What the heck is Automator?

I used to do this once a week:

1) Insert CD-RW
2) Open Disk Utility
3) Select CD-RW in left column
4) Click Erase Tab
5) Enter admin password
6) Wait 5 minutes for disc to erase
7) Quit Disk Utility
8) Navigate with Finder to a big 500MB file
9) Drag file to CD-RW icon
10) Drag CD-RW icon to the "trash" to burn it
11) Wait 20 minutes for CD-RW to burn and verify

Then I found Automator. I wrote a simple 2-step workflow that replaces steps 2-10 from above. Here's my new weekly regimen:

1) Insert CD-RW
2) Double click Automator workflow
3) Wait for newly burned CD-RW to eject

Automator is good. 🙂

Automator is an Apple technology that allows you to automate tedious and repetitive tasks. Feel free to look at Apple's Automator web site to get an idea of what Automator can do for you. The link is http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/automator/

I tried Automator, couldn't figure it out, so I am currently trying to learn Applescript (I like it, you can create dialog boxes and actually do things).

Until someone actually tells us what Automator is useful for, I am just happy learning Applescript.

I've used Automator to create several different Finder contextual menu items to perform tasks that would usually require multiple steps. For example, I like using iPhoto, but it doesn't allow changing the file name when importing. So, I used Automator to create a Finder plug-in that imports the photos from the camera, prompts me to batch rename the photos in a numbered sequence and subsequently imports them into iPhoto.

I have created several other Finder plug-ins. Basically, Automator is an easy-to-use, graphical scripting interface. You can use it to, well, uh, you know, like, automate stuff. Hence, the name.

Whether it will be useful to you depends on what you use your computer for. If all you do is, say, surf and send emails, then Automator will likely be of little use to you.