GImgeR - Download Google Pictures Using RSelenium

Overview

This R function downloads pictures from Google Pictures website using the Selenium technology and the R package RSelenium.

Requirements

This function is based on the R package RSelenium. First, you have to install this package and its dependencies:

install.packages("RSelenium")

The Selenium technology remotely takes the control of a web browser among: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, or PhantomJS. Be sure to have one of them installed.

Usage

First, clone the repository:

cd ~/Desktop/
git clone https://github.com/ahasverus/GImgeR.git

Then, open R (or Rstudio if you prefer) and enjoy.

#' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- DefinePaths

repos_path    <- "path_to_git_repos"
pictures_path <- "path_to_folder_to_store_pictures"


#' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LoadCodeSource

source(file.path(repos_path, "R", "get_google_pictures.R"))


#' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SingleTerm

get_google_pictures(
  search_terms = "whale",
  n_photos     = 20,
  first_img    = 1,
  path         = pictures_path,
  browser      = "firefox"
)


#' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MulipleTerms

get_google_pictures(
  search_terms = paste(c("whale", "shark"), "drone photo aerial"),
  n_photos     = 20,
  first_img    = 1,
  path         = pictures_path,
  browser      = "firefox"
)

To go further

This code is based on the RSelenium package. Here is some useful links:

• Package help
• Package basics