Mystery in my Automator Script

[lanceloz]

Hi,

I created a script which works as follow : after I select a few PDF files in the finder, Automator combines these into a single PDF document and opens it in Preview. From there I take the control back and rename the combined document with a name i like and save it.

My script works fine in Automator, it consists of:
- Get Selected Finder Items
- Combine PDF Pages
- Open Finder Items (with Default Application)

When testing the above script within Automator, I get exactly what I want. Suppose I apply it on two PDF files (A and B), Automator produces a single PDF file with two pages (A - B). That's what i want.

However, and here is the mystery, when I run this very script from the Finder after having selected the same two files, Automator produces a single PDF file with four pages (!) instead of A - B, I get A - B - A - B.

So I need to delete a pair of A - B to get back to the intended result, which is a two-page document (not a four).

Any idea of why this is happening? or any way to fix it?

Thanks,
Lance

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

This is a much easier Automator Service workflow:

See if that works better for you.

C

 

[lanceloz]

Thanks Cory Cooper. You are right it is a much easier script and I realised what was wrong in mine thanks to yours. It was the "Get Selected Finder Items" which I was supposed to remove before to run the workflow outside of automator. The fact I did leave it was "duplicating" the files to combine hence the A-B-A-B instead of A-B. Many thanks!

 

[Cory Cooper]

Excellent...glad it worked for you. Thanks for explaining what the issue was in the original workflow, so that others may benefit in the future.

C