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Sharing Instagram photos on Google+ automatically

Instagram (free) is a lot of fun, although it's often criticized as being the "auto-tune for photography." Google+ is the new social networking flavor of the week, so it's natural that the two services should get together. Wired's Gadget Lab has cooked up a recipe for more Instagram enjoyment by hacking a method of joining the two in unholy matrimony, as well as providing other fun hints.

Before I divulge their other hints, let's get to the meat of the matter for those of you who are among the Google+ cognoscenti: getting your Instagrams to Google's Picasa photo sharing site so they can be shared on Google+. Yeah, hopefully this is added to Instagram in the near future. For the present, this is how you do it, folks.

To have all of your future Instagram photos sent immediately to Google+, blogger Charlie Sorrel has you set up Instadrop, which automagically connects your Instagram and Dropbox accounts. Send a photo out on Instagram, and it shows up in a Dropbox folder named Instagram Photos. Next, pick up a copy of the free Picasa app for Mac. From the File menu, select "Add Folder to Picasa" and point it at your new Instagram Photos folder on Dropbox.

The next step is to have Picasa watch that folder all the time. There's one fly in the ointment here -- this means that if you want true real-time updating of Picasa / Google+, your Mac has to be up and running continuously. Go to Tools > Folder Manager in Picasa, select the Instagram Photos folder, and then tell Picasa to "Scan Always." Finally, find the folder in the sidebar of Picasa, click on it, and then select "Enable Sync" from the Share drop-down in the main menu.

That's it. Send a photo to Instagram, and through this complex chain of events the image eventually makes it to Google+, where it is re-shared and commented on by thousands of your friends and complete strangers.

Sorrel has some other great tips in the post, including using your "real" camera to take photos, transferring them to an iPad using the Apple Camera Connection Kit, and then zapping them to Instagram. He also recommends the $1.99 Instaplus app to have much more control over the camera and filters.



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Wired's Gadget Lab has cooked up a recipe for more Instagram enjoyment by hacking a method of joining the two in unholy matrimony
 

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snowman

This is a google gadget for iGoogle
http://we-love-programming.blogspot.com/2011/08/gadget-we-love-instagram-gadget-for.html

August 18 2011 at 5:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Shahzad Jafri

For iPhone: Just take a snap using Instagram. Use Google+ app to upload picture from your "Photos" library of iPhone directly to Google+
It works for me, you can search me and a see the picture I posted today. Not ideal but good enough for me for now.

August 07 2011 at 9:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kurt Starnes

I was able to get this to work fine, but even if you get the images to a Picasa album, they don't appear automatically on G+. You still need to add a comment on the transferred photo to get it to appear in your G+ stream.

July 17 2011 at 10:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Keith

Sadly this doesn't work - the photos just don't move to DropBox from Instagram and yet I have set everything up as stated.

I am going to try Carlos' suggestion

July 17 2011 at 3:59 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike B

Is there a major delay with Instadrop? I don't see an "instagram pictures" folder popping up in my dropbox and I have uploaded 3 pictures about an hour ago.

July 15 2011 at 2:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
wpetrie79@mac.com

Are we in the 90s? That is so complicated!

July 14 2011 at 9:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Carlos Granier

Sharing Instagram photos on Google+ automatically (without Dropbox or other apps):

Using IFTTT (if this then that - http://ifttt.com) you can have your Instagram photos automatically uploaded to a Picasa web album that's shared on Google+.

This is what you need:

1. An IFTTT account (I've got invites if you need one) from http://ifttt.com.

2. Go to picasaweb.google.com and create an album called Instagram. You may need to upload a photo to create a new album, but don't worry as you can always remove the photo later.

3. Share the album with Your circles and Extended circles (or really with whomever you want to share your Instagrams with).

4. Click the gear wheel on the upper righthand corner of the page and select Photos Settings. On the General Settings page select "Allow me to upload photos by email" and enter your secret word. This will create an email address you can use to email photos to Picasa (the address will be yourgoogleacccount.yoursecretword@picasaweb.com).

5. In IFTTT make sure you add your Instagram and Gmail channels, then create the following task:
i. If this: select the Instagram channel then "Any new photo by you"
ii. Then that: select the Gmail action channel, then "Send an email" then:
--- use your Picasa upload address (yourgoogleacccount.yoursecretword@picasaweb.com) as the To address.
--- use Instagram (or whatever you called the album) as the Subject (this makes all photos go into that album).
--- leave the Body blank.
--- use {{SourceUrl}} as the Attachment URL.
(detailed pic here: https://skitch.com/cgranier/f846t/ifttt-instagram-to-picasa)

6. Add a description, create & turn on your task.

7. Sit back, relax and enjoy automatic Instagram sharing in your Google+ account.

From then on, every time you upload an image to Instagram, IFTTT will see the new photo and automatically upload it to your Picasa Web Album, instantly available to your Google+ contacts.

July 14 2011 at 4:37 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Carlos Granier's comment
Amanda

I got it to work but how do I only share 1 photo? Only option I can see is to share the whole album

July 14 2011 at 3:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael Durwin

this doesn't sound very automatic to me.

July 14 2011 at 3:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Craig Olinger

Correct me if I'm wrong but couldn't you just tell Instagram to email the photo to your "email photos to this address" Picasa email address and it will be available in G+ right away?

July 14 2011 at 3:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Craig Olinger's comment
Gareth

I think that emailing to that address should work... And the subject line of the email will determine which folder the photo arrives in. So, if the album is public, it should appear on G+. Leaving the subject blank will have it sent to a temporary "Drop Box" folder.

July 17 2011 at 12:30 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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