How to Upload Photos to Your Forms
FastField allows rich data collection through photo capture and upload. Photo upload allows users to upload photos from their device's photo library directly into the FastField form. Photo upload is useful for inspections, surveys, inventory management, and any other task where visual documentation is essential.
This guide will walk you through the steps to upload photos directly into your forms from your device's library.
In this article
Setting Up Your Form to Allow Photo Library Upload
To allow users to upload photos from their device's photo library into a form:
- In the Form Builder, add a Single Photo or Multi Photo field to your form from the Add Fields menu on the left.
- In the photo field's Settings menu on the right, select Allow Photo Library to allow users to upload photos from their device's photo library.
- Save and publish your form to have these changes available on the app.
Uploading Photos to Your Form
To upload photos to your form in the app:
- Find the form field where you want to upload the photo(s). This could be a single or multi-photo field.
- Click on the photo field to open the photo upload options.
- You'll be prompted to take a new photo or select an existing photo from your device's photo library.
- Select a photo from your library. It will then be displayed within the form field for you to review and confirm the selection.
- If the form field allows multiple photos, you can repeat this process to upload additional photos.
We recommend avoiding submissions with over 500 photos, as this is the limit officially supported by our team. Clients can choose to exceed this limit, but doing so carries risks, such as potential challenges with internet stability, especially in areas with poor connections. Additionally, large submissions may lead to failed workflows, reports, and downloads. While there's no strict cap on photo numbers, going beyond the supported limit raises the chances of encountering these issues. For a smoother uploading experience, it's best to keep the app open until all images are uploaded and minimize the number of photos for better processing.
Tips for Optimizing Photo Collection
Want to take your photo field to the next level? Consider these best practices:
- Photo Quality: Ensure that the quality and resolution of your photos are appropriate for your needs. High-quality photos may be necessary for detailed documentation.
- Note: In the field settings of your photo fields you can change the quality of the photos. By default the quality is set to our lowest setting, JpgNormal. However, you can change this to any of the other qualities, with JpgHigh being the highest quality.
- Photo annotation: Want to further identify something within your photo? Then enable Photo Annotation within the photo field settings, which will allow users to draw directly on top of images. This is useful for circling and drawing attention to issues within the photo.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Can I add multiple photos to a single form field?
A: Yes, if your form contains a Multi Photo field, you can repeat the image upload process to add more pictures to the same field.
Q: Why can't I upload photos on a form if I have Allow Photo Library enabled?
A: Make sure you have allowed the FastField app permission to access your device's photos. This is usually a setting found within your device's app settings.
Q: How do I view or export forms with uploaded photos?
A: Forms with uploaded photos can be viewed and exported through the Submissions tab in the FastField Portal, where you can access your collected data.