Hi Peter,
I have actually already converted the images to base64 and the text file is simply a list of all 40 images AS base64 code. So the action is simply grabbing the base64 code and putting it in the ImageData variable. But maybe you're saying that KM is actually converting the base64 back to image in order to find it?
Yes, the 'faster' Macro / the original version of this macro actually has 40 separate actions for each image. So basically, the image above "For Active Groups" - there was 40 of these with a different image set for each one. The main reason why I wanted to change this Macro was for simplicity of upgrading it or adding to it later. Instead of having to create another Action / Sub-macro, I could just add another base64 Image to the text file etc.
In any case, I'll have to run some more tests. My guess is that the 'slow down' has to do with the need to "get the image data" for each Image, while when with a Traditional Action with a static image, it's already 'in memory' - this combined with Applescript etc.
Thanks