How-To: Automator Resize Images Plug-In

Resizing images is something you need to do at some stage during a day at the computer, no matter what working field you’re in. There are many different applications you can use to resize images, but nothing beats using Automator, an application bundled with OSX.

Why is Automator so great? Because it allows you to install a plugin, meaning when you right click on a file in the Finder, you are presented with a contextual menu, leaving you one click away from resizing an image.

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The first step is to open Automator. Once it’s open, click on “Preview”, and drag the “Scale Images” action to the main window.

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When you drag the workflow into Automator it will create two actions. You only want the first action in your workflow, so click the little close button in the top right hand corner of the first action to remove it.

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Now click File, Save As Plug In.

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Type in a name for your plugin. It’s important you use something that is descriptive for what you will be using it for, as this is what appears in the Finders Automator menu.

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Time to resize your image/s. Click on a single image or highlight a bunch, right click, then move the mouse down to Automator, and click on the plugin you just made. Automator will automatically run in the background, and resize your images for you.

Creating an installing plug-ins for various websites and blogs I write for has been a huge time saver, now when I was to resize a bunch of images I’m one click away.

Comments

  1. #1

    wphj → www.wphj.wordpress.com

    I only have one blog that I write for, so I love coverflow.
    It’s an awesome app for resizing images for a blog.
    http://wphj.wordpress.com/2007/01/20/review-quickscale/

  2. #2

    jeremy → jeremyfriedland.com

    I never really used automater that much, what other good workflows do you use?

  3. #3

    alej744

    Umm, wphj?
    You said “coverflow”.
    It’s QuickScale. :)

    Yep, we MacHeist folk got QuickScale for free and I think it’s great.

  4. #4

    Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com

    Jeremy, I’ve only really started using it the other day, so this is all so far. I’m learning as I go.

  5. #5

    alej744

    MacBreak episode about Automator with inventor of Automator, Sal Soghoian.

    http://www.twit.tv/mb8

    Official Automator Website (could come in handy)

    http://automator.us/

  6. #6

    Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com

    Thanks for those Alej, they should come in handy.

  7. #7

    Robert → www.thatwhat.com

    Thanks Glenn for this nice tutorial. I’m always looking for ways to use Automator.

    I’ve used Automator in the past to setup an action to move specific files to a specific folder. I used to download multiple images each day and used Automator to move them to their respective folders.

  8. #8

    Smaran → smarandayal.com

    Hmm… this looks really interesting. I post on multiple blogs/sites, so something like this could definitely come in handy. Thanks for sharing this, Glenn!

  9. #9

    Automator : → jeremyfriedland.com/2007/02/10/automator

    [...] since I read Glenn Wolsey’s post about his automation task I was thinking about tasks that I do repeatedly and that could be [...]

  10. #10

    emmett

    thank you so much for this tip, you just saved me at leaset two hours of work.
    this is why i love the mac, dont you all agree?!!!
    :-)

  11. #11

    Helmet → thealmightyhelmet.com

    Thanks for the inspiration.
    I just created an automator Finder plugin that resizes images into thumbnails, stores them in a designated folder on my hdd and ftp’s them to my webserver using Transmit :D

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