qrImageIndexer 0.5.0

Tool for indexing images with QR codes

qrCodeImageSorter

Project Outline

This is a python module which is designed to assist in the easy taking and sorting of photos. It aims to solve a problem I have identified where a large number of photos need to be taken in a structured manner. While there are apps which aim to acheive this natively on device, these can sometimes make sharing of the task difficult. They are often also not as fast as the native camera apps, also sometimes missing some of the native post-processing on phones.

This tool will allow users to produce a simple list of QR codes that can be used as indices in the photos. The photos will then be split into folders based on the content of the QR codes.

Installation

The package is available on PyPi and can be installed with the following command:

pip install qrImageIndexer

If you are not using Windows you will also need to install the zBar binaries (these are included in the wheel for Windows users): https://pypi.org/project/pyzbar/

Instructions

To use the tool run the command:

python -m qr_image_indexer

Command line useage is as per below:

usage: __main__.py [-h] [-g INPUT_TEXT_FILE OUTPUT_PDF | -s INPUT_DIR OUTPUT_DIR] [--pdf-type SORT_TYPE] [-q] [-r] [-p STRING_PREFIX] [-v]

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -g INPUT_TEXT_FILE OUTPUT_PDF, --generate-pdf INPUT_TEXT_FILE OUTPUT_PDF
                        Generate a PDF of QR codes from a given text file. Specify
  -s INPUT_DIR OUTPUT_DIR, --sort-photos INPUT_DIR OUTPUT_DIR
                        Sort photos based on QR codes found in photos. Once a QR code is found all photos will be sorted into the directory indicated by the code until subsequent codes found
  --pdf-type SORT_TYPE  Type of PDF to generate. Either linearly sorted or sorted to enable easy slicing of the printed pages. Accepts "linear" or "sliceable". Linear will sort down page, sliceable will sort "through" the page.
  -q, --qr-for-headings
                        Generate a QR code for each heading, not just a code for the last items in a tree.
  -r, --repeat-table-headings
                        Repeat table headings on every line
  -p STRING_PREFIX, --string-prefix STRING_PREFIX
                        Specify a prefix for use in the generated QR codes to differentiate from codes that might also end up in photos
  -v, --verbose         Turn progress text to terminal on or off

General usage

In general usage the user will generate QR codes from an image file. These QR codes will then be used as index cards while taking photos. Any photos which appear subsequent to a QR code but before the next QR code will be sorted into a folder. Any photos which appear before a QR code will be sorted into a specific folder of their own.

For ease of use it is recommended to use the --pdf-type sliceable option, which will allow, when printed single-sided, for the QR codes to be easily sliced and stacked for use in-order. ADD EXAMPLE IMAGE HERE DEMONSTRATING STANDARD/SLICEABLE

Expected input file format is as a tab indented list. Each level of indentation is considered a child tested below the preceeding level. When photos are sorted these nested elements will form the file paths. An example input file is shown below:

Line 1
    Line 1 indent
        Line 1 indent more
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5
Line 6
Line 31
Line 32

In this case photos under Line 1 indent would appear in the directory Line 1/Line 1 indent/.

Other options such as -r which will result in the headings from further up the tree being repeaded in the output PDF and '-q' which will generate QR codes for headings as well as the tails of the tree may both also be useful.

If it is expected that other QR codes may be present, a prefix can also be added to the QR code package. This can be done with the -p option.

Assuming that the above demo file is saved as demo.txt the following command would generate a PDF with repeated headings and qr codes for each line in a sliceable format, with the prefix {image}:

python -m qr_image_indexer -g demo.txt demo.pdf -r -q --pdf-type sliceable -p "{image}"

After taking photos, these images could then be sorted into a folder called outputs\ from a folder called inputs\ as shown below:

python -m qr_image_indexer -s inputs\ outputs\ -p "{image}"

Using the option -v for any of these operations will provide status output to the command line.

Future Features

Currently the module is command line only. In future this will be expanded to include a GUI which will simplify the generation of QR codes and the scanning of images for users.