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I post some of my pictures from Aperture to Flickr. I've been using the FlickrExport plug-in for fast, easy and convenient upload. When Aperture 2 was introduced, the FlickrExport plug-in (now currently version 1.0.9), which worked so well with the previous version, did not work as it used to. Fraser Speirs of Connected Flow, the developer of FlickrExport for Aperture (and also the FlickrExport for iPhoto, among other things), has been working on an update. A public beta of Version 3.0 of FlickrExport for Aperture is available for free download.

To know more, I got in touch with Fraser Speirs to ask a few questions. Here's our Q&A:

Dominique James: Have incidents of crashes been reported when uploading photos using Aperture 2.1 with FlickrExport 1.0.9? What causes the incidents of crashes?

Fraser Speirs: There's an outstanding problem that can cause Aperture to crash if the Flickr server resets the connection. It's a particularly nasty one as Aperture just disappears and the only trace is a line in the system log saying "broken pipe".

DJ: Has this been addressed in the new public beta of version 3.0?

FS: Working on it!

DJ: Why the jump from 1.0.9 to 3.0?

FS: To bring it to parity with the iPhoto version. When Aperture 1.5 came out, FlickrExport/iPhoto was at 2.x. With this release, because the feature set is roughly equivalent, I'm bringing the version numbers together.

DJ: When is the expected release date of the 3.0 final version?

FS: I don't know right now. The push to get the iPhone stuff ready has put everything else on hold for now. I hope by September.

DJ: Can the Latitude and Longtitude be specified by a camera's built-in metadata or should the entry be always manually added?

FS: If an image has embedded GPS data it will be read.

DJ: What feature requests to the new beta version do you often hear?

FS: I hear a lot of requests to make GPS data editable; unfortunately, Apple doesn't allow plugins to do that.

DJ: In the beta 3.0, is it possible to add photos to several pools and several photosets at the same time?

FS: To several pools, yes, but only to one photoset at a time.

DJ: What does "Photos with Flickr IDs" mean?

FS: FlickrExport can store the Flickr ID of an uploaded photo into Aperture's metadata database. It's those photos that this refers to. If you try to re-upload a photo that has a Flickr ID, FlickrExport can replace the image on Flickr rather than uploading it again.

DJ: What does "Flickr-compatible Host" mean and what does it do? What will happen if I change it to something else? Does it mean it can be used for other websites?

FS: For a while, there were some sites that were cloning the Flickr API and this preference was to support users who wanted to use FlickrExport with other sites. I don't support FlickrExport on sites other than Flickr.com for a few reasons: (a) I can't justify the increased testing requirements; (b) I want to be able to update FlickrExport as the Flickr API changes and not have to wait for all API-clone sites to support the feature; (c) Not every clone site gets the Flickr API 100% correct.

DJ: What does "Don't show tags matching these expressions" mean?

FS: That preference (which is not in 3.0) is to hide from the tag list any tag that matches a regular expression. It was originally intended to let users hide machine tags from the list, but it has rarely been used in my experience. Also, most users don't understand regular expressions.

DJ: What's the difference between "add a keyword" and adding a tag?

FS: Add a keyword will add to Aperture's Keywords.

DJ: Why is there a lens metadata but not a camera metadata?

FS: Mainly because people asked for lens metadata - looking at specific lens tags on Flickr is a big thing for people researching new lens purchases. I don't think I've had a single request for camera model metadata and, in any case, Flickr indexes that information already through the camera finder.

DJ: Will you consider making the interface of the export plug-in resizable?

FS: That's under the control of Aperture but, if Apple lets it happen, I would.

DJ: When upgrading to beta, the old copy of FlickrExport is deleted? To restore, reinstall the previous version? No two versions can be made accessible at the same time?

FS: Yes, you can go back and forth between versions, but only one at a time.

DJ: How is the function of "Replacement" different from replacing with the Flickr ID?

FS: Flickr offers the ability to replace a photo through the site. FlickrExport's replacement feature is just FlickrExport's interface to that functionality.

DJ: Would you consider being able to add to several photostreams all at one time?

FS: To different streams? No, that's probably too confusing for the general user base.

DJ: Is there such a thing as a correct, standard, optimized and/or recommended upload image file size in Aperture?

FS: Not particularly. Even doing a small reduction from the native size can produce a big reduction in the time it takes to upload a photo. I have a "Flickr" preset which is 50% of native size at 10/12 JPEG quality.

DJ: Is it known what is usually the file size that people choose to upload to Flickr using FlickrExport, other tools or directly?

FS: I don't have that information, I'm afraid.

DJ: When enabled by the user, what kind of information from the users' computers are transmitted to the developer?

FS: When you set up FlickrExport, you can see the information that will be sent. The bare minimum is the application that you're using (iPhoto/Aperture) and the version of that app, FlickrExport and Mac OS X. Optionally, FlickrExport will send the model of your computer, the processor architecture, the number of cores, the amount of memory and (I think) the graphics card. That's from memory, though, so you might want to check that by deleting your FlickrExport preference file and re-running it (the file is ~/Library/Preferences/com.connectedflow.flickrexportaperture.plist).

DJ: What is the relationship between Flickr and Connected Flow?

FS: It's symbiotic, but there's no formal business relationship.