The Holocore Weblog

Pixelpipe private beta invite (PictureSync)

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:09:00 GMT

Want to check out and help test what is best described as PictureSync-in-a-cloud? Got an iPhone or Nokia N-series? Want to upload to services PictureSync doesn't support yet like Blogger, Picasa, Pikeo, Phanfare, Tumblr, TypePad, Wordpress or YouTube?

Click this link and signup for Pixelpipe. Note that this link is restricted to a small number of signups, but if you have a licenced copy of PictureSync, you may also send feedback from the Help menu and I'll send you your own invite.

What is Pixelpipe? It's a web-service that takes your uploads from disparate applications (such as our own iPhone application, or any third-party Flickr API compatible application) and sends them to your preferred photosharing and blog providers. We connect it all together.

You can use it with PictureSync or any other suitable upload plugin/application. If you're wondering how this impacts PictureSync I'll post about that soon, or for more background see my blog post on metaverse.

It's early days yet and we're working towards adding a lot more supported applications and services, plus functionality akin to what you can currently find in PictureSync itself.

Zooomr's baaack + Windows update (PictureSync, Zooomr, Windows)

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Now that Zooomr's made it out with a fully fledged API in their latest release, I've restored the Zooomr plugin to the services list in PictureSync for Mac [Download]. Just click Window>Accounts>+ and it'll appear (or choose Help>Check for updates if you already have a Zooomr account in your list).

The Zooomr plug-in supports location, updating, and links (that's the last icon in the information drawer). Kudos go to Kris to instantaneously fixing some bugs in the API methods!

Not to be left out, a new build of PictureSync for Windows Alpha [Download] has been released also with support for Zooomr, plus Facebook and Fotki. (No further services are likely to be added until the next milestone—sorry!)

PictureSync for Windows Public Alpha (PictureSync, Windows)

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:17:00 GMT

Regrettably this has been sitting partially on the backburner for the past few months, but I'm pleased to make a public alpha of PictureSync for Windows available.

I must stress the alpha. This release can be used to annotate and upload JPEGs. Nothing else. It reads IPTC/XMP annotated files, works with Expression Media/MediaPro, and Lightroom. You can upload to Flickr, other services such as 23 and ipernity that support the Flickr API), Webshots, Photobucket and any FTP server.

We've still got a way to go, but we hope your feedback will encourage us to forge ahead with its development and our plans.

It's worth noting that this is effectively a completely new application and workflow compared to the existing Mac version, and indeed if received well is likely to be the model for the next Mac version. The key change is that uploading is currently made via drag and drop only, thus there is no 'upload' button.

The current interface is fairly pedestrian but notice that the left hand panel is context aware. This means it changes depending on what you are doing, which may take a little getting used to. When you select an image it will show the metadata inspector, when you start dragging or have nothing selected, it will show your folders and accounts.

Further updates to come!

Aperture 2 (PictureSync, Aperture)

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:15:00 GMT

Just a quick note to those of you using or considering upgrading to Aperture 2. PictureSync support for grabbing your selection is broken, I will investigate and fix but this may be a good few weeks away I'm afraid.

In the mean time you can use drag and drop. It's worth noting that you can actually use the drag and drop method without requiring a licence for PictureSync however this method does not allow syncing or enable uploads to be remembered.

Select your images in Aperture and ensure your images have up-to-date previews. If you've made image adjustments they are probably current, however if you've made annotation changes they may not be and you will need to force regeneration (hold down the Alt/Option key and choose Images>Generate Previews).
Drag and drop your selected images to PictureSync (it's icon, the file list or the open button).

PictureSync Leopard compatibility (PictureSync, Mac)

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 20:14:00 GMT

[Update] Additional issues with r13 have been fixed, the latest version is r14. See below.

I've just released an update (v1.8r13) that fixes the Can't get item 1 of "" bug on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard which was launched yesterday. All plug-ins have also been updated, with the exception of SmugMug. To update, if you're still on 10.4, choose 'Check for Updates' from the Help menu in PictureSync; otherwise download the new version and then choose Check for Updates to get the latest plug-ins.

For the techies; the only compatibility issue (unearthed thus far) was that 10.5 changes the location of temporary files (yet again). In fact this change is for the better as the path is now apparently randomised which increases security. The SmugMug plug-in didn't require an update as we're using AppleScript's XML-RPC client (ironically SmugMug were considering dropping support for XML-RPC, but it does have the advantage of portable and reliable client support, if not a flexible lexicon). For all the other plug-ins we use our own HTTP and parsing methods to support the various services REST, SOAP and variant web service APIs.

If you're wondering what I think of Leopard, well I'm rather blasé:

10.5 Leopard is not such a notable upgrade as 10.4 Tiger unless you're a developer, the knock-on of this to you as a user is that you're like to see more applications with 10.5 specific functionality. It will herald a whole new era of enriched user-interfaces, but these apps may still be a little while coming. If you're on 10.3 Panther, go buy yourself a copy. If you're on 10.4, you'll have to weigh up the pros and cons.
The UI tweaks really aren't too bad, I'll live with the new folder icons—they do go with the increased use of the powder-dusted aluminium look. Some are welcome, such as white menus (albeit semi-opaque), and glossy icon previews for videos.
I'm not noticing too much performance improvement (and I installed extra RAM), but the new Finder is a welcome relief, although it's crashed twice…hopefully it'll become more stable with future updates.
There are some nice little functionality tweaks, such as shared computers automatically appearing the sidebar, and secured network icons in the Airport menu (hold down alt for signal details). Hardly life changing though.
An Archive & Install took about 1h30 (I skipped the disc check), took ages to calculate the time remaining which started at 8h and then remained at 1 minute for ages. My recommendation; if you currently have 10.4 or 10.3 and no prior version, and have experienced no issues, use the regular upgrade. If you've already upgraded your system e.g. from 10.3 to 10.4 and now 10.5 I'd recommend an Archive & Install.
I was unable to delete and recreate some secondary partitions on my drive from the installer disc, but once booted I did without problem (a very welcome feature).
I'm not likely to use TimeMachine myself, at least until I have more storage. I use SuperDuper because my backups are then bootable. (Tip: SuperDuper also preserves the upload state for items uploaded with PictureSync, which few other programs do. I'm sure, but have not tested, that TimeMachine will too.)
Warning from Apple: do not use TimeMachine whilst running Aperture.

[Update 28th Oct. 2pm EST] Apparently this update is broken because it asks for Expression Media/Aperture, which is a terrible failure either of Xcode 3 or OS X 10.5. I'll get an update out in an hour or so if a rebuild on 10.4 goes as planned. You can still grab the prior version and prior plug-ins (unzip and drop into Home/Application Support/PictureSync/Services/).

[Update 28th Oct. 4pm EST] I've now rebuilt PictureSync using xcode 2.2 on 10.4 and released it as v1.8r14 to address the issues reported in the comments. It appears Xcode 3.0 on 10.5 is ignoring AppleScript "using terms from" commands that allow referencing applications that might not be installed—without prompting the user to locate a missing/unknown application. I'll have to investigate further but for now it certainly looks like I won't be using 10.5 to do further compiling.

As to why this slipped passed testing, in order to have caught it I would have needed to uninstall one of the supported applications, which is not something I test with minor updates as this was/should have been. As a small company (PictureSync for Mac is essentially maintained by myself only, at present) we're agile and rely mainly on your feedback to help isolate issues amongst the multitude of various combinations that PictureSync supports. As such we then aim to fix problems ASAP, as in this case. Arguably we wouldn't have to fix such issues if we had longer more thorough testing phases but in that scenario it would be impossible for us to offer PictureSync at it's current cost, indeed no charge has been made for upgrades since licences were originally introduced. Updates such as this are pushed out to only a small number of users so that issues are resolved by the time the majority download.

As ever thanks for reporting your issues, and I hope I've been able to address them suitably speedily.

PictureSync Windows Alpha Testers (PictureSync)

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:57:00 GMT

[Update 15th Sept.] The Alpha release is now out for testing with small number of willing participants, you're still welcome to join in!

Nope this isn't the actual announcement of the PictureSync Windows Alpha test, but if you'd like to be in on it please drop me a message to feedback [at] picturesync [dot] net. Bearing in mind Alpha means that although we may have the utmost confidence in ourselves, we haven't actually tested beyond a couple of computers. Therefore you should be pretty confident in your ability to survive it not doing what you want it to, looking ugly, throwing errors at you, or possibly even flicking through your photos with sticky fingers whilst bending them willy-nilly.

If you just want to be notified of the public Beta, submit your email over here.

The Alpha will likely (we're agile) commence next week, and will gradually turn into a public Beta (whence everyone who's already signed up to be notified will be invited), probably then followed by a Gamma, 'Loves You', etcetera…

To avoid disappointment, the Alpha will support IPTC/XMP (thus Lightroom) and MediaPro (not Expression Media), along with Flickr, Webshots, and Photobucket. We'll roll in Fotki, Smugmug and Picasa Web Albums pretty quickly too.

More soon.

Plugin for Gallery 2 (PictureSync, Gallery)

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:32:00 GMT

Support for Gallery, the open-source self-hosted web application, is by the most frequently requested plugin for PictureSync.

Well I'm glad to say I've just released a plugin for Gallery 2, or more specifically version 2.2+ of the Gallery Remote Protocol. In fact Gallery 1 is the most requested version, but I haven't yet installed or tested against it so I'm not sure about compatibility on that front. I will however be looking into it, and please do let me know if you run into any issues or have requests.

To add a Gallery account in PictureSync, choose Accounts from the Window menu (or click the status area) and the click the [+] (add) button. Choose Gallery 2 from the list and then enter your domain name or the full URL to the gallery main.php file. If you get an unsupported error, you are either using an old version or did not enter the Gallery URL (I know those are in fact distinct errors).

ImageStation shutting down (PictureSync)

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:56:00 GMT

Joining the likes of Yahoo! Photos and ClubPhoto, Sony ImageStation is itself closing on 1st February 2008, whilst uploads will be stopped on November the 12th.

More information about the shutdown is at their site. They've partnered with Shutterfly (only) for keeping your photos online, but you can also order a CD/DVD. More notably it sounds like they're providing a batch downloader for both Windows and Mac, although it's not available yet…

Naturally the ImageStation plugin for PictureSync will no longer function and will be removed. If you've got all your images saved on your computer, you can easily choose another of the providers PictureSync supports and upload them to share with that new provider.