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as a free-form PDF or Word file complicates automation, because you first have to automate
the task of locating just the needle you need in a fairly large haystack.
These are just a couple of examples, but my main point is to keep automation in mind as you
make decisions about the apps you use and the ways you send and receive information. Even
if you don't use those capabilities now, you may appreciate them in the future.
Make Friends with Metadata
Metadata is “data about data”—for example, a song's data is the music you hear,
but metadata includes the song's title, composer, performer, album art, and so
on—as well as its star rating, if you gave it one in iTunes, and any comments that
you've added to its description. Similarly, files can have metadata such as tags
and comments; photos can have titles, ratings, and location information; and email
messages can be marked as sent, read, or junk.
If you get in the habit of adding metadata where it's appropriate, you'll make
automation that much easier later on. For example, if you always mark your favorite
songs with 4 or 5 stars, then it's easy to make playlists that include only your
favorites. Tag your files, and then it's easy to use those tags to make smart folders.
Mark your favorite photos, and then it's easy to find them at the end of the year when
generating a holiday card or to show only your favorites to your friends at your college
reunion.
Without question, adding metadata, after the fact , to hundreds or thousands of
existing items is an extraordinary time sink that is seldom worth the effort. But adding
it to new items as you go can open up interesting automation possibilities in the
future.
Pick the Right Tools
I talk about tons of different techniques, features, and apps in this topic. I use most of them
myself. But I don't expect you to go out and buy every app I mention here, or even one of
each type of app. I don't expect you to spend the time learning Automator and AppleScript
and Keyboard Maestro and Nisus Writer Pro macros and so on. You're welcome to do that
if it sounds like fun (it's fun for me!), but for most people, that's would be unreasonable and
incredibly boring.
Instead, I suggest you read through this topic with the idea of picking out just the handful of
techniques and apps that give you the biggest bang for your buck (or your time). The answer
will be different for each person; it'll depend on how you use your Mac and what your biggest
sources of annoyance are.
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