Here are a few Keyboard Maestro Macros that I've been using extensively lately and a tip on additional functionality that I find useful. It has made my day-to-day activity much smoother so I wanted to share it.
Safari Tabs
First off, moving through the tabs in Safari can be done using the ⌘ } or ⌘ { key sequence. That's all good and well, but my mind doesn't work like that. In my mind it should be ⌘ → and ⌘ ←. One method of accomplishing this would be to create an application specific keyboard shortcut in OSx. You can see this in the following screenshot.
The problem that I had with this method is that something is apparently conflicting. When I view the menu in Safari I see the following:
You'll notice that the ⌘ → is not displaying properly and in fact the only way to scroll right at this point is to use ⌘ ⌥ →. This is very frustrating of course, so that's where I employed Keyboard Maestro. With Keyboard Maestro I was able to quickly create my shortcuts the way I wanted them with the following values:
and
The menu values don't change, but it works exactly the way I expect it.
At this point I can export the macro and import it to my other Macs so I don't have to create them again. It would be nice if you could simply sync your macros via dropbox (feature request) but its not that major. Here is the menu options you have to export.
Secure CRT Tabs
A similar situation occurred with SecureCRT. I want to be able to move through the tabs so I also created a Keyboard Maestro Macro that would use the same ⌘ → and ⌘ ← as what I used in Safari.
Zip & Share
This one is fantastic but I take no credit for it. Essentially I use a few public dropbox folders and this Macro to zip a file, apply a random name to the file, password protect it, and throw it in a folder that will be cleaned out in a certain period of time by Hazel. Yes, this one takes a little effort to put together but its well worth it. See the details of this macro created by Eugene Gordin.
Find My Mouse
Using two monitors and having a number of apps open at once I tend to lose the mouse. This one draws attention to the mouse so I can figure out where its at.
Again, the power of Keyboard Maestro helped me to figure this one out, so I can't really take credit for it. When activated you will see the following:
"Zoom to Fit" in Omnigraffle
I have spent a ton of time in Omnigraffle lately and zooming in and out is important for me. I want to see what it looks like when I fit to window so I can see the entire canvas. I also created a Keyboard Maestro Macro to accomplish the zoom to fit capability.
Hiding Apps When Recording Screencasts
This last little bit of goodness isn't a macro, its just the way Keyboard Maestro works. When you use Keyboard Maestro it becomes your application switcher. You can see this when you ⌘ tab through your applications.
These applications can be added to an exclude list which means they will not be seen when doing a ⌘ tab. To access the exlude menu type ⌘, in the Keyboard Maestro Editor which will open the Keyboard Maestro Preferences. Here I will exclude Mars Edit, Mail, and Tweetbot (I've already excluded Launchbar and TextExpander) :
Now to see this in action just type ⌘ tab. As you can see below the excluded applications are no longer visible.
While continuing to hold the ⌘ key down hit the letter "e" and you can now see all applications, including the excluded ones.
Wrap-Up
Again, this is just a few of the things I have been using Keyboard Maestro for these days. I have to say that I wouldn't know what to do on a machine that didn't have Keyboard Maestro, Text Expander, and Hazel on it. If you are a Mac user and haven't dabbled with any of these I would highly recommend it.
Side Note
This is NOT a sponsored post. These are my opinions and I am not being compensated by any of the mentioned developer. I just like them because they make my life easier.