So how in the world did I not know about Automator on the Mac until roughly December? I feel like this is something I should have known about, but apparently I am a bad Mac user because I didn't. :( So how did I end up finding Automator? Pure laziness...

A little while ago (aka I can't remember when) Brittany and I talked about adding a logo to the images on her site. Brittany started adding her logo to her images and it was taking her forever to do it. She was adding the logo one image at a time. After looking at it and thinking "I wonder if I can automate this" I started brainstorming.

My first thought was to write her a tool in Objective C because that's what I know and I think I could do a good job with it. Being an engineer my mind definitely started over engineering the project. I started thinking of a lot of fun things I could do in Objective C. This started becoming another programming project I figured I would never finish... (I have quite a few of them). So I did a Google search for "Batch Pixelmator images" (We use Pixelmator for most of our work with images) and then I learned about Automator. I also learned that Pixelmator has great Automator support.

I started making some pretty fancy Workflows for Brittany that copied and moved files. They worked really well, but it did more than what she wanted. So much for not over engineering huh... I ended up making a simple Automator Service that just adds her logo to the images. It's a permanent addition to the image, but that's what she wanted! So now all Brittany does is highlight all the images she needs for her blog and then she right clicks, hits "Add Logo," and BOOM all her images have her logo.

So the only downsides to what I have built is that the logo is only one size. So whether she is adding the logo to a HUGE image or a small image, the logo is the same size. Of course now I want to write a more complicated Automotive Service to adjust the logo size... Or maybe I go back and write something in Objective C when I find time....