Q: how does Automator  work?

Check out these articles: Automator 101, Automator, Automator Learn. These are three sites that have good tutorials and tips but there are more. Over the years MacWorld has featured many articles about Automator and while they might have been written when older versions of the OS exists, most are still valid.

There are some Automator related podcasts in the iTunes store. Some of them have not been updated in a while but the basic information is usually still useful.