Is there any way to create a keyboard shortcut for Finder Quick Actions like 'Create PDF'?
As of now - I click multiple PDF's in the Finder - then right/click on them > Quick Actions > Create PDF.
Thanks!
You can work with the Contextual Menu and the Finder-selection using a found image.
See this by way of example:
Drag Finder selection to "Found Image" in Chrome Browser window - #11 by ccstone
From there you can right-click with Keyboard Maestro and drive the Contextual-Menu with one or more Insert Text by Typing actions.
I'm still using Mojave, so I can't check this – on Mojave there is no Finder toolbar button for Quick-Actions.
Is this still the case?
If there IS a dedicated button – you could drive that instead.
I can confirm there seems to be no dedicated button, unfortunately.
OS: macOS Ventura.
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This macro attempts to execute "Create PDF" quick action opening the contextual menu (using System Events). You can try it:
Quick Action — Create PDF (GUI Automation).kmmacros (2.2 KB)
Source code (Applescript):
tell application "System Events"
tell application process "Finder"
set selectedFile to value of attribute "AXFocusedUIElement"
tell selectedFile to perform action "AXShowMenu"
delay 0.5
tell window 1
tell splitter group 1
tell splitter group 1
tell scroll area 1
tell outline 1
tell menu 1
tell menu item "Quick Actions"
perform action "AXPress" of it
delay 1
tell menu 1
tell menu item "Create PDF"
perform action "AXPress" of it
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
That's nice.
Although it takes a ridiculous amount of time to run on my old 2012 i7 MacBook Air running Mojave.
More than 4 seconds...
How long does it take on your system and hardware, and what are they?
Thanks for appreciating it.
In my system takes 1,947 seconds.
System:
macOS Ventura
MacBook Air M1 16 GB RAM
I set delays too long. This version uses shorter delays and runs in roughly 1 second.
Download Macro(s): Quick Action — Create PDF (GUI Automation).kmmacros (2.2 KB)
Macro-Notes
- Macros are always disabled when imported into the Keyboard Maestro Editor.
- The user must ensure the macro is enabled.
- The user must also ensure the macro's parent macro-group is enabled.
System Information
- macOS 13.1
- Keyboard Maestro v10.2
That's embarrassing. I completely missed the delays in the code... 
I recommend against using fixed delays whenever possible – try watching for the existence of appropriate elements instead:
tell application "System Events"
tell application process "Finder"
set selectedFile to value of attribute "AXFocusedUIElement"
tell selectedFile to perform action "AXShowMenu"
tell window 1
tell splitter group 1
tell splitter group 1
tell scroll area 1
tell outline 1
tell menu 1
tell menu item "Quick Actions"
repeat until exists of it --<< TAKE NOTE
delay 0.25
end repeat
perform action "AXPress" of it
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
Unfortunately this is still horribly slow on my old system – over 4 seconds. One second I could live with but not 4+.
Anyone with older hardware like me will want to go the Found-Image route:
Download: Quick Action ⇢ Finder ⇢ Create PDF v1.00.kmmacros (20 KB)
Macro-Image
Macro-Notes
- Macros are always disabled when imported into the Keyboard Maestro Editor.
- The user must ensure the macro is enabled.
- The user must also ensure the macro's parent macro-group is enabled.
System Information
- macOS 10.14.6
- Keyboard Maestro v10.2
Getting the image of your selection color in the Finder with the right borders is a bit fiddly, but you can do it easily enough by zooming way up with the Preview app or your favorite image editor.
Make sure to take the screenshot using:
-
⌘⇧F4
- Select.
- ⌥⌘ Click.
- Edit as appropriate in Preview.
If you don't use the Option key macOS may add a drop shadow, and that is problematic for the Found-Image action.
It's easy to miss a line in such a big nested block 
I am surprised that takes so long to run in your machine.
Another alternative would be creating an automator workflow, and using the native KM action to run it.
(Not sure whether it returns exactly the same output as the Quick Action, but worth a try)
Download Macro(s): Create PDF using Automator.kmmacros (1.2 KB)
Macro-Notes
- Macros are always disabled when imported into the Keyboard Maestro Editor.
- The user must ensure the macro is enabled.
- The user must also ensure the macro's parent macro-group is enabled.
System Information
- macOS 13.1
- Keyboard Maestro v10.2
Automator workflow:
Create PDF (Workflow).zip (111.1 KB)
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