Drag the custom icons you want to use to the window in the ‘Get Specified Finder Items’ action.

To add the Resources folder (where you will copy the custom icons to) to the ‘Copy Finder Items’ action, right click on the app you want to modify the icons of & select ‘Show Package Contents’. Open the Contents folder to find the Resources folder & then drag this from the Finder window to the location drop down list in the ‘Copy Finder Items’ action

Save the workflow as an application, then any time the app is updated run the Automator app to change the icons.

To automate it even further you can set up rules in Hazel to automatically change the icons once the app has been updated without having to manually run the workflow yourself.

I originally tried to do it with Quicksilver & Google Translate. It was possible for most of what I wanted to do, but not all. In the end I found it quicker & easier to use LaunchBar with Google Translate.
With this it’s possible to translate selected text to you native or a different language, translate full web pages, & also write text in one language then translate it into another.

A few people asked me how to do this so I whipped up this video (I went slower than normal so it’s (hopefully) clearer what’s happening).

View the medium size version here, or download the large version here.

What might not be clear with the keys pressed shown on screen is that I press & hold ⌃Space to invoke LaunchBar which also brings the selected text into LaunchBar (only shows the ⌃ (CTRL) key), & I use ⌥Space to invoke Quicksilver. (For some reason ScreenFlow doesn’t show the space bar). I also use ⌘L to select the URL in Safari’s address bar before hitting ⌃Space to send it to LaunchBar when translating web pages.

To see how it looks at normal speed view the medium size version here, or download the large version here. Once you get used to it translating things becomes very quick & easy.

Here are the search template URLs for LaunchBar:

French to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&q=*

Italian to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=en&sl=it&tl=en&q=*

Japanese to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=en&sl=jp&tl=en&q=*

Portuguese to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=en&sl=pt&tl=en&q=*

Spanish to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&q=*

German to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&q=*

English to French

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=fr&sl=en&tl=fr&q=*

English to Italian

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=it&sl=en&tl=it&q=*

English Japanese

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=jp&sl=en&tl=jp&q=*

English to Portuguese

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=pt&sl=en&tl=pt&q=*

English to Spanish

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=es&sl=en&tl=es&q=*

English to German

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=de&sl=en&tl=de&q=*

French web page to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=*&sl=fr&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Italian web page to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=*&sl=it&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Japanese web page to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=*&sl=ja&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Portuguese web page to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=*&sl=pt&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Spanish web page to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=*&sl=es&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

German web page to English

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=*&sl=de&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

To add the search templates invoke LaunchBar & hit ⌘Y to open the configuration window. Click on Search Template & add new ones with the above URLs.

Any questions on how to do anything in the video let me know. It is possible to translate text using Quicksilver (not web pages though), but there’s a few more steps involved so I prefer to do it using LaunchBar. Let me know if anyone’s interested in learning how to do this with Quicksilver.

Update:
Don McAllister of ScreenCastsOnline has featured this tip in his latest screencast. It’s a members only (paid) screencast, but you can view his part on translating using LaunchBar in HD here, & iPod/iPhone res here.

I use all of the ‘F’ keys so can’t have the volume keys set as F10 – F12. In System Preferences I’d set it so I had to use the function key (fn) plus the ‘F’ keys to change the volume. fn+F12 to increase the volume, fn+F11 to decrease the volume etc.

Now with these scripts (for adjusting volume) I’ve assigned triggers to them from Quicksilver (could use Butler instead). I have F13 for decrease volume, F14 for mute & F15 for increase volume. It doesn’t reassign the system volume keys but it does allow you to use the other keys as well as leaving the old keyboard mappings.

But when I use the Copy To.. & Move To.. actions in Quicksilver (I use them all the time) the drive almost always slows the computer down by spinning up. Same when saving & opening files in OS X. When the Open/Save dialogue windows open up there’ll usually be a delay while the FireWire dive spins up.

I saw a handy workaround over at macosxhints. Someone posted some code to use in Terminal to mount & unmount FireWire drives. I don’t use Terminal so turned them into Automator applications & then set them to run automatically through iCal.

So every night it will automatically mount my FireWire HD & ChronoSync will automatically sync my home folder to the FireWire HD.
Then it will automatically unmount the drive in the the morning so that it doesn’t slow down Quicksilver, & the Save & Open dialogue windows throughout the day.

If you want to try it out it’s really easy to do. You can download the Automator workflow apps along with the instructions from here. (Also has USB drive versions).
(You could just run them manually instead of through iCal if you wanted).

Automator
iCal
Quicksilver
ChronoSync

So I changed the preferences in Safari, Camino etc. so that downloads are directed to my Downloads folder (In my Home/User folder) rather than the Desktop.

Then set up up a script to automatically open up the folder any time new items (downloads) were added to that folder. Keeps things much tidier.

Here’s the script

Save the script to ‘~Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts’. Then right click on the Downloads folder & select ‘Attach a Folder Action…’. Select the ‘Open when new items are added.scpt’ file & that should be it.

Here are some of the triggers I’ve set up along with some tips I’ve found out here & there (some from trawling through the 89 page user guide) that other people might find useful:
(For a lot of them you’ll need to Enable advanced features in Application> Preferences).

Triggers

(Let me know if you need help setting up any of these below).

Show the Clipboard History: ⌘↓
Show the Shelf Contents: ⌘↑
I use Quicksilver as a clipboard manager. Clipboard History stores the last 20 clipboard entries (You can alter the number to whatever you want). You can show the clipboard history, select the clip you want to paste (Paste is usually the default action) & then hit Return. Shelf stores clips of text, images etc. permanently. Ideal for email addresses, user names, passwords etc.

Open the current Safari web page in Firefox: ⌃⌥F
This is handy for web pages that don’t play nicely with Safari (e.g. some sites that diplay embedded video & FileShack downloads.) You can set it to open the current web page in any other browser.

Paste the URL of the current Safari web page: ⌃⇧W
It will paste the URL wherever you are (Writing an email, in Word, TextEdit etc.) of the page you have selected in Safari (You do this wherever your are & don’t have to select first Safari to paste the URL).

Bring items into the Quicksilver command window: ⌘ +Escape
(⌘ +Escape will do this by default in Quicksilver, but Front Row is now assigned to this key combination. You can recreate it as a trigger if needed (Current Selection> Select in Command Window), or reassign Front Row’s).

I use this for a couple of things:
1. Select a files on the desktop, in a Finder window or wherever, hit ⌘ +Escape & it will bring them up in Quicksilver. Then you can do whatever you want with them (Launch them, move them, upload them, tag them etc).
2. Select a plain text URL link (i.e. in an email or plain text file) hit ⌘ +Escape & it will bring it up in Quicksilver, recognise it’s a URL & then hit Return to open it up in Safari. (You don’t have to copy the link. Just select it, hit ⌘ +Escape then Return).

Add Tags: ⌃⌥T
Select files on the desktop, in a Finder window or wherever, then add tags (Spotlight comments).
To browse your tags in Quicksilver bring up ‘File Tags (Catalog)’ then press →.

You can browse the tags or type in a few letters to bring up the one(s) you’re looking for.

Copy files to MacBook Pro: ⌃⌥M
Copy the selected files to MacBook Pro (from PowerMac).

Open Startup URLs: ⌃⇧S
I have a folder in Safari bookmarks called ‘Startup’ that contain bookmarks of web pages I check every morning. So I hit ⌃⇧S & it opens them all up in separate in tabs in Safari.

Zip files & move to the desktop: ⌃Z
Runs an Automator workflow that zips the file in a ‘clean archive’ (Doesn’t contain resource forks that will look odd if unzipped in Windows), moves the zip file to the desktop & displays a Growl notification.

Open Router config: ⌃⌥R
Open the config page of my Router in Firefox (Doesn’t play well in Safari).

Safari Page in a New Window in the Background: ⌃⌥B
Opens the selected web page/tab from Safari in a new window in the background & minimises the current Safari Window. I use this if I have a few tabs in the Safari window, do a Google search & want to open multiple results in new tabs (would be too many tabs in 1 window if I kept them all in the same window). I made a custom AppleScript for this & run it from Quicksilver. You can download it here.

Duplicate Current Tab in Safari: ⌃⇧D
I made a custom AppleScript for this & run it from Quicksilver. You can download it here.

Start & Play / Stop (If already playing) iTunes: ⌃⇧Space

Start & Play / Stop (If already playing) RealPlayer: ⌃⌥Space
Mute/Resume RealPlayer: ⌃⌥↓
I listen to radio stations using RealPayer & there is a keyboard shortcut to mute & resume it, but you have to select RealPayer first before you can use the shortcuts. With this custom AppleScript you can use a keyboard shortcut/trigger no matter what app you have selected. You can download it here.

Search Google: ⌃G

Search Google Images: ⌃I

Search YouTube: ⌃Y

Search Del.icio.us: ⌃D

Translate: ⌃T
Translate with Google (Spanish to English)

Tips

Reveal
If you select an app, file or folder in the first pane the action is Open, but if you type ⌘ +Return Quicksilver will reveal the app, file or folder in a Finder window.

Show Package Contents (& Hidden Files)
Hold down the ⌥ & press → the results list will include hidden files (those that begin with a period) and you can browse into packages (like the Finder’s Show Package Contents).

Use AppZapper with Quicksilver

To trash apps with AppZapper from Quicksilver it requires pasting a little code in the the AppZapper app. Download the code & instructions here.

Address Book, Large Type & Paste
If you have a contact in the object pane, typing → will show a results list with fields of the contact including phone numbers, email addresses, addresses, and the note.
TAB & select Large Type to display it in very large text across the screen. Or select Paste to paste the item into whatever you’re working on

Drag Files & Folders into Quicksilver
If you bring up a folder in Quicksilver you can drag files, folders etc into that folder to move or copy them there. For example bring up the Applications folder in Quicksilver & drop an app off the desktop onto it to move it there (handy if you’ve just downloaded an app that doesn’t give you an alias to the Applications folder). You can also drag items from Quicksilver to the dock, or drag them out of Quicksilver onto the desktop to move them there.

Assign Abbreviations
Once you’ve selected an app, file or folder in Quicksilver Tab & then select Assign Abbreviation to make abbreviations of commonly used apps, files & folders. For example you could set F to Firefox so you only have to type F, P for Photoshop, M for Mail etc…
When you have abbreviations set to one letter for certain items you can just hold down the letter to launch them. (Rather than typing the letter then hitting Return).

Shift rather than Tab
If you check the ‘Capitalized keys modify action in command window’ in the Preferences > Extras you can type in both sides of the Quicksilver command window at the same time.
E.g. instead of firefox > Tab > reveal type firefoxREVEAL (or ffRV if it’s something you type often).

Web Searches

Use the Web Search Module to start web searches from Quicksilver. Once you’ve set them up you only have to type 1 or 2 letters in Quicksilver, or set them up as triggers to select your search engine/site & start typing your search.

Upload to flickr & Add Tags: ⌃⇧F
Use the flickr plugin to upload the selected image(s) to flickr & tag them.

Move to…
You can use ⌥⌘G to select the Move to… action. Select the file or files you want to move in the Finder. Activate Quicksilver and bring up the destination folder in the object pane. Then, without tabbing to the action pane, type ⌥⌘G, the command window changes so the files are in the object pane, the action is Move to… and the destination folder is the argument.

Open With
Another way to use Open With… is to select the file you want to open in the Finder, then activate Quicksilver and select the application you want to use in the object pane. Then instead of tabbing to the action pane, just type ⌥⌘G. The command window will change so the Finder’s selection is the object, the action is Open With… and the application is in the third pane. You could set it up as a trigger so it’s only 1 key press.

HD & Home Folder
Invoke Quicksilver & hold / (forward slash) for about one second. You’ll see your HD. Then the menu will appear in the results list. Invoke Quicksilver & hold ~ (tilde) for about one second. You’ll see your Home folder.

Changing Icons
You can change icons used in plugins by going to the ~Library/Application Support/Quicksilver/Plugins folder. Right click on the plugin & select ‘Show Package Contents’, then browse to the Resources folder & replace the icon.

Killing & Restarting Quicksilver
Every now & then Quicksilver doesn’t play nicely & I need to force quit it.
It doesn’t show up in the normal Force Quit… menu, so here are a couple of Automator apps I run from Spotlight if I need to force quit & restart Quicksilver, or just force quit it.

Download them here.
(You could also save them as Finder plug-ins & access them from the right click context menu).

Quicksilver Quick Reference
Quicksilver User’s Guide
Quicksilver Site Tutorials & Screencasts

In the past I’ve tagged mostly Illustrator & Photoshop files by selecting them, & typing Command +I (or right click & selecting ‘Get Info’). Then added tags in the Spotlight Comments section. For example if I’m working on 10 icons for a client I’ll have one Illustrator file containing all 10 icons (rather than creating a new Illustrator file for each icon). So I’ll tag the Illustrator file with names/descriptions of the icons in there (e.g. document, file, speaker, audio, plant, tree, football, ball etc.)

It’s worked OK but when searching for things in Spotlight it usually returns a fair bit of useless stuff not relating to what I’m searching for.
I have some Illustrator files called Documents.ai, Documents 2.ai & mAqua Documents.ai which contain lots of different document icons. I’ll type in documents .ai in the spotlight search pane which will turn up the files I’m looking for, but will also return a lot of crap that I don’t want.

Add a Prefix

So I’ve been looking round at different tagging tutorials, software & methods. It seems the thing to do it to prefix the tags with a delimiter so that when searching for the tags you won’t get a lot of irrelevant crap. From what I’ve read a popular prefix to use it the @ symbol. But this still tends to return some irrelevant results.

Using the & symbol has much better results.

Tagging Methods & Software

Quicksilver plus the Tagging Plugin:
Very good. Select the files you want to tag on the desktop, in a Finder window or wherever, press a hot key (specified in Quicksilver triggers) & add the tags. You can also specify a prefix symbol to add in Quicksilver preferences so you don’t have to type ‘&’ it each time, Quicksilver will add it for you.

TagBot:
TagBot is a fairly new app that gives you a tag palette on the desktop.
You can show & hide it from the menu bar or keyboard shortcut. Create new tags in the palette. Tag files by right clicking on them in the Finder, or by dragging them onto TagBot’s tag palette. Tag a folder & all it’s contents. Shows a tag count in the palette. Automatically adds the ‘&’ prefix when adding tags.

Automator Workflow:
Create a workflow to tag the files. Then right click on the files you want to tag, select the Automator workflow & a box pops up to add the tags (including your chosen prefix).

This works well. The only problem I have with it is that as I’m not the best/fastest at typing so I use TextExpander automate things & use abbreviations for common things I type (including tags). But TextExpander doesn’t work in the Add Spotlight Comments box.

Default Folder X:
Adds a box for Spotlight comments to all save dialog boxes so you can tag your files as you save them. Works with TextExpander but you have to add the prefix to each tag.

Punakea:
(Early beta software). Tag files by dropping them onto the browser window, by dragging them to the popout drawer at the side of the screen & dropping them onto existing tags or in the drop area to create new tags, or by dropping files on the dock icon. At the moment you can’t tag folders & it creates it’s own type of tag (e.g. ###begin_tags###@documents;###end_tags###) that aren’t compatible with the typical way you tag files with Automator, Quicksilver & Default Folder X. But apparently new versions will allow you to tag folders & set your own prefix.

(Update: Punakea has now been updated to 0.3).
With content filter (show documents only for a specific tag, images only, bookmarks etc. Sidebar for quick links to tags. Show info on selected files. Tag sets.

Searching for Tagged Files

Spotlight:
Just hit Command +Space & search for the tags (or Command +F to search in a Finder window).
Can also search for files tagged with Quicksilver, TagBot & Default Folder X.

Quicksilver:
Type the tag name & hit return once it shows up in Quicksilver.

This will create a Spotlight Finder search window.

If you close the window the search will be lost. But if you click on the smart folder icon in the title bar (next to the name of the tag) & drag it onto the desktop it creates a smart folder for the search.

TagBot:
Double click on a tag in the tag palette & it will create a Spotlight Finder search window (Same as Quicksilver). Can also save tags a smart folders by right clicking on them in the tag palette.

Punakea:
Click on a tag in the browser window. Drag a tag off of the browser onto the desktop to create a smart folder for that tag.

TextExpander:
I use TextExpander to abbreviate common things I type. So I’ve made abbreviations to help searching. For example in Spotlight you can narrow down search results to folders, images, applications etc. by typing kind:folder, kind:image, kind:application etc. (See a full list of kind keywords here). So instead of typing those I’ll type kf which will expand to kind:folder, kii will expand to kind:image etc… You can also create abbreviations for common tags you use.

 The standard tag icon in Quicksilver is pretty ropey.

So I created a custom one.

If you want to use this one download it from here. Close Quicksilver & go to ~/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver/PlugIns, find the File Tagging Module.qsplugin. Right click on it & select Show Package Contents. In Contents/Resources/ replace Tag.png with the new image (make sure you rename it to Tab.png).
(Apparently they’ll be using one of these officially for the tagging module in the future).

Windows Vista & Tagging

I have to use Windows now & then for testing icons, web sites & Windows software. So I thought the new instant search & tagging in Vista would be a good thing, & on par with it in OS X. I just expected to be able to tag any file in Vista like you can on Macs, but then found you can only tag certain files.

It could have been great & it couldn’t have been much more effort when making Vista to enable tagging any file? So this looks like a missed opportunity in Vista.

Quicksilver
Custom Tag Icons for Quicksilver
Default Folder X
Punakea
TagBot
Spotlight
Automator
TextExpander