So I am using S*E 1.0.0.251. I noticed that when one wants to upload a PNG, such as for a watermark, the image gets converted to a jpg, and not only does it lose its transparency it also changes the image. I will try to explain and include pictures...
So I created a watermark in Adobe Illustrator based on the directions on SmugMug's Help Pages. I exported it as a PNG file format (I tried it both as Save for Microsoft.... and Export. Export is better as it lets you set the transparency.
The output looked like this (Not sure how well it will read here)
When I tried to upload it via S*E it changed the image to look like this:
So at first I thought it was a glitch with my creation process. So I kept redoing it in different formats. Nothing changed. Then I wondered if it was a problem with me taking the files from my Mac OS through VMWare to the Win XP environment. So I took the files via thumbdrive to my Win XP desktop (yup with S*E in the Dropbox). I then uploaded again with the same result. So I then tried it with the SmugMug Browser Uploader and it worked fine. But that was on the Mac side, I tried it on the Win side, directly through the VMware shared directories, and they worked fine.
I then noticed something surprising, when I dragged the PNG files into S*E it would convert them to JPG files and place the copies right next to the originals in the directory.
I am aware that there might be some file limitations and API things, but I think that if the image is going to be modified it would be good that there is a warning that the image is being changed.
If you need more info, let me know.
Brad,
S*E can and does some conversion on your behalf. But you can control it. Open Tools|Options, there are two tabs: Upload and Conversion. I'm sure you'll figure out how to use them:-)
If you have caption/keywords in IPTC, then you don't have to do anything else: S*E (in either upload or replace mode) + SM combo will take care of it.
Played with this a bit, and I have yet another suggestion. It seems that keywords are picked from IPTC only if I do not enter anything in the keyword field when editing captions & keywords. If there is an option that I am missing, please point me in the right direction... but it would be very cool if the caption and keyword fields could be pre-populated with IPTC data, which I could then override in the dialog. If implemented with a button in the UI, I could potentially make changes, change my mind, then click the button to revert to IPTC data. Make sense?
Played with this a bit, and I have yet another suggestion. It seems that keywords are picked from IPTC only if I do not enter anything in the keyword field when editing captions & keywords. If there is an option that I am missing, please point me in the right direction... but it would be very cool if the caption and keyword fields could be pre-populated with IPTC data, which I could then override in the dialog. If implemented with a button in the UI, I could potentially make changes, change my mind, then click the button to revert to IPTC data. Make sense?
This is correct, everything you type in dominates the IPTC content.
I will think about bringing IPTC info up for editing...
Brad,
S*E can and does some conversion on your behalf. But you can control it. Open Tools|Options, there are two tabs: Upload and Conversion. I'm sure you'll figure out how to use them:-)
Dohp, I should have RTFM :hide. But I am still concerned about why the images look so different. They looked wrapped. I think it is a low risk issue, but something you should be aware of.
On a tangent,
I made another change to my upload work flow... I am still using Dropbox to keep S*E and have it on multiple machines. The change I made is that I found out about Windows Remote Desktop for Mac. So I installed the client on my Mac, installed the Dropbox client on the Windows machine. So when I am at home I copy the images to the Windows machine and then use RDC and S*E to upload the images. I can then do whatever I want with the Mac.
Now if Lightroom had better support for network drives I could elimate a step or two....
New version 1.0.0.252 uploaded
Sales info is back!
After a short period of blackout sales info download is back.
While there is still no API for it, it's not a screen scapring anymore, so it's much faster, dead accurate and, hopefully, much less prone to the future breaks (unless SM changes the data format:-)
Enjoy!
New to Star Explorer
I just downloaded the free trial, installed it, but wouldn't install on my pc (vista home prem.)
It says with a popup "This program may not have been installed correctly", to check compatibility settings, etc..
I just downloaded the free trial, installed it, but wouldn't install on my pc (vista home prem.)
It says with a popup "This program may not have been installed correctly", to check compatibility settings, etc..
Any suggestions?
I'm curious - did you try to use it?
That popup shows for me too, but I just click that it installed ok, and the product works correctly.
That popup shows for me too, but I just click that it installed ok, and the product works correctly.
--- Denise
Well, it didn't place an icon on my desktop like any other installed program normally does. I looked through installed programs too, and can't find anything that says Star Explorer.
Well, it didn't place an icon on my desktop like any other installed program normally does. I looked through installed programs too, and can't find anything that says Star Explorer.
Disregard - Disregard!!!
I am having a blond moment I guess. I found it, and it doesn't place an icon on my desktop. Sorry for the waste of time, i should have checked this earlier. It is exactly where I told it to install ... Now, let's try this and see how happy I can get (not having to create 160+ galleries manually on smug)
Denise - thank you for helping!
Andre - yeah, S*E is odd this way, sorry.
I'd assume you have images in those 160 albums? If so - play with auto album creation feature, it can shorten/simplify your work thousands times...
No, I still have to apply some basic editing and cropping to them, but will sure try it out next time round. I am pushed for time, as the people want to order pictures for X-mas.
I am about to create 150 galleries now. One thing I am not seeing is whether I can add a default Gallery description to each album ?
No, I still have to apply some basic editing and cropping to them, but will sure try it out next time round. I am pushed for time, as the people want to order pictures for X-mas.
I am about to create 150 galleries now. One thing I am not seeing is whether I can add a default Gallery description to each album ?
If you creating them empty (Create Multiple Albums), you can't.
However, if you use Auto Album Creation (which also populate albums with the pertinent images), then you can do it by adjusting Default Album Setting (the main toolbar button with one little check).
New version 1.0.0.254 uploaded
Recently SM changed its API to accomodate for the new features (Collected and Smart albums).
Unfortunately, it broke existing S*E code, effectively disabling donwloading images.
The new S*E version is aware of the API change and restored its functionality.
Sorry for the temporary inconvenience.
:-)
Few guys sent me their bug reports during the week. Unfortunately, during the week I did not have much of a mental bandwidth left to deal with it, plus it took time to confirm with SM R&D that it's not a glitch, which it seemed originally.
Anyway, very happy to have the code in a working state again :-)
:-)
Few guys sent me their bug reports during the week. Unfortunately, during the week I did not have much of a mental bandwidth left to deal with it, plus it took time to confirm with SM R&D that it's not a glitch, which it seemed originally.
Anyway, very happy to have the code in a working state again :-)
Nikolai, when I download and install the latest exe only, do you know why the system prompts me to say that this program didn't install properly at the end of the install? It's as if the system is expecting your installer to do something that it isn't doing.
John, I believe that if you download the exe only you should just copy it over the previously installed version of S*E. It needs to be in the same directory as some of the programming library items.
John, I believe that if you download the exe only you should just copy it over the previously installed version of S*E. It needs to be in the same directory as some of the programming library items.
I'm not having a problem installing successfully. I'm downloading the EXE self installer as I've been doing for many years now and it is installing successfully. I'm just asking why there's this OS error about it not installing properly. The installer must not be doing something that the OS (Vista) is expecting it to do.
Guys,
S*E "installer" is simply a self extracting archive. Vista/W7 thinks it's suspicious. Ignore the warnings and tell it it's OK.
Trust me:-)
--
Nikolai
Guys,
S*E "installer" is simply a self extracting archive. Vista/W7 thinks it's suspicious. Ignore the warnings and tell it it's OK.
Trust me:-)
--
Nikolai
I know. But, if you wanted to make it not be suspicious I assume that's possible. Do you know why Vista/W7 thinks it's suspicious?
I'm a newbie and still trying to figure things out...
Concerning the IPTC content and SmugMug keywords... can you clarify?
CASE 1: MY_FILE, which contains multiple tags in IPTC fields is being UPLOADED to SmugMug via SE... where does all the IPTC data go in SmugMug and specifically, is it searcheable and/or visible in the SMugMug keywords area of the image?
CASE 2: SE downloading a file containing SM keywords from SmugMug back to my local environment...
What comes back and where do you put it?
I'm a newbie and still trying to figure things out...
Concerning the IPTC content and SmugMug keywords... can you clarify?
CASE 1: MY_FILE, which contains multiple tags in IPTC fields is being UPLOADED to SmugMug via SE... where does all the IPTC data go in SmugMug and specifically, is it searcheable and/or visible in the SMugMug keywords area of the image?
CASE 2: SE downloading a file containing SM keywords from SmugMug back to my local environment...
What comes back and where do you put it?
Sure.
CASE1: if you don't override IPTC based keywords with S*E caption/keyword editor, all your IPTC info will be processed by SM as is. I don't know all their internals, but your IPTC keywords will become your SM keywords (unless some complication arises).
CASE2: as of last November, S*E also brings keywords back. So if you edit/add a few keywords (or even caption) of your SM image (online) and then download this image back via S*E, all this updated info will go into downloaded file's EXIF/IPTC.
I probably missed this in the directions, but is there a limit to what Star*Explorer can upload? I was trying to queue up a few largish videos (400MB, 597MB) and it would not put them in the queue. Was I not waiting long enough or does it not accept them?
I probably missed this in the directions, but is there a limit to what Star*Explorer can upload? I was trying to queue up a few largish videos (400MB, 597MB) and it would not put them in the queue. Was I not waiting long enough or does it not accept them?
Thanks
Brad,
there are two types of limits:
1) SM imposed: you cannot get over those. Keep in mind, SM limits both file size and content size (mega pixels for stills, time for videos)
2) to save yourself time and embarrassment, you can also set your own limits in S*E, separately on stills and videos. Unfortunately, only by the file size. S*E is not advanced enough to check MP count for jpegs or video length.
HTH
Guys,
S*E "installer" is simply a self extracting archive. Vista/W7 thinks it's suspicious. Ignore the warnings and tell it it's OK.
Trust me:-)
--
Nikolai
You are kind of cute, saying Trust Me with a Darth Vader thumb pic.
Brad,
there are two types of limits:
1) SM imposed: you cannot get over those. Keep in mind, SM limits both file size and content size (mega pixels for stills, time for videos)
2) to save yourself time and embarrassment, you can also set your own limits in S*E, separately on stills and videos. Unfortunately, only by the file size. S*E is not advanced enough to check MP count for jpegs or video length.
HTH
Hi Nik-
Getting closer after your point #2, since I knew I was inside limits of SM when even a 10MB 640x480 video wouldn't work. I went to the prefs and found that .avi is not included by default. Perhaps that can be changed in a future version just to avoid the "dohp!" questions. However when I hit "go" I got the following errors:
2/21/2010 1:51:25 PM: Started Parsing drag'n'drop items
2/21/2010 1:51:25 PM: Finished Parsing drag'n'drop items (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Uploading
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Upload files: 1, 9.86 MB
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Upload files: 1, 9.86 MB
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started TSEUploadThread
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM:
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Bashful: 1 out of 1: MVI_5486.AVI
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM:
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #2
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #2 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #3
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #3 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #4
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #4 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #5
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #5 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #6
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #6 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #7
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #7 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #8
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #8 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #9
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #9 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Started Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #10
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished Bashful: uploading MVI_5486.AVI to album 11285767, attempt #10 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: The system cannot find the file specified.
2/21/2010 1:53:54 PM: Finished TSEUploadThread (0:00:01)
2/21/2010 1:53:55 PM: Finished Upload files: 1, 9.86 MB (0:00:02)
2/21/2010 1:53:55 PM: Finished Uploading (0:00:02)
2/21/2010 1:53:55 PM: Started Logging out of 75dfbd03045039d49036d7b4230f6576
2/21/2010 1:53:55 PM: Finished Logging out of 75dfbd03045039d49036d7b4230f6576 (0:00:00)
2/21/2010 1:53:55 PM: Logged out: Session: 75dfbd03045039d49036d7b4230f6576
2/21/2010 1:53:55 PM: Started Logging in with hash: 125788/$1$XHxqw9Ec$k3S3o4Xk3jrbowGwRQPv8.
2/21/2010 1:53:56 PM: Finished Logging in with hash: 125788/$1$XHxqw9Ec$k3S3o4Xk3jrbowGwRQPv8. (0:00:01)
2/21/2010 1:53:56 PM: Logged in: Session: 61545b0eac4a4ea6c00facca91a9b44a; User: 125788; Hash: $1$XHxqw9Ec$k3S3o4Xk3jrbowGwRQPv8.
This error came on my Win XP real machine and the file in question was locatable as it is what I had dragged in at the start and it was shown properly in the queue description of path.
Getting closer after your point #2, since I knew I was inside limits of SM when even a 10MB 640x480 video wouldn't work. I went to the prefs and found that .avi is not included by default. Perhaps that can be changed in a future version just to avoid the "dohp!" questions. However when I hit "go" I got the following errors:
This error came on my Win XP real machine and the file in question was locatable as it is what I had dragged in at the start and it was shown properly in the queue description of path.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Brad,
yeah, I think I ned to update my defaults :-)
as for the AVI file - don't know... Try to restart S*E and try again. Maybe create a copy of the file in some no-special folder (not, like, "my videos")
Comments
Brad,
S*E can and does some conversion on your behalf. But you can control it. Open Tools|Options, there are two tabs: Upload and Conversion. I'm sure you'll figure out how to use them:-)
I will think about bringing IPTC info up for editing...
Dohp, I should have RTFM :hide. But I am still concerned about why the images look so different. They looked wrapped. I think it is a low risk issue, but something you should be aware of.
On a tangent,
I made another change to my upload work flow... I am still using Dropbox to keep S*E and have it on multiple machines. The change I made is that I found out about Windows Remote Desktop for Mac. So I installed the client on my Mac, installed the Dropbox client on the Windows machine. So when I am at home I copy the images to the Windows machine and then use RDC and S*E to upload the images. I can then do whatever I want with the Mac.
Now if Lightroom had better support for network drives I could elimate a step or two....
Pictures | Website | Blog | Twitter | Contact
Sales info is back!
After a short period of blackout sales info download is back.
While there is still no API for it, it's not a screen scapring anymore, so it's much faster, dead accurate and, hopefully, much less prone to the future breaks (unless SM changes the data format:-)
Enjoy!
I just downloaded the free trial, installed it, but wouldn't install on my pc (vista home prem.)
It says with a popup "This program may not have been installed correctly", to check compatibility settings, etc..
Any suggestions?
That popup shows for me too, but I just click that it installed ok, and the product works correctly.
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
Well, it didn't place an icon on my desktop like any other installed program normally does. I looked through installed programs too, and can't find anything that says Star Explorer.
Disregard - Disregard!!!
I am having a blond moment I guess. I found it, and it doesn't place an icon on my desktop. Sorry for the waste of time, i should have checked this earlier. It is exactly where I told it to install ... Now, let's try this and see how happy I can get (not having to create 160+ galleries manually on smug)
Thanks for your help Denise.
André
Andre - yeah, S*E is odd this way, sorry.
I'd assume you have images in those 160 albums? If so - play with auto album creation feature, it can shorten/simplify your work thousands times...
No, I still have to apply some basic editing and cropping to them, but will sure try it out next time round. I am pushed for time, as the people want to order pictures for X-mas.
I am about to create 150 galleries now. One thing I am not seeing is whether I can add a default Gallery description to each album ?
If you creating them empty (Create Multiple Albums), you can't.
However, if you use Auto Album Creation (which also populate albums with the pertinent images), then you can do it by adjusting Default Album Setting (the main toolbar button with one little check).
Sales URL changed on SM server - S*E had to comply:-)
Recently SM changed its API to accomodate for the new features (Collected and Smart albums).
Unfortunately, it broke existing S*E code, effectively disabling donwloading images.
The new S*E version is aware of the API change and restored its functionality.
Sorry for the temporary inconvenience.
Pictures | Website | Blog | Twitter | Contact
Few guys sent me their bug reports during the week. Unfortunately, during the week I did not have much of a mental bandwidth left to deal with it, plus it took time to confirm with SM R&D that it's not a glitch, which it seemed originally.
Anyway, very happy to have the code in a working state again :-)
Homepage • Popular
JFriend's javascript customizations • Secrets for getting fast answers on Dgrin
Always include a link to your site when posting a question
Pictures | Website | Blog | Twitter | Contact
Pictures | Website | Blog | Twitter | Contact
Homepage • Popular
JFriend's javascript customizations • Secrets for getting fast answers on Dgrin
Always include a link to your site when posting a question
S*E "installer" is simply a self extracting archive. Vista/W7 thinks it's suspicious. Ignore the warnings and tell it it's OK.
Trust me:-)
--
Nikolai
Homepage • Popular
JFriend's javascript customizations • Secrets for getting fast answers on Dgrin
Always include a link to your site when posting a question
I'm a newbie and still trying to figure things out...
Concerning the IPTC content and SmugMug keywords... can you clarify?
CASE 1:
MY_FILE, which contains multiple tags in IPTC fields is being UPLOADED to SmugMug via SE... where does all the IPTC data go in SmugMug and specifically, is it searcheable and/or visible in the SMugMug keywords area of the image?
CASE 2:
SE downloading a file containing SM keywords from SmugMug back to my local environment...
What comes back and where do you put it?
Sure.
CASE1: if you don't override IPTC based keywords with S*E caption/keyword editor, all your IPTC info will be processed by SM as is. I don't know all their internals, but your IPTC keywords will become your SM keywords (unless some complication arises).
CASE2: as of last November, S*E also brings keywords back. So if you edit/add a few keywords (or even caption) of your SM image (online) and then download this image back via S*E, all this updated info will go into downloaded file's EXIF/IPTC.
HTH
Nikolai
Thanks
Pictures | Website | Blog | Twitter | Contact
there are two types of limits:
1) SM imposed: you cannot get over those. Keep in mind, SM limits both file size and content size (mega pixels for stills, time for videos)
2) to save yourself time and embarrassment, you can also set your own limits in S*E, separately on stills and videos. Unfortunately, only by the file size. S*E is not advanced enough to check MP count for jpegs or video length.
HTH
You are kind of cute, saying Trust Me with a Darth Vader thumb pic.
Hi Nik-
Getting closer after your point #2, since I knew I was inside limits of SM when even a 10MB 640x480 video wouldn't work. I went to the prefs and found that .avi is not included by default. Perhaps that can be changed in a future version just to avoid the "dohp!" questions. However when I hit "go" I got the following errors:
This error came on my Win XP real machine and the file in question was locatable as it is what I had dragged in at the start and it was shown properly in the queue description of path.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Pictures | Website | Blog | Twitter | Contact
Brad,
yeah, I think I ned to update my defaults :-)
as for the AVI file - don't know... Try to restart S*E and try again. Maybe create a copy of the file in some no-special folder (not, like, "my videos")