LaunchBar + Automator + Dropbox = CloudApp

DropBox

DropBox has a public folder where you can place files and then grab a publicly accessible link to them to send to family and friends for download. I use this feature quite a bit and so I found what works best for me to automate it.

LaunchBar

I select a file in Finder (or navigate to it through LaunchBar) then hold down cmd+space until it gets pulled into LaunchBar.

Automator

I then invoke this File Service. Depending on the size of the file, I either wait a second or I just hit paste where I would like to share the link.

Note: One could just invoke this Service directly from the services menu, but that wouldn't be as fun.

In order for this service to work you'll have to customize it a bit.

  1. Copy a public url from your DropBox public folder (you may need to place a file in the folder first to do this)
  2. Paste this url some place. It should look something like http://dl.dropbox.com/u/67774/Copy to DropBox Public and Grab URL.workflow.zip
  3. Then copy the number after the /u/. In this case it would be 67774.
  4. Open up the service in Automator.
  5. In the first action "Copy Finder Items", choose "Other..." from the dropdown. Navigate to the DropBox Public folder (usually Home → DropBox → Public) and choose it.
  6. In the "Run Shell Script" action, paste that number in place of 67774 in lines 3 and 5.
  7. Save.
  8. Move the service to Home → Library → Services.