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Use Automator and Services for speed

Automator is a tool built into OS X that enables you to build your own workflows of commands, making complex tasks much easier in the future. 

Use it to build your own little apps that perform a specific task, to make a workflow to modify batches of files, or to create new Services, which are functions you can access from a right-click.

You could use Automator to rename a large number of files, to convert images to a different file type, to turn text files in a folder to audio files, and much more.
  1. To create something in Automator, open it, then choose what type of thing you want to create: each is useful in different circumstances, so click on them to see descriptions. Select the one you want and click Choose (or open an old Automator file).
  2. Start creating the steps of your workflow by dragging Actions from the left-hand side of the screen to the empty space on the right-hand side. Actions are categorised by application and file type, or you can search for something at the top. Just click an Action's name to see what it does.
  3. Once you've built up your workflow, you can click Run in the top-right corner to test it (though you won't be able to fully test everything this way). If there are any problems, the part where it failed will have a red cross next to it, and the log underneath will explain any warnings.
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