Capturing Photos
Photos are attached to diary entries and document progress, deliveries, issues, and site conditions. Cornerstone's photo flow is built mobile-first: you can snap a photo with your phone camera on site, tag it with where it was taken and which way it faces, and have it uploaded to the entry in a couple of taps.
Adding photos
Open a diary entry for editing and use the Add Photos control. On a phone or tablet this offers your device camera as well as the photo library; on a desktop you can pick files or drag and drop them onto the upload area.
You can add one photo or several at once. Each file uploads as soon as it is queued -- there is no separate "submit" step -- and the upload queue shows progress per file with the option to retry any that fail.
The photo details modal
When you pick a photo, Cornerstone opens a photo details modal before the upload completes so you can tag the shot while the context is fresh:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Description | An optional caption (up to 500 characters). The placeholder reads Add a description… (optional). |
| Area | The area the photo was taken in -- pick from your area hierarchy. Optional. |
| Orientation | The compass direction the photo faces, chosen from your managed list of orientations. Optional. |
Tap Save & upload to store the photo with its metadata, or Cancel to skip the file. You can always edit a photo's description and area later from the photo viewer.
On a phone the modal is full-width with large touch targets so you can fill it in one-handed on site. Tagging the area and orientation as you go means your photos are already organized by the time you are back at a desk.
Orientations
An orientation records which way a photo (or the part of the building it shows) faces -- "North", "South – Street-facing", and so on. Tagging photos with an orientation makes it easy to group shots of the same elevation of the house over time.
Orientations are a managed list, just like areas and trades. If none are configured yet, the orientation picker shows the hint No orientations configured. Add them in Settings → Orientations.
Managing orientations
Navigate to Manage in the sidebar and open the Orientations tab (🧭). Under Create orientation, provide:
- Name -- A short label, required (up to 100 characters). For example
SouthorSouth – Street. - Description -- Optional context, e.g. Street-facing side of house (up to 500 characters).
- Sort Order -- A number that controls where the orientation appears in pickers; lower values sort first.
Click Create orientation to add it. The list below shows every orientation with its sort-order label; each row has Edit and Delete actions. Deleting an orientation asks for confirmation first.
Once you have created orientations they appear in the Orientation picker in the photo details modal.
Working with photos after upload
Click any photo thumbnail on an entry to open the photo viewer, where you can:
- View the original or, if it has been edited, the annotated copy
- Edit the photo's description and area
- Annotate the photo with arrows, rectangles, text, measurements, and other markup
- Delete the photo (only when the entry is not signed)
Once an entry is signed, no new photos can be added and existing photos cannot be deleted or annotated. Capture, tag, and annotate your photos before collecting signatures.