Master Your Mac

Chapter 14. Automating File and Folder Actions

All environments—virtual or otherwise—need to have basic upkeep performed on a regular basis. At home you wash the dishes, mow the grass, and change your car’s motor oil. On your computer, you need to empty the Trash when it’s full, clean out the downloads folder when there are too many old documents, and occasionally perform specific actions on a group of files, like rotating images or resaving them in a new format.

Boring chores like this are a drag. Fortunately, on your computer at least, there are tools that can help you automate repetitive tasks. The folder actions service built into OS X makes it easy to apply AppleScripts or Automator workflows to any file dropped into a folder on your computer. ...