There is a certain subset of computer users that I call “keyboard people”, and I’m a proud member.
Keyboard people try to do as much as possible using keyboard commands, and only reach for the mouse or trackpad when absolutely necessary.
One Mac application that I use all day every day to help with this is called Alfred. It is a heavily used part of my paperless workflow, and I use it to file away my documents (more on that in a future post) and to find my documents.
Awesome DocumentSnap reader Tom asked if there was a workflow to use Alfred to select a ScanSnap Manager profile with the keyboard.
At first I said no, but then I came across this tremendous AppleScript by Daniel Jalkut from Red Sweater Software, and the wheels started turning.
I was able to Alfred-ize it, so I present to you an Alfred workflow to select a ScanSnap Manager profile entirely with the keyboard.
Setup
First, you will of course need to install Alfred. In order to create an import workflows, you will need to purchase the Powerpack.
Then, download the workflow to your computer and double-click it to install the workflow in Alfred.
Enable Access for Assistive Devices
If you haven’t already, you’ll need to allow scripts to communicate with your GUI. If you are on Mavericks, it should prompt you the first time you run the script. When the Security and Privacy window comes up, check Alfred 2.app.
In Mountain Lion, go to System Preferences > Accessibility and in the lower left, check the box next to Enable access for assistive devices.
Use The Workflow
To select the profile you want, simply type ssp and then the name of your Profile. For example, if I want to select my Scan To Email profile, I’d type this:
ssp Scan To Email
If ScanSnap Manager isn’t running it should start it up, but there might be a bit of a delay.
Obviously, you will need to know the name of your ScanSnap Manager profile. This could be a good opportunity to use TextExpander to optimize things even more.
So far this workflow has only been tested on Mavericks with the latest version of ScanSnap Manager (6.2 L11). Let me know how it goes with your version.
