Archive for February 2011
Leaving Flickr Behind: Why You Should Host Your Own Photos and Why Linux Makes It so Damn Easy
I’ve left Flickr. After many years as a loyal Flickr user, I decided not to extend my pro account and leave the popular photo sharing service altogether. Why? For starters, I couldn’t find a satisfactory answer to a rather simple question: What would happen if Flickr fails? It may be difficult to imagine that Flickr would disappear, but remember that Flickr is just a business — and not a profitable one at that. And even if Yahoo! will continue supporting Flickr, what will happen if I wake up one morning and discover that my account has been deleted without any prior warning? Not that it has never happened to anyone before.
These questions were only one reason why I started thinking about leaving Flickr. Another important reason has a lot to do with my work as an evangelist for Excito, a Swedish company that develops the B3 Linux-based personal server. This tiny yet powerful device can handle pretty much every task you throw at it, and I’ve been using it as my file server and backup solution for quite a while. And since it comes with the Apache/MySQL/PHP stack, the decision to use B3 for hosting my photos was a no-brainer.
The server sports its own easy-to-use photo album application which makes it supremely easy to create slick albums from directories containing photos and share them with others. Although it’s a decent solution for quick and easy photo sharing, it’s a bit limited for my needs. Fortunately, there is no lack of good LAMP-based open source photo sharing applications, and after doing some research, I decided to go with the Piwigo solution. Since B3 has all the required components installed and configured, deploying Piwigo was a pretty straightforward thing to do. So I had my photo sharing solution up and running in almost no time.
Of course, the fact that B3 is capable of running LAMP-based applications right out of the box saved me a lot of time and effort. But with a little more work, you can deploy a photo sharing application on any Linux-based machine. On Debian or Ubuntu, installing the Apache/MySQL/PHP stack is a matter of executing a few simple commands (for example see: Installing Apache2 With PHP5 And MySQL Support On Ubuntu 10.10). The XAMPP package provides an even more straightforward solution.
Sure, Piwigo is no Flickr killer, but it has all the features I need. You can organize photos into categories, specify access privileges for each photo, let visitors comment and rate your photos, and much more. Better yet, you can extend the application’s default functionality with plugins. For example, I installed plugins that collect visitor stats, enable Facebook sharing, and map geotagged photos using Google Maps.
Leaving Flickr and hosting photos on my own server meant losing the social features that are an integral part of the popular photo sharing service. But was that such a big loss? Not for me. I do have a few Flickr contacts whose photos I enjoy, but that’s about it. I used to post my photos in different groups, but comments like “Awesome shot,” “Love it!” “Great DOF” didn’t really help me to take better photos.
Hosting photos on your own server is not for everyone, though. In addition to a dedicated server, you need a decent Internet connection, and you have to take care of backup and other practicalities. But if you want complete control over your photos and the way you share them, or you are not happy with Flickr for other reasons, then going the self-hosting route makes a lot of sense. Besides, it doesn’t have to be an either-or decision: you can still use Flickr and use your own server as Plan B.
Want to see the B3/Piwigo combo in action? Visit my photo gallery and read more about the B3 server at excito.com.
digiKam Tricks 2.0 Released
The digiKam Tricks book version 2.0 is now available. Here is what’s new in this release:
- New book cover
- Convert Photos to Black and White
- Geotag Photos with Open GPS Tracker and digiKam
- Instant Vintage Photo Effects with the FIL Script for GIMP
- Work with Photo Metadata in digiKam
- New figures added
- Numerous tweaks and fixes
- Touch up Photos with GIMP Scripts removed
- Geotag Photos with Geotag removed
Readers who already purchased the book will receive the new version free of charge. If you haven’t received your copy, please send me your order confirmation as proof of purchase to dmpop@linux.com and I’ll email you the latest version of the book.
Happy reading!
Work with Photo Metadata in digiKam
Inside each digital photo hides metadata in the EXIF, IPTC, or XMP formats, and digiKam provides tools for viewing and editing this useful information.
For starters, digiKam’s main window features the dedicated Metadata sidebar which lets you view EXIF, Makernote, IPTC, and XMP metadata. You can switch between concise and full views as well as print the metadata, save them as a file, and copy them into the clipboard.
You can use the Caption/Tags sidebar to edit basic metadata such as caption (i.e., the photo’s title), author, date and time as well as assign the photo ratings and tags. The Information section of the sidebar allows you to enter additional information about the photo such as licensing terms, location, and contact info. Since digiKam supports templates, you don’t have to enter this information manually. You can apply an existing template to the photo by selecting it from the Template drop-down list. To create a template on the fly, press the Edit button next to the drop-down list.
digiKam offers metadata editing tools, too. To edit, for example, EXIF metadata, choose Image » Metadata » Edit EXIF. The metadata editor conveniently organizes all metadata into sections, making it easier to find and edit specific entries. For example, to edit hardware-related information, switch to the Device section. Here you can modify device manufacturer, device model, exposure-related settings, and other information.
Using the Image » Metadata » Import EXIF command, you can copy EXIF metadata from one photo to another. This feature can come in handy when you use an image editing application that strips all metadata from the edited photo. If you keep the original photo, you can easily copy the EXIF metadata from it into the tweaked photo.
Want to strip all EXIF metadata off the photo? digiKam’s got you covered: choose the Image » Metadata » Remove EXIF command, and digiKam scrubs the metadata off the photo.
In addition to EXIF, digiKam supports the IPTC and XMP formats, so you can perform the described actions on metadata stored in these formats.
Instant Vintage Photo Effects with the FIL Script for GIMP
You can emulate different vintage photo effects in GIMP, but usually this is a rather laborious and time-consuming process that requires some editing chops. Fortunately, the Film Imitation Lab (FIL) script lets you turn plain snaps into eye-popping vintage photos with a minimum of effort.
To install FIL on Linux, download the latest release of the script, unpack the downloaded archive, and move two .scm files from the resulting folder to the ~/.gimp.2.6/scripts directory. Some of the FIL script’s functionality depends on two plugins: Fix-CA and G’MIC. The Fix-CA script is distributed as a C source file, so you have to compile it yourself. To do this, install the required development library. On Debian and Ubuntu, this can be done by executing the following command as root:
apt-get install libgimp2.0-dev
Once the library has been installed, run the gimptool-2.0 –install fix-ca.c command to compile and install the Fix-CA plugin. Next, grab the G’MIC plugin for your platform, unpack the downloaded archive and move the gmic_gimp file from the resulting folder to the ~/.gimp.2.6/plugins directory. Launch GIMP and choose Filters » RSS » FIL check plugins to make sure that all the required plugins are installed properly. FIL is now ready to go. Open the desired photo in GIMP and launch FIL by choosing Filters » RSS » FIL.
The FIL script breaks photo processing into three stages: correcting color, adding grain, and applying vignetting. If specified, the script can also perform exposure correction, which is done prior to applying any effects.
The FIL dialog window lets you specify settings for each stage of the process. To apply color effects, tick the Colorcorrection stage check box and select the desired preset from the Color process drop-down list. To give the photo a distinctive vintage look, FIL lets you add grain to it. Enable the Grane stage option and select a grain type from the Grain process drop-down list. Which color process preset and grain type to choose depends on your taste and the given photo, and the best way to find out which combination works best for the current photo is to try them all.
Vignetting (dark corners at the edges of the photo) is often considered a problem, but it can also be used as a creative effect that draws attention to the main subject on the photo. To add vignetting to the photo using FIL, tick the Enable vignette check box and adjust the available parameters.
To make the vintage effect even more realistic, you can add a lens defect effect to the photo by enabling the Border blur feature which does exactly what its name says: it adds blur typical for defective or low-quality lenses to the borders of the photo.
Enabling the Write options in layer’s name option saves the selected color process preset and grain type as the name of the current layer. Choose, for example, the SOV: normal preset and the Sulfide: grunge grain type, and FIL sets the layer name to -c SOV: normal -g Sulfide: grunge. This feature can come in handy for keeping track of the settings you used for the given photo. If the current photo consists of several layers, make the layer you want to use with FIL visible and tick the Work with visible check box.
Once you’re happy with the settings, press the OK button and the script transforms the original image into a vintage photo based on the specified settings.
While you can use FIL to tweak individual photos, the script also allows you to batch process multiple images in one fell swoop. To process several photos, choose Filters » RSS » FIL Batch, specify the source and target directories, and tweak the settings for each stage. Alternatively, you can tick the Random mode check box. In this case, FIL will use random color process presets and grain types for each photo in the batch. Press OK and the script does the rest.
Geotag Photos with Open GPS Tracker and digiKam
You don’t need a fancy camera with a built-in GPS receiver to geotag your photos. An Android device with the Open GPS Tracker app and digiKam can do the job just fine. The app lets you track your route and save it as a GPX file which you can then use to geocorrelate your photos in digiKam.
Geocorrelation is a relatively simple process which assigns geographical coordinates from the GPX file to the photos based on their time stamps. So for this technique to work its magic, you must sync the time on your Android device with your camera. When you head for a photo walk, launch Open GPS Tracker on your Android device and start a new tracking session. When you are back home, stop the tracking session, and use the Share Track button in Open GPS Tracker to save the recorded track in the GPX format on the SD card or send it via email to your machine.
Offload then the photos from your camera to digiKam, select them, and choose Image » Geolocation » Correlator. Press the Load GPX File button and select the GPX file. digiKam should then automatically assign geographical coordinates to the photos. By default, digiKam can tolerate a 30-second gap between the time settings of the camera and the GPX track. If the gap is longer, the application may fail to assign geographical coordinates to some of the photos. In this case, you can increase the time gap in the Max time gap field. Press then the Correlate button to refresh the geographical coordinates. This makes geocorrelation less precise, but you can use the Edit button to adjust the coordinates manually. Once you’re satisfied with the result, press the Apply button to save the assigned coordinates in the photos’ metadata, and you are done.
Convert Photos to Black and White with digiKam
If you fancy black and white photography, you’ll be pleased to learn that digiKam features a rather powerful tool for converting color photos to black and white. Turning the currently edited photo to black and white in digiKam is a matter of choosing Color » Black & White. But in most cases, the converted photo needs additional tweaking, and the application offers a few nifty tools to do just that.
The Film section provides a handful of filters that emulate different film types like Agfa Pan, Kodak Tmax, Kodak TriX, and Ilford SPX. These filters offer a quick and easy way to tweak the black and white photo. Which film filter works best depends on the currently edited photo, so you might want to try several filters to achieve the best result. Select the filter you like, and you can immediately see the result in the preview pane.
As the name suggests, the Lens Filters section contains several color filters, including orange, green, yellow, and red. While you can experiment by applying different filters to the photo, the easiest way to find out which filter is best suited for the specific photo is to use the context help. Press Shift+F1 and click on any filter to get a brief description of it. Once you’ve applied the desired filter, you can specify its intensity by using the Strength slider.
Besides the straight black and white conversion, digiKam lets you turn your photos into duotone images. And the Tone section offers several tone filters such as sepia, platinum, and green.
Finally, the Luminosity section lets you manually adjust the curve and the contrast. This feature can come in handy if you want to fix under- or overexposed areas and improve the overall contrast of the photo.
digiKam Tricks 1.7 Released
The digiKam Tricks book version 1.7 is now available at Amazon US and UK. Here is what’s new in this release:
- Using the Levels Adjustment Tool in digiKam
- Convert RAW Files to DNG with DNGConverter
- Sieve through Photos with the Light Table Tool
Readers who already purchased the book will receive the new version free of charge. If you haven’t received your copy, please send me your order confirmation as proof of purchase to dmpop@linux.com and I’ll email you the latest version of the book.
The book is also available in the EPUB format. Visit the digiKam Tricks book page for further details.
Happy reading!
Sieve through Photos with digiKam’s Light Table Tool
If you have a handful of storage cards in your photo bag, there is no need to worry about how many photos you can take before your digital camera runs out of memory. This means that you can easily take dozen of shots of the same subject trying different angles, composition, and lighting. But this also makes the task of picking the best photo from the batch a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, digiKam provides a simple yet efficient tool that can help you to compare and analyze multiple photos side by side and pick the one you like most. The name of this wonderful tool is Light Table, and you can evoke it by choosing Tools » Light Table from the main toolbar.
This opens an empty Light Table window, and you can add two or more photos by dragging them onto the thumbnail pane (called thumbbar in digiKam) of the window. Alternatively, you can select the photos in an album and use the Ctrl+L keyboard shortcut or the Image » Place onto Light Table command to add the selected photos to a new Light Table window. You can then add more photos to the current Light Table window by selecting them in an album and choosing the Image » Add to Light Table command or using the Ctrl+Shift+L keyboard shortcut.
Using Light Table is rather straightforward. If you have added only a pair of photos to the Light Table window, they will be displayed side by side, making it easier for you to examine and compare photos. Press the Synchronize button, and Light Table will keep both photos in sync. So when you zoom in and out or drag one photo, these actions are automatically applied to the other photo, too. You can reorder the photos in the Light Table window using the On left and On right buttons. And if you have more than two photos in the Light Table window, you can view them by pairs by clicking the By Pair button.
