Photos in Ecobot Manager

Photos you take in Ecobot Collector flow into Ecobot Manager with their location, sampling point, time and notes. Manager is where you review, organize, edit and export them for your deliverables, and where you can upload photos taken some other way. This article covers each of those.

Open a survey's photos

Open the survey, then select Photos in the side menu. The number beside it shows how many photos the survey has.

View and sort photos

• Favorites: select Favorites to show only the photos starred in Collector or Manager. Select the star on any photo to add or remove it.
• Sort by: choose Date taken, Date added, Photo name, Point, North–South, East–West or Custom order. With custom order, drag photos into the order you want. Select the button next to the list to reverse the order.
• Show: choose how many photos appear on a page: 10, 25, 50, 100, 250 or All.

Select a photo to open it. Its direction, elevation, coordinates, and when it was taken and uploaded, and by whom, appear beside it. Use the arrows or the Photo roll below the photo to move to another one.

Work with several photos at once

Select the box on one or more photos, or Select all. Buttons appear above the photos:

• Edit: change the photos' details.
• Download: save the original photos to your computer.
• Generate PDF: build a photo log PDF.
• Delete: remove the photos from the survey.

Edit a photo

Open a photo and select Edit, or select several photos and choose Edit. You can change:

• Sampling point: the point the photo belongs to, or none.
• Location source: use the latitude and longitude from the sampling point, or from the photo itself.
• Rotate by: turn the photo left or right.
• Title and Description.

Select Save changes when you're done. Change as much or as little as your survey or client needs.

Create a photo log PDF

1. Select the photos you want, then select Generate PDF.
2. Under Layout options, choose Single, Single + Map, Double or Quad.
3. Under Meta information, choose what to print with each photo: organization logo, name and address, title and description, point association and classification, direction, location, elevation, date and time, and the Ecobot watermark.
4. Check the preview, then select Export PDF.

Manager remembers your choices for next time. Options marked with an asterisk appear only when the information exists, such as an organization logo set in Settings. The organization logo and removing the Ecobot watermark are available on the Essential, Professional and Enterprise plans.

Download photos

Many firms keep a copy of their field photos on their own servers. Select the photos you want, or Select all, then select Download. Manager downloads a .zip file containing:

• The original photos, at full resolution.
• A CSV of photo details, which lists each photo's file name, sampling point, latitude, longitude and elevation, compass direction, date and time, and any notes.

Use the CSV to:

• Archive: keep it with the photos in your survey folder for your records.
• Map photos in your GIS: import it into ArcGIS or QGIS as a delimited text layer to make points that link to your local photo files.
• Answer questions: filter it to find a specific photo and its direction quickly, without opening every file.

Delete photos

1. Select the photos you want to remove.
2. Select Delete.
3. Type delete to confirm. It doesn't matter whether you use capitals.

To delete one photo, you can also open it, select the ⋮ menu, then Delete photo. The same menu has Download original.

Upload photos

To add photos that weren't taken in Collector, such as ones from a coworker or another device:

1. On the survey's Photos page, select Upload photos.
2. Drag the photos in, or browse to them. You can upload up to 100 at a time; upload more in batches.
3. Assign each photo to a sampling point, or leave it unassigned, and add descriptions if you like.

Uploaded photos work just like photos from Collector. Manager keeps any details still stored in the file, such as the time taken, GPS location and orientation. Those details survive only if the original file reaches Ecobot unchanged.

Details are kept when you:

• Upload the original file straight from your phone or camera.
• Transfer it in a way that keeps the original file, such as AirDrop, a cable, or a cloud service like Google Photos or iCloud.
• Use "Save to Files" or a similar option that keeps the original.

Details are lost when you:

• Send photos by text message.
• Send them by email, in many email apps.
• Share them through Slack, unless you zip them first.
• Use an app that compresses or reprocesses images, or take the photo from inside another app, such as Google Drive or OneDrive.
• Upload a screenshot instead of the original photo.

For the best results, always upload the original photo file.

Questions

Why did my photos upload without a location, direction or elevation?

Either the device didn't record them, or they were stripped on the way to Ecobot. Older devices, and phones with location turned off for the camera, may not save them. If the device did record them, check how the photos got to your computer, using the lists above.

Can I see who uploaded a photo?

Yes. Open the photo: the uploader's name and the upload time appear under Uploaded.

Why is one of my photos blurred?

Photos with hate speech or other inappropriate content are blurred when they're uploaded.