The Photos Tab – Knowledge Base

Overview & background

The Photos tab contains all photos that have been added to whichever Fieldwire project you're viewing. Any photos you added on tasks or as a hyperlink on a plan will automatically appear under the 'Photos' tab. You can perform multiple actions from this tab, including uploading new photos, attaching existing photos to tasks, and tagging photos. Once you open a photo, you are able to navigate to the task the photo is associated with, download the photo, and add markups to it.

How to use the photos tab on Web
How to upload new photos on Web
The Actions menu
- Filename Structure for Photo Exports
Filter photos on Web
Photo View on Web
Photos on Fieldwire mobile apps (iOS and Android)
The single photo view on iOS
The single photo view on Android

How to use the photos tab on Web

When you select the 'Photos' tab, you'll be led to a page where you can view all of the photos that have been added to your project throughout its duration. Photos are automatically displayed in folders, organized in chronological order by the date the photos were added to Fieldwire:

How to upload new photos on Web

Uploading photos on the web is similar to uploading plans or files to Fieldwire. You will choose where the photos are stored, and then upload them to Fieldwire from that source.

Fieldwire supports .png, .jpg, .gif, .jpeg, .bmp, and .svg file types.

Any .MP4 and .MOV files, under 200mb, can be uploaded to the ‘Files’ tab or to tasks as ‘files’. These will play in Fieldwire's media viewer, and be included as downloadable links in reports and task exports. Other video file types, including .WMV, .AVI, and .FLV files are not currently supported.

MP4 and MOV files can't be uploaded directly to the 'Photos’ tab on mobile or web. Any video captured in a task or on a photo hyperlink on mobile will be stored under the 'Photos' tab, and also within the device's camera roll.

Note: You will not be able to markup photos that are directly uploaded to the photos tab. The picture will have to be attached to a task, form RFI, file, or plan to enable markups on photos.

To upload photos to the 'Photos' tab on the web:

1. Select '+New photo', then click 'Photo' (or '360 photo' if you are on the Business subscription):

2. After you select the source and photos, select 'upload'. The photos will then begin to process:

Note: You can upload photos up to 50mb in size.

3. You'll know the photos have completed processing when you see their selectable thumbnails, which you can use to select and tag them, attach them to tasks, and export using 'Actions':

The Actions menu

After you select one or more photos, the Actions menu will become illuminated. This menu provides you with the options to:

Attach the photo(s) to an existing Task.
Export the photo(s) via email.
- Note you have the option to export an original or optimized version of your photos.
  - The Original photos sent to you will retain their original resolution.
  - The Optimized photos will be exported as 1200 x 1200px images (which is how these exist in Fieldwire itself).
Add tags to the photo(s).
Delete the photo(s).

Note: You can select multiple photos at once by choosing the 'box' at the beginning of each date. Click the "Actions" button to attach the photos to tasks, batch export them, manage their tags, and delete them.

To select all photos, click on a photo (or multiple photos), and click on actions. Hover your mouse over the number of photos selected and choose "Select all" on the right to select all photos.

If you choose to attach a photo to a task, you will be prompted to search for the task using the task name or number:

Note: You can also add any photos from the 'Photos' tab directly to a task or plans - please refer to this article on tasks or plans for more details.

Filename Structure for Photo Exports

Exported photos in Fieldwire will adopt a file naming structure that reflects the date and time the photo was uploaded, prefaced by the task number if the photo is attached to a task or with the planID affixed if the photo is attached to a plan.

If you export multiple photos, you may notice that certain photo filenames have an additional string of characters, outside of the date and timestamp:

This is because there are a few "tie-breakers" that Fieldwire takes into consideration:

If the photo is not attached to plan or task - The general structure of the file name is: is <createdAtTime>_<attachmentID>.<extension>. Note that attachmentID will only be used as a "tie-breaker" if the name <createdAtTime>.<extension> is not unique.

If the Photo is attached to plan - The General structure is <planName>_<posX>by<posY>_<planID>_<createdAtTime>.<ext>.

Once again, planID will only be used at a "tie-breaker" if <planName>_<posX>by<posY> is not unique. Also, posX and posY refer to the position of the photo on the plan. createdAtTime refers to the creation time of the photo, not the plan.

If the Photo is attached to a task - General structure is as follows: #<taskSequenceNumber>_<bubbleCreatedDateAndTime>_<bubbleID>.<ext>. Note bubbleID will only be used as a "tie-breaker" if the name #<taskSequenceNumber>_<bubbleCreatedDateAndTime>.<ext> already exists.

Filter photos on Web

You can filter your photos by various parameters on the web:

Select the 'Filter photos' option in the top-right corner to sort your photos by:

Assignee: Who captured the Photo.
Tags: Tags you've manually added to photos.
Time Filters: A specific date range to isolate when photos were added.

You can also filter photos using the categories on the left menu:

My Photos: Photos you've added.
All Photos: All photos in the project.

Photo View on Web

If you click on any photo, the single photo view will open. Here, you can:

View a date/time stamp with the name of the user who added that photo to Fieldwire (right side)
- This date/time stamp is reflective of the time registered on your device. For photo exports (and when photos are included on Report and Form exports) the time will be relative to the 'timezone' indicated under the project settings.
See all the tags that photo currently has, as well as remove or add them (right side).
If the photo was taken using the Fieldwire iOS or Android mobile app, you'll see GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken, with a link to view on Google Maps (right side).
Quick action buttons (in the upper-left): Download the photo. If the photo is attached to a task or plan, you can also select the arrow button in the top left corner of the image to go to that task or plan. If the photo is attached to a task, you can click the pencil icon to add photo markups:

Note: To capture GPS information in Photos, make sure that the 'Fieldwire' app can access your location. This is typically on by default on Android devices; here's how to ensure it's working on iOS:

Settings > Fieldwire > Location > While Using the App

Note: The GPS coordinates of Photos taken through Fieldwire on iOS are stored in the EXIF data of the photo. This means that, in addition to viewing the coordinates in Fieldwire, you can access the GPS coordinates even when you export photos from Fieldwire. Refer to this article for instructions on how to view the EXIF data of a photo file on Windows and Mac (outside of your Fieldwire app).

Photos on Fieldwire mobile apps (iOS and Android)

The 'photos' tab in the Fieldwire mobile apps is quite similar to the same tab on web. The key differences are:

1. The photos tab on mobile is designed for quick and easy access to your project photos in the field, so you cannot attach photos to tasks, export photos, tag photos, or delete photos on mobile while in the photos tab.

Note: To allow Fieldwire to access your camera roll, "All Photos" needs to be enabled.

Note: You can delete photos in the mobile apps, but you can only perform this action within a task in the Tasks Tab.

iOS: Settings > Fieldwire > Photos > All Photos

Android: Settings > App & Notification> App Permission > Camera > Enable Fieldwire

Note: Android settings differ depending on the mobile device and operating system installed.

Alternatively, if you don't want to save the pictures taken via Fieldwire on your mobile device, then the settings should be the following:

Settings > Fieldwire > Photos > None

Note: Keep in mind, this setting will block Fieldwire from accessing your Camera roll.

2. How you create markups on photos when on your mobile device. Take a look at this article for additional details about markups on your Mobile Device.

3. Select the '+' option to add photos on-the-fly or from the camera roll on your device. Business subscribers can also select the '360°' option to capture and add 360° photos.

Note: As with the web version, any photos you take through a task or as a link on a plan will appear in this section.

On iOS, you can also sort your photos using the left sidebar. If you have 'My Photos' selected, only the photos you have added will be displayed. Alternatively, if you have 'All Photos' selected, all of the photos will be displayed, independent of who on the project added them:

You can also add new photos using the '+' icon, or if the Project is covered under a Business Subscription, you can add 360-degree photos using a Ricoh Theta Camera.

Note: On iOS, only up to 5 photos can be uploaded from the camera roll at once.

On Android, you can also sort your photos using the left sidebar. If you have 'My Photos' selected, only the photos you have added will be displayed. Alternatively, if you have 'All Photos' selected, all of the photos will be displayed, regardless of who added them:

You can also add new photos by leveraging the blue '+' icon.

Note: On Android, only up to 10 photos can be uploaded from the camera roll at once.

The single photo view on iOS

If you tap on any photo, you are able to view photo metadata, including the date/time stamp of the photo. You can also jump to any photo that is associated with a task by selecting the blue arrow icon in the top right corner. If the arrow is greyed out, the photo is not associated with a task:

The Photo is associated with a Task:	The Photo is not associated with a Task:

The single photo view on Android

If you tap on any photo, you are able to view photo metadata, including the date/time stamp of the photo. The key difference is that the photo view on Android:

Specifies if the task is associated with a Task Pin or Plan.
Allows you to add Markups directly from the Photos tab when the photo is attached to a task.

The photo is attached to a Task	The photo is hyperlinked to a Plan	The photo is associated with neither.

More Information

These articles provide more information about photos in Fieldwire: