How to choose snagging report photo quality and file size
A report should be small enough to deliver and clear enough to act on. Start with Balanced quality, then inspect the exported file before choosing a smaller email copy or a higher-detail version.
By Blu Mint Digital. 4 minute read. Last reviewed .
Understand the three PDF settings
Site Audit offers three photo quality settings when generating a report. They change how photos are embedded in the PDF, so file size depends on the number and content of your photos as well as the setting. There is no fixed megabyte size for a particular number of defects.
- Email-friendly: reduces photo resolution and uses stronger JPEG compression. Start here when a smaller attachment matters.
- Balanced: uses a higher resolution target and lighter compression than Email-friendly. This is the default choice for ordinary reporting.
- Maximum: uses the highest-resolution preset and lightest JPEG compression. It requires Pro and can produce substantially larger files.
Maximum normally uses the original photo dimensions, although image resolution can be reduced if device memory is insufficient. It still uses JPEG compression, so it is not a lossless archive of the original image. Keep a project backup as well as your issued reports.
Solve missing detail at capture time
A higher export setting cannot recover an out-of-focus photo or a defect that occupies only a few pixels in a distant shot. Take a context image to locate the observation and a detail image to show it. Check both on the phone before leaving an area that may be hard to access again.
Use a caption to explain what matters in each image. An arrow or circle should guide attention without covering the detail. Read the defect photography guide if the problem begins with the original photo rather than the PDF.
Compare the same report at two settings
Generate a Balanced report first. Open the exported PDF and inspect the most demanding image: a small gap, a distant location reference or an annotation next to a fine detail. If it is readable, there may be no practical reason to increase the quality.
When delivery size is a problem, export the same content using Email-friendly and compare that same page. Keep the descriptions, image choices and filters unchanged so you are comparing the quality setting fairly. Record the actual file sizes shown by your file or email app; do not estimate them from the camera resolution.
If the smaller version loses necessary detail, retain the clearer report and use a delivery method that accepts it. Alternatively, improve an unclear photo while the item is accessible. Do not remove evidence that the reader needs merely to reach an arbitrary attachment target.
Separate report creation from delivery
Generating a PDF takes place on the device. Sending it through email or uploading it to shared storage depends on that destination and its connection. Check your actual email service limit, including the size of the complete message, rather than assuming every recipient accepts the same attachment.
If you share a link to a saved report, verify the intended recipient has access. If you attach a file, open the attachment selected in the message before sending. Similar filenames make it easy to issue the smaller draft when you intended to send the checked version.
A practical decision for a photo-heavy inspection
Suppose a report contains many room-context photos and a few close details. The question is whether those close details remain useful in the output. Test the hardest page first, then inspect the remaining pages. If Balanced is clear and delivers successfully, keep it. If Email-friendly also preserves the needed detail, it may suit routine distribution.
Use Maximum when its additional detail makes a meaningful difference to the recipient, subject to delivery size. Pro does not guarantee a better photograph; it makes the highest export setting available. Finish with the report quality checklist and retain the exact version issued.