VIA 2.0 · User Guide

Photographs

Attach field photographs and understand their direction and exported properties.

For VIA 2.0. Some controls are unavailable in earlier versions.

Photographs belong to an observation and are available with every recording template. You need an active VIA Pro subscription to acquire new photographs from Camera or Library, including template thumbnails. Existing stored photographs remain accessible and exportable without active Pro access.

Add photographs to an observation

1. Open a survey, tap Continue → Record Point and enter the observation details.
2. Scroll to the separate Photographs section.
3. Tap Camera and allow camera access, or Library to select images from the system picker.
4. Check the thumbnails. Use Remove for a photograph you do not want on this draft observation.
5. At the observation position, check GPS accuracy and tap Store Point to keep the observation and its photographs.

Adding a photograph does not store the point by itself. The recorded observation position comes from Store Point; it is not automatically replaced by an imported photograph’s location.

Interpret photograph viewing direction

For new survey camera photographs, VIA attempts an approximate magnetic viewing direction using readings before and after the system camera. Aim at the subject before opening Camera and keep or re-establish that aim before confirming the photograph. Motion access may be requested.

VIA briefly shows an approximate direction or Viewing direction unavailable after capture. This is not a measured exposure-time bearing or a survey-grade orientation. Library photographs may retain their own EXIF image-direction metadata, using a true or magnetic reference. Missing direction stays unavailable.

Export photographs with their observations

Use VIA Survey Package (.via) to include available photographs and observation metadata. In Settings → Photography, enable Include properties panel to add observation details beneath exported photographs. Stored source files are unchanged by this setting.

Package Options provides High, Standard, Compact and Preview photograph quality. Exported images can carry embedded observation metadata with supporting sidecars; processing warnings should be checked. CSV and KML exports do not package photograph files.

If a photograph cannot be added

Check Pro status and camera access in iPhone settings. Retry a Library selection if the image is not available locally. Missing direction does not mean the photograph failed. Allow acquisition to finish before storing the point.