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Forum Discussion
Meural Canvas II: Best way to find a specific file in a Meural playlist
Hello, I have a Meural Canvas II. We have created playlists with 50 to 60 files. The files in the playlists are organized in the order that makes sense visually. The files are not in alphab...
Vic, Thank you so much for your assistance. You know that while dealing with a netgear rep on the phone, he never mentioned that I could rename folders on their website. This frame is a $500 disappointment and so is their technical support.
Hi daivad,
In the spirit of my trying not to confuse anyone I should say that the netgear meural website user interface doesn't use the "folder" and "file" terms. At the website the user creates "playlists", which the user names. Into a given playlist photos are placed. Then a populated playlist is sent to your Canvas. I suppose the intent is to hide the underlying architecture of the Canvas from the web site user.
But they do advertise the SD card interface so it should be integrated smoothly into the product and it is not. I have a feeling that the Canvas product developers haven't given much thought to the SD card interface or to the needs of users who have lots of photos, like me and really like you!
I personally have had some difficulties finding documentation, online or in the Canvas box, that would guide me through the Canvas setup. Eventually I've figured out what I needed, but only after poking around on my own, help from this forum from the administrators and trading notes with netgear support.
That said, now that we have a couple of playlists loaded onto the Canvas, my wife and I are really enjoying the final results: Four playlists with about 50 photos each, from various adventures, with the photos showing all day long.
These are just my opinions, which if you add 2 dollars to, will buy you a cup of coffee :).
Vic
We got our Canvas II in mid -December and quickly put together a number of "Playlists" that now number 16. We have a recent vacation, our puppies first 10 months from birth until now, family photos etc. Some of these playlists are from artwork from the membership as well. We love the canvas. It certainly requires a labor a love to find and assemble the playists, and tweak them the way you want the flow to go. But throughout the holidays, people have enjoyed the art shows.
We have, through trial and error, figured out how to download our cell phone photos onto my computer, where they are tweaked on Photoshop, if needed, before sending them to the canvas. These photos are in addition to the many Nikon photos that are on my computer. There will be a slow process to go through the many photos and organize them into Playlists for the canvas.
One helpful hint: Give your playlist a name in advance of moving your photos into the playlist rather than moving them from the "Upload" file. We have added information where possible on the photos for future information through the "Edit" tab that we feel will help us moving forward and remind us, if our memory fails us. For instance the date the photo was done and, in the case of our new puppy, how old he was when the photo was taken.
There is no question that it takes time to work on the photos, upload them, add the information and get the flow of the Playlist right. But once you are there, it is wonderful and worth the effort.
I have not used the SD card. But do wonder if short videos could be added to the canvas. Any ideas on that?
Hi Pacific,
Thanks for sharing your Canvas experiences, for your observations and for your tips!
Your experience with the Canvas II is similar to ours. The main difference at the moment is that we do not have a membership to access the Meural art. But so far we've gotten plenty of enjoyment from our own photos.
Also we've tried out the SD card interface though our "working interface" is the web user interface.
We are amateur photographers so take more shots than we need to get that "one special photo". Regardless of how we decide to display the photo - normal frame, Canvas, stuck on the fridge - weeding through our photos to find the good one and Photoshopping it just takes time. So now that I think about it, moving that special photo to the Canvas is certainly easier and faster than sending the photo file to a print shop.
Regarding showing videos on the Canvas, I believe it is possible though we have not tried it yet. Per this link:
https://kb.netgear.com/000060767/What-image-and-video-formats-does-the-Meural-Canvas-support
there are more than one video format that one could try.
Vic