The MacSparky Hazel Video Field Guide

Mac Power Users co-host David Sparks has released his latest MacSparky publication:
The Hazel Video Field Guide. Hazel is one of my favorite automation tools, and was recently updated to version 4. I bought it before I even downloaded the new version. That’s how great of a tool it is.

As David says: “The thing I love about Hazel is the way it can turn mere mortals into automation gods. Anybody can do this. You don’t need a lick of programming knowledge.” He’s right. Hazel is easier than Folder Actions, and a lot more powerful too. If you can write Mail.app rules, you can automate your Mac with Hazel.

But what if you’ve never used Hazel and want to jump right in and learn the best of what it has to offer? That’s where David comes in. In almost 2.5 hours of video, David will walk you through Hazel, showing you everything from the basics to more advanced features using AppleScript. I’ve been using Hazel for years and would call myself a power user, but I learned some new tricks from David in this guide.

David’s guide shows you more than 30 different uses for Hazel, ranging from moving files to renaming them based on the contents of the file, and more. There are 35 chapters (a full list is below). For $20, you are getting the equivalent of having David sit down with you and show you how to do what he does. Need to re-watch a segment? OK. Not ready for some of the more advanced tips yet? Get started with the easy ones, and come back to it later. I don’t know what hourly rate David bills at, but you can believe that it’s way more than $10/hour!

The Hazel Video Field Guide assumes you have never used Hazel before, so it’s perfect for beginners, but by the end it will show you how to do advanced techniques including home automation via Hazel. One of the workflows, for instance, shows the viewer how to automatically lock their Mac when they leave their home or office using a combination of IFTTT, a simple AppleScript, and Hazel. Even if you don’t use those tips specifically, it’s a great way to learn what Hazel can do.

Not ready to commit? Check out his sample video to get a taste of what’s in store. To learn more, go to macsparky.com/hazel.

Here is a full list of the chapters in the video guide:

Why Hazel

Getting Started

Our First Hazel Rule

Triggers and Actions

Name-Based Filing

Content-Based Naming

Getting Dates from Documents

Hazel and Tags

Hazel and the iPhone

Organizing Your Download Folder

Organizing Your Desktop

Send Music to iTunes

Send Images to Photos

Organizing Photos in Folders

Archiving Media

Sending Documents to iPad

The File Kill Switch

Using URLs in Hazel

Auto-create Subfolders

Sending Email

Making Hazel Talk

Creating OmniFocus Tasks with Hazel

“Overdue”

Conditional Rules

Spotlight Integration

Smart Folders

The Action Folder

Lock Your Mac Remotely, Part 1

Play Music When You Arrive Home

Lock Your Mac Remotely, Part 2

Manage Your Trash

Hazel App Sweep

Hazel Rule Syncing

Hazel Settings

More Resources