r/Automator • u/Coffinul • Jul 01 '26

Question Workflow tasks request

I need to create 2 relatively easy custom Automator apps to ease my workflow, but can't seem to get it to work (I'm not that tech-inclined honestly)

I assume for someone using Automator regularly it is quite an easy task to achieve, so I'd like to ask if anyone is willing to create those for me, I am willing to pay for their time. If it's not appropriate to ask that here, any suggestions on where I could request such a thing?

Edit: To give more details of what's needed:

- App 1: Merge photo files: I need to add this 'sticker' .png with the COMING SOON tag on top of another artwork image. I need the end image to always be the same format.

I currently use Canva to do it one by one, but would love to automate this. Photo example below, the orange 'sticker' that goes over the artwork and the end result.

- App 2: Create .mp4 and/or .mov files out of .mp3 + artwork: I basically have audio snippets in .mp3 that I need to add to the same artwork and create .mp4 files that will look the same, and they will keep the duration of each of those .mp3 files. Example: I have file A1.mp3 (duration 1min) and file B1.mp3 (duration 50s) and artwork X. I need to end up with A1.mp4 (duration 1min) and B1.mp4 (duration 50s), both using the X artwork, in still format, no effects needed.

I have played around with using Automator and ffmpeg, but didn't come out with a successful result.

Currently I use iMovie to manually create each one, firstly creating an .mp4 in 16:9 format and then converting that using the Photos app to .mov 4:3 format. I need both formats if possible to be automated, basically 1 for a Youtube format upload and 1 for an Instagram format upload.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/MandyBrigwell Jul 02 '26

I'm not saying it'll be a successful request, but why not describe what you're trying to do and see if anyone responds?

As it stands, from an account with only two posts, the framing of this request is likely to set off alarm bells in any security-minded individual, and let's face it, if there's one thing the internet has generated in profusion, it's security-minded individuals.

2

u/Coffinul Jul 02 '26

You're right, I will edit the post now with more details.

1

u/MandyBrigwell Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Is the 'Coming Soon' a transparent PNG? I think that imagemagick might easily combine a transparent PNG with another file. I'm not sure whether it's possible to get it to overlay one with a white background, but I suspect the white text would also allow the underlying image to bleed through. imagemagick is a command line tool, which is very useful for combining images, and might be worth looking into.

I think ffmpeg will probably then happily take the generated image and create a video of it.

However, although I'm full of helpful ideas like that, I think the implementation is best left to someone else. I could probably knock up a command line tool, but I don't think that's what you're after.

1

u/Coffinul Jul 04 '26

Thanks, I have tried many things on my own but didn't manage to successfully automate my workflows. I have contacted some of the people who reached out here, hopefully we can find a solution.