In further attempts to simplify life, as previously discussed here, I have recently made changes to my freelancing workflow when using Affinity Photo to automate the more mundane aspects which took up unnecessary time and focus. In this post, I’ll go into which applications and settings I’m using to achieve all this on my Mac.

Start Up

When beginning to work, I need to bring up three folders in Finder. Simply put, one with the files I’m sourcing from (Files), another of a completed project to guide me (Base), and then a third of the new files I’m creating so I can see if I am correctly matching the completed project and haven’t missed anything (which has a changing image name).

Initially, I used Folder Peek, with its shortcuts to the working directory in the menu bar, as a quick way to load the folders up. However, as my process expanded with more applications coming into play, I needed a process to quickly load more than just folders.

I stumbled across Bunch randomly in a Reddit post of someone asking a question I was also wondering: how do I load my folders and multiple applications all at once?

Using a simple text file, I have the following saved as a .bunch file in the local Bunches directory:

---
title: Editing
---
Affinity Photo
%Finder
- /path/to/directory/Work/[image name]
- /path/to/directory/Work/Base
- /path/to/directory/Work/Files

Running the Bunch from the menu bar loads up Affinity Photo and the folders in Finder, pressing on it again closes everything. It’s pretty powerful, as I could even configure it to open files or folders within Affinity Photo (as I accidentally did when I first created my .bunch file!). The documentation is extensive, and I feel I have barely scratched the surface, though it does what I currently need it to.

Saving

While in Affinity Photo, I am creating around six hundred images a day, and saving them used to be an annoying process of pressing shift + option + command + S, a complex keyboard command in itself, to open the Export screen, then click on Export, pressing down command + V to paste the preset file name I had earlier typed out and copied, added the correct number at the end, and then saved. If I made a mistake somewhere in that process, it would take even more time to correct it.

So, in order to improve on this process I first configured my Logitech mouse, with customisable buttons in the LogiOptions software, to run those keyboard commands for me. A top button to the side of my thumb became opening the Export screen, and the lower one became paste.

Better, but I still had to click on Export, well, actually, it turned out I could just hit Enter, which was faster, though I still had to add the number to the end of the file name manually each time while saving.

I overcame the first issue by using Shortcuts, and after some trial and error, created this AppleScript to run inside it:

on run {input, parameters}
	tell application "System Events"
		tell application process "Affinity Photo"
			keystroke "s" using {shift down, option down, command down}
			delay 1
			keystroke return
			delay 2
			keystroke return
		end tell
	end tell
	return input
end run

And then configured to be used as a Quick Action with a random keyboard command not used elsewhere, which I then remapped my mouse’s lower button by my thumb to activate. As such, I now just needed to move my thumb slightly to hit the button, and sit back a couple of seconds as the macro ran exporting and saving the file.

File Names

But what about the file names? The above method just saved everything as Untitled, and after just two files, a warning will appear saving there is already a file with that name in the folder. How is this system better?

Alone, it isn’t, but during this time, I became reacquainted with Hazel, the automated file management application. It’s another piece of powerful software which I have only uncovered the tip of, but already used in some very helpful ways, such as being able to mass rename files after realising I had made errors to some files. I then realised I could use it to automate the file naming process, allowing me to get on with the actual work.

I do this by adding the folder I am saving to ([image name], but I’ll call it Blue Moon for this example) to Hazel and create the following rule (which can be copied-and-pasted between folders):

• Name: Renaming
• If all of the following conditions are met
• Name is Untitled
• Do the following to the matched file or folder:
• Rename with pattern: Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version # extension

The # is modifiable (as is the extension, but I didn’t modify that), and set to the lowest increment, using numbers, and a double-digit number system.

So, I begin a work session by making sure Hazel is running in the correct folder with the rule, I manually set the image name (Blue Moon, for example) and resolution (1920x1080 in example), and save the first image file manually into the correct folder so Affinity Photo knows for the rest of the session where that is. But after that, it’s mostly just me getting on with the work, pressing the button near my thumb, and letting the automation do the rest.

End Result

As such, the process works as follows:

1. After I have completed the file in Affinity Photo, I press the button near my thumb.

2. The AppleScript macro kicks in loading up the Export screen, verifying Export, and then saving the file as Untitled.

3. Hazel then works automatically by seeing the new Untitled file in the watched folder, and quickly renames the file with the lowest number freely available.

4. For example, the files will be created as such:

   1. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 01
   2. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 02
   3. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 03
   4. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 04
   5. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 05
   6. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 06
   7. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 07
   8. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 08
   9. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 09
   10. Blue Moon - 1920x1080 - Version 10

   And so on and so on! All by pressing that one little button on my mouse and waiting a couple of seconds!

Renaming in Hazel for another resolution takes a few seconds, and I can easily take the time to reconfigure the setup for a new image name in a new folder as the previous finished set of images saves and backs up elsewhere.

Overall, the new system has saved me so much time compared to how I used to do things, and I am getting significantly more done in my time than before. As such, it may be worth it to take an afternoon to have a look at your workflow and see if there are aspects you can delegate to being automated like this!