add to not add a saved PowerPoint presentations action.
Let's run the workflow. First, the presentation is open in PowerPoint then it saved as a QuickTime movie. Once saved, it open in QuickTime and our presentation is closed. Now, if I go into QuickTime, I can see the movie. And if I press the right arrow key on my keyboard, I can skip through the slides.
Thanks for joining me for this episode of MAC automation made simple. Until next time automate your MAC and simplify your life.
Host: For more on Automator, check out Ben Waldie’s Automator Visual Click Start Guide available from Peachpit Press.
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