Last chance to Save Photosynths
In case you missed the news, Microsoft announced on 2016 November 4th that on 2017 February 6th they will delete Photosynth.net and everything on it forever.
That means you have just one more month to save your Photosynth uploads.
Photosynth.net supports three different types of uploads:
1) original photosynths (also known as synths)
2) panoramas (also known as panos)
3) tech preview photosynths (also known as synthpackets)
Microsoft graciously gave us a way to export our panoramas and tech preview synths (types 2 and 3) but did not offer any way to export original photosynths (type 1).
(To officially export any of your own panoramas or tech preview photosynths, just:
a) sign into the account on Photosynth.net that you uploaded your content with,
b) view any of your panoramas or tech preview synths, and
c) click the ‘Export’ link, then
d) refresh the page in a minute and click ‘Download’.)
This morning a friend of the Photosynth community, Henri Astre, released a new script to enable anyone to export any original photosynth or tech preview photosynth (upload types 1 and 3) but not panoramas (upload type 2).
Henri’s PhotosynthDownloader gives us:
1) the only way to easily export an entire original synth
2) the ability to download synths on accounts which you may have forgotten your login credentials to.
3) the opportunity (if the author of a synth has marked their photos as Public Domain) to create a backup of Public Domain licensed synths while respecting the author’s expressed wishes regarding the use of their photography and the spirit of the Photosynth terms of use.
I want you to be able to take advantage of this excellent chance to save your photosynths, but PhotosynthDownloader does take a little bit of work to get running.
Here is what you need to do:
1) Install node.js on your computer.
Henri’s PhotosynthDownloader needs node.js installed in order to work.
(Windows users, be sure to get the installer .msi file (NOT the exe)
(Mac users, click here)
(Linux users, I assume you know what you’re doing.)
2) Get PhotosynthDownloader
(This comes as a compressed folder with a .zip file ending.)
3) Unzip PhotosynthDownloader
In Windows 10, you can right-click on the .zip file and then click ‘Extract all’ in order to unpack the zip file to a normal folder.
By default the unzipped folder will probably be named PhotosynthDownloader-master.
You may want to name the folder something shorter, such as PSD, and also perhaps move the unzipped folder to a simple place on your hard drive, such as C:\PSD or C:\PhotosynthDownloader
4) Open your command prompt
(On Windows, you can hold down the Windows key and tap the R key (and release both keys), then type cmd into the Run box.)
5) Change folders in the command prompt to the folder where you unzipped PhotosynthDownloader
On Windows:
a) in File Explorer open the unzipped folder
b) click in the address bar and copy the address of the folder
something like C:\Users\Nate\Downloads\PhotosynthDownloader
c) in your command prompt window type:
cd C:\Users\Nate\Downloads\PhotosynthDownloader
You can right-click in the Command Prompt window to paste the folder address after the cd (and a space).
You will need to use the address of your folder on your computer.
If you renamed and/or moved your PhotosynthDownloader-master folder, then your Change Directory command might look like:
cd C:\PSD or
cd C:\PhotosynthDownloader
6) When Command Prompt is navigated to the folder where you unzipped your files, type npm install into Command Prompt and press Enter/Return.
You will see some activity in the Command Prompt as PhotosynthDownloader is installed.
7) From then on, to download a synth you can just:
a) open Command Prompt by pressing Windows+R and typing cmd
b) changing directories to where your unzipped PhotosynthDownloader folder is
and then typing:
node synth_downloader.js 8645d183-4718-4325-bd7b-5d48955839d6 output
That is Henri’s example.
You would replace the 8645d183-4718-4325-bd7b-5d48955839d6 part with the ID number of the synth you want to download.
When viewing any original photosynth on Photosynth.net, the ID number will be the part of the address in your web browser’s address bar in bold here:
https://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=74c971f1-f557-497b-95ee-7c047cf45f78
(You have my permission to download this synth of mine, but it’s pretty big.)
When viewing any tech preview photosynth on Photosynth.net, the ID number will be this part of the link in your web browser’s address bar:
https://photosynth.net/preview/view/4178b76e-3e9a-4a2e-9224-8c838e7dbed9
You also need to replace the word output with the address of whatever folder you want to download synths to.
Examples:
C:\Photosynths\NateLawrence or
C:\PSBackups\David\SynthPackets or
C:\Users\Noah\Downloads\Synths
(Please note that you will need to use the address of a folder which you have created before you enter the command to download a synth.
In other words, you cannot type the address of a folder which does not yet exist into the Command Prompt and have it create the folder for you.
If you are going to want to create a lot of different folders (maybe one folder called Photosynths and then one folder per username (perhaps your alternate accounts or friends and family members’ accounts who have asked you to help them download their synths for them) then you might find it helpful to create a list of the folder names you want to create and use a utility such as Text2Folders in order to speed up creating many folders.
If you need any help getting this working or have any questions about saving your uploads, I would be very happy to help you if I’m able to.
You can drop me a note on Twitter.
You can email me.
You can ask me here on Tumblr.
You can ask a question on Photosynth’s Get Satisfaction community.
I wrote this post to help you back up photosynths.
If you are trying to download your own panoramas, you should use the official Export feature on Photosynth.net (as long as you can remember your Microsoft Account email address and password that you used to upload them with).
If you are trying to download your own panoramas which you’ve forgotten your login information for (or possibly panoramas which are licensed with Public Domain), I suggest that you go get Christoph Hausner’s SynthExport 2 for Windows and use the Format: Microsoft ICE Format option in the lower right hand corner of the window.
(Just unzip the folder and click SynthExport.exe inside of it to begin.)
Also, you can download Microsoft Image Composite Editor to open the .spj file that SynthExport 2 saves when you select the Microsoft ICE Format option.