Photo Mechanic can upload images to FTP and SFTP servers, as well as a number of popular image sharing and photography sales platforms.
First, select the images on the Contact Sheet that you would like to upload.
From the File menu, or right-click on any image in the selection on the Contact Sheet, select:
- FTP Photos as... will open the File Uploader window to the standard FTP uploader window
- Upload... will open the File Uploader to the most recently used uploader
In the File Uploader window, click on the 'Selected Uploader' dropdown and select the service that you would like to use to upload your files.
To manage saved accounts or FTP credentials, click 'Connections'. Each uploader service will have a different way of having you log in to your account, so fill in the fields such as username and password for the service you are using, or follow the steps for verification described in the Connections window.
Once you have set up an account or credentials to use for the upload, you can select it from the Connections (for FTP uploaders) or Account (for web-based uploaders) dropdowns.
Each uploader will have options specific to that service, such as the specific album you would like to upload it to, but all uploaders will include options for what files get transmitted (e.g. if you would like to send the file at its original resolution or crop and re-size to keep the file size down). These options are covered in the 'Save Photos As' document.
Applying Metadata on Upload
When uploading to the destination of your choice, you can apply the Metadata Template to your files before they are transmitted. Applying the template on upload only affects the transferred files, not the local files. Each uploader has access to the Global Metadata Temple and its own Local Metadata Template. When you click the 'Metadata (IPTC) Template...' button, the one that opens depends on which option of: "Use Local Template" or "Use Global Template" is selected.
- Use Local Template: This feature allows for a greater level of metadata customization that can be more tailored to the audience that will be seeing the images at their destintation. The Local Template only applies to uploads for the current Connection, and not elsewhere in Photo Mechanic. The information you enter will stay prefilled for any later uploads to this specific Connection, even if you change the Metadata Template elsewhere in Photo Mechanic.
- Example: You add your FTP connection, and then update the Local Template for the FTP uploader with information you would like to get applied when uploading to the FTP server. Then, you switch to the PhotoShelter uploader to upload your images to your personal PhotoShelter account and open the Local Template and enter metadata that you only want on the files on PhotoShelter. Finally, you switch back to the FTP uploader, and all of the information that you had entered into the FTP uploader's local Template will be as you left it.
- Use Global Template: If this is checked, the information you enter into the Metadata Template for the upload will remain prefilled everywhere you use the Metadata Template in the program (other than when using Local Templates.
Monitoring upload status:
Once you have started an upload by clicking the 'Send' button, an 'Upload Tasks' window opens in the background which provides detailed information about the current upload queue and any errors. An indicator also appears on each Contact Sheet item that has been added to the upload queue. The indicator will change in appearance the upload progresses:
- Green indicator: Most recent attempt to upload the file was successful
- Yellow indicator: Upload in progress, also works as a progress bar to show how far along the upload of this file is.
- Red indicator: Most recent attempt to upload this file failed, see the Upload Tasks window to find out more about the error.
Supported Services
Photo Mechanic supports the following services:
- Amazon S3
- Box
- DF Studio
- Demotix
- Dropbox
- ExposureManager
- FTP
- FTP over IPv6
- SFTP
- Flickr
- Gallery 2
- PhotoDeck
- PhotoShelter
- Retouchup
- SmugMug
- Zenfolio
- Note: Zenfolio has two types of accounts, a 'Classic' account and a 'New' account. 'New' account types do not yet have a public API, so third party applications like Photo Mechanic cannot upload to it. Zenfolio has let us know that they are coming out with a public API soon.