If you look at the window at the right side of the program, you will notice that the narratives you have checked off for inclusion into the report appear in the top window, with the narrative you selected last appearing in the window below it. The narrative can be edited and the text manipulated in this window if this is called for.
If the information contained in the selected narrative does not need to be edited, you do not need to save it — it will save itself into the report and you can move on with the inspection. If the selected narrative does need to be edited, this is where the editing takes place, and where you can manipulate the text, select from the drop-down text boxes, add new drop-down text boxes, and insert images. In the following QuickTime™ video, we will change the narrative by selecting different values (text) in the drop-down text boxes and changing some text. The video controls are located at the base of the image.
Again, once a narrative has been edited in any way, the changes will be saved in the Inspection. In the video above, you will notice that the 'Stored in Inspection' check box in the lower right-hand corner of the screen remains checked. A check in the 'Stored in Inspection' box means the narrative will appear in the Inspection in its current state. The original narrative contained in the Library will not be affected by these changes.
On the importance of SELECTION/HIGHLIGHTING
If, however, you want to make 'permanent' changes to a narrative - that is, to change a narrative and then have it appear in its changed state in both the Library and Inspection - you must make the changes before clicking the narrative for inclusion in the Inspection. That is, before checking the box next to the narrative, you first select/highlight the narrative, make the changes, select/highlight the narrative again, and then click the check box next to the narrative to have it appear in the Inspection.
Note that when highlighting the narrative in the Library, the 'Stored in Sample Narratives' box is checked. When the narrative in the Inspection is highlighted, the 'Stored in Inspection' box is checked.
However, having said this, you may simply wish to add a new narrative to the Library. The choice is yours to make, and either way you'll quickly get the hang of it. If you find that you need to create a new narrative, you only need click on the 'New Narrative' button. This will create a clear canvas for you to enter the narrative, along with a blank window for the narrative description. If your narrative could benefit from the addition of a dropdown list, place the cursor where you would like to see the list appear and then click the 'Insert Dropdown List' button. To populate the dropdown list, double-click the text box and a window will open that allows you to add, edit, or delete the contents of the list. To watch a new narrative and dropdown list being created, play the video below.
If you need to create a whole lot of new narratives, or edit a whole lot of existing ones, it is best to close the inspection first (if one is open), as this will greatly simplify the process.
If you want to delete a narrative that is stored in the library, in this case the 'Sample Narratives' library, highlight (but don't check) the narrative and then click the 'Stored in Sample Narratives' check box. A warning will appear, letting you know that you either need to save the narrative in the library or in the inspection, or both, or it will be lost forever. If you elect not to save it anywhere, it is gone.
How do I import images into the inspection?
With InspectMaster, you have the option of importing one image at a time, or all at once. If you take lots of pictures, importing them all at once may not be the best solution. This is especially true with large image files. If you have your camera set to take small images, importing ten to twenty images shouldn't be a problem. If most of your images are not going to be inserted into the inspection report, import them one at a time as needed.
First, you need to download the images to your images folder (you need to create one first). Then you click on the 'Add a picture to the inspection' button.
This will open the 'Select Images' window that you will use to locate the images folder containing the images for the inspection. Once you've located the images, you can select as many as you would like to import into the inspection report file. These images (in the example below, we selected all the images) will only appear in the narrative above when you click the check box next to it. You can select as many images as you like for any given narrative.
In the example above, the image of the vent pipe will now appear beneath the narrative when the inspection report is printed. The image size and quality can be selected later when you generate the report by using the Image Quality control bar in Report Preferences/Options.
Peformance tip: Make sure that your camera settings are set at 640x480 so that the image size is approximately
65 KB. If the images are too large they will slow the program down to a halt, and you will get a message telling you that the "Application is storing data...please wait." Depending on the number of images you import, you may end up waiting forever.
