Take Control of Automating Your Mac

If you use copy and paste, you're eliminating unnecessary retyping and possible typos. But did you realize that you could be using dozens of additional shortcuts that make tedious tasks quick, accurate, and repeatable? In this essential title, Joe Kissell shines a light on OS X's many built-in shortcuts and provides sweeping coverage of the utilities that go even further.

You don't need to be a programmer – or even particularly geeky – to automate your Mac. Everyone uses copy and paste, and most of what Joe explains can be used by anyone, from novice to expert, to make their work quicker, more accurate, and more easily repeated when needed. Nor is specialized software necessary, since OS X has oodles of built-in automation features like keyboard shortcuts, configurable gestures, and automatic launching of key apps. But clever Macintosh developers have created brilliant utilities that go far beyond OS X's features, and Joe discusses the key players, devotes a chapter to Keyboard Maestro (which gives you control over nearly any task on your Mac), and delves into the included automation capabilities in Microsoft Office and Nisus Writer Pro.

In short, Take Control of Automating Your Mac will:

Show you lots of tools and techniques for automating your Mac.
Offer concrete examples you can use as is or adapt to your needs.
Inspire you with extensive lists of further possibilities.
We've included discounts totalling over $60 on eight of the key apps Joe covers: 20% or 30% off on Keyboard Maestro, LaunchBar, Hazel, Nisus Writer Pro, TextExpander, TextSoap, TypeIt4Me, and Typinator – look for coupons at the back of the ebook!

Take Control of Automating Your Mac has chapters about how to:

Develop an automator's mindset
Use OS X's built-in automation features
Take full advantage of input devices to save clicks
Automate text expansion for faster, more consistent typing
Control the Finder with a launcher and by organizing files with Hazel
Supercharge your clipboard to remember and reformat previous copies
Write macros in Microsoft Office and Nisus Writer Pro
Create rules to file email automatically in Apple Mail and Outlook
Log in to Web sites faster with a password manager
Automate cloud services with IFTTT and Zapier
Set up automatic backup and syncing
Get started with Automator and AppleScript
Control nearly anything on your Mac with Keyboard Maestro
This ebook was written for users of 10.9 Mavericks, but many of the functions described work similarly in older (and upcoming) versions of OS X.