Noodlesoft Forums

I would like Hazel to automatically save the file that I'm working on in Photoshop every 10 minutes or so.

In addition, I would like to add a number to each saved file to indicate its version. Like when you load image files from a digital camera to your computer and designate a custom filename and a number starting with 001. Example: the forth image saved would be Football004.psd. (root name + ###) Is this possible? Thanks.

Not sure about the first part. You might be able to rig something up with "Date last opened" but it's unclear how Hazel would know that you are done with the file and that Hazel should stop backing it up.

You can add numbers to filenames. In your renaming pattern, drag in the # attribute. You can control the number of digits by clicking on the attribute after you drag it in.

Thanks Mr. Noodle. If I can figure this out, then Hazel will be my next software purchase. So far, I have not found any other app that can do this for me.

Actually, I heard about Hazel over on the Adobe Photoshop Forum for Macintosh. The thread was discussing the problem of suddenly losing your extensive image edits after an application crash -- sometimes even occurring when you are actually trying to save your work. See below:

"Re: Photoshop CS5 freezes in Photoshop Macintosh Jul 8, 2010 by davisdont
I use hazel ( http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/22694/hazel ) to auto backup and name versions of psd's i'm working on (if you set it up right you can have a folder full of versions just like the history pallet in photoshop, except they don't consume ram and won't be effected by a crash) the only time i've had photoshop destroy a file is a crash during save. I'm sure photoshop used to save files."

One major cause of an application crash in Photoshop is a lack of RAM memory available during complex operations. As mentioned above, apparently using Hazel can also make it possible to reduce the history palette size, a major user of RAM memory. Any suggestions?

I was finally able to get in touch with the author of the post I mentioned. Here is his reply:
"hi rich, to be clear, i haven't created an auto-save, which is what many users are after (that seems impractical unless adobe themselves find a way to do it)
my set up is to have a "current folder" on my hdd where the art i'm working on sits. when i hit save, ( i've assigned "save" to a button on my tablet and painted it red!) it's overwritten and hazel makes a copy to what i've named the "history folder" . I end up with a folder full of psds from every time i've saved the file. (so i don't have to worry about saving often, because i'm never actually going to write over and erase an old version i might need later)
the hazel action i attached to "current folder" is - if "date last modified" "is after" " date last matched" " copy file" to folder "history" (and select, "if file exists then rename."or it'll just save one backup and overwrite the copies)
you can have as many projects in "current folder" as you like, hazel will make a backup to "history folder" when you add them and everytime you modify them."

So, it looks like Hazel can still be useful in setting up a quicker and more organized file-saving workflow. I will consider giving it a try when time allows. Thanks.