Save image to a user-selected directory outside of the sketch-folder

Programming Questions

andrewgie..

Save image to a user-selected directory outside of the sketch-folder

in Programming Questions • 1 year ago

I created a paint program where users can draw images with a variety of tools. I am trying add the ability to save the user drawn image to a "My Drawings" folder that is created on the desktop. So far I have this...

if(keyPressed) {
if(key == ' ') {
PImage drawingArea = get(40, 20, 720, 780);
drawingArea.save("My Drawings/" + "My Drawing" + drawingNum + ".png");
drawingNum ++;
}
}

The problem with this is that it creates a "My Drawings" directory inside the sketch folder.

I have also tried replacing line 5 with

drawingArea.save("Hard Drive/Users/Andrew/Desktop/My Drawings/" + "My Drawing" + drawingNum + ".png");

It ended up creating a "Hard Drive" directory with all the Sub Directories in order and the final image file in place but the whole thing started in the sketch folder again.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Note... I am intermediate so any coding examples would aid to my understanding of an explanation.

Replies(2)

amnon.owed

Re: Save image to a user-selected directory outside of the sketch-folder

1 year ago

You can either use a relative or an absolute path. Now you are using a relative path, which means Processing will create subdirectories relative to the sketch folder. If you want to save somewhere else, use an absolute path. One that starts with something like: C:/

Or you could use the selectFolder() function to... select the folder you want to save to.

Code Example

void setup() {
size(500, 500);
background(255);
smooth();
}
void draw() {
float diam = random(10, 100);
fill(random(255),random(255),random(255));
ellipse(random(width), random(height), diam, diam);
}
void mousePressed() {
String path = selectFolder(); // you could also make this a global variable and set it once in setup()
save(path + "/screenshot-" + frameCount + ".png");
}

andrewgie..

Re: Save image to a user-selected directory outside of the sketch-folder

1 year ago

Thanks soo much! Will the selectFolder() function work on a mac too?

Top Reply