Capture, organize, and share jobsite photos: a Ditch walkthrough

A useful jobsite photo workflow starts with a field capture and ends with someone finding or using the photo. This walkthrough connects those steps in Ditch: capture on the job, confirm the record arrived, search it, and share a selected set.

You can begin with the public photo-search demo without uploading your own photos. The demo shows a sample collection; it is not your private jobsite record or a guarantee of results on every image.

1. Plan one small photo set

Choose one jobsite and a question the photos should answer. For example, document progress in one area and prepare an update for the person coordinating that work. Use the progress photo checklist to decide what to capture.

Keep the first test small enough to check. You should know which area the photos show and what a useful search result would look like.

2. Capture and confirm the upload

Ditch Cam is the field-capture app. Confirm the jobsite before shooting. Location permission can add coordinates where available, but location is not required to take a photo. Add a note when the visible scene alone will not explain the context.

Ditch Cam supports an offline queue. After reconnecting, check that the queued photos uploaded and are visible in the jobsite record before relying on office access. An image stored on the phone is not the same as a completed upload.

Use the download page for current device availability and the web app for the office workflow. This guide does not assume every crew member uses the same phone or app version.

3. Review the filing

Ditch reads photos for visible subjects and work types and organizes the record within jobsites. Review the timeline and available location context. Check a few images so you know the capture landed in the intended place before building a larger archive.

A useful note might identify a room or project reference that cannot be inferred from the image. Automated analysis can help with a visible machine; it cannot reliably supply a project-specific nickname nobody recorded.

4. Find a photo from what you remember

In the public demo, try an equipment term such as “excavator,” then a work term such as “concrete.” Open a result and inspect the image. Explore the map to see how location adds a different way to review the sample record.

When using your own jobsite, compare the results with what you know was captured. AI can miss a subject or return a similar one. The photo-search guide includes a five-question evaluation you can run before changing your crew’s routine.

5. Share the selection, with an explanation

Create a shared album for the relevant photos and send its link with a short description of what changed and any question needing a response. A customer can view the shared album without a Ditch account; the selection does not grant access to the entire jobsite.

Open the link signed out to check the recipient experience. Treat the link as something a recipient could forward, and include only the material appropriate for that audience. See the customer update guide for a message you can adapt.

Decide whether the workflow helps your crew

Check three outcomes: did the capture reach the right record, could someone else find the photo, and did the recipient understand the update? Note the actual result rather than assuming the workflow saves a particular number of minutes.

Ditch’s Free plan supports trying one active jobsite. Team access, storage, and shared-album capacity vary by plan; see current limits. Start free when you are ready to repeat the walkthrough with photos you are authorized to use.