kindly improve the quality of the picture taken on the app. Does this relate with compression? Is it possible to have original photo in the handoffs process as well as in PDF rather than compressed image.
Thanks
6
kindly improve the quality of the picture taken on the app. Does this relate with compression? Is it possible to have original photo in the handoffs process as well as in PDF rather than compressed image.
Thanks
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Hi Raman,
We do automatically compress images. We have some settings that are available to users to adjust this. You can get there by navigating to your Apps page, clicking the name of the App, scrolling to the Options area and clicking Compression.
If that's still not getting you what you need, feel free to put in a ticket with our Support Team.
I am suddenly having a problem with photo quality. This wasn't an issue until very recently (last week or two). The image is fine on the device but once viewed from the pdf submission, the quality is terrible.
Hi Kaleah,
You know, you're probably the third person I've heard that from lately. I'm going to ask around and see if we've made any changes on our end. Thanks for letting me know, I'll keep you posted!
I have a new problem with photos as well - wonder if it's related? Several weeks ago I could see properties (date photo taken) on all photos - whether they had been taken with camera inside of app OR whether they were selected from the gallery. Now, only photos actually taken through the camera in the gocanvas app are showing properties. If adding from the gallery, that photo will not include the properties.
Hi Lori,
What type of device are you using? Were you seeing the date on the actual photo (so part of the image) or was it going into a field of some sort? I'm wondering if this is a setting on the device, but I'd love to investigate further for you.
I'm using an iPhone. Previously, when photos were attached to a submission from the phone's photo gallery OR by taking a photo in the GoCanvas app, I would download the pdf to our server and then right click on the photo to "save as" and save it as a jpeg. When you go to "Properties" of that jpeg file it showed the date taken and other information.
However, now the properties are only there for photos that were taken in the GoCanvas app. Photos added from the photo gallery (taken earlier and saved) do not have properties. When I directly email that photo to myself and save it, the properties are there. It's when it comes through the app that they go away. But if I take the photo in the app and submit, the properties are intact when I download and save the photo.
Hi Lori,
Thank you so much for that detailed explanation. I've been able to replicate exactly what you've described, so I'm going to convert your comment into a ticket for our Support Team to follow up.
I'm experiencing the same issues as Ramen and Kaleah. Suddenly the images of receipts are not legible in the PDF.
Hi Lucas,
I'm going to convert your comment into a ticket so our Support Team can take a look. A couple of different things might be going on, all of which require us to take a look behind the scenes a bit, so I want to make sure we have the right people on it. Stay tuned, you should be hearing from them soon!
Did anything come out of this ticket?
Been battling and vocalizing this for a while now (as many people at GoCanvas are well aware). How and when the pictures look bad is a complete mystery. Using the same camera/phone, sometimes they look good, sometimes they look bad.
If you use the picture edit/draw tool, the picture quality seems to decrease dramatically. Sometimes the pictures are so pixelated they are useless. Not much of an inspection report when you can't see the fine details of the issue.
It's embarrassing when you are trying to sell the concept of GoCanvas to upper manage and the pictures look terrible.
Removing the compression isn't the answer either. Even with apps that have compression completely removed (by a submitted ticket), the same thing happens.
Taking the picture using the camera or adding the photo from the gallery has something to do with it.
Some of it has to do with the device you view them on too (how the device emulates the pictures/pdf).
There are so many variables, I just don't know.
One of these days, I am going put together an experiment with different devices and pdf layouts to see if can figure this out and make some recommendations.
One thing I can say for sure, how you add and size them in the PDF Designer definitely has a lot to do with.
If someone else has already figured this out, please share?
A "How to make your photos look better" tutorial would be nice... recommended camera settings (3x4, 16:9, megapixel settings), pdf designer sizing and layout, etc..
I took a picture using ever conceivable setting on my camera. My camera can do 4x3 12 Megapixels (M) with HDR, 16x9 9 M with HDR, 4x3 6 M w. HDR,16:9 4 M w. HDR, Then all the same without HDR. All placed in a designer pdf using landscape orientation. Used a two column section in the pdf with the median dragged left so the pictures cover about 5/8ths of the page. The winner was 4x3 6M without HDR. Everything else besides this setting had choppy pixelated edges. I'm going to build an app to demonstrate my results and post it later.
Hey Keith,
I'm going to convert your post into a ticket - there are some things we can do on our end with compression after we collect some info from you, and the Support Team can coordinate all of that. Stay tuned!
A recommendation from one of our Account Managers that is specific to Android: if the image size is set to 1x1 on the device settings and the resolution somewhere in the mid-range, that gives the optimum output.
I'll also add that with ewer Android phones, we've been seeing more of these issues, so making those adjustments should improve things on those devices.
Yes. I actually relayed that information to Troy today based upon my test results.
I expanded my test further to include 1:1 and 18:5.9
I'm glad I did. 1:1 ratio 9M no HDR actually looks best.
If you don't have 1:1 9M available, 4:3 mid range Megapixels was 2nd best. A higher or lower Megapixel setting in 4:3 ratio decreased the quality.
HDR is out.. Don't use it.
16:9 and 18.5 any Megapixel setting are out too. No beuno..
You can view the complete results of my test by clicking the link. https://1drv.ms/b/s!AgHlMjyhugdyhsguhI2Um76sUy55HA
The state of my desk is embarrassing... it doesn't look that dirty when you are sitting here. Honestly! lol
I still owe Drew an email response to the ticket..
Thanks for doing the legwork on that, Keith!
I was having the same issue and am glad I came across this ticket - it worked great.
Will this always be a setting we have to change or is GoCanvas looking into options to remedy the issue?
Our operations are set up that we require good picture quality for some of our apps, but there is a very low chance that we would be able to ensure that everyone adjusts their picture size every time they are taking a picture with a GoCanvas app.
I understand exactly where you are coming from. Clarity and detail are essential for our inspection reports. Photo quality in the pdf output is still a continuing source of frustration for me.
I would like to be able to remove photo compression from my apps without having to request it.
any updates on this issue? i have the same issue on photo quality in PDF.. can't believe this has been an issue for 2 years?
Howdy Bass Ph Team,
Thank you for sharing this feedback! I see that you were able to connect with my colleagues on the Support team to reduce the image compression for some of your Apps.
There are a few reasons why we direct image compression adjustment requests to our Support team. It becomes an issue of storage for GoCanvas servers. We also want to consider the navigation and processing speeds for users. Plus, the unique nature of each image compression request (specific Apps, images, and submission counts) means we want to handle these adjustments with care to each user.
Hi, trying to understand what's happening in this thread.
I have my compression settings on the highest setting. There are images I am concerned about are not ones that I use in my final pdf. The photos are usually photos of hand drawings and review them from the submission page. How can I get a full size copy of this image? I've been trying to copy the image off the submission detail page, but the images are too low resolution.
Hi Kristy
I believe you'll need to contact GoCanvas support and / or your account manager to discuss options for different image compression settings.
Been struggling with GoCanvas photos for years. I'm bitter. lol
If I follow what you are trying to do, firstly, you will need to go into the app builder and go to the photo field, select more, and then make sure unsecured access is checked.
There's one of two ways that I know of to get the photos.
You could go to your GoCanvas dashboard, go to submissions, then export your submissions from that app to a csv file. Once you have the csv file, you can copy and paste the photo(s) link into your browser.
or
Use a zapier integration and send the submission to a google sheet. Repeat the copy and paste link into your browser.
Regardless of what you do, you are not going to get good quality images once they go through a GoCanvas App.
GoCanvas uses a lossy compression that blurs out the fine details (unless you pay for a customized integration).
My recommendation is to take the photos with your camera, then add it to your gocanvas app from your gallery (not directly from the camera). That way you at least have a higher resolution photo stored elsewhere that you can use later.
Still struggling with photo quality
Photo quality is still unreadable. My request that photos can be taken without the hassle of having to change the camera settings every time they use their camera for work or personal use.
Hi Jacqueline Castaneda
Thanks for joining the conversation! Have you reached out to Support to adjust your account's compression settings?