How export a macro as an image without starting a new post?

I keep wanting to export the image of a macro into a post I am currently editing. The only way I know to do this is to delete the title of the edit, delete the body, export the macro as an image, click “New Post”, replace its title with the title from the clipboard, and insert the body from the clipboard in front of the IMG tag. Whew.

This can’t be the intended way to do this?

###Try this to Upload a Macro Image to Existing Post:

  1. Click on the Macro name in the KM editor
  2. Go to menu Edit > Copy > Copy as Image
  • This puts the image on the clipboard
  1. Create/edit the KM forum post where you want the macro image
  2. IF you are using CHROME, Then just paste where you want the image.
  3. IF you are using SAFARI, then
  4. click on the UPLOAD button in the forum edit toolbar,
  5. Click "Choose file"
  6. Run this KM Macro that saves image to a temp file and chooses it:
    Select Clipboard Image File

Usually all I do is start my reply, and then Share the macro to the forum which opens another window with a new topic, then I copy the contents of the message and cancel it and paste it into my original reply.

It is a travesty that Safari does not support pasting images - it's a Mac for heavens sake, we were doing GUI stuff while everyone else was still typing text - so I also use an extension of the macro @JMichaelTX referenced that first clicks the Upload button, and then presses return, and then saves the image to a temp file and selects the image file. I have posted it here:

Hmmm. What happens when I share to the forum while in the middle of writing a new post is that it asks me whether I really want to abandon the post. It does not give me a new window with a separate post area. What I end up doing is copying the text of my current post, letting share make a new post, and paste my saved text into that.

All I’ve every done is export the macro, then drag it from Finder into a post. (In Chrome.) I copy images to the clipboard, then paste them into the post.

So I always start the post first. Every once in a while, I realize I need to fix something in the macro before posting it, so I just leave the Chrome window open, fix the macro, delete the file reference out of the post, and drag the new version in.

Even if I used Safari regularly, I’d still use Chrome just for this. Piece of cake.

So I guess I don’'t understand the issue here. Why even bother with the Share to the forum, when it’s this easy?

Or am I missing something here? (Probably am.) (Willing to learn!)

Hey Dan,

'Cuz “Share to Keyboard Maestro Forum” is even easier most of the time. It'll be even easier if we can convince Peter to provide a means to access it via keyboard shortcut.

I used to always export and then drag and drop, but I started using the share method and got hooked.

I still use export when it's appropriate though, and of course I have a macro for that.

Export Selected Macros

I have a similar maco to export the image of the selected item(s) (mostly borrowed from Peter).

Since we now have a means to get action/macro XML from the Clipboard it should be possible to radically improve upon my macro and avoid the save dialog. I'll look at that here in a bit.

-Chris

OK, if you say so. :slight_smile:

Maybe this how-to video will help:

###How To Upload Macro to Existing Post in Keyboard Maestro Forum

It just seemed that sharing to the forum was the natural integrated mechanism for posting macros. The only time it occurred to me to put it out to files is when I need to make a .zip file to accommodate material that can’t be captured as a bunch of macros or macro groups.

Curious – how do you make these videos. (I realize there are many ways.)

I use ScreenFlow, which is awesome. Especially it’s editing capabilities. I know you can also use SnagIt.

Curious to know what @JMichaelTX uses.

I use SnagIT for quick and simple videos and animated GIFs,
and Camtasia for more complex videos that need editing and effects.

I really like SnagIt because it is so easy to use, make quick, simple edits (cuts really), and convert to animated GIF (if I want).

SnagIT I have owned for decades.
I just recent acquired Camtasia as part of a bundle from Parallels Desktop.

@MitchellModel, did the video clear things up for you?

I looked into Camtasia a few years ago, and at the time, the general feeling was that ScreenFlow was better on the Mac, but Camtasia ruled on Windows. I’m sure things have changed now. Interested to hear your thoughts.

And I’ve been a SnagIt user from back in my Windows days, and even though the Mac version is still lagging behind the windows version, I love it.

I haven't used, or evaluated, ScreenFlow, so I really can't offer a comparison.
I have and use Camtasia simply because it came almost free with the Parallels upgrade.

Have you upgraded to SnagIT Mac 4 / Windows 13 ? (one license for both)
Now very close to the same feature set.

I'm really loving the SnagIT Mac custom profiles that will capture and auto-apply selected/customized effects.

Thanks — always good to see someone else's workflow, and a video is far better than text.

(First of all, I didn't know about dragging that barely visible horizontal bar up to increase the height of the post writing area. Very cool. I've always been a strong proponent of watching other people work — even people who are much more junior to you or inexperienced in the language or environment — because of how frequently you learn new features, techniques, even keybindings :-). It would be great if lots of people made lots of videos showing their workflow and actions while they are developing software or using a complex interactive web site.)

Mostly what you showed is what I have been doing, including editing the generated post title. What's different is that when I have started to write a post, then upload to a new post, the forum asks me if I want to abandon my existing post. So, I do it the other way around — before uploading, I copy all of the text I've written for my new post, upload, say yes to the "Abandon" prompt, and paste my text back into the new post. This isn't terrible, but if I forget to copy the text before uploading, I have to cancel the new post, go back and copy my text, and repeat the upload. I can only imagine how much orphaned stuff I've uploaded to the site.

(I'll also mention here that the inconsistency between what happens when you say "both" and just choose 1 and click New Post bothers me. Why should clicking "both" immediately create a new post, but clicking just one of the two choices leaves you to create the post yourself? To give you a chance to add the other choice before the new post? What about changing your mind and removing one after selecting "both". Anyway, what I really want is for the upload to go into a post currently being edited if there is one and a new post otherwise, but that doesn't seem feasible;)

I've been chicken, afraid they'd mess it up. You're saying it's worth it?

I'm not having any problems, but I have seen a few reports of others who are having issues.

The compelling reason to upgrade for me was the custom profiles, and the easy conversion of video to animated GIF.

If you don't have a compelling reason to upgrade, then you might sit still until at least the next update, that will fix most of the 4.0 bugs.

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For those of us who use Safari it makes a big difference because Safari does not handle pasting images (which is pathetic, of course).

It would need to be in the regular menu for that, which it is not currently. Acorn manages to get the Share stuff in a menu, so it is presumably possible, but I have not done it yet.

My guess would be a difference in one of the Safari preferences, like "New windows open with" or some such.

Discourse cleans it up periodically. I hope :wink:

Because once you have clicked Both, there is nothing more to be done, so why bother waiting. Clicking just one leaves it unclear as to whether you intend to click the other or not (one could argue that clicking just one implies you are not going to click the other, otherwise you would have clicked the Both button). Also, the individual upload buttons are not at the bottom of the dialog, so dismissing the dialog would be odd behaviour.

You can delete them from the forum post, or otherwise modify the forum post after you are editing it.

Correct, it is not feasible.