idea Photograph Date Stamp in ArcGIS Field Maps Ideas

Photograph Date Stamp

ashtons — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 07:18:31 GMT

At the moment when you're out in the field using the Field Maps App, you can take a photograph, then submit along with the form. Unfortunately there's no way of adding a date-stamp to that image to prove when the photo was taken.

We need this so that it represents as proof evidence in cases of insurance and liability issues.

Thank you

Sean

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

CClark2 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:24:01 GMT

This is a great idea. I work for a local municipality, and my team and I recently launched a Field Map’s initiative to collect stormwater data for our maintenance division. We found out that some of their more tech-savvy personnel were using a third-party app that takes the EXIF data and generates a timestamp and location information printed right on the photo. Currently, they use this app to generate photos for work orders in a system separate from the Field Maps app. Unfortunately, that workflow of using the third-party app to generate the photo, and then navigating to a separate app to log the photo in that system was not tenable for the Field Map initiative, as it was a clunky process that was difficult to enforce with the less tech-oriented members of the crew.

If it was possible to set the photo capture element of Field Maps print this information directly on the photos, that would not only help our workers quickly and easily reference information about the photo, but it would also add an extra layer of assurance to our verification techniques and help us to further promote GIS adoption within our department.

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

fjramos — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 20:03:00 GMT

Good idea

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

Heidi_Whipple — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 22:21:11 GMT

I work in borough government in Alaska, and our GIS group coordinates with Public Works and Emergency Services personnel during emergencies or weather incidents. Our organization also has a need for time/date and location stamped photos when taking any pictures of road closure locations or damages to public/private infrastructure. These help with verification of reports coming in, tracking updates through time, and potential reimbursement reporting after a disaster.

Currently, field staff has to use a third-party app (Theodolite), and then upload those photos to Field Maps (or email them to GIS to upload). We'd prefer to use Field Maps to natively capture and display those elements to simplify the workflow in the field.

thank you!

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

AlfredBaldenweck — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 14:21:55 GMT

I think the information is present in the exif data, but that requires exporting it, which is its own can of worms. Adding it to the Attachment table (and being able to actually do anything with attributes in the attachment table) would be great.

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

DanielKarkoszka — Tue, 21 May 2024 01:23:17 GMT

Anything happening here ESRI?

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

County_ofNevada — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 17:26:33 GMT

Would love to see this feature put back in. We use Field Maps for our one of our local government initiatives. Our staff goes into the field to take pictures of a given location, and often will have to return to that location months later to take follow-up photos. Being able to see a date/time stamp on the photos in the app would allow them to quickly identify the 'before' and 'after' photos.

Betreff: Photograph Date Stamp

HannesVogel — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 18:17:33 GMT

It is possible to capture features with photos and EXIF data printed as watermarks directly on the photos with Survey123 from ESRI.

Here are the relevant links:

The data and photos can be also shared and used in webmaps in Field Maps.

Furthermore, existing features/attributes can be sent to Survey123 forms via Applinking to use this handy Survey123 functionality.

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

CarynAshbay — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 21:29:39 GMT

Has anyone found a way to add a timestamp to a photo attachment in Field Maps without using a third-party app or Survey123?

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

alex_friant — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 18:30:59 GMT

It would also be super useful to have this ability in QuickCapture. Any mobile app where photos can be attached should have this ability so it's the same experiences across the platform.

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

ToddHelt — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 03:29:50 GMT

Re: Field Maps photo timestamp workaround

@ashtons @CarynAshbay @DanielKarkoszka

Yes, I agree this is a common limitation with Field Maps, especially if your used to the robust photo watermarking of date time, lat/lon coords, reverse geocoding for address, etc. that can be easily implemented in Survey123 XLSForm.

Here's a workaround in Field Maps we use on Android devices. It's not really "in Field Maps" but because the photo attachment tool from Field Maps just launches the native Camera app on the mobile device you can simply use the camera Settings to watermark the photos with the date/time stamp. You can also toggle on Location Tags in Camera Settings in order to include the location lat/lon coords in the EXIF data for the photos for evidentiary purposes (I don't believe there is a way in Camera settings to also include this coord info in the watermark image with date/time stamp, but that may depend on camera app or the Android or Knox version). We have a fairly limited number of users so we just go thru this one time camera settings on each mobile device as part of our users Field Maps training. Results may vary but this is what works for us:

1. Open Settings in camera.

2. Toggle on Watermark in Camera Settings

3. Tap Watermark in Settings to configure details for watermark [Note: limited options here but something at least]

4. Under Camera Settings, toggle on Location Tags

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

dsinha — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 14:47:29 GMT

Has anyone figured out how to add the location information also as an watermark while using Field Maps?

Thanks!

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

PaulLohr — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 21:06:58 GMT

@dsinha - not directly with Field Maps. There are a couple of workarounds.

1. Take the picture with a third-party camera app that adds a watermark. We use the Timestamp Pro / Free app. It isn't great but works ok. Then create a point in Field Maps, attach the photo that was taken with your third-party camera app to your point. It adds a bit of hassle and time to the field personnel's workflow.

2. If you are storing the photos in a DBMS, use SQL tools to extract the photos, run them through a program such as Robogeo to add the watermark, then put them back into their records. This would be a manual process, although it could be done in batches. Versioning could be tricky unless you use 'move edits to base'.

3. When building the map in AGOL, setup a custom URL (app linking) link in the pop-up that calls the Survey123 app. It looks like the user has to create a point, enter the attributes, then click on the point, then click on the click on the link. Ideal would be the Survey123 app is called automatically. Feel free to correct me on this. @HannesVogel had a post about working with EXIF data in Survey123 here. Also, look for posts by @DougBrowning about Survey123.

Watermark documentation for Survey123 is here.

Meeting user requirements with ESRI in the mobile environment is a challenge. No single mobile app contains all the needed functionality. Field Maps does things that Survey123 can't. Survey123 does things that Field Maps can't. Web apps do things that neither Field Maps nor Survey123 can do. And vice versa.

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

dsinha — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 14:02:25 GMT

Thank you @PaulLohr. Adding watermarks using Survey123 looks to be the best option for us.

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

alex_friant — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 14:14:12 GMT

We'd love to see Esri's photo-enabled applications (QuickCapture, FieldMaps, Survey123, etc.) include built-in watermarking capabilities that would let the form and map designers easily add timestamps and custom text (i.e. coordinates, name of app & user ingesting) to photos. This could work beautifully as headers, footers, or overlays, giving teams the flexibility they need for documentation and branding.

Even better, imagine if organizations could create standardized watermark templates at the enterprise level - similar to how organization themes work now. Designers could then simply select from these pre-approved templates, ensuring consistency across projects while saving time on setup. This would streamline workflows and give organizations better control over their visual standards during data collection.

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

Jeremy_Z — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 15:53:23 GMT

I have a bunch of users in several of our states, probably over 500, that need this functionality in Field Maps as well. If it exists in Survey123, it should exist here and be doable.

I'm going to reach out to my contacts at Samsung to talk to them about adding the location data to the watermark as well in the default apps, doesn't help folks NOT using Samsung devices, but it is something.

Re: Photograph Date Stamp

MJhendo — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 02:56:33 GMT

Bumping this idea, much needed especially for iOS devices. I thought this would have been basic functionality to include. We have many use-cases that require this. Currently we are forced to buy and use alternative hardware, or implement complicated solutions mentioned in this thread to get this functionality.