Elodie relies on the great [ExifTool library by Phil Harvey](http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/). You'll need to install it for your platform.
Some features for video files will only work with newer versions of ExifTool and have been tested on version 10.20 or higher. Check your version by typing `exiftool -ver` and see the [manual installation instructions for ExifTool](http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/install.html#Unix) if needed.
You can clone Elodie from GitHub. You'll need `git` installed ([instructions](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git)).
```
git clone https://github.com/jmathai/elodie.git
cd elodie
pip install -r requirements.txt
```
### Give Elodie a test drive
Now that you've got the minimum dependencies installed you can start using Elodie. You'll need a photo, video or audio file and a folder you'd like Elodie to organize them into.
```
# Run these commands from the root of the repository you just cloned.
You'll notice that the photo was organized into an *Unknown Location* folder. That's because you haven't set up your MapQuest API ([instructions](#using-openstreetmap-data-from-mapquest)).
[Read a 3 part blog post on why I was created](https://medium.com/vantage/understanding-my-need-for-an-automated-photo-workflow-a2ff95b46f8f#.dmwyjlc57) and how [I can be used with Google Photos](https://medium.com/@jmathai/my-automated-photo-workflow-using-google-photos-and-elodie-afb753b8c724).
I work tirelessly to make sure your photos are always sorted and organized so you can focus on more important things. By photos I mean JPEG, DNG, NEF and common video and audio files.
You don't love me yet but you will.
I only do 3 things.
* Firstly I organize your existing collection of photos into a customizable folder structure.
* Second I help make it easy for all the photos you haven't taken yet to flow into the exact location they belong.
* Third but not least I promise to do all this without a yucky propietary database that some friends of mine use.
*NOTE: make sure you've installed everything I need before running the commands below. [Instructions](#quickstart-guide) at the top of this page.*
## Let's organize your existing photos
My guess is you've got quite a few photos scattered around. The first thing I'll help you do is to get those photos organized. It doesn't matter if you have hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of photos; the more the merrier.
Fire up your terminal and run this command which *__copies__* your photos into something a bit more structured.
I'm pretty fast but depending on how many photos you have you might want to grab a snack. When you run this command I'll `print` out my work as I go along. If you're bored you can open `/where/i/want/my/photos/to/go` in *Finder* and watch as I effortlessly copy your photos there.
You'll notice that your photos are now organized by date and location. Some photos do not have proper dates or location information in them. I do my best and in the worst case scenario I'll use the earlier of the files access or modified time. Ideally your photos have dates and location in the EXIF so my work is more accurate.
Don't fret if your photos don't have much EXIF information. I'll show you how you can fix them up later on but let's walk before we run.
Back to your photos. When I'm done you should see something like this. Notice that I've renamed your files by adding the date and time they were taken. This helps keep them in chronological order when using most viewing applications. You'll thank me later.
```
├── 2015-06-Jun
│ ├── California
│ │ ├── 2015-06-29_16-34-14-img_3900.jpg
│ │ └── 2015-06-29_17-07-06-img_3901.jpg
│ └── Paris
│ └── 2015-06-30_02-40-43-img_3903.jpg
├── 2015-07-Jul
│ ├── Mountain View
│ │ ├── 2015-07-19_17-16-37-img_9426.jpg
│ │ └── 2015-07-24_19-06-33-img_9432.jpg
└── 2015-09-Sep
│ ├── Unknown Location
│ ├── 2015-09-27_01-41-38-_dsc8705.dng
│ └── 2015-09-27_01-41-38-_dsc8705.nef
```
Not too bad, eh? Wait a second, what's *Unknown Location*? If I'm not able to figure out where a photo was taken I'll place it into a folder named *Unknown Location*. This typically happens when photos do not have GPS information in their EXIF. You shouldn't see this for photos taken on a smartphone but it's often the case with digital cameras and SLRs. I can help you add GPS information to those photos and get them organized better. Let me show you how.
You can view these instructions on the command line by typing `./elodie.py import --help`, `./elodie.py update --help` or `./elodie.py generate-db --help`.
Sometimes examples are easier to understand than explainations so I'll start there. If you'd like to understand my magic I explain it in more detail below these examples. You customize your folder structure in the `Directory` section of your `config.ini`.
There are times when the EXIF needed to correctly name a folder doesn't exist on a photo. I came up with fallback folders to help you deal with situations such as this. Here's how it works.
You can specify a series of folder names by separating them with a `|`. That's a pipe, not an L. Let's look at an example.
full_path=%month/%year/%album|%location|%"Beats me"
```
What this asks me to do is to name the last folder the same as the album I find in EXIF. If I don't find an album in EXIF then I should use the location. If there's no GPS in the EXIf then I should name the last folder `Beats me`.
You can construct your folder structure using a combination of the location and dates. Under the `Directory` section of your `config.ini` file you can define placeholder names and assign each a value. For example, `date=%Y-%m` would create a date placeholder with a value of YYYY-MM which would be filled in with the date from the EXIF on the photo.
The placeholders can be used to define the folder structure you'd like to create. The example above happens to be the default structure and would look like `2015-07-Jul/Mountain View`.
I also have some date placeholders you can customize. You can use any of [the standard Python time directives](https://docs.python.org/2/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-behavior) to customize the date format to your liking.
*`%location` can be used to combine multiple values of `%city`, `%state` and `%country`. For example, `location=%city, %state` would result in folder names like `Sunnyvale, California`.
*`%date` can be used to combine multiple values from [the standard Python time directives](https://docs.python.org/2/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-behavior). For example, `date=%Y-%m` would result in folder names like `2015-12`.
If you notice some photos were incorrectly organized you should definitely let me know. In the example above I put two photos into an *Unknown Location* folder because I didn't find GPS information in their EXIF. To fix this I'll help you add GPS information into the photos' EXIF and then I'll reorganize them.
Run the command below if you want to tell me the photos were taken in Las Vegas. You don't have to type all that in though. It's easier to just type `./elodie.py update --location="Las Vegas, NV" ` and select and drag the files from *OS X Finder* into the terminal.
Run the command below if I got the date wrong when organizing your photos. Similarly to the above command you can drag files from *Finder* into your terminal.
Organizing your existing photos is great. But I'd be lying if I said I was the only one who could help you with that. Unlike other programs I put the same effort into keeping your library organized into the future as I have in getting it organized in the first place.
In order to sort new photos that I haven't already organized I need someone to tell me about them. There's no single way to do this. You could use inotify, cron, Automator or my favorite app - Hazel; it doesn't matter.
If you'd like to let me know of a specific photo or group of photos to add to your library you would run one of the following commands. Use fully qualified paths for everything since you won't be running this manually.
Look, it's not that I think databases are evil. One of my friends is a database. It's just that I've been doing this for a long time and I've always used a database for it. In the end they're more trouble than they're worth. I should have listened to my mother when she told me to not date a database.
It's a lot more work to organize photos without a database. No wonder everyone else uses them. But your happiness is my happiness. If a little elbow grease on my part makes you happy then I'm glad to do it.
### A bit on how I do all this without a database
Every photo is essentially a database. So it's more accurate to say I use the thousands of tiny databases you already have and use them to organize your photos.
I'm simple. I put a photo into its proper location. I can update a photo to have the right date or location. The latter triggers the first; creating a nice tidy loop of organizational goodness.
I use MapQuest to help me organize your photos by location. You'll need to sign up for a [free developer account](https://developer.mapquest.com/plan_purchase/steps/business_edition/business_edition_free) and get an API key. They give you 15,000 calls per month so I can't do any more than that unless you shell out some big bucks to them. Once I hit my limit the best I'll be able to do is *Unknown Location* until the following month.
Once you sign up you'll have to get an API key and copy it into a file named `~/.elodie/config.ini`. I've included a `config.ini-sample` file which you can copy to `config.ini`.
The best ways to provide feedback is by reaching out on Twitter at [@getelodie](https://twitter.com/getelodie), opening a [GitHub issue](https://github.com/jmathai/elodie/issues) or emailing me at [jaisen@jmathai.com](mailto:jaisen@jmathai.com).
