Send files to Automator in Snow Leopard

Question

I remember in Tiger, you could always select a bunch of files in Finder and right click them, there was an option to open the selection in Automator. However, it seems that option has been lost somewhere between the Leopard and Snow Leopard upgrade. Or am I a bit blind?

Can someone please point me in the right direction?

Answer 1

It's replaced by Right-click » Services » Create Workflow. I can only guess the reason being the redesign of Automator that now usually opens with a sheet prompting you to select a template (application, workflow, etc.).

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Alternatively, Finder menu » Services » (development category) » Create Workflow.

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If you don't see them go to System Preferences » Keyboard » Keyboard Shortcuts » Services, look for the Development category and make sure Create Workflow is checked.

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For some reason, the similar Create Service menu item does not add a Get Specified Finder Items action, probably because services are designed to receive selected files/folders, and the Finder selection is kept.

Answer 2

From Automator workflows broken in 10.6 :

Automator action workflows are now called "Services". If you want your plugins or workflows to work again, do this......

Here's an example:

If your Finder plug-in workflow doesn’t work,

In SnowLeopard, services provide a powerful method of adding functionality to the Finder and other applications. Services supersede Finder plug-in workflows. If you use Finder plug-in workflows created on an earlier system, you must manually turn them into services.

To create a service from a Finder plug-in workflow:

Open the old Finder plug-in workflow.

Choose File > New.

Select the Services template and click Choose.

Choose the type of data your service requires as input in the “Service receives selected” pop-up menu, and then choose an application from the “in” pop-up menu.

If the service should be available in all applications, choose “any application.”

If you want the service to behave exactly the way the previous Finder plug-in workflow did, choose “Files and folders” from the “Service receives selected” popup-menu, and choose "Finder" from the “in” pop-up menu.

If you want selected text overwritten with text modified in the workflow, select the “Replaces selected text” checkbox.

Click the Finder plug-in workflow window to bring it to the front.

To copy all the actions in the workflow, choose Edit > Select All, and then choose Edit > Copy.

Click the new service workflow window to bring it to the front.

Choose Edit > Paste.

Here is another detailed description of the process, with screenshots :
Updating Finder Workflows in SnowLeopard.

For some more examples see : 3 Easy-To-Create Simple Automator Workflows For Everyday Use.