Tag: photo

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The Perfect Open Source Solution for Creating Stunning Photo Collages on Linux

Open source software is amazing and it seems like there are always solutions that come in handy when I look hard enough. Today was one of those days when a internet search for a query I read on Mastodon netted another open source solution. Mastodon user, Bryan Mitchell asked “Are there any photo editing software programs out there where you can put a set of photos into a collage?” Bryan had used Google’s Picasa formerly but that is no longer available. A quick search revealed an open source project called Photocollage. It is an easy to use software package written in Python with a GPL 2.0 license. It was easy for me to find the correct install script for Linux Mint. 

$ sudo apt install photocollage

You can also install Photocollage on RPM based distributions by using the following command: 

$ sudo dnf install photocollage

You can elect to install it with Python by using the following command. 

sudo pip3 install photocollage

It can be launched from the command line or in my case from the “Graphics” submenu of my Cinnamon desktop. Click on the ‘Add images..’ button and start adding pictures to your collage.

Screen Picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

In short order I added a number of pictures from a directory on my computer. There is a button to ‘Save poster’, two buttons in the middle of the panel to ‘go back’ or ‘go forward” and one more at the end to ‘Regenerate’ the collage.’

Screen Shot by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

The last button on the panel is for ‘Settings’ to allow you to choose different picture sizes and templates. You can select border thickness and background color.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

This software is easy to use and the results a very good. Images can be saved in ten different formats including: bit map paint, jpeg, gif, Microsoft Paint, pcx, png, tga, tiff, WebP and xbm. The software integrates with GNOME and is available in English, French, German, Czech, Italian, Bulgarian, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Polish and Ukrainian. Lead developer is Adrien Verge and there are over twenty other contributors.

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qrcp: A Command Line Tool to Transfer Files over Wi-Fi using QR Codes

 

I am an iPhone user, and my daily driver is Linux. I am always taking pictures with my phone but how do I get them easily transferred to my computer? I found the answer a few years ago when I discovered ‘qrcp’.

Qrcp is a command-line tool that allows you to transfer files over Wi-Fi using QR codes. It is a simple and efficient way to transfer files between devices, without the need for any third-party apps or services.

Claudio d’Angelis, the developer, has introduced the qrcp software under the MIT license. The application can be accessed on GitHub and boasts simplicity in both installation and usage. Compatible with Linux, Windows, and macOS, it offers download options in RPM, DEB, and tarball. Remarkably, there are builds tailored for a wide array of platforms, encompassing even the Raspberry Pi

The project maintains a downloads page where you can choose the appropriate package for your platform. Once that is accomplished, you can easily install the software with your package manager.

$ sudo dnf install ./qrcp*rpm

or

sudo apt install ./qrcp.*deb

Once the software is installed you need to configure it for your computer. If you are running a firewall you can configure ‘qrcp’ to use a particular port and make an exception rule on youir firewall.

$ qrcp config

To begin, initiate the configuration file creation process. Employ the qrcp config command for guidance, though it involves a few intricate inquiries. The first is what interface your computer is going to use, whether wireless, wired, etc. One of the queries is an option to choose a port. I chose port ‘8080’ but you can choose whatever makes sense to you. There is an option to choose a fully qualified domain name. In my case, I left it blank. You can specify a ‘url path’ or leave it blank. You can choose a default directory where the file will be received. Leave it blank, and the file will be placed in your ‘home’ directory.

Once the configuration is complete, you can use ‘qrcp’ to receive or send files from your mobile phone.

$ qrcp receive

The software generates a QR code similar to what is pictured above. Point your iPhone camera at the QR code, and your phone will recognize the QR code and initiate the transfer.

Successful transfers provide feedback on your phone specifying the file name and location where it has been transferred.

You can choose the picture from your photo library and easily send the file or text from your iPhone to your computer using your wireless network.