TOPIC: I have a Request!!

The process of simply going through every section, and adding the proper notes/comments and any other narrative takes 2 or more hours.  I don't mind as my finished reports are something I am proud of and always get good feedback on.

That does seem a bit long for input and editing of the photos.  I'm wondering the same thing Dom is asking, are you batch adding, using the drop-down captions, etc.  One thing is true, the more time you take to lay out and correct details, the better the reports look.

The photos usually takes about 15-20 for me, but I don't write custom comments. I either go with no comment (since often the photo is worth plenty of words) or I go back to the photos after writing/selecting my comments and add those comments from the drop-down list.  So far, the rest of the writing of the report seems to be taking me about 90 minutes, but I don't have all my comments written into all my sections just yet.  So all in all it's close to 2 hours, but I expect that to speed up as I practice.

I do the report first, then I go through and chose photos and edit them and add them to where they belong, the photos take an hour alone on most inspections. The process of simply going through every section, and adding the proper notes/comments and any other narrative takes 2 or more hours.  I don't mind as my finished reports are something I am proud of and always get good feedback on.

How many photos do you take on average? How many do you include in the report? Are you using the Batch Add Photo feature?

I take about 100 to 150 per inspection, and there have been some inspections that I have taken many more.  I typically only use maybe 30 plus or minus a few per report.

Jim

I do the report first, then I go through and chose photos and edit them and add them to where they belong, the photos take an hour alone on most inspections. The process of simply going through every section, and adding the proper notes/comments and any other narrative takes 2 or more hours.  I don't mind as my finished reports are something I am proud of and always get good feedback on.

How many photos do you take on average? How many do you include in the report? Are you using the Batch Add Photo feature?

Very much like Jim . . .  I take about 100 photos or so, and then insert about 1/3.  I review all the photos, clean’em up, get rid of duplicates/poor shots/out of focus, turn them to portrait etc. Then batch add them and insert where they belong.
Like Cameron, this process takes about 15-20 min.
BUT, I never use the drop-down list to duplicate my comments. I think that's redundant, space-taking wording in the report. If I write anything, it’s generally a couple of descriptive words that may clarify or ID the photo. (example attached)

90 to 120 minutes is very good Cameron!
My clients know they will get the report the next day—so I “mess” with it till I get it the way my “perfectionist-self” likes it. ;D

In reference to the use of photos:  IMO, Report photos should be included as a representation of the findings—they are not intended to be a comprehensive photo-documentation of the home inspection. i.e. photos are intended to augment or clarify the comments in the report—they are NOT a replacement for the comments.

After all ... home inspectors have been writing excellent reports for decades w/o photos, and lots still do.  Each deficiency comment should stand by itself—not need a photo to explain.  As generally, photos are not included in the Summary.

Serge,  to clarify...

I don't use the full comment really.  I grab it and usually delete all but the first few words just to ID the photo.  I did use the full comment once and it was as you described, extremely redundant and took up ridiculous amounts of space.  I wouldn't recommend the drop-down be used that way because the redundancy of it looks almost unprofessional somehow.

Personally, I would be pleased as punch if I could get the average of my report writing to around one hour.  I just don't know if my detailed, anal brain can do it.

I don't use the full comment really.  I grab it and usually delete all but the first few words just to ID the photo.  I did use the full comment once and it was as you described, extremely redundant and took up ridiculous amounts of space.  I wouldn't recommend the drop-down be used that way because the redundancy of it looks almost unprofessional somehow.

I get it now!  and Ditto!

Jim, that's WAY too long if you're only including 30 photos. Are you deleting photos? If so, don't bother. Are you drawing arrows around every one? Often times pictures do not need annotations. Are you putting text onto the photo instead of a caption? If so, use the caption instead, it's much faster.