Adding photos and marking them up

Why photos matter

Photos are the single most useful piece of evidence on a piece of kit. They show the actual state of the equipment in a way that no description can match, and they settle arguments before they start.

You'll want photos for:

• Existing damage when the kit comes into your business (so it can't be blamed on someone later)
• Condition at handover when you check kit out, so the receiver knows what they've got
• Condition on return when the kit comes back, so you can compare with the checkout shots
• Audit evidence like PAT stickers, calibration labels, and serial numbers
• Specific incidents — damage, near misses, anything you'd want a record of

Project Commander lets you attach photos at any of those moments and they all live together on the Asset.

Where photos come from

Every photo on an Asset is filed under one of four groups, depending on where it was added:

• General — uploaded directly on the Attachments card on the Details tab
• Checkout — added during the checkout form
• Check-in — added during the check-in form
• Audit — added during the audit form

All four groups appear together on the Attachments card, with a small badge on each thumbnail showing which event it belongs to. So you can see your full photo history for an Asset in one place, and tell at a glance which photos came from which moment.

What you can attach

You can upload:

• Images — JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP, up to 10 MB each
• PDFs — for things like hire agreements, calibration certificates, or scanned paperwork, up to 20 MB each

There's no limit on how many you can add to an Asset.

Uploading from the Attachments card

For general photos and documents that aren't tied to a checkout, check-in, or audit, use the Attachments card on the Asset's Details tab.

1. 1

   Open the Asset and stay on the Details tab.

2. 2

   Find the Attachments card.

3. 3

   Click the upload button, or drag files straight onto the card.

4. 4

   Pick the files you want to add. They upload immediately and appear in the grid.

Marking up a photo

Before you save a photo (and afterwards too), you can mark it up with arrows, circles, text, and freehand drawing. This is genuinely useful for:

• Circling existing scratches or dents on hire kit so they're not blamed on the next user
• Highlighting new damage on a return so the next person to handle the Asset can see it
• Pointing at a serial number, PAT sticker, or asset tag in an audit photo
• Adding text notes directly on the image

How the annotation tools work

When you add a photo, the annotation editor opens automatically. You'll see:

• Drawing tools — pan, arrow, rectangle, circle, freehand, and text
• A colour palette — pick whichever colour stands out best on the image
• Zoom controls — zoom in to mark up small details, zoom out to get the whole shot

Pick a tool, click on the image, and add your marks. When you're happy, save and the annotated version is what gets uploaded.

You can re-open the editor on any saved photo by clicking the pencil icon on the thumbnail. The marks stay editable, so you can add more later if you spot something else.

Viewing photos

Click any thumbnail on the Attachments card to open the carousel viewer. The viewer:

• Shows the full image with any marks you've added
• Has left and right arrows to navigate between photos
• Opens in a large view so you can see fine detail
• Closes back to the Asset detail page when you're done

Real-world examples

• Hire delivery — a digger arrives from Speedy with three existing dents on the cab. The plant manager opens the digger, takes three photos, circles each dent with a red circle, and uploads them with notes — so when the digger goes back, those dents won't end up on the damage charge
• Damaged grinder return — a grinder comes back with a cracked guard. The storeman snaps a photo, draws an arrow at the crack, ticks Flag for Maintenance on the check-in form, and the grinder is out of circulation with a clear photo of the issue
• Quarterly PAT testing — the audit photo for each tool includes a close-up of the new PAT sticker, with the auditor's initials and the date typed on top of the image as a backup
• Serial number proof — when an audit can't physically confirm an Asset's identity, the auditor takes a photo of the serial number and attaches it to the audit so future audits can match it up

Next steps

• Checkout — to see how condition photos work in the checkout flow.
• Check-in — to see how return condition photos work.
• Audits — for audit evidence photos.
• Detail page overview — for where the Attachments card sits on the page.