[New as of April 2022, latest minor edit to instructions August 2023]

Since the native replace feature of our website no longer works for all file types, we are offering you an alternative replace function for photos today.

How does it work?

Short, summary version:
- find the old picture, set it to 'private' and copy the picture number,
- upload the new image, set it to 'private', click 'Replace',
- paste the number of the old picture and start the process.

In detail:
Upload the substitute photo - without description or keywords, and with the setting: "Visible by: Only me (private)".
Display the 'old' photo and make it too, "Visible by: Me only".
Copy the complete url, or only photo id, from the browser address bar, which is structured like this: www .ipernity.com/doc/user-id/photo-id.
Display the substitute photo, use ACTIONS menu and select "Replace (transfer data)".
Paste the old photo url or id into the box, and click "Search".
Mark the check box to confirm that the found thumbnail is the 'old' photo.
Finally click "Proceed".
When the processing is completed, you may adjust the visibility as desired.
Thereafter you may delete the old photo.

So instead of replacing the old photo file within its data environment, you transfer the data environment to the replacement upload.

We invite you to trial this feature and to let us know what you think.

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Some explanations:

a) This is still a trial version, only available in English so far. Videos cannot be replaced with it. Other file types (audio, doc, pdf, xls, ...) can still be replaced as before using the native function.

b) The feature can cope with the uploaded substitute photo having a title and/or description. It can be set so that these are not replaced if the user wants to keep them.

c) Keywords, favs, visits, assignment to groups or albums are transferred while avoiding duplication. Also transferred is the "date posted", so that the substitute photo is positioned in your photo stream at the same place as the old one. (Note that "transfer" does mean the data is moved and assigned to the new photo. It is not copied. The data will no longer exist on the old photo.)

d) The reason for requiring, "Visible by: Me only", is to avoid a visitor adding a comment or a fav to one of the photos, while the transfer is in progress. This could lead to errors.

e) Copying the photo url or id number is required because there is not a more friendly interface allowing drag and drop. But this tiny inconvenience is acceptable because one uses the function only in rare cases anyway.

f) A transfer cannot be reversed. The check box to confirm that the found thumbnail is the 'old' one being 'replaced' (the one providing the data), is affectively the "Are you sure?" question, from which there is no going back or cancelling.

g) As well as visibility, other manual edits you may need to do after the transfer, are in the "Authorizations, License" section.

h) Both old and new files must be one of following type: jpg, bmp, png, arw, raw, gif. They do not have to match, so for example, a bmp-file can be replaced by a jpg-file.

i) The EXIF data are an integral part of a photo file. Therefore, they are not transferred from the old photo, but deleted with it. The substitute photo may naturally include its own EXIF data. This is nothing new, however, and was also the same with the native function.

k) As with the native feature, links referring back to the photo from elsewhere will not be updated. These might be comments, articles or notes (PiPs) within ipernity. They could also be posted on external sites.These will need to be updated manually as before.