I am happy to announce that stage one of restoring Openclipart files is complete. That does not mean all the work is done, but all of the files that were scanned and had meta data embedded in them are now uploaded on the website. There are a few exceptions for files that turned out to be bad for some reason or other. The files are still available in the archive on Google Drive and at some point I hope to actually take a look at them and see if they can be fixed/restored.
Since this is a bit of a milestone I also decided to release a backup CSV of all the data from the SVG files. All the CSV backup data files will be available on Google Drive (Note: This data has been removed to save on space and $$$.). Here is what you will find:
Title,Description,Date,Creator,Tags,OCALid,Filename 75 Stroke And Fill,,2019-10-26 20:18,,Fill|Stroke,300280,id-300280---75-stroke-and-fill.svg 38 Stroke And Fill,,2019-10-26 20:18,,Fill|Stroke,300287,id-300287---38-stroke-and-fill.svg AUDIO I2S DAC GY PCM5102,,2019-10-26 20:18,,AUDIOI|SDACGYPCM51,299722,id-299722---audio_i2s_dac_gy_pcm5102.svg 7bbn Oyv Bo W,,2019-10-26 20:18,,,300706,id-300706---7bbnoyvbow.svg TFT LCD Screen,,2019-10-26 20:18,,145TFTLCDSCREEN,299721,id-299721---1.45_tft_lcd_screen.svg 2.1 Stroke And Fill,,2019-10-26 20:18,,Fill|Stroke,300281,id-300281---2.1-stroke-and-fill.svg Pointing Hand,,2019-10-26 20:18,Unknown,Body|Hand|Pointing,298683,id-298683---1500150517_v2.svg
If you open the CVS file in a spreadsheet you should be able to sort and filter the data. The filenames all correspond with the folders and filenames in the Google Drive backup of the original files. Note: This data has been removed to save on space and $$$.
Some things to consider, just because the meta data in the SVG files was there does not mean it was accurate or complete. Many files would have meta data for one field but not have complete data about the file. This is why you see some very strange titles, dates that make no sense (obviously none of these files were published in October 2019). There are also several files that had similar meta data embedded in the files but it seemed to be copied from one file to the next. From what I can tell many of the newer remixes have that issue. My guess is creators copied an original SVG file, edited it and saved it but did not edit the meta data from the original file.
If you are interested in the CSV backup file feel free to download it. It is also possible for me to mass update those listing from a similar formatted CSV file, if you are a creator and know what that data should be, or just know what some are feel free to create a copy edit the items you know and send me the link via the Contact form where I can download it. I can then process the CSV file and update the listings. Just make sure the new CSV file has either the OCALid field or Filename field included.
It would be nice if the other Openclipart restoration projects would be release their data as well, but I won’t hold my breath on that happening.
Hoping to have uploads and editing on the site available by this coming weekend. Testing them now and have a few bugs left to fix.
In other news Openclipart actually tweeted for the first time since August 12th. I was shocked.
3600 followers. Path towards 4000 is open!
— Openclipart (@openclipart) November 6, 2019
The conversation from that tweet is more interesting. Particularly what does this mean?
Still in protection mode. All code working and defenses up.
— Openclipart (@openclipart) November 6, 2019
Personally I don’t think Openclipart can be trusted any longer but that is a topic for another post.
John says:
Good to see you are taking step to ensure any updated tags are accessible to anyone who wishes to update the files in the future, and hopefully the other sites you have mentioned above do the same.
FreeSVGClipart says:
I highly doubt the other Openclipart projects will provide their data.
janice hellbrant says:
I agree our ladies group use cricut to make tshirts and jumpers and it would be nice to share our designs over the internet, instead of using email each time which is annoying since openclipart.org went down. we need a resource like yours, and hope you will be around for us in the future. Otherwise there is no point and I might as well take up bingo or knitting.
FreeSVGClipart says:
That is awesome! Welcome to the site. Hope it is helpful.
Once/if you sign up you can drop me a note using the contact form with your username and I can actually attach the existing clipart items to your account so you can edit titles, tags and the descriptions.
notklaatu says:
It’s worth asking if other projects would provide their data. Freesvg.org has come across as being pretty friendly, in my [admittedly few] interactions with them.
Very exciting to see this project!
notklaatu says:
Actually, seeing how much data you have about the works, I’m particularly impressed. I don’t think any else who scraped openclipart *has* as much of the original data that you have. Everyone else, AFAIK, is re-doing all the metadata and just dropping original author info.
FreeSVGClipart says:
I am not a designer, that is why I used Openclipart, but I do know a little something about XML and meta tags, so I was able to pull what was there. Not all of it is correct but it is a start. I think it is important to try and save as much of the original data as possible. If Openclipart ever opens their doors again I’ll be looking at trying to complete the data, but I will not hold my breath.