TOPIC: How to provide a detailed and fast report.

I have done at least 100 reports with HIP now and I must say I am as slow as a turtle.

So I ask others. How long does it take you to finish a report and what are your secrets to your success.

I would say on average I take 2 hours for an average quality home with 75 pictures.

Now the first item would be the type of computer I was using. Old & slow.

So I purchased a new laptop and I am saving 15 minutes (Maybe more per inspection)

Secondly I was adding drop down text to every photo. Now I just select and place in report. So I am saving 15 minutes. 

So now my 2 hour report is 1.5 hours but I want to get it done in an hour or less.

So please friends help out this old turtle. I want to win this race.

Glad to see you shaved 30 minutes off so easily.

Well, like you found out, using your ancient computer was definitely slowing you down. Especially when you said it was taking 30 minutes to upload and everyone else says around 2 minutes!

Like you said, you don't have to add a caption to every photo. Remember the comments are directly above them. Usually it's pretty obvious.

Attach a sample report so we can look over it.

Also, I have to ask as I've heard this one before. You're taking 1.5 hours now. Is the TV on while you're doing the report?

No distractions.

I will have to make a new sample. The one I use now is much differant than the one on my site.

Having a properly set up template is the key. Mine is still not user friendly.

I was thinking of making a quick template for the field and an expanded template for the office.

Quick template would be direct to the point verbage like:

Garage

GDO Safety features

Safety issue: Reverse by force not operating properly.


Expaneded template would go into more detail.

4. Gargage Door Opener Safety Features
Observations: The automatic opener safety reverse feature was not operating properly at the time of inspection. The door can cause injury to a small child or animal. Have the safety reverse
adjusted or replaced for proper operation.

I think making two templates would waste time. Take your printed, laminated report with you if you're not using the Q1 (I'm sure it's hard in the cold) and just fill it out and enter the data when you get back. I don't want to see a fake Sample Report, erase your clients data and post a real report so we can really study it.

Dave if you are including 75 photos I honestly do not think 90 minutes per report is that horrible.
Lets say you are very detail orientated.

If you spend an average of one minute per photo that is everything but 15 minutes of the report. (correct)?

Now lets say you use 30 photos per report instead!

Hmmm I just cut 45 minutes off your report time.

Turn on the computer ,Being realistic you need to hook up the camera ,you see the folder and need to rename it , move it to a file,you most likely spend time making sure it went to your picture file,you click on the program,you check client data,you gotta decide what documents to include,there may be one or two issues you look up on the internet,you massage your comments or even use a narrative style.You have by now uploaded the pictures to HIP and went through every one deciding which section they will appear in.You may be using edit to create arrows ,text,circles,etc.

Remember every step you take to customize makes it take longer, so longer is a trade off between what kind of product you are producing and time.
90min is not so bad for 75 pics bro.

Get rid of the pictures and you could do a report in under 20 minutes no doubt.
Try it.
You just may not like the result as much if like me ,you are very visual in your end product.

Nobody can rush a genius. lol

That's a good point Bob. Nothing in the program can speed up editing photos with arrows and stuff. You can get faster at it but you'll still spend the most time with photos.

When you talk to the guys who print on site or under 30 min at home, they import photos but put very few annotations on them. You narratives will often do that. For example, you have a narrative saying the wall had a 2 foot hole in it, does the picture need to have a comment or arrow pointing to the hole? It's not like the photos are at the end of the report, they are RIGHT under the comments.