Andy's dashboard

FINALLY! I just discovered something... (Edit: this is not new, see EDIT at bottom)

Pixelpipe has a new application for Mac users: Pixelpipe Uploadr 3.1
-See: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/...

I did a quick test, and it seems to work fine! Even noticed that the GPS coordinates of my picture were exported.

It works somewhat like the Firefox plug-in, but it is not Firefox (great!). It is a stand-alone application.

This comes short of being fully integrated with iPhoto, but on the plus side, it is more general purpose. It works by dragging a picture, or a selection, directly from iPhoto to its window. You do have to click "Upload" afterwards, but it is OK since it allows double checking what you want to upload, and mostly, you at this point can insert tags! So I guess you can decide the re-direction of pictures, but I haven't checked.

Now, the weirdest thing is that Pixelpipe does not list this application on their site, at least not where it should be (the section for Mac app).
Maybe the app is still very new (what I tried was released 25-Nov-09), but the version number is... 3.1!!!! Does that mean that 3.0 was out for a long time, and what about version 2 and version 1. How long has this been put and we didn't know about?
The app is not listed on VersionTracker.com website. This site provides the history of previous versions, Macupdate.com does not, so we may never know about what existed before version 3.1.

And, probably, to remain true to their self, Pixelpipe will probably never release any documentation for this. Let the users find out by trial and errors (lots of errors!).

Seriously, I am starting to feel happy, but would be more enthusiastic if Pixelpipe had been more forthcoming with Mac users.

EDIT: Pixelpipe Uploadr has been out for a LONG time. I just searched this forum for "Pixelpipe Uploadr", and some comments on it are a year old.
And Pixelpipe does not list the software in their Mac section. And THEY are the developer for it! (not that they didn't know about it!)

Makes you wonder...!

I've been looking for this app for months, I have already suggested many months back that a desktop application for Mac is needed, it did exist all along and no feedback.

Hi Bruce,

I didn't see this comment of yours before I typed my other comment higher up (I'm not going to edit it out now...).

I appreciate what you say and what you are doing. But I still don't know exactly what your service is and what it can do. I briefly went there, and didn't it immediately get it beyond "OK, another web album things... but not enough time... I'll stick to Picasa web"... See what I mean?

A user forum is great, kudos for that, but it is the thing to get started.

Can you point us to a summary page of exactly what it is and what it can do? Something that's not going to take hours to read and digest like a user forum... You know... the web is full of time wasters, and time is the most limited resource!

And, if not asking for too much, a list of the major things of what it's not, what it can't do (I mean the most obvious things that new people discovering your service might be wanting but is not what your service is about.
This is a tough one, I know, but from my experience with new stuff (software, online services...), it can be very frustrating to have a need, expecting it to be met, and trying to find for days how to do it while in fact that need is not covered at all. This may look like negative marketing to list non-features and shortcomings, but I see it at a positive. – Andy, on December 01, 2009 19:49

Bruce,

Not sure where you are getting to...

But the answer is NO. This is way too basic! Uploading ALL photos from the camera roll is not acceptable, not cropping pictures beforehand is not acceptable, not correcting colors is not acceptable. Even just not looking at a picture in a large format (e.g. computer screen) to appreciate its quality before deciding to upload is not acceptable.

These family members are "computer illiterate" in the large sense, maybe, but they already know relatively complex photo-centric workflows, focused on the photos and not on "computer stuff". They are thrilled by what they can do!
It took a while, it was hard but they learned those things and it is worth it because indispensable to get artful and personal pictures. They don't forget their workflows because they use them all the time and it is all now just natural to them.
And as I said, this was possible thanks to the Mac and iPhoto.

So adding extra, unnecessary, and un-logical steps, is not welcome. Doing a drag&drop to a Pixelpipe icon is satisfactory because it is easy to learn that "PixelPipe" is the magic to send pictures "out there"... But, for instance, having to open Firefox and looking for the Pixelpipe "plugin", and in the process getting confused with web access (not using Safari) is not!

And introducing something as basic as what you propose is not satisfactory either. People who dump their camera roll into a a Web Album and/or a Photo Printing Service account end up with an overloaded mess of ugly pictures!

So thanks Bruce, but No thanks!

But, maybe, you overdid it in pointing to simplicity, maybe you have something else to offer a bit more sophisticated. I guess you are talking about your service... I went there, and, in a few minutes, I didn't get it.

To summarize my need, my requirements:
. 1- Uploading feature integrated with existing iPhoto workflows is a must
. 2- Allow easy uploading to multiple online services (in my case and for now: "Picasa Web Albums" and Photobox.com printing service)
. 3- Using tags (or other easy means) to control the direction which service photos go to.
. 4- Being able to change, at any time, the online services photos go to, and without changing the workflow within iPhoto!
. 5- Allow setting up the Uploading service by a remote administrator (that would be me while the users are my "computer-illeterate" people).
. 6- All my requirements are nicely met by Pixelpipe EXCEPT, sadly, point number 1, the integration with iPhoto!!!!

Before knowing PixelPipe, I would never have thought my requirements would ever be met by a commercial service (especially a free one!). I didn't even think of my requirements before I knew Pixelpipe. Pixelpipe is a fantastic tool (especially for points 4 & 5 above!)... If only they didn't neglect the Mac and iPhoto!

But now, if you have an alternative that works for me, I'm all ears! – Andy, on December 01, 2009 18:42

yeah... right! You pulled the iPhoto plugin until... forever! :O( – Andy, on December 01, 2009 16:46

Note Mac users can use the Firefox Pixelpipe plugin. It seems to work well and can do the job for some people.

With this, you can drag and drop pictures directly from iPhoto to the plugin in the Firefox sidebar then click "Upload" and photos are uploaded via Pixelpipe - I didn't do extensive testing, tried it only a few times. Does it work with tags to control re-direction?

My BIG issue with this is that the workflow is more complicated than it should be, and mostly that I have to use Firefox which is a pain compared to Safari.

If I only had to use it for myself, the Firefox plugin would be OK.

But my need is to define "workflows" for family members and friends who are very computer-illtiterate, and most are remote (I coach them via iChat screen sharing) - seems like a full-time job sometimes!
So, for them, the Pixelpipe-Firefox workflow is too complicated. I can teach them today but within 2 weeks they will have forgotten the details:
. - open Firefox instead of Safari,
. - arrange windows so that they can see iPhoto and Firefox side by side.
. - Acces the Pixelpipe plugin
. - go back to iPhoto and do the drag and drop thing,
. - then go back to Firefox and click Upload,
. - then close Firefox and re-arrang the iPhoto window.
This is much more complicated, and unusual, than creating an iPhoto album and exporting it (i.e. workflows they are already familiar with).
And if Firefox is on their Macs, pretty soon they will try to navigate the web with Firefox by mistake instead of Safari and come ask me why suddenly every thing looks different on the Internet and why they lost all their bookmarks!

And no, sorry, I don't want to force them to default to Firefox instead of Safari. My computer-illiterate family members and friends can do an incredible amount of things thanks to the Mac and thanks to user-friendly programs and workflows. The Firefox workflow is just not user-friendly. – Andy, on December 01, 2009 16:39

(Note: this post has little to do with Pixelpipe, only a feedback to Katherine)

Using Facebook? Yuck!!!

Katherine, if your need is ONLY to share pictures with family, and you have the choice of which service to use, then with not use "Picasa Web Albums" (since the Picasa Uploader still works in latest iPhoto)?
I am suggesting primarily Picasa because it is a Google service and I (still) trust Google.
Picasa Web Albums is free up to 2Gb of photo space, and more storage is extremely cheap, I get 80Gb for $20 per year, shared between photos and email (Gmail).

Or use Flickr, which is integrated with iPhoto '09 (just like Facebook, yuck again!). Flickr is a Yahoo service, free for an unlimited amount of photo storage; only the monthly bandwidth is limited, but it is largely sufficient for non-professional use.
My problem with Flickr is that the company behind is Yahoo, and it is a matter for me of what company I trust and which I don't. I don't trust Yahoo.

I find PixelPipe really useful if you have a need to upload photos to various services, separately or at the same time, or if the photo service you want to use is not integrated with the photo management application you use (or at large, your "workflow"). But if you have the freedom to use any service you want, then why not choose one that is integrated with iPhoto - and you have, actually, you chose Facebook.

To expand on my "Yuck" comment for Facebook, I just don't trust Facebook, and I really dislike the idea of this closed community that is gaining ground the "candy way", with people who don't realize they are undermining the openness of the Internet by making it their only way to communicate with others. It is gaining ground with people who don't see the whole picture starting with kids (and then their parents HAVE to follow just to keep in touch with their kids!).
Facebook was only sound when it was a tool for a limited community, a university. It made sense to use a closed tool for this, just like using an Intranet within a company. But not for the Internet at large. Using Facebook is like using AOL at the beginning of the Internet. If everybody had stayed with AOL, the Internet wouldn't be what it is today, and now Facebook presents the risk of going back there....

But, sorry, I digress. This has nothing to do with PixelPipe who, let's remind it, is too lazy to provide the "rest of us" with an iPhoto plugin.

Bruce, you're very kind, but I don't think it took a genius to think of this (but anyway, you can call me Einstein if you please ;O)

Now I just wish Pixelpipe picked up on the idea...

After a few months, I am coming back here to check on PixelPipe and iPhoto, and no progress whatsoever!

This is ridiculous! It's soon going to be one year iPhoto 09 is out, and PixelPipe is still not compatible with it.
Every few months Brett comes in to reply to this iPhoto issue here and there with an evasive comment.

OK, so the original iPhoto plugin was developed by a third party... I guess Pixelpipe has lost contacts with that third party, and Pixelpipe developers have no idea how it works, they have no knowledge of Mac programming? Their hands are full with everything else?
But why wouldn't they contract a new third party development for an updated plugin?

I would venture to say that 90% of Mac users use iPhoto, and it seems that Pixel-pipe have no interest in the Mac community? Is that it? With the Mac market share increasing, that seems ridiculous to abandon it.
But if this it, please say so, and we can move on for goodness sake!

Pretty soon, a new version of Aperture is going to be out, and the plugin for Aperture will stop working as well! (not that I am using Aperture, it is not suited for me, too expensive to start with)

Instead of focusing to exporting directly from such and such application, why don't you at least develop a standalone program that export from a generic folder in the file system? At least this way, we could export photos from iPhoto (or any program!) to a folder, and then use that app to export to Pixelpipe! And this is not likely to break if Apple changes everything in iPhoto '10...
Using "Folder actions" (a Mac feature), the export to PixelPipe could occur automatically when photos are added to a particular folder. Maybe this is even doable with FTP transfers and some Applescript programming. I guess not too complicated, but I don't have the knowledge and time to do it myself.

Anyway, that would be just ONE Mac app to develop and it would be general purpose on the Mac, not just for iPhoto or Aperture. Not the ideal solution, but at least, we have a working solution.

Thanks for replying, but I already said in my post I used Firefox extension with success.

My question was actually about Routing Tags... what are they?

How do I use routing tags with the Firefox extension for instance?

I need routing tags because I have two principal destinations for my pictures, and I never want to upload those pictures to ALL destinations, usually only one destination for each purpose.

I don't understand how to use Routing Tags in the general case...
Here, BungleFeet's uses the Picasa application, but I am trying to use other conduits to PixelPipe, namely:
1- JPEG files on the desktop. I have tried successfully Firefox PixelPipe plugin to send those JPEG files via drag&drop. But how do I specify Routing tags in such a case???
2- I also want to try using sending photos via email, would just type the routing tag in teh body of the email?

Note 1: I'm on Mac OS X and sorely missing an iPhoto '09 Plugin so I am trying to find something else.
It seems like a PixelPipe Desktop app would be the first thing to get on a Mac to be able to use PixelPipe easily because we can drag&Drop photos directly from iPhoto. So it might even be easier to use a Desktop app rather than using a plugin into iPhoto's "Export" feature.

I tried JUploadr Java app (version unknown, it does not display it), but it doesn't seem to work fine on the Mac. I managed once or twice to seemingly upload files, but PixelPipe did not forward them to the default destination, and in my PixelPipe account they apparently all showed up but unreadable, an icon a big "?" on it. And they were more such icons than the number of files I actually uploaded!
Anyway, jUploadr is only listed now as a Linux app on PixelPipe website, so I guess it is not supported on the Mac. So we need a proper Desktop app!

Note 2: This trouble I am getting, like other people, illustrates how sorely needed is a user manual of some sort.
At least a reference manual that lists the basic functionality, like these Routing Tags. I only know they are probably useful to me by their names, but how to use them and in what context they make sense? Picasa uses tags, so it makes sense to the user I guess. But my context is not Picasa, not Twitter or Facebook (never used this),there is no mention of Tags in my context, then can I even benefit from Routing Tags. If I could use iPhoto with PixelPipe, I guess iPhoto's keywords would be Routing tags, or maybe not... I have no idea...
I do manage to learn stuff, by searching, reading a lot more or less randomly, and lots of trial and (mostly) errors, but what a pain! Just to figure what the available functionality is supposed to be in my context.

I badly want to use Pixelpipe, but this is really hard!

I can't understand why iPhoto 09 is on the back burner (probably totally cold, btw).
iPhoto desperately needs such an export tool. Even if Apple market share is small, I'd say 90% os Mac users use iPhoto and many of them are looking for a tool like Pixelpipe, so supporting iPhoto would be a nice springboard for Pixelpipe.

When?????