iPhoto sync options

August 28, 2007 5:28 PM

Best way to up-syncing iPhoto galleries to the web?

I'm trying to find a program/web hosting service that will sync specific galleries from my iPhoto 08 library to a photo hosting site.

Here are my requirements:

* Must be able to up-sync photos to the photo web host (i.e anything that changes on my computer overrides the photo web host)
* Works seamlessly with iPhoto 08
* Web host must store original photos and allow specific people to download full resolution photos in bulk (download whole gallery in one .zip) or by photo
* I don't care how fancy the gallery is, just that it is fast and reliable

"So," you might think, "this is a perfect job for .mac!" Not quite. .mac does everything I need except allow downloading of full resolution photos. For example, on .mac if you upload a 8mb photo to a gallery, it downloads as a 1mb photo. The resolution is sometimes the same, however, the quality is not!

So, any thoughts?

posted by colecovizion to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Flickr + FlickrExport. Pro accounts are cheaper than .Mac, and you'll be joining a vibrant community.
posted by togdon at 5:48 PM on August 28, 2007

The new webgallery in iPhoto + .Mac permits downloading of full res pix.
posted by filmgeek at 6:22 PM on August 28, 2007

I've never used it, but iPhoto to Gallery looks promising.
posted by adamrice at 6:27 PM on August 28, 2007

Thanks for the replies everyone! A few questions:

togdon and adamrice - Does this actually sync up to the web host? I couldn't find any information on it via the websites. For example: is there a button I can press that takes a look at what I have in iPhoto and then modifies the web hosts' photos to match? i.e. i delete a photo locally, it deletes on the webhost.

filmgeek - as I explained above, .mac sites do not download the original full res photo, rather a re-compressed version. Hopefully they'll fix it and I'll be set!
posted by colecovizion at 6:54 PM on August 28, 2007

Apparently iPhoto to Gallery adds a pane to the "export" window in iPhoto (which seems logical enough). Apparently you select photos and export them.

AFAIK, there's no easy way to do a true sync between iPhoto and a remote gallery, where locally deleted files are deleted remotely. That would require a whole 'nother layer of software architecture. Dotmac might be different, but the Flickr plugin and Gallery plugin, no. And the wacky file structure used by iPhoto means it would be that much harder to build on existing Unix tools that otherwise might be helpful for this sort of thing.
posted by adamrice at 7:42 PM on August 28, 2007

Thanks for the insight adamrice. I guess I'll just have to wait for something to come along! :)
posted by colecovizion at 8:43 AM on August 29, 2007