NetScrape

The image collector's web spider and search agent for Mac OS X.

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You've got questions?

NetScrape is generally straight forward and easy to use, so I don't get too many questions. However, a few come up from time to time... here's my attempt to answer fans and critics alike.

Questions

Answers


Thank you, Meg.

How did you come up with NetScrape? My wife is interested in hair - specifically, her hair. One day she was on a short hair kick, and asked me about ways to get all possible pictures of Meg Ryan's haircuts. I turned her on to Google Image Search, but she quickly tired of all of the clicking back and forth between images. I then wondered if there was a way that I, a humble Mac programmer, could write an application to achieve the same result without all the clicking of links and whatnot. That's when it hit me...

How many images can NetScrape collect? Think infinite – the only restrictions are how long you can wait, and how much disk space you have. Other than that, NetScrape will keep going until you tell it to stop.

Are there any sites NetScrape cannot, well... scrape? As it turns out, there are webmasters who don't necessarily want people to be running willy-nilly over their site collecting pictures, while avoiding their banner adds and clever copy. Some of these sites have taken steps to avoid the kind of robotic nonsense that makes NetScrape so great. As a result, NetScrape occasionally encounters a site that it can't scrape. If this happens, please make a note of the URL and e-mail it to me... I've made many improvements based on feedback I've received.


Dr. Pannell and I have the same last name. Who knew? NetScrape did.

Who uses NetScrape? Many people have found NetScrape useful for more than just looking for haircuts... graphic designers and artists in particular have utilized NetScrape as an automated inspiration solution. Give it a few keywords, let it run over the lunch hour and come back to thousands of images on a given topic. I also get fan mail from genealogy, art and graphics researchers. What can *you* use it for?

What is NetScrape generally used for? People report on using NetScrape for a variety of purposes, but the common thread is that these people are looking for pictures. Whether it's Baywatch babes or Grampa Ted, NetScrape can quickly track it down.

Why is the unregistered demo limited to 20 image viewings? NetScrape turns finding pictures on the web from a tedious to a luxurious process. As such, it seems only fair that users should have to buy a copy of the software to take advantage of its full capabilities. The unregistered demo is to guarantee that those consumers who purchase the software have already tested it out and determined it meets their needs.

Do I have to save images one at a time? No, you do not. While the "Save..." option in the File menu will only save one image at a time, you can simply drag slides from the preview pane to any folder you like in the Finder. You can also set your storage preferences to place incoming files right where you want them.

How do I get NetScrape working on more than one session at a time? After beginning your first search, simply select the text in the URL/Keyword field, type in your second search term and hit return. You then use the tabs to navigate between the sessions.

Why can't NetScrape gather pictures from website X? In the past two years, I have discovered over a dozen ways that NetScrape fails to interpret websites. Some of these were bugs in the program, but a majority were steps the webmaster has taken to avoid robots harvesting the contents of the site. If you encounter a site that confuses NetScrape, please note the URL and email me... I've made many improvements based on feedback I've received.

Can I use NetScrape on a password protected site? While currently you cannot use NetScrape on password-protected sites, I am working on improvements that will allow users to fill out forms or perform authentication for password-protected sites. Stay tuned!

Can I search with any other engines, aside from Google? Currently, Google is the only service NetScrape works with. I have had a number of requests to widen the options, and because of these, I am currently working on adding support for additional search engines.