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.
How are you getting the files "into" your macro? Both AppleScript's and KM's "selected items" honour the Finder's current sort mode, so you could select your files and sort by "Date Modified" before triggering the macro.