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PixelTamp

Shortcuts & CLI Automation

ADVANCED FEATURE

PixelTamp integrates natively with macOS. This brings batch compression and format conversion directly into macOS Shortcuts, Finder Quick Actions, Spotlight, and Terminal workflows via the built-in shortcuts command-line utility.

Because App Intents execute within macOS’ native architecture, automation works without background daemons, package managers, or extra installation steps.

The “Tamp Media” Action

When PixelTamp is installed, macOS automatically registers its native action in the Shortcuts library:

  • Action Name: Tamp Media
  • Action Summary: Tamp [Files] with [Preset] preset
  • Supported Inputs: Single or multiple image files (JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, HEIC) and video files (MP4, MOV, M4V, WebM, AVI, MKV).

To add the action:

  1. Open Shortcuts.app on your Mac.
  2. Create a new shortcut by clicking the + button.
  3. In the right-hand action library panel, search for PixelTamp or Tamp Media.
  4. Drag the Tamp Media action into your workflow editor.

Configuring Options in Shortcuts

All the core compression and downscaling dials available in the PixelTamp desktop application are configurable inside Shortcuts:

1. Compression Presets

Click the [Preset] pill on the action card to select your quality target:

  • Tamped (Balanced)
  • Lossless (Visual Fidelity)
  • Aggressive (Smallest Size)

2. Maximum Dimension Downscaling

Click the disclosure chevron (>) to reveal secondary parameters:

  • Downscales images and videos whose longest edge exceeds the selected threshold (smaller media is never upscaled):
    • Original Size
    • 2560px (Ultra-wide / 2K)
    • 1920px (Full HD standard)
    • 1024px (Mobile / thumbnail)

3. Format Conversions

  • Convert to WebP: When toggled on, images (JPEG, PNG, GIF) are automatically transcoded into modern WebP format.
  • Convert GIF to MP4: When toggled on, bulky animated GIFs are transcoded into lightweight, streamable MP4 videos.

4. Interactive “Ask Each Time” Menus

You can right-click any parameter pill (such as Preset or Maximum Dimension) and choose Ask Each Time. When the shortcut runs, macOS will present an interactive picker sheet asking for your preferred setting for that specific run.

Finder Quick Actions (Right-Click to Tamp)

You can compress files directly from Finder without opening the PixelTamp main window:

  1. In Shortcuts.app, create a new shortcut and title it Tamp Media.
  2. In the Shortcut Details sidebar (icon with three sliders), check Use as Quick Action and ensure Finder is selected.
  3. Set the input to receive Files from Quick Actions.
  4. Add the Tamp Media action, passing the Shortcut Input as the [Files] parameter.
  5. Add a Save File action to specify where the output should be written (or check Ask Where to Save).
  6. Now, select any image or video in Finder, right-click, navigate to Quick Actions, and choose Tamp Media.

Command-Line (CLI) Automation

Power users and developers can invoke PixelTamp directly from Terminal, shell scripts, or CI automation using macOS’ native shortcuts command-line tool.

Basic Invocations

# Optimise a single image and save the result
shortcuts run "Tamp Media" -i ~/Desktop/photo.jpg -o ~/Desktop/photo_tamped.jpg

# Optimise a video
shortcuts run "Tamp Media" -i promo.mov -o promo_tamped.mp4

Batch Shell Processing

You can pipe multiple files or run batch loops directly in zsh:

# Process all PNG files in a directory
for file in ~/Sites/assets/*.png; do
  shortcuts run "Tamp Media" -i "$file" -o "${file%.*}_tamped.webp"
done

Scripting with Custom Shortcuts

If you frequently need specific presets (such as converting web banners to WebP at 1920px), you can save a dedicated shortcut named “Tamp Web Banner” with your chosen options fixed inside Shortcuts.app, then trigger it from shell:

shortcuts run "Tamp Web Banner" -i banner.png -o banner.webp

Hotkeys, Raycast & Alfred Integration

Because PixelTamp exposes standard system App Shortcuts:

  • System Keyboard Shortcuts: Assign a global hotkey to your shortcut in Shortcuts.app > Shortcut Details > Add Keyboard Shortcut.
  • Raycast: Open Raycast, search for your PixelTamp shortcut by name, and execute it instantly with selected Finder items.
  • Alfred: Trigger the shortcut via the Alfred Shortcuts workflow or custom universal action.