Photo size limiting?

[PeterTimmers]

I think with Collector we're going to run into the whole photo size attachment issue.

Mobile it was an issue.  

I just noticed a photo attachment was 1.6MB.   That's going to cause grief with multiple photos and 100s of features.

I do like how you don't download attachments unless you click on photo in feature popup... unlike arcgis mobile which by default had download attachments ticked.

Is there any way of limiting photo size in Collector?

[DominiqueBerger]

Hi Peter

We have been discussing this today in our team 🙂 From my limited research I was thinking if worse comes to worse you can use a picture re-sizer app before adding the photo in collector. It may not be a pretty solution however if there are going to be hundreds of photos being submitted as attachments then it might be necessary. The app I was looking at is called Shrink My Pictures and for example it will shrink a photo from 1.6MB to 0.25MB.

Ill let you know if we come up with anything prettier for a solution.

Thanks

Dom

[KevinWatt]

On android, we simply set the default picture resolution to 1.3 megapixels in the app settings so the pictures are small.  On iOS i don't think you have this option so perhaps download a 3rd party camera app that lets you set a low resolution and set it as your default app.

[EricIto]

Collector for iOS and Android both compress the photos before adding them as attachments in both the online and offline scenarios so that will help drop the size. You should not have to use a 3rd party app prior to adding them. As suggested, on Android, it would still be beneficial to set the camera's resolution where possible, just keep in mind the compression done by the app.

Also, as of 10.2.3 on iOS you can sync up to 2GB at a time to both hosted/classic ArcGIS Server services, so assuming you come back to a wifi connection to sync, the size of the attachments should be less of a concern. On Android, that number is ~200MB for hosted services and 2GB for classic ArcGIS Server services.

[SamKrueger1]

Hi Eric,

You mentioned that "Collector for iOS and Android both compress the photos before adding them as attachments in both the online and offline scenarios so that will help drop the size." Any idea what size this actually is? Is it 1.6 MB/photo as Peter mentioned above?

Also, with the current version of collector 10.2.5 has the amount of data one can sync to hosted feature services changed since your last post that you know of (2GB for iOS and 200MB for Android)?

Thanks! I'm just looking for some clarifications on these two points. I looked around the forum and wasn't able to find any updated info.

Sam

[RussRoberts]

Android and iOS have the same sync size support now. This was addressed in 10.2.4 update of the Android app.

[SamKrueger1]

Great to hear android supports the 2GB sync as well.

I have a project coming up where I will be taking hundreds probably thousands of photos by the end. Some surveyors will be using android (through testing I know I can get image size to around 750KB/photo). However for iOS devices is there a default compression size for the app? I'm seeing 1.6MB in some forums and other Collector resources online. If this is the case, I will probably need to use a 3rd party compression app for iOS field photos.

Also,

Just wanted to confirm a piece of information I heard at the UC this year. Regarding AGOL credit usage, attachments are NOW stored under the "Data Storage" category correct? (1.2 cr/ 1GB a month? ArcGIS Online | Service Credits)

Thanks for the clarification.

Sam

[RussRoberts]

Yes newly published hosted feature services generated after the last AGOL update will run through this storage model. This info was also included in the AGOL update email "Whats New" for the July release and in the Whats new release notes under the AGOL docs.

- Email notes

Under the Services section

We are providing file-based storage for attachments in hosted features layers. Attachments included in hosted feature layers are stored as files instead of features, reducing your organization’s credit costs for storing feature services. "

-Doc notes

Under Hosted Features and Tiles section

Attachments added to hosted feature layers after July 2, 2014, are now stored as files, reducing storage costs for your organization.

[EricIto]

Sam,

The size of the compressed photo really depends on what you are taking a photo of. You could take a photo that compresses to 1.3MB and another that compresses to 1.0MB.

[SamKrueger1]

Yeah that makes sense,

Wasn't sure if there was a general compression range for iOS without using 3rd party compression apps. I'll have to test it out, sounds like it varies.

Thanks for the responses.

Sam