How to Download an Instagram Profile Pic Using Python
The profile picture is one of the prime elements of any social media account but applications such as Instagram don’t allow you to view or download it. This process can be easily achieved using a web automation tool such as Selenium with Python.
Learn to use this power duo to interact with any element of a webpage, automate it, and save yourself invaluable time investing in productive tasks. And the best part? Build this without even logging in or having an Instagram account.!
The Algorithm Building Process
Algorithm building refers to the process of identifying the problem and listing the steps the program needs to automate. The different steps required to download a profile picture are:
This serves as the algorithm of the problem statement.
Understanding and Installing the Required Modules and Tools
This project uses the following Python modules and tools.
1. Urllib Module
Urllib is a Python module used to handle URLs from the internet. You are going to use this module to download the profile picture of the account from its source URL. If Urllib is not present in your system, you can install it using the commandpip install urllib.
2. Time Module
This module, while not mandatory, may cause the build to fail if your internet connection is slow or the contents of the webpage aren’t loaded during the time of Python program interaction with the webpage. The delay() function helps us put a small delay so that the build doesn’t fail.
3. Selenium Module
One of the most popular open-source browser automation tools is Selenium. It is available as a Python package supporting various browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. To install Selenium in your Python environment, open yourTerminaland executepip install selenium.
4. WebDriver
A web driver is a tool used by Selenium that establishes a connection between the program and any website.Different kinds of web driversare available based on the browser you want to automate. For this build, you are going to use Google Chrome browser. To install the web driver for Chrome:
How to Inspect Code for Automating Any Aspect of a Web Page
For any web automation process using Selenium and Python, it is essential to have a basic understanding of the web and its technologies. The first step is to gainan introduction to HTMLfollowed byunderstanding Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). This is where you’ll get familiar with the concept of ids and classes.
Ids and classes are unique names given to an element or set of elements (tags) respectively. Using these you locate the required element and instruct the Python program to target it specifically. To inspect the code and locate the profile picture:
You can use this procedure to understand any web page and target any element for automation.
How to Build the Instagram Profile Pic Downloader
Follow these steps to create the downloader.
Final Source Code for Instagram Profile Pic Downloader Using Python
Bringing it all together, you get:
Applications of Web Automation
Automation not only helps you save time, money, and effort but also guarantees the completion of tasks while preventing errors. Use this technique to automate the login of different websites, perform cloud servers backup, schedule messages, wish birthdays on social media platforms, create posts, publish tweets, and many more.
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