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by mceachen 2614 days ago
I started writing PhotoStructure because I got tired of being burned by failed open and closed source media apps. I wrote more details about it in a top level post, but this blog post describes why I quit my job to do this full time, where the project is currently, and where it's going. https://blog.photostructure.com/introducing-photostructure/

I'd love to have you try out the beta and have you share feedback!
2 comments
bpye 2614 days ago
I've signed up for your beta.

One question though - if you end up feeling it's unsustainable to continue developing PhotoStructure down the line do you have a plan? Obviously we would rather not be burned by it either, you you consider at that point making it open source so existing users can continue and make improvements?

Certainly I hope it never comes to it but it's nice to have a little reassurance.

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mceachen 2614 days ago
The "photo app" market is a zombie apocalyptic wasteland of failed and undead software. I don't want to get burned again, either, so:

1) There's a corporate mandate to open-source PhotoStructure for Desktop in the event of business closure.

2) Your library consists of industry-standard files. If you choose to do so, your originals are copied into a standard YYYY/YYYY-mm-dd/ folder hierarchy. XMP sidecars are added to hold inferred or novel metadata and store nondestructive edits, like rotation. A SQLite db (with commented schema! it's pretty, honest!) holds asset-file-tag relationships, albums, and other non-file metadata.

3) It's just me, and I love open source, so if I can get to the point where my licensing stream pays for food and shelter, I can open source then.

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canada_dry 2614 days ago
Signed up, though a quick browse I wasn't able to find any mention of face matching/recognition.

It's really the killer-feature that made Picassa so great - find all the photos over several years of a family member or friend.

Sadly, I've needed this feature for funeral photo albums lately and could really use the old Picassa!

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mceachen 2614 days ago
Face detection is one of the next things I'm building, along with sharing.
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canada_dry 2614 days ago
Great!

Sorry if I missed it, but is it possible (API or directly) to control Photostructure via python?

That way we could extend the features in many interesting ways - including our own face/object detection.

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