Documentation/ Uploading documents/ Uploading from a phone, and photos
Uploading from a phone, and photos
On a phone you can photograph a document and upload it with nothing else in between. The application notices the small screen and gives you Quick Access, which holds only what you need there: pick the type and upload.
Open it on a phone › Quick Access
On this page
The Quick Access screen
Open the application on a narrow screen and it takes you straight to Quick Access rather than the full dashboard. That screen asks one thing: which type of document you are uploading.
What decides this is how wide the screen is, not what device you are on. A very narrow desktop window triggers it too, and a tablet held sideways may not.
Picking the type
| Button | What for |
|---|---|
| Upload Delivery Notes | The delivery notes that come with the goods. |
| Upload Purchase Invoices | Supplier invoices. |
| Upload Expense Invoices | Receipts and expenses. |
| Upload Sales Invoices | Invoices you have raised. |
Whichever you pick takes you to the same upload screen as on a desktop, with the type already set. It is not a different process; it is a shortcut.
Uploading the photo
- Pick the document type.
- Tap to add files: the phone offers to take a photo or pick one from the gallery.
- Look over what you have added.
- Process.
The same limits apply as on a desktop: 15 MB a document, and the usual image and PDF formats.
The quality of the photo decides everything
On an original PDF the reading is very nearly exact. On photographed documents the accuracy follows the quality of the image. It is the single biggest factor in how much you have to correct afterwards.
Four things change the result:
- Even light. A shadow across half a page swallows whole lines.
- The document flat. Folded or curled paper distorts the figures.
- The whole thing in frame. All four edges: cut off the bottom and you lose the totals.
- In focus. A blurred photo means keying the document in by hand.
It is worth retaking a doubtful photo there and then: fixing it later costs far more than pressing the shutter again.
Several photos of one document
A three-sheet delivery note is three photos. To have them treated as one document, the upload screen says so outright: several photos of the same delivery note or invoice, tick them and they will be merged automatically once processed.
It has a page of its own, because the detail of how they are grouped matters.
Back to the desktop version
Quick Access has a link to access the desktop version. It takes you to the full application, lists and dashboard and all, on the same phone screen.
It is awkward to use, but it solves the case of needing to look something up with no computer to hand.
When it is the right tool and when it is not
| Good for | Not for |
|---|---|
| Delivery notes arriving at the loading bay that have to go in there and then. | Big batches: use the desktop upload or a ZIP. |
| Receipts and expenses from a trip. | Documents that already exist as PDFs: upload the PDF, do not photograph it. |
| People who only bring documents in and never review anything. | Reviewing and correcting: that is better on a big screen. |
For someone who only brings documents in and would rather not open the application at all, there is a better answer: drop the photo in a connected Dropbox folder.
Things that come up
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Quick Access appears and you wanted the dashboard | The screen is narrow. | Use the link to the desktop version. |
| Very little was read off the document | The photo has shadows, is blurred or is cut off. | Take it again with even light and the document flat. |
| The sheets of a delivery note came in as separate documents | They were not ticked as being one document. | Tick them on upload, or merge them afterwards from the list. |
| It will not take the photo | It is over 15 MB. | Turn the camera resolution down, or take it again. |
| It went in as the wrong type | The wrong button on Quick Access. | Change the type from the list, or move the document. |