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Macros Palette

You can apply any of the existing macros using the Macros Palette. To open it you can either:

Use the menu Tools > Apply Macros > Palette, or
Use the Shrink button in the Manage Macros dialog

Once invoked, the Macros Palette window will remain on-screen, actively available, at all times unless and until you dismiss it or close Audacity.

Select Macro

In the "Macro" list, left-click on a Macro (or use Up or Down keyboard arrow) to select the Macro you want to apply.

Apply Macro to

Project

Use the Project button to apply the selected Macro to the current project.

The typical purpose of this option is effect automation - apply a sequence of effects to the project, using effect parameters and an order of applying the effects that you have found to work well for the type of audio you are processing. This saves time and provides consistency in your workflow.

The effects in the Macro are applied to the region of in the selected . Usually the selected Macro would not include an command so as to use the greater flexibility of the .

If an export command is included in the Macro, the entire project audio is exported irrespective of track or region selection. Therefore if the project contains multiple audio tracks, they will be together, unless any of the tracks are muted on the .

If the project has been Saved, then the exported files will be saved in a folder named macro-output. The macro-output folder will be in the location specified in .
If the audio in the project came from an imported file as its initial step (that is, it is a named project), the macro-output folder will also be in the location specified in .
If the project has not been saved and is un-named, the normal dialog will appear enabling you to choose the name and location of the exported file.

Macros will work on pre-existing selections you make in your project prior to running the Macro. But the selection can be over-ridden by your Macro itself as there are macro commands available to effect selections in the audio. In particular All(Select All) will select the entire project and Select which is parameterizable (see the provided Fade Ends Macro for an example where the first and last one seconds of the audio are selected for the fades).

Files...

The typical purpose of this option is batch processing - apply the Macro to multiple audio files so as to apply one or more effects to them, and/or convert them to another file format. You can convert from any file format to WAV, MP3, OGG or FLAC.

Use the Files... button to apply the selected Macro to selected external audio files that are in a single directory.

If you already have audio in the current project window, you must save and close that project using File > before applying a Macro to files.

You cannot apply a Macro to multiple Audacity AUP3 project files, instead you need to use Python scripting.

The selected Macro must include an Export step, otherwise the processed audio will not be retained.

You cannot process (for example, 5.1 surround sound files) using Macros, even if has been set to "Use custom mix". Any multi-channel files you import will be mixed down on export.

A standard File Open dialog box will appear. Choose a directory then you can select one or any number of supported audio files in that directory, including older AUP project files (but not AUP3 project files).
- You cannot select files outside that directory, and files in folders inside that directory will not be processed.
- It is convenient therefore to first put all the audio files you want to process into one folder before applying the Macro.

When a Macro is applied to files, the only option is to import and process the entire file. Thus the entire file will be exported unless an action or effect in the Macro (such as or ) removes some audio.

If modifying the audio before exporting, the function may be useful to select audio to remove or modify.
Some optional

It is recommended not to process more than 500 files at a time.

The buttons

Expand

Use the Expand to return to the full-size, full-function dialog.

The apply Macro buttons are also available on the dialog - so all Macro operations can be made from that full dialog.

Cancel to exit the dialog

To dismiss the dialog simply click on the Cancel button

Otherwise the dialog will remain open on the screen, but allowing you to perform other Audacity functions.