My Packing List Using Shortcuts (MacSparky Labs)

I’m going on vacation next-week (Hooray!). That means it’s time to dust off and clean up my packing list Shortcut. I’ve tried spreadsheets, apps, and even notecards, but this is the best way I’ve found to make a packing list. I walk through the entire process in this video. You can download the shortcut below.

This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

Shortcuts for Mac Webinar Series

I’m starting a five-part webinar series this Friday for the Shortcuts for Mac Field Guide, Plus Edition customers. If you signed up for that course you should have received an email with a sign-up link. I’ve also added the sign-up link to the course under the “Shortcuts Webinars” Section. Let me know if you have any problems.

The Webinars will be new materials on Shortcuts for Mac. All of the webinars will be edited and added to the course. So if you can’t make the webinars, you’ll still get all the content as part of the Shortcuts For Mac Field Guide, Plus Edition content.

Duplicate an Event to “Busy” Calendar with Shortcuts (MacSparky Labs)

I’ve had several Labs members ask me about an easy way to duplicate existing calendar events to a second “Busy” calendar so they share their availability without sharing event details. Here you go…

This is a post for MacSparky Labs Level 3 (Early Access) and Level 2 (Backstage) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

Using AppleScript to Open a Specific Mailbox in Apple Mail (MacSparky Labs)

Shortcuts for iOS 16 is adding a feature that lets you open a specific Mailbox in Apple Mail on your iPhone or iPad. Shortcuts for Ventura, however, doesn’t have that function. What gives? Never fear. Sparky figured out a way to duplicate the feature using AppleScript…

This is a post for MacSparky Labs Level 3 (Early Access) and Level 2 (Backstage) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

Project Setup with Craft, OmniFocus, and Shortcuts (MacSparky Labs)

Some of the labs members are interested in Craft. Good news! I’m using Craft for some of the Labs back-end. Here’s a Shortcut that builds out a new project using Craft and OmniFocus along with some basic training in Craft…

This is a post for MacSparky Labs Level 3 (Early Access) and Level 2 (Backstage) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

Announcing the Shortcuts for Mac Field Guide

I’m so happy to announce the release of the Shortcuts for Mac Field Guide. (Standard Edition) (Plus Edition) I first started production on this Field Guide last August, and it is now ready for the world.

There are 132+ lovingly crafted screencasts totaling over 8.5 hours of content. Where appropriate, the tutorials also include downloadable Shortcuts that you can install and run alongside the video.

This Field Guide is releasing with two different versions. The standard version includes all the 132+ videos, 8.5 hours of content, and downloadable shortcuts. There is also a “Plus Edition” that includes everything in the standard version and an extended webinar series on Shortcuts just for Plus Edition customers. The webinars (there will be hours of them) will also get added as downloadable videos to the Plus Edition of the Shortcuts Field Guide.

You can buy it now and, for a short time, there is a launch discount.

The Shortcuts for Mac Field Guide is normally $49, but on sale for $44.

The Shortcuts for Mac Field Guide Plus Edition is normally $99, but on sale for $89.

I believe Apple when they say they view Shortcuts as the future of automation, and the good news is Shortcuts is the most accessible automation platform Apple has ever shipped. I spent a lot of time building this course, and I’m thrilled to now be sharing it with you.

Here are the links:

The Shortcuts for Mac Standard Edition

The Shortcuts for Mac Plus Edition

Early Access for the Shortcuts for Mac Field Guide (MacSparky Labs)

I’m happy to announce the early release of the Shortcuts for Mac Field Guide for MacSparky Labs Early Access members only. With Early Access, you get to see the Field Guide as it works through the final stages of getting built and prepared for release… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Level 3 (Early Access) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

Creating a Quick Action to Convert Images

On this week’s episode of Mac Power Users, the topic of HEIC vs. JPG images came up. Sometimes you’ll end up with an HEIC image on your Mac that you want to upload or otherwise share somewhere that only accepts JPGs. So I made a simple Quick Action in Shortcuts to do the conversion. A link to the video is below and you can download the Shortcut with this link. If you dig this sort of thing, you should check out the MacSparky Labs.

Running a Shortcut from a Keyboard Maestro Script

Recently, I’ve had several nerd friends ask me about kicking off a Shortcut from a Keyboard Maestro script. You can do that using the Execute AppleScript action with the following text inside:

tell application "Shortcuts Events"
run the shortcut "Shortcut Name"
end tell

You’d need to replace “Shortcut Name” with the actual Shortcut name, while retaining the quotes. That is all it takes to launch a Shortcut from Keyboard Maestro.

Want to get better at Keyboard Maestro? I have something for you.