There's nothing quite like the joy of automating something that you do over and over again.

This week I wrote a python script to make my life easier with image uploads for this blog. The old routine:

• Optimize my images locally (something Cloudinary already automates, but I do by hand for...fun?!)
• Open up the Cloudinary portal
• Navigate to the right directory
• Upload the image
• Copy the url
• Paste the image into my markdown file
• Optionally add optimization tag if needed

I can eliminate most of those steps with a handy script. Here's what I whipped up, with some boilerplate provided by the Cloudinary SDK quick start guide:

from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv()

import cloudinary
import cloudinary.uploader
import cloudinary.api
import pyperclip

config = cloudinary.config(secure=True)

print("****1. Set up and configure the SDK:****\nCredentials: ", config.cloud_name, config.api_key, "\n")

print("Image to upload:")
input1 = input()
input1 = input1.replace("'", "").strip()

print("Where is this going? (Art default)")

options = [
    "/chrisdpadilla/blog/art",
    "/chrisdpadilla/blog/images",
    "/chrisdpadilla/albums",
]

folder = options[0]
for i, option in enumerate(options):
    print(f'{i+1} {option}')

selected_number_input = input()


if not selected_number_input:
    selected_number_input = 1

selected_number = int(selected_number_input) - 1
if selected_number <= len(options):
    folder = options[selected_number]


res = cloudinary.uploader.upload(input1, unique_filename = False, overwrite=True, folder=folder)
if res.get('url', ''):
    pyperclip.copy(res['url'])
    
    print('Uploaded! Url Coppied to clipboard:')
    print(res['url'])

Now, when I run this script in the command line, I can drag an image in, the script will ask where to save the file, and then automatically copy the url to my clipboard. Magic! ✨

A couple of steps broken down:

Folders

I keep different folders for organization. Album art is in one. Blog Images in another. Art in yet another. So first, I select which one I'm looking for:

print("Where is this going? (Art default)")

options = [
    "/chrisdpadilla/blog/art",
    "/chrisdpadilla/blog/images",
    "/chrisdpadilla/albums",
]

folder = options[0]
for i, option in enumerate(options):
    print(f'{i+1} {option}')

selected_number_input = input()

and later on, that's passed to the cloudinary API as a folder:

if not selected_number_input:
    selected_number_input = 1

selected_number = int(selected_number_input) - 1
if selected_number <= len(options):
    folder = options[selected_number]


res = cloudinary.uploader.upload(input1, unique_filename = False, overwrite=True, folder=folder)

Copying to clipboard

Definitely the handiest, and it's just a quick install to get it. I'm using pyperclip to make it happen with this one liner:

if res.get('url', ''):
    pyperclip.copy(res['url'])