Hey Jimmy
Thanks again. I’m playing around with this trying to learn etc. I’m curious, could this work if the files were not put into a folder? For example, just clicking on two or more files in finder? Or, do the files need to be in a folder?
Yes, that is possible.
Somebody could probably have made it as a shorter macro.
But below is my take on it.
It start by asking for a filename and if files needs to be trashed.
Keyboard Maestro 8.1 “Merge selected pdfs to new pdf” Macro
Thanks Jimmy,
Yes I am realizing there are many ways to write macros. I appreciate your input!
Marc
And now I have optimised the macro, so that it does not create the temporary folder.
This was done after reading @peternlewis method to pass multiple paths to the execute script action here: Run Single Command on Finder Selection
Keyboard Maestro 8.1.1 “Merge selected pdfs to new pdf-v2” Macro
2 Likes
Great! Thanks!
Probably the last update.
Now the variables in the Prompt for User Input is local variables.
Keyboard Maestro 8.1.1 “Merge selected pdfs to new pdf-v3” Macro
I have updated the macro again, because I noticed the files were not merged alphabetically.
This has now been solved.
Keyboard Maestro 8.2.1 “Merge selected pdfs to new pdf-v4” Macro
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Hey Jimmy,
That's odd. The Finder-Selection action should return items sorted the same as shown in the Finder with name-sort.
Can you provide a sample of items that were NOT merged alphabetically?
The actual sort and the desired sort?
Also – note that the way you're using sort will separate uppercase from lowercase.
Unless you want this to be so, you need this switch:
--ignore-case
Also – note that sort may NOT handle UTF8 properly.
-Chris
Hey Jimmy,
I ran some tests, and Apple has changed how AppleScript acquires selected items. It now honors the Finder-sort -- it used to return items alpha-sorted no matter what the Finder-sort was.
So the sample I requested is now moot.
-Chris
In my test I got last created first in the merged file. Then second last created and so on.
Maybe it honours how I selected the files?
I selected the last and hold down shift and selected the first.
That's possible.
Which version of macOS are you using? I'm on macOS 10.12.6.
-Chris
I am using High Sierra 10.13.4
Thanks for this great macro!
However, I’m running into the following issue:
2018-11-15 10:41:19 pdftk /Users/dms/ZEVRIX/test/fiche-technique-DucoBox-Eco-p1.pdf /Users/dms/ZEVRIX/test/fiche-technique-DucoBox-Eco-p2.pdf /Users/dms/ZEVRIX/test/fiche-technique-DucoBox-Eco-p3.pdf cat output /Users/dms/ZEVRIX/test/test.pdf
xargs: pdftk: No such file or directory
Macro “Merge selected pdfs to new pdf-v4” cancelled (while executing Execute Shell Script).
The PDF toolkit has been installed. If I manually use pdftk using terminal, I don’t get any ‘no such file or directory’ error.
Any ideas?
Hey @dmduco,
It looks like you have a path problem. Take a look at this, and see if it helps you solve it.
Create a PATH Environment Variable for Keyboard Maestro and Add /usr/local/bin to the Default Path
-Chris
Hey @dmduco,
You can find where pdftk is located by running this in the Terminal:
type pdftk
You'll get a result that looks something like this:
pdftk is /usr/local/bin/pdftk
If you run the Terminal command in an Execute a Shell Script action you can find out if Keyboard Maestro see it.
A bit more info:
Some information on the Unix PATH
-Chris
@ccstone, you're awesome!
I went with the variable method to get the unix path correct, so I don't have to mess around in the original action.
Macro is running great now! (it works much faster than a similar action for automator btw)
2 Likes
Any idea how I can control the order of the files? If possible, I would like them to be in order of date modified. I tried adding a For Each Path in folder but couldn't get it to work.
Thanks
Do you actually have pdftk installed?
I do not know how to do that. This macro just sorts it alphabetically.
1 Like
Yes, I do. And the Macro works; I would just prefer to be able to merge the documents in a different order.