To Flickr from Photo Album... WITH TAGS???

July 3, 2005 3:20 PM

On flickr, why isn't there a method or hack to upload pictures WITH TAGS & DESCRIPTIONS from Adobe Elements Photo Album, or any other Windows based album software. I'm not a programer, but it seems that the web savy community has come up with a solution to a new problem every day, why not this one? Won't this be a useful solution?
posted by Mroz to technology (15 comments total)

Why don't you ask this on Flickr?
posted by rhapsodie at 3:43 PM on July 3, 2005

I upload from Picasa all the time. It puts titles and descriptions in. The only downside is that it automatically uses a certain set of tags I've put in to refer to my cell phone when I send a picture from it.

I'd like to have a way to specify a set of tags in the body of the upload email, but it wfm pretty well already.
posted by socratic at 4:06 PM on July 3, 2005

Its been asked on flickr, but I was hoping to ask what I thought was an elite group of internet users who might know how to do this. Do you think its helpful to answer my question with another question?
posted by Mroz at 4:11 PM on July 3, 2005

I dont know anything about Photo Album but is this what you want?
posted by vacapinta at 4:12 PM on July 3, 2005

I would like to be able to use my Adobe Photoshop software, to tag each photo with the appropriate tags (the names of the people in it, the objects in it, etc) and be able to sync it with flickr. currently, the best I can do is upload a group of photos that all get tagged with the same tags. Mucho time consuming when you come home with 1000 pictures from a trip.
posted by Mroz at 4:16 PM on July 3, 2005

Do you think its helpful to answer my question with another question?

Would you like fries with that?

How about a pony, too?

Seriously: how do you expect Metafilter users to magically be able to manipulate flickr's, or any website's, back end? Since you're not a 'programer' (or much of a speller, apparently), let's be clear: The good folks who run the server, as a service to people like you, would have to do work to make what you ask for happen. Contact them and offer them an incentive, such as money, if you're serious about getting this done.
posted by ikkyu2 at 4:29 PM on July 3, 2005

I don't think he's talking about Flickr's back end. I think he's wondering why the Windows user's plug-in options aren't as rich as, say, the OS X user's. He doesn't even seem to be asking for solutions - just asking why the approach that would be most convenient for him is not available.

I think the answer to that question is demographics. You have tremendous flexibility in tagging and adding descriptions to your pix if you export from iPhoto under 10.3, for example. I don't think that's a coincidence.
posted by caitlinb at 4:32 PM on July 3, 2005

Do you think its helpful to answer my question with another question?

Do you think it's helpful to ask a question here that is clearly better asked somewhere else?
posted by grouse at 4:34 PM on July 3, 2005

First off... as I said, I'm not a "programer", but if someone is able to create a plugin for Apple's iphoto that upload's people's photos with tags directly to flickr, why is this suddenly impossible (without magic) to do in windows? Secondly, people make crazy plugins, addons, free software, and other programing miracles in their spare time for fun and to help the web community all the time. Why is a plugin or addon for Adobe a completely rediculous question after people spent their time making many other flickr addons and tools. And finally, "good folks that run the server as a serivice to people like me? I PAY for service. They make money off of it. But, why do you have to manipulate flickr's backend to do this in windows, but not on an apple? I smell BS, is that that you David?

Why don't you take a break from being an ass to people and get down off your high horse.
posted by Mroz at 4:50 PM on July 3, 2005

The question was asked on Flickr, but no appropriate and helpful answers were given. So I decided to search elsewhere. Is this such a huge improvidence for me to ask this community a question? Is that not the purpose of this place? Or should be keep information from spreading any farther than the immediate pool it lies in?
posted by Mroz at 4:54 PM on July 3, 2005

To make an interface between two services, you need to have access to the API's (application program interface) for both ends. Flickr does their part, it's right here on the web. Good luck finding Adobe's. I think you need to spend money to even access the SDK (software development kit). Adobe is old-fashioned and figures anyone who wants to integrate with their products is going to make money off it, like with Photoshop plug-ins, so they want a cut.

OTOH, the real answer is because no has felt they needed to scratch this itch. The iPhoto Flickr exporter only exists because one programmer, Fraser Speirs, wanted it and knew enough to program it. All it takes is one person, but without that person nothing gets done.

(Another factor is that there are a lot of people who can do web programming, and relatively few who can do windows stuff. Always has been that way.)
posted by smackfu at 5:18 PM on July 3, 2005

Who pissed in ikkyu2's and rhapsodie's cornflakes this morning?
posted by apple scruff at 6:01 PM on July 3, 2005

I have no idea, but I got dibs on tomorrow's bowl.
posted by Mroz at 6:05 PM on July 3, 2005

Update, I just dropped and dragged my Adobe Elements Photo Album Photos into the FLickr Downloader, and it uploads the photos with tags. Must be a new update.
posted by Mroz at 8:21 PM on July 3, 2005

It's probably in the extended JPEG tagging info. The flickr team has been working on adding this support for a while, I'd imagine your thread got ignored because there are a lot of them out there: what you're looking for is info on EXIF and IPTC info. Specifically IPTC for the extended stuff in Photoshop.
posted by mikeh at 7:53 AM on July 5, 2005