Feb 02, '09 07:30:00AM • Contributed by: Anonymous
I really like QuickLook's Index Sheet view. I often find myself selecting everything in an image folder (Command-A), going straight into full-screen QuickLook (Command-Option-Y), and then clicking the Index Sheet button. So I wrote a simple AppleScript program to stick in the Finder's toolbar to simplify the process.
It essentially just does a Command-A and then a Command-Option-Y (you have to still click the Index Sheet button yourself), but it's better than nothing. The project is hosted on Google Code (quicklook-fullscreen-gallery), and I welcome any help with making it even simpler.
By following these steps, you can make this program from scratch yourself, without downloading anything. First create the script. Open Script Editor (in Applications » AppleScript), and enter the following script. (This is a modified version of the script Minimize all Finder windows at login via AppleScript, posted by meanbone.):
activate application "Finder"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
keystroke "a" using {command down}
keystroke "y" using {command down, option down}
end tell
end tell
Next, before saving and proceeding to the next step, test the script to make sure it works.To test the script, open up a Finder window with a lot of images in it, then click the Run button in Script Editor. You should be launched into a full-screen QuickLook view of the Finder window's contents. At the bottom, there should be an icon made up of four boxes. Click this, and you should end up in Index Sheet mode, where it shows you lots of pictures at once, still in a full-screen view.
If this doesn't work, make sure that GUI scripting is enabled -- open the Universal Access System Preferences panel and make sure 'Enable access for assistive devices' box is checked.
If everything went successfully, save that script as an Application Bundle with whatever name you want. Then copy big-gridview.tiff from /System » Library » PrivateFrameworks » QuickLookUI.framework » Versions » A » Resources to your working directory. Convert big-gridview.tiff to an .icns file and name it applet.icns. (I used the web-based iconvert because I didn't have any software installed to do this.)
Control-click on your program and choose Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu. Navigate into Contents » Resources, and replace the applet.icns file found there with the one you made. Move the Application Bundle somewhere good (perhaps /Applications » Utilities), and drag it onto the Finder Toolbar.
You're done. You now have handy one-click (for one picture) or two-click (for Index Sheet) access to QuickLook's built-in full-screen viewer. I personally made this to view image folders, but, being QuickLook, you can view anything you want ... movies, fonts, icons, and anything else you have a QuickLook plug-in for.
[robg adds: You can bind your completed script to a keyboard shortcut using iKey to make things even simpler. As an alternative, you could also build a macro using iKey (or any other macro-enabled program) to send those two keystrokes to the finder.]
