Report Writing Desktop : Add or Edit Media in a report

This article details all regular pictures/thermal images, videos, and drawings.
For our article on using 360° pictures in your reports, click the link below:
How do I Add 360° Images to My Report?

• Adding a Cover Photo
• Adding Photos/Videos Using the HG Companion
• Manually Inserting Photos/Videos into Your Report
• Editing Photos
• Adding HomeGauge Drawings to Your Report
• Adding Multiple Photos to an Inspection Item
• Choosing the Right Photo and Video Format
• Add a Photo to Companion from Phone Gallery/Memory

Adding a Cover Photo 

Go to the General Info section and then click and drag the picture you'd like to use from the film strip to the gray box titled cover picture. 

Adding Photos/Videos Using the HG Companion 

If you are using the HG Companion, you will have the option to choose your inspection item and click the camera icon to take a photo. For videos, click the video camera icon. The picture or video will be included in that inspection item when you're editing your report in the software. For more about how to setup the HomeGauge Companion and recommended settings (click here).

Manually Inserting Photos/Videos into Your Report

If you are using a camera with the HomeGauge desktop software you must move the photos or videos into the correct place in the report. First add the photo/video to your computer and the point the software filmstrip to the location of the pictures using the Browse button.

There are two different methods to adding photos/videos:

1. Move through the list of photos in your filmstrip and find the correct place in the software to insert the photo. Drag and drop the photo or video into the gray photo area to the right of the comment box.
   
2. Move through the report and then scroll through the filmstrip to find the correct photo or video for each item. 

Method one is much faster as you can find and move to an inspection item in the report much faster than scrolling through a long list of photos/videos. This method will also help ensure you have used every photo and video. Another hint is to ensure you are not taking too many unnecessary photos/videos.

Editing Photos

After adding a photo to the report, the Edit Photo window opens. In this window, you can change the size, crop, and add annotations to the photo. 

• Resize the size of the photo  
  • The top toolbar has small, medium, large, and x-large buttons to change the size of the picture. 
• Crop 
  • When selected, drag your mouse to make a box on the picture you want to keep.
• Zoom 
  • When selected, drag your mouse to make a box on the picture you want to enlarge.
• ZO 
  
  • When selected, drag your mouse to make a box you want to add a zoom overlay to. Then move the overlay on to how you like it. 
• Rotate the picture 
• Undo an action from the top toolbar
  
  • This button highlights if there is an action that can be undone. Otherwise, its grayed out.

Add annotations to the photo

Annotations are a great way to draw attention to details in the photo. There are arrows to point at defects. Rectangles, circles, and lines draw attention to detail in the photo. And text boxes to notate additional context about the photo.

• Select
  • This button is used to select any annotations 
• Left
  • Adds a left arrow to the picture
• Right 
  • Adds a right arrow to the picture
• Up
  • Adds an up arrow to the picture
• Down
  • Adds a down arrow to the picture
• Rect
  • Drag mouse to create a rectangle on the picture
• Circle
  • Drag the mouse to create a circle on the picture
•  Line
  • Drage the mouse to create a line on the picture
• Text
  • Drag the mouse to create a text box on the picture. Type in the text you want to say or use the magic wand to add saved Comments for the Picture.
• Overlay
  • Add a picture to overlay on top of the picture.
•  Remove
  • After using Select, click on the annotation, then click Remove to remove it.

Change the appearance of annotations

On the right side is a toolbar to change the appearance of annotations. Can change the color of the lines, and border size, fill in the annotation with a specific color, and change the angle of the annotation.

1. Select the annotation.
2. Make the change to appearance using the right-side menu.

Label

The Label button opens a window to enter in the photo label while editing the picture.

1. Click Label.
2. Choose from existing comments with the magic wand or enter a new label in the text input field.
3. Click OK when done.

Revert to Photo Locker

Revert to Photo Locker restores the photo to its original state. This removes all changes made to the photo.

1. Click Revert to Photo Locker.
2. Click Yes, to Revert to original image.

Edit Default Settings

How do I Change Picture Settings?

Click Ok when done editing and adding annotations to the image.

Using the Edit All Photos Tool 

HG has a great tool for finding all the photos in a report so they can be edited one after the other.

1. With your report open, click the Find Unanswered field on the top toolbar. It will display a drop down menu.
   
   
2. Select Edit all photos in the drop down, then click on the Find First button to the right of the field. This will take you to the first photo in the report.
   
3. Edit the photo to your liking and then click Next. This will bring up the next picture in the report for editing.
   
4. If you need to delete a photo, click Remove in the edit picture screen.
5. If you want to go back to a previous picture, click Back.

Adding HomeGauge Drawings to Your Report 

If you would like to incorporate the sketches that HomeGauge supplies for free, follow these simple steps:

1. In your right pane, click on the Drawings tab.
   
2. In the Select Folder menu, select the category that your desired drawing is most likely to be in.
   
3. All of the drawings for that folder will now appear. Drag and drop or double click the drawing just as you would a photo in order to insert it with your comment or overview.
   

Adding Multiple Photos to an Inspection Item 

If you'd like to add several photos to an inspection item at once, there are two methods you can use, which are also outlined in this video tutorial.

1. In the filmstrip, click each photo you'd like to add. You'll see a red box around each selected photo. Now, click the plus symbol to add all of the photos. You will be prompted to edit each of them one by one.
2. Alternatively, select the photos you'd like to add and click the double plus icon. This will insert these photos without editing. You can still edit any of the added photos afterwards. 
   

Choosing the Right Photo and Video Format 

JPG, GIF and PNG are all accepted photo formats, thought we strongly recommend JPG as it is the most popular photo type with a small file size.

HomeGauge supports mp4 videos. Older cameras and devices may use a format that is not compatible. If you have a format that does not work with the software, you can use a free video converter to convert it to mp4. There are many tools available online for converting videos. 

Add a Photo to Companion from Phone Gallery/Memory

Instructions for Android App

1. Navigate to an inspection item comment area.
2. Choose the filmstrip roll in the bottom right corner of the screen.
   
3. Choose the icon that looks like a camera outline with an up-arrow on it.
   
4. Select an image from your phone's gallery or memory.

Instructions for iOS App

1. Navigate to an inspection item comment area.
2. Choose the filmstrip roll in the bottom left corner of the screen.
3. Choose the icon that looks like a folder.
4. Select an image from your phone's gallery or memory.