URLs & licenses on downloaded images

I'm working on a desktop client app for Mac OS X, and as a
companion,  
I'm working on an Automator action that can find and
download images  
that meet certain criteria. In my desktop app, I can easily
handle  
the linking-back-to-Flickr requirements. And I can also
easily  
display the license info.

However, the Automator action simply downloads images
without any  
real GUI for displaying them beforehand. I'm trying to find
a good  
way to link back.

Option 1: I was thinking of just putting the image URL (as
returned  
in flickr.photos.getInfo) directly on the image - in the
lower left  
corner. I could do the same thing with the license Name/URL.
This  
would guarantee that whatever the user did with the image
after that,  
the info would always be present. (Or, I've made my best
attempt to  
make sure it's present - they could always crop it out).
However,  
this also means altering the image, and I don't know if
that's a no-no.

Option 2: Put the owner, url, and license info into the
Spotlight  
Comments field for the downloaded files. This would make
them much  
less obvious - especially when it comes to the license and
any  
restrictions around use, and these would likely not come
across were  
the image put up on a website, etc. However, it would also
mean  
leaving the image data untouched.

I guess Option 3 is to do both.

Any recommendations, thoughts, ideas?

Thanks,
Blake


 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://grou
ps.yahoo.com/group/yws-flickr/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    yws-flickr-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.c
om/info/terms/
 

Blake,

Here's one idea:

There is a little known (and sadly, little used) EXIF tag
for "unique
image ID."  After you download the image you could set
the value for
this EXIF tag to the Flickr photo ID.  This would alter the
image
file, but not in a way that your users would ever notice. 
Given how
rarely this tag is assigned, it is unlikely that you would
ever
overwrite another value (and it wouldn't really matter if
you did).

You would need a library for reading and writing EXIF data. 
I have
such a library for Python, which may or may not be useful
for you.

Of course, this is only going to be useful if someone opens
the file
using your app.  If they open the file directly, they will
never see
(or understand) this data.

Hope that helps,
Donovan

--- In yws-flickr@yahoogroups.com, brs_flickr...
wrote:
>
> I'm working on a desktop client app for Mac OS X, and
as a companion,  
> I'm working on an Automator action that can find and
download images  
> that meet certain criteria. In my desktop app, I can
easily handle  
> the linking-back-to-Flickr requirements. And I can also
easily  
> display the license info.
> 
> However, the Automator action simply downloads images
without any  
> real GUI for displaying them beforehand. I'm trying to
find a good  
> way to link back.
> 
> Option 1: I was thinking of just putting the image URL
(as returned  
> in flickr.photos.getInfo) directly on the image - in
the lower left  
> corner. I could do the same thing with the license
Name/URL. This  
> would guarantee that whatever the user did with the
image after that,  
> the info would always be present. (Or, I've made my
best attempt to  
> make sure it's present - they could always crop it
out). However,  
> this also means altering the image, and I don't know
if that's a no-no.
> 
> Option 2: Put the owner, url, and license info into the
Spotlight  
> Comments field for the downloaded files. This would
make them much  
> less obvious - especially when it comes to the license
and any  
> restrictions around use, and these would likely not
come across were  
> the image put up on a website, etc. However, it would
also mean  
> leaving the image data untouched.
> 
> I guess Option 3 is to do both.
> 
> Any recommendations, thoughts, ideas?
> 
> Thanks,
> Blake
>






 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://grou
ps.yahoo.com/group/yws-flickr/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    yws-flickr-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.c
om/info/terms/
 

Maybe you can incorporate the license and link back
information into
the filename itself. For example,
http://static.flickr.com/33/91879660_f9a28d71bc_o.jpg
can be named as
33_91879660_f9a28d71bc_o_allrightsreserved.jpg. However,
you'll have
to explain to the users how to read the information from the
filename. 

--- In yws-flickr@yahoogroups.com, brs_flickr...
wrote:
>
> I'm working on a desktop client app for Mac OS X, and
as a companion,  
> I'm working on an Automator action that can find and
download images  
> that meet certain criteria. In my desktop app, I can
easily handle  
> the linking-back-to-Flickr requirements. And I can also
easily  
> display the license info.
> 
> However, the Automator action simply downloads images
without any  
> real GUI for displaying them beforehand. I'm trying to
find a good  
> way to link back.
> 
> Option 1: I was thinking of just putting the image URL
(as returned  
> in flickr.photos.getInfo) directly on the image - in
the lower left  
> corner. I could do the same thing with the license
Name/URL. This  
> would guarantee that whatever the user did with the
image after that,  
> the info would always be present. (Or, I've made my
best attempt to  
> make sure it's present - they could always crop it
out). However,  
> this also means altering the image, and I don't know
if that's a no-no.
> 
> Option 2: Put the owner, url, and license info into the
Spotlight  
> Comments field for the downloaded files. This would
make them much  
> less obvious - especially when it comes to the license
and any  
> restrictions around use, and these would likely not
come across were  
> the image put up on a website, etc. However, it would
also mean  
> leaving the image data untouched.
> 
> I guess Option 3 is to do both.
> 
> Any recommendations, thoughts, ideas?
> 
> Thanks,
> Blake
>





 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://grou
ps.yahoo.com/group/yws-flickr/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    yws-flickr-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.c
om/info/terms/