Stirling
User guide

Automate

Automate saves a sequence of tools with their settings, so you can run the same steps on any files in one go. Open it from Automate in the left rail, or from the tool picker under Automation.

Create an automation#

  1. Open Automate and click Create New Automation.
  2. Enter an Automation Name. You can also add a description and choose an Icon.
  3. Click Add Tool and choose a tool in Select a tool.... Click its Configure tool button, set the options and click Save Configuration.
  4. Repeat for each step. Tools run in the order you add them, and you can use the same tool more than once. A tool you haven't set up shows ! Not Configured.
  5. Click Save Automation. It stays disabled until the automation has a name and every tool is configured.

Your automation now appears under Saved. Suggested has ready-made automations, such as Email Preparation and Pre-publish Sanitization. Run one as it is, or choose Copy to Saved from its menu to change it.

Interactive tools, such as PDF Text Editor, Sign, Annotate and Compare, can't be added to an automation.

Run an automation#

Before you start: in the desktop app, sign in to Stirling Cloud or a self-hosted server. On Stirling Cloud, each run uses your team's credits (Plans, credits and billing).

  1. Add the files to your workspace.
  2. In Automate, click the automation.
  3. Click Run Automation. Each step shows its progress.
  4. Review the files under Automation Results, then click Finish.

Edit, export or import#

Open the menu on a saved automation to Edit, Delete or export it:

  • Export downloads <name>.automate.json, which you can import into Stirling PDF elsewhere.
  • Export for Folder Scanning downloads <name>.folder-scan.json for folder scanning on a self-hosted server (Folder scanning) and for the Pipeline API.

Saved automations are kept in this browser. Export them to move them to another browser or computer.

To import, open the menu on Create New Automation and choose Import. Drop a JSON file or paste its contents, then click Import. Both export formats work. If an operation in the file can't be matched to a tool, it's listed as Unmapped.

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