Getting Photos From a Tap Inspect Report

June 8, 2017 - 1 Comment

Tap Inspect is a great place to save, archive and build reports with photos but sometimes you need to get one or more photos out of the report so you can share them, save them, or even use them someplace else.

Here are 3 different ways to get photos out of a Tap Inspect report. Each method works really well depending on where you want to do with the photos or how many photos you want to extract.

Sharing your Photos

The first method is the quickest, easiest and works really well for one or two photos. We call this the ‘Share method’. When you are in a report just tap on a thumbnail of a photo to open it full screen. Down in the bottom right corner is the ‘share icon’, tap on that and an action sheet pops up letting you select how and where you would like to share this photo.

Depending on how you have set up your device you can save it to the camera roll, post to Facebook, tweet the photo, or email it.

Once you have shared this photo you can swipe to other photos and share them. This works great if you want to text, email, or even save a few photos to camera roll.

Extracting a Report’s Photos

The second method we call the ‘Extract method’. It allows you to extract some or all the photos of a report and copy them onto the camera roll on your device. Once a photo is in your Camera Roll you can do pretty much anything you want with it.

For this method you want to open the report again and go into the Report Options by tapping on Edit, or Edit Fields on iPad and then tapping of the Report Options button that shows up in when you are in Edit mode and then tapping on Extract Photos.

A grid pops up with every photo the report knows about. This grid will also include original photos before you added arrows and circles and sometimes even orphaned photos that were removed from the report from other devices.

Tap on the little circle at the top right corner of the thumbnail to add a checkmark to select it. If you need a better look, tap on the thumbnail to view it full screen, tap on the checkmark circle, and then swipe to the next photo or tap on the grid icon in the bottom left to go back to the grid.

When you are all done tap on Extract and all the photos will be copied from your report into the Camera Roll on your device. Open the Photos app and you will see them there.

Your Web Account

The last way to get photos out of a Tap Inspect report doesn’t even need the Tap Inspect app. This is the ‘Web method’. From any web browser go to tapinspect.com and log in with your email address and password you use with the app. Go to Inspections and then click on the report that has the photos you want. Then click on a photo to view it full size and you can right click to save the image just like you would save any image from the web.

So there you go, three different ways to get photos out of a Tap Inspect report. Each with its own advantages and limitations and each that fits certain situations.

Give them all try and see what works best for you. Let us know how it goes by leaving a comment here, connecting with us on Facebook or by email to info@tapinspect.com.

3 Ways to Get Home Inspection Photos onto your iPad

March 26, 2016 - 6 Comments

Using an iPhone to take your home inspection photos and sharing via your iCloud Photo Library may be the easiest way to view photos on an iPad but not everyone likes using an iPhone.

A number of Tap Inspect’s home inspectors that either have an Android phone or still like to use a point and shoot camera or maybe even a high end DLSR. We are big believers in using the best tools for the job and the best tool is usually down to the preference of the person using it. Here are three ways that some of our users have told us about. Let us know if you have more.

Wifi Enabled Camera

Over the past few years many manufacturers have released point and shoot cameras with built in WiFi to let you share photos right from the camera. So what is the general consensus?

These camera are worth a look if you want a higher quality home inspection photo than you can typically get with your smartphone. Beware though. They can be pretty tricky to get setup right.

Once you do get them setup they work like a champ. Just install the camera’s companion app on your iPad . Then every photo you take is wirelessly sent from the camera for you to view on your iPad or add to a Tap Inspect report.

Fair warning. If setting up a wireless router forces you to call the Geek Squad these devices may be more trouble than they are worth.

Wifi Memory Card

Much like a Wifi camera there are WiFi enabled memory cards like the EyeFi memory card that can give your non-Wifi camera, Wifi connectivity.

Once you insert this gizmo into your camera and get it setup it works just like Wifi cameras. Each photo you take is wirelessly sent to a companion app you install on your iPad.

This is little less expensive than buying a new Wifi camera so that can be a plus. The downsides are that these things can burn through batteries. In my experience, I got about half the life from my batteries compared to using a non-wifi enabled memory card. The other downside is that, just like the wifi cameras, these devices can be a little tough to get setup or to troubleshoot if anything goes wrong.

Apple’s SD Card Connector

If you are looking for the simplest, most reliable method to transfer home inspection photos from a camera or even your Android phone, it is hard to beat the Apple Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader.

Just remove the SD card, plug it into this device, then plug the device into your iPad. The Photos app will launch and allow you to import all the photos on the card or select just the photos you want.

The biggest down side is that you have to remove the card from your camera or Android phone first. This is fine if you want to import all your photos at once. If you want to add and view photos as you take them the Wifi options may be better.

So there you are, three ways to get home inspection photos onto your iPad. There is no best way but there is probably the best way for you.

Markup Home Inspection Photos In Tap Inspect

February 29, 2016 - 5 Comments

Our most requested feature has been, hands down, the ability to add circles or arrows to a home inspection photo inside of the Tap Inspect iPhone and iPad applications. I have to admit, up to a little while ago I just did not understand what all the fuss was about. Now, I have to say I am sold and one of the believers.

There is just no substitute to being able to add an arrow to show the crack your are talking about or drawing a circle to highlight a stain. I can finally see how handy a feature like this can be and how much it can help clarify what I am trying to explain.

Starting with version 5 of Tap Inspect an Edit button has been added to the Photo Viewer and you can markup your home inspection photos inside the app. No more using another 3rd party app like Skitch or dealing with the extra fuss.

Two of the coolest features about the new Photo Markups are that it works across all the devices you have Tap Inspect installed on and it also saves the original, unmarked, photo.

That means you can take and add a home inspection photo from your iPhone and when it syncs over to your iPad you can add an arrow or circle or two. Then when it syncs back to your iPhone and you are still not satisfied you can change or remove those markups and add more.

It also means that you can always get the original unmarked home inspection photo from the Extract Photos screen of the app or from your web account if you need to use it somewhere else.

As a home inspector that has never used markups like this before, it has made my job even easier.

Give it a spin, markup some home inspection photos and let us know how it works for you.

3 Questions Home Inspectors Should Ask When Buying Tech Gloves

January 14, 2016

All home inspectors know that sometimes it’s hard to keep warm if you’re working out in the field. Especially if you rely on Tap Inspect or other apps on your iPhone or iPad. Your fingers will freeze!

Many people will look to tech gloves so you can still use your touch screen devices without getting frostbite on your digits. Magical, right?! How do you decide which ones to buy? There are so many! Here is a little guide to help you choose the right ones for you.

What is Your Climate?

The climate where you do your home inspections is the first thing to consider when choosing your tech gloves. If you use the Tap Inspect app somewhere that is below freezing for 3+ months of the year, you may need super thick gloves to keep you warm all day long. If you’re from somewhere milder or out in the weather less, a thin pair will probably suffice. Think about how often during your day you are in the cold and decide from there how thick you want your gloves.

How Much Tech Do You Use?

The amount of home inspection work you do on your device throughout the day will also dictate how thick your gloves can be. The thicker the gloves, the more difficult it can be to use your device. This is where you have to decide if warmth or functionality is more important for your needs.

What Kind of Home Inspection Work Will You Do?

The final key consideration is what else you’ll be doing in these gloves. Do you have to get in a crawl space? Will you be using tools?
You may want gloves with plastic gripping so they are useful for more than your iPad. Do you usually just snap a couple pictures and then head back to the office? Then you can go for a more fashionably, less utilitarian pair.

So there you have it. Bigger is not always better. There is usually a point where your gloves can get so thick they make it harder to use your device, not easier. Also, don’t forget that sometimes little features like rubber grips can make a huge difference.

Browse what’s available at Zappos or at Amazon.

Good luck and stay warm.

How Tap Inspect & This Home Inspector Survived the AT&T Outage of 2015

November 10, 2015 - 2 Comments

On August 4th of 2015 much of Kentucky, Tennessee and also parts of Georgia and Alabama lost AT&T voice and data service. This was not an isolated temporary event. This was widespread outage that lasted for several hours. For all of us that depend on mobile communications to do our jobs we were essentially off the grid and we had no idea how long it would last.

If you have read some of my other posts you know that I use AT&T for my iPhone carrier. The main reason for this is as a home inspector, I need the ability to use both voice and data at the same time to complete my home inspections. Unfortunately on August 4th neither my voice nor my data service was working and I was a little upset.

I had been doing a home inspection and had already collected most of the data, taken my photos, and completed my comments on my iPhone through the Tap Inspect app. Usually all this information ‘magically’ synchronizes with the Tap Inspect servers while I am doing the inspection but not that day.

At that point of my home inspections I typically grab my iPad, polish off the language and go over the report with my client. I love the amazement on their faces when they see the PDF on my iPad, watch as I publish the report, and then get the email notification on their own phones for them to pickup their home inspection report.

On August 4th I was out of luck. Or so I thought…

A little while back we wrote about 5 Reasons not to buy a WiFi only tablet. I follow our own advice and bought an LTE iPad. I bought a Verizon iPad.

There has been more than one time I have been in areas and had poor signal. Call me paranoid but I figured that if AT&T was bad in an area I could always use a Verizon iPad. If Verizon was bad, I still had my AT&T iPhone. I could always use the hotspot feature from the other device to connect to the internet.

On August 4th, AT&T service was very bad. Thankfully I had my Verizon iPad. I connected my iPhone to the iPad’s hotspot, synced with the Tap Inspect application, and finished up with the iPad, and amazed my client as usual.

So, how did I survive the AT&T outage? Simple, I used my Verizon iPad.

Category: Mobile Device Tips