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How Collectorpro Appraiser Edition Handles Images of Objects
How Collectorpro Stores Images
Collectorpro does not actually store the images in Collectorpro but creates a link to the images wherever you have stored them on your disk or CD-ROM. This gives you much more flexibility than if we stored the images in the Collectorpro database.
Best Practices for Image Storage
The actual image is not stored in Collectorpro, but just a link to where the image is stored on your disk. It is important to understand how this works and have a strategy for where to store the images for each appraisal on your computer disk.
We recommend that all images for each appraisal be stored in a specific single folder designated for that appraisal on your computer hard disk. Many appraisers have created a folder in their My Pictures folder named Appraisal Images. They then create a folder inside the Appraisal Images folder for each appraisal. See the example below for how folders were created to hold each appraisal’s images. See the picture below for a sample of how the folders are created.
Note: Creating these folders is
not a part of Collectorpro and is done using My Computer in Windows or using the
software that your digital camera uses to transfer pictures from the camera to
your computer hard disk.
Next you will copy the images
from your digital camera into the folder you created for the appraisal. Suppose
you have in your camera the images for the Johnson Appraisal. Copy these images
from the camera to the C:\My Documents\My Pictures\Appraisal Images\Johnson
Appraisal Images folder.
After you copy the images to the correct folder on your disk, open Collectorpro
and open the appraisal you are working with. Then open the Client/Appraisal
Screen and click on the Report Preferences tab at the bottom. Click the Set
Folder button near the bottom and use the Open Folder dialog to set the folder
for images to the folder where the images for this appraisal are stored. In
this example we are setting the image location for the Johnson Appraisal.
After selecting the folder, click OK to close this screen and the folder you specified will be displayed in the Set Folder for Images box. To change this folder click the Set Folder button and select a different folder. To clear this field, click the Set Folder button and then click the Cancel button.
See below for an example of screen after you have set the folder.
Images Screen Button Descriptions
Add Picture-This opens the Windows File open dialog box to allow you to navigate to an image and attach the image to the Object.
Navigate to the picture you wish and double click on the picture or single click on the picture and click the Attach button. A thumbnail of the image will be displayed on the Images screen.
Delete Picture-Click here to delete the attached picture. Note: This does not delete the image from your computer but only removes the link between the picture and the Object.
Caption-Click on the caption button to open a screen to enter the caption for that image. Captions print above the Object on reports. Although you can enter an unlimited caption, it is best to keep captions brief.
View Links-Opens
a window so you can view the Windows path to where the image is stored on your
computer disk. This is used for troubleshooting purposes or if you just want to
see where the linked image is on your computer disk.
Important Notes about Images
Caution on moving images after they have been linked to objects
If you move the image files to another disk or folder after attaching them to the Objects in Collectorpro, Collectorpro will not know where to find them and will display an X in the where the image would normally be shown. It is best to not move images to another folder after they are linked to objects in Collectorpro.
Image size considerations
Collectorpro prints images in a relatively small size on the reports. When taking the images with your digital camera you can set the size of the images in the camera before taking them. The larger the size setting, the larger the image file will be on your disk. Most digital cameras support the following sizes images:
Size Setting in Camera Approx. File Size
2048 x
1536 > 1 mb
1024 x 768 300kb
800 x 600 150kb
640 x 480 <50kb
There is no benefit inside Collectorpro to having the images in a larger size than they will print. The smaller the image size the faster Collectorpro will print reports and the more images you can fit on a Viewer CD or Backup CD. Collectorpro recommends you use 1024 x 768 or smaller when taking the images. This will make the reports much faster to generate and print and allow you to get up to 2000 images on a viewer CD. This compares to getting less than 700 images on a Viewer CD when taken at 2048 x 1536 size. It will also take up much less disk space on your computer and allow you to store the images on your disk for future reference and use.
For instance if you are doing an appraisal of 500 objects with 3 images each taken at 2048 x 1536 size, the images alone will take three CD’s. In this example, you will not be able to create a Viewer CD for your clients. Viewer CD’s do require that all images fit on a single CD. If your images were 800 x 600 size they would easily fit on a single Viewer CD.
Considerations with Images for Viewer CD
If you plan to use the new Viewer CD capability to deliver a Viewer CD to your client with the appraisal report, there are some important considerations. First, you must have all the images for an appraisal in the same folder like the example above. Second, you must have that folder specified in the Report Preferences screen.
When a Viewer CD is created, Collectorpro looks for the folder specified in the Report Preferences and copies all the image files from that folder to the Viewer CD. If you have image files in other locations than specified in the Report Preferences, they will not get copied to the viewer CD.
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