A way to overlay text or graphics over the screen?

[ppayne]

I use a lot of alerts for various reminders that I need to focus on, but because they're all the same, and because there are so many over the course of the day, I tend to not notice them.

So I'm looking for any way to overlay a colored box, or graphic, or something that will allow me to make notifications I'll actually see. Preferably with the ability to set visuals so I'll be able to make sure I don't miss alerts that are important, like this ugly mockup I've made.

I know there are two different (bad) web browsers, Helium and one other one I forgot, which could theoretically do this, but they were all really bad, and not scriptable at all. While I love iOS, the newer tools that encourage users to not bother adding even basic scripting dictionaries is the bane of serious Mac automation fans.

[JMichaelTX]

So I'm looking for any way to overlay a colored box, or graphic, or something that will allow me to make notifications I'll actually see.

You can use a KM Display Text action using styled text, that can contain images, OR, a Display Clipboard if you also need to set a background color.

Example Output

MACRO:   Display Large Colored Text and Image [Example]

~~~ VER: 1.0    2019-12-24 ~~~
Requires: KM 8.2.4+   macOS 10.11 (El Capitan)+
(Macro was written & tested using KM 9.0+ on macOS 10.14.5 (Mojave))

NOTES:

1. To get a background color, you have to first set the Clipboard, then use the Apply Style to Clipboard action.
2. Then use the Display Clipboard Action.
3. The Display Styled Text in Window will display both images and text, but if NOT allowing me to set a background color. @peternlewis, is this a bug?

DOWNLOAD Macro File:

Display Large Colored Text and Image [Example].kmmacros
Note: This Macro was uploaded in a DISABLED state. You must enable before it can be triggered.

---

[ppayne]

Wow, that's perfect! As usual, I look for solutions outside of KM but end up wasting my time because the answer was right here. I'll tweak this and make it work exactly how I need.

[ppayne]

Thanks again for this suggestion @JMichaelTX. I finally got some free time to implement this system and it's nice, although there are limitations. Mainly

1. if I use a background color it can look pretty ugly

2. if using "display text" the text's center etc. aren't managed

I guess the best option will be to make my text inside a graphic so I can control the look. My goal is to make visual reminders that will actually get me to take an action, since I have so many annoying alerts on my phone that I end up ignoring them