Chapter 15 – Build an Instagram Photo Scraper to Grab Social Photos Using Python and OS
You might have suffered low production efficiency due to insufficient imageries and photos in your personal library. Then looking for new photos really takes time, and sometimes it’s frustrating and it can be very expensive if you pay for every piece of photo. What’s more, up-to-date and top ranking photos in instagram can inspire you with more creative content ideas. It’s worth finding a way to save time and increase the efficiency, rather than bearing with the repeating and heavy workload.
Instagram is a social platform that is famous for photo sharing, although it has been a video-sharing platform moving forward. Looking through the photo in the top rankings absolutely can facilitate you to gather better photo materials.
In this chapter, I would like to share a way to download and save top-ranking photos by using hashtags and Python. By the end of this article, you can learn what modules and Python methods are necessary. And you can immediately download hundreds of photos by just spending a few minutes.
Table of Contents: Build an Instagram Photo Scraper to Grab Social Photos Using Python and OS
- Import Selenium Module and Log in Instagram Account
- Find and Get Instagram Photo Path
- Import OS Module
- Python Methods:
getcwd(), join() and mkdir() - Import
wgetmodule, download and save the photos on your computer - Full Python Script of Instagram Photo Scraper
- FAQ
- INSTAGRAM Latest Trending API Endpoint Recommendation
Instagram Photo Scraper – Import Selenium Module and Log in to your Instagram Account
In previous Instagram scraper articles, we also used the selenium module. It’s used to import a web driver and, and log into an Instagram account. So for more details in this section, please refer to one of these articles.
Chapter 14 – Instagram Engagement Bot Built Using Python to Boost Visibility and Grow Followers
Instagram Photo Scraper – Find and Get Instagram Photo Paths
You can right-click one of the post images in the hashtag result and inspect it using Chrome. As you can see from the below screencap, any photo is named in the tag img.
I created a new variable images. Then, you can leverage the selenium argument – find_elements_by_tag_name, to lock all photos in this path.
images = driver.find_elements_by_tag_name('img')
For downloading the photos, the first thing is to find all photo URLs. So you need to use the argument of image and get_attribute(). The attribute value as you can see from the screencap, it’s “src”.
images = [image.get_attribute('src') for image in images]
Import OS Module
The OS module in Python provides functions for interacting with the operating system. OS comes under Python’s standard utility modules. This module provides a portable way of using operating system-dependent functionality. The os and os path modules include many functions to interact with the file system.
Now we need to download the photos and save them to your laptop. So It is necessary to import the OS to create a new folder, save photos to the folder, and combine two things together.
import os
Python Methods to Interact with the operating system – getcwd(), join() and mkdir()
Python method getcwd() returns the current working directory of a process. So if your python script is located in one directory of your laptop, this line of code represents that your photo is to save in this directory as well.
path = os.getcwd()
The join() method is a string method and returns a string in which the elements of the sequence have been joined by a str separator.
path = os.path.join(path, query)
The query is the hashtag keyword you can set whatever you like. This line of code represents the hashtag name we can use in this path now you’re using.
os.mkdir() method in Python is used to create a directory named path with the specified numeric mode. So the new directory is named in the query or hashtag name you set just now
os.mkdir(path)
Import wget module, download and save the photos on your computer
The wget command is a non-interactive utility to download remote files from the internet. It is built-in with Unix-based operating systems. It supports HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP protocols, as well as retrieval through HTTP proxies.
Import wget
As you might be aware, there are many photos from a hashtag on Instagram. So photo naming is critical. Otherwise, the photo would be replaced one after one. In the end, it wastes time because you can only get one photo.
For resolving this, we need to create a new variable with the value 0.
Number = 0
Then, we create a loop to download the photos and save each photo with a unique name. As we have imported wget, we can use the method download() and save the photos in the path you specify. Last but not least, please don’t forget to tell Python the number variable is plus 1 one after one in the loop after starting with 0.
for image in images:
save_as = os.path.join(path, query + str(number) + '.jpg')
wget.download(image, save_as)
number +=1
Full Python Script of Instagram Photo Scraper
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FAQ:
Q1: What is Instagram Photo Scraper?
A: Instagram Photo Scraper is a tool designed to extract photos and images from Instagram.
Q2: How does Instagram Photo Scraper work?
A: Instagram Photo Scraper uses advanced algorithms to scrape and retrieve photos from Instagram profiles and hashtags.
Q3: Can Instagram Photo Scraper extract photos from private Instagram accounts?
A: No, Instagram Photo Scraper can only extract photos from public Instagram accounts.
Q4: Is Instagram Photo Scraper legal to use?
A: Instagram Photo Scraper is designed to comply with Instagram’s terms of service. However, it is always recommended to use such tools responsibly and respect the privacy of others.
Q5: What are the benefits of using Instagram Photo Scraper?
A: Using Instagram Photo Scraper allows you to easily gather and download photos from specific Instagram profiles or hashtags for various purposes like research, marketing, or personal use.
Q6: Can I use Instagram Photo Scraper on multiple devices?
A: Yes, Instagram Photo Scraper can be used on multiple devices as long as you have a valid license or subscription for the tool.
Q7: Does Instagram Photo Scraper require any technical knowledge?
A: No, Instagram Photo Scraper is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, requiring no technical knowledge to operate.
Q8: Are there any limitations to the number of photos I can scrape with Instagram Photo Scraper?
A: The limitations of scraping photos with Instagram Photo Scraper may depend on factors such as Instagram’s usage policies and your subscription plan. Please refer to the tool’s documentation or contact support for specific details.
Q9: Can I download high-resolution photos with Instagram Photo Scraper?
A: Yes, Instagram Photo Scraper allows you to download photos in their original resolution, providing high-quality images for your use.
Q10: Is Instagram Photo Scraper compatible with different operating systems?
A: Yes, Instagram Photo Scraper is compatible with various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Instagram API Endpoint Recommendation
Instagram Trending Post Scraper API
Price: US$18
Instagram trending post scraper crawl the most trending and popular post from Instagram.com. Users input a hashtag keyword and her/his account credntial to generate a list of specific posts. It returns the post URL, profile name, and post copy. API allows to fetch the Instagram profile data which includes profile followers, historical posts, post performance, etc
More API options from the Instagram collection.
