While you may know you can create burn folders (File -> New Burn Folder) to ease burning DVDs and CDs, and you may know you can create smart folders (File -> New Smart Folder) to store often-used searches, did you know you can mix the two to create smart burn folders? Assume you have a set of files you’d like to regularly burn to disc, and that can be identified by a common characteristic–they all reside in one folder, or have a certain extension, or you’ve coded them all with an identical Spotlight Comment.
To make it easier to burn these files regularly, first create a burn folder as usual. Instead of dragging items into it, though, next create a new smart folder. Set the criteria such that your desired files are found in the search results, then click Save. In the new dialog that appears, name your smart folder, and then save it into your newly-created burn folder.
That’s all there is to it–now you have a smart burn folder that will be constantly updated with all relevant files. When it’s time to burn your backup, you’ll automatically get all matching files, without having to do any work on your own. Thanks to Mac OS X Hints reader ‘tedw’ for pointing this one out.