Automator Workflow Techniques
Uploading Aperture Image Previews to an FTP Server
Export presets in Aperture make it easy to quickly export preview versions of selected images in your photo library. But wouldn’t it be great to automatically rename those images and send them to your FTP server at the same time? With Automator, you can.
The following steps will walk you through the process of creating an Automator workflow that will export selected aperture images as previews, rename them sequentially with the current date, and upload them to your FTP server.
This particular workflow uses the popular FTP/SFTP application Fetch to perform the upload process. Automator support was introduced with Fetch version 5.1, so you will need to make sure that you have Fetch 5.1 or higher installed to use this workflow. A demonstration version of Fetch is available from the Fetch Softworks website.
Step 1: Create a folder named Web Images on the desktop.
Step 2: Launch Automator, located in the Applications folder, and create a new workflow window.
Step 3: Select the Finder category, located in the Library list in Automator. Select the New Folder action in the Action list and drag it into the workflow area on the right side of the Automator window. Enter Web Images into the Name field and choose Desktop from the Where popup. This action will ensure that a Web Images folder exists on the desktop when the workflow is run in the future.
Step 4: Locate and select the Get Folder Contents action in the Finder category, and drag it into the workflow area.
Step 5: Locate and select the Move to Trash action in the Finder category, and drag it into the workflow area. This action will clean out any previously processed images in the Web Images folder, if present.
Step 6: Locate and select the Get Selected Images action in the Aperture category, and drag it into the workflow area.
Step 7: Click on the action’s input (labeled Aperture Image) in the title bar of the action and select Ignore Results from Previous Action.
Step 8: Locate and select the Export Versions action in the Aperture category, and drag it into the workflow area. Select Other… from the Destination pop-up and when prompted choose the Web Images folder you created on your desktop. Select the desired Aperture export preset, such as JPEG — Fit within 640 x 640. Select Current Version Name from the Export Name Format popup, and No Folder… from the Export Subfolder popup.
Step 9: Locate and select the Rename Finder Items action in the Finder category, and drag it into the workflow area. Choose Make Sequential from the popup at the top of the action. Select the new name radio button, but don’t enter a name into the text field next to it. This will cause the images to be renamed with a sequential number only and no other text. Choose after name from the Place number pop-up and nothing from the separated by pop-up. Enter a starting number of 1 and select the Make all numbers checkbox and enter a value of 3 into the corresponding text field.
Step 10: Locate and select the Rename Finder Items action in the Finder category again, and drag it into the workflow area a second time. This time, choose Add Date or Time from the popup at the top of the action. Select Current from the Date/Time popup, Month Day Year from the Format popup, Before name from the Where popup, Dash from both separator popups. Select the Use Leading Zeros checkbox.
Step 11: Locate and select the Upload Files action in the Fetch category, and drag it into the workflow area. Enter the address for your FTP server into the Hostname field. Specify a username, connection method, and folder. If desired, specify a port number and select an upload format.
The workflow is now ready for use. To test it, open Aperture and select a handful of images. Then run the workflow. The images should be automatically exported to a Web Images folder on the desktop, renamed, and uploaded to your FTP server with Fetch. Now, that’s efficiency!
