From b60f0b48362016cb3025bfe5ac12580b0ab484b6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Alexander Graf Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2017 11:58:59 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] README: Document all of Instaloader's features --- README.rst | 63 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------ 1 file changed, 49 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-) diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst index 9cd6bab..5f19026 100644 --- a/README.rst +++ b/README.rst @@ -1,6 +1,8 @@ Instaloader =========== +Tool to automatically download pictures (or videos) of given profiles +from Instagram. Installation ------------ @@ -26,6 +28,8 @@ Alternatively, to get the most current version of Instaloader from our pip3 install git+https://github.com/Thammus/instaloader +(pass ``--upgrade`` to upgrade if Instaloader is already installed) + Instaloader requires `requests `__, which will be installed automatically, if it is not already installed. @@ -33,7 +37,8 @@ will be installed automatically, if it is not already installed. How to automatically download pictures from Instagram ----------------------------------------------------- -To download a set of profiles, do +To **download all pictures and videos of a profile**, as well as the +**profile picture**, do :: @@ -42,21 +47,15 @@ To download a set of profiles, do where ``profile`` is the name of a profile you want to download. Instead of only one profile, you may also specify a list of profiles. -To later update your local copy of that profile, you may run +To later update your local copy of that profiles, you may run :: instaloader --fast-update profile [profile ...] -When ``--fast-update`` is given, Instaloader terminates when arriving at +When ``--fast-update`` is given, Instaloader stops when arriving at the first already-downloaded picture. -You may also download the most recent pictures with one hashtag: - -:: - - instaloader "#hashtag" - Instaloader can also be used to **download private profiles**. To do so, invoke it with @@ -65,10 +64,17 @@ invoke it with instaloader --login=your_username profile [profile ...] When invoked like this, it also **stores the session cookies** in a file -in ``/tmp``, which will be reused later when ``--login`` is given. So +in your temporary directory, which will be reused later when ``--login`` is given. So you can download private profiles **non-interactively** when you already have a valid session cookie file. +Instead of download all posts of a profile, you may also download +**the most recent pictures by hashtag**: + +:: + + instaloader "#hashtag" + If you want to **download all followees of a given profile**, call :: @@ -81,17 +87,46 @@ To **download all the pictures from your feed which you have liked**, call instaloader --login=your_username :feed-liked -The ``--quiet`` option makes it also **suitable as a cron job**. +or to **download all pictures from your feed**: -To get a list of other helpful flags, run ``instaloader --help``. +:: -Usage as library + instaloader --login=your_username :feed-all + +Advanced Options ---------------- +The following flags can be given to Instaloader to specify how profiles should +be downloaded. + +--fast-update Stop when encountering the first already-downloaded post + of a profile. +--profile-pic-only Only download profile pictures. Per default, the current + profile picture and all the profile's posts are downloaded. +--skip-videos Skip posts which are videos. +--geotags Also **download geotags** and store Google Maps links in + separate textfiles. +--quiet Do not output any messages except warnings and errors. This + option makes Instaloader **suitable as a cron job**. +--no-sleep Normally, Instaloader waits a few seconds between requests + to the Instagram servers. This flag inhibits this behavior. +--password PASSWORD If used with ``--login``, use parameter as password if no + valid session file is found, instead of asking + interactively. +--sessionfile FILE Specify an alternative place for loading and storing the + session cookies. Per default, they are stored in a path + within your temporary directory, encoding your local + username and your instagram profile name. + +To get a list of all flags, run ``instaloader --help``. + +Usage as Python module +---------------------- + You may also use parts of Instaloader as library to do other interesting things. -For example, to get a list of all followers of a profile as well as +For example, to get a list of all followees of a profile as well as their follower count, do .. code:: python