Automating Production and Scripting Technologies

Regardless of whether you're in business to manufacture magazines, ads or saucepans, any tool that can automatically manage or execute repetitive actions should be carefully considered and evaluated. Just look how personal banking applications like Intuit's Quicken or Microsoft's Money save us time in organizing run-of-the-mill banking transactions by managing the process for us. Both are examples of great tools that manage a time-consuming, mundane process.

Automating production

In the production environment, unavoidable tasks manifest in the form of repetitive, lengthy processes we perform every day and sometimes every hour. If these tasks could be removed from the equation, workflow and cycle time would benefit enormously, and the production person would be able to concentrate on the tasks that truly require skilled attention. Apple-Script is one such tool that may be able to help attain these goals.

AppleScript is a powerful automation tool that enables efficient workflows for a wide range of print production applications.

At Kwik International, a global prepress provider based in New York City, President Jeffrey Riman finds it easier to take standard AppleScripts and customize them for his prepress production workflow. "We use AppleScript to automate the output process using a hot-folder scenario," he explains. "It's a real time saver. There are other more advanced scripts that I plan to implement in the near future, and if I can, I will adjust an existing AppleScript, as well."

Learning the basics

To learn more about AppleScript, visit www.apple.com/applescript. There, you'll find a vast array of information, including updates on current AppleScript technology, a beginner's tutorial and a rich library of existing scripts that can be easily downloaded.

Apple also offers an easy-to-follow tutorial that comes with every Mac OS. The tutorial can be found in the AppleScript folder in the Apple Extras menu. And Script Editor, also found in the AppleScript folder, will teach even the most novice of users how to create their own scripts in a matter of minutes, reports Roger Siminoff, Apple's senior marketing manager for the creative markets.