TWO PHOTOS AT ONCE
From v2.3, you can snap and autosave two photos at once to the camera roll. One with the stamped info below and the other a full resolution original photo of the same shot. The stamped photos are also saved in the Solocator photo library. See the option under Camera in the settings screen.
CAPTURE MODES
Compass | Building | Street
The app launches with the camera ready to take photos in either portrait or landscape. When it’s first used, you will see a compass gauge at the top, referred to as compass mode showing the direction you are looking at – bearing. The flip side to this mode is building mode, which shows the cardinal & inter-cardinal direction + elevation of the building face you’re looking at or standing at. i.e. North Elevation of the building, home, building site, block of land etc. There is also a third option, street mode, to stamp the street address onto photos. To toggle between these modes, tap at the top of the camera over the capture modes area. Photos will be stamped with the mode seen in the camera. You can also switch the modes off in settings if you have purchased the “Industry Pack”.
New in v2.4 – Now, you can turn off the ability to toggle between the capture mode, which is ideal for users who regularly use just one mode.
TRUE/MAGNETIC NORTH
When using compass mode, you can switch between True and Magnetic North from the settings screen. They are graphically displayed as:
Green Needle = True North Red/Blue Needle = Magnetic North
From v2.3, True and Magnetic North are also shown in the GPS info bar.
GPS INFO BAR
Overlay one or all of the following: GPS position (POS), altitude (ALT) or bearing direction (BRG) T/M. To customise, see under GPS info overlay in settings. From v2.3, you can choose to show this info with Unicode icons for a cleaner look or switch back to abbreviations.
Note: having a clear view of the sky often improves accuracy.
ACCURACY
From v2.0, GPS accuracy reading (±) of the current position was added to the info bar. You can refine and lock your position (part of Industry Pack) by swiping to the left screen. This option is ideal if you do field work around or inside large structures, buildings, homes etc. When the GPS position is locked, photos are taken with a green GPS info bar. Lock GPS Location is part of the “Industry Pack”.
TILT & ROLL ANGLES & INDICATORS + CROSS HAIR
You can control tilt, roll and cross-hair from two sections in the Settings screen.
- Camera settings: Turn on or off tilt, roll and cross hair with the option to see these in camera view only (coloured grey) and or stamp tilt, roll and the cross-hair (chosen font colour) onto photos. This switch also turns on/off the red line tilt and roll indicators.
- Notes & Camera Overlay settings: From here, you can decide to only view tilt, roll and the cross-hair in camera view or stamp onto photos individually or all three.
GENERAL CAMERA FUNCTIONS
Zoom – pinch the screen to zoom to the desired level. The zoom UI reveals three preset zoom levels 0.5x, 1.0x and 2.0x.
Timer – By default, the timer delay icon (top left near flash icon) is greyed out until enabled. Tap onto the icon to choose a time delay of 5, 10 or 15 seconds.
Flash – Also under settings Auto | On | Off
Focus/Exposure – Tap the screen where you want to focus. The camera will focus and apply exposure to the area you tap on to enhance the photo. You can also lock the exposure and focus by tapping on the area you wish to focus on and holding down till the orange AE/AF LOCK pop-up appears. The exposure & focus will stay locked even if you move – ideal when taking photos against the sun. Then another tap to go back to Auto exposure and focus when you’re finished.
Photo Quality – In settings, you can choose between Low|Med|High quality for photos taken.
NOTES OVERLAY (Industry Pack)
Project Name & Description Fields
The ability to add notes to be overlaid and stamped on the photos you take. This feature is also part of the “Industry Pack”. The notes option is activated when the pencil button on the bottom right is green. When notes are active, a pop-up window appears after you snap to prompt you to type a project name and any descriptions you wish to add about the photo. Notes fields remember your previous text, which is ideal for when you want to retake the same photo or more than one for your current project. Descriptions can also be edited or added when viewing photos in the gallery. Project Name Bonus! All photos with a project name will have the project name also added to the file name as a prefix when added as the photo is taken.
When the pencil button is Red, the Notes Overlay is locked for taking multiple photos with the same Project Name and Photo Description. Tap pencil to go between grey, green and red.
New in v2.14 – Tap below the “Project Name” and “Description” fields to open fields to add or edit. For more info, read How to add notes before taking a photo.