Home services and trades
How to export CompanyCam photos in bulk with project details
By SourceX Editorial · Updated
Short answer
To export CompanyCam photos in bulk and keep them useful, export by project and record each photo's project, address reference, capture date, tags, captions and uploader in a manifest. Confirm which download, report and API options your plan includes, test one project first, and never rely on file names alone to carry the context.
Key takeaways
- A job photo without its project, date and tags is just an image; the surrounding details make it a record.
- Reports and shareable pages are built for customers to read, not for archives or analysis.
- For years of projects, an API pull or a vendor-assisted export is usually the only practical route.
- Folder by stable project ID and keep a manifest, because project names change and repeat.
- Photos taken inside homes capture faces, house numbers and personal items, so the archive needs restricted access.
Why do exported photos lose their value?#
Exported photos lose their value when they leave CompanyCam without the project details around them. Inside the app, a photo of failed flashing sits in a project, carries a tag such as before or damage, has a caption from the crew lead and shows who took it and when. In a flat download folder, much of that can disappear.
That context is what operations teams, insurers and AI developers actually use. A photo tied to a project, a stage and a later invoice shows how a job progressed and what the crew found. The same photo on its own shows a roof.
| Detail to keep | Why it matters | Where to capture it |
|---|---|---|
| Project ID and name | Ties the photo to one job and its other records | Folder name and manifest |
| Address reference | Joins the photo to the job in your CRM or field service system | Manifest only, kept internal |
| Capture and upload time | Orders photos and shows the job stage | Embedded file data and manifest |
| Tags | Marks stage, trade or defect type | Manifest, since tags rarely travel inside files |
| Captions, descriptions and comments | Records what the crew saw and decided | Manifest or a text file beside the image |
| Checklist or report item | Shows which required step the photo proves | Manifest |
| Uploader role | Separates crew, estimator and subcontractor photos | Manifest, using roles rather than names |
| Job number in other systems | Links photos to estimates, invoices and callbacks | Manifest |
Which bulk export options should you confirm?#
The bulk export options worth confirming are the ones that keep project details, not just the ones that move files fastest. CompanyCam plans and features change, so check the current help documentation and ask support what your account can do before choosing a route.
Where API access is available, a developer or IT contractor can usually script a pull that writes each file into a project folder and each record into a manifest. For an account with years of projects, that is often faster and more complete than clicking through projects one at a time.
- Project-level downloads: whether all photos in a project download together, and how the files are named.
- Reports and pages: good for customer-ready summaries with captions, but they produce documents rather than a structured archive.
- API access: whether your plan includes it, and whether each photo record returns project, tags, captions and timestamps with the file.
- Integrations: whether photos already sync into your CRM, roofing platform or field service system, which may hold a second copy with job numbers.
- Support-assisted export: whether CompanyCam can provide a full account export when you leave or migrate.
- 01Your work records
- 02Personal details removed
- 03You approve the release
- 04Licensed to AI developers
A bulk export plan that keeps project details#
A bulk export plan that keeps project details starts with the project list, not the photos. Knowing how many projects exist, which are complete and which link to job numbers tells you how big the export is and which route fits.
Keep a short export log with dates, routes, batches and counts. If someone later asks why a project is missing, the log answers it in minutes instead of a day of searching.
- List every project with ID, name, status, created date and any linked job number.
- Decide the scope: all projects, completed projects only, or a date range.
- Export one project through each candidate route and compare the result with the app.
- Choose the route that keeps tags, captions and timestamps, even if it is slower.
- Run the export in batches by year or by branch, logging each batch.
- Reconcile photo counts per project between the app and the export.
- Store the archive with restricted access and keep an offline copy.
How should folders and the manifest be organized?#
Folders and the manifest should be organized around a stable project ID, because project names get edited, duplicated and misspelled over years of use. The human-readable name can still sit in the manifest next to the ID.
Most companies settle on folders by project ID with a manifest in a spreadsheet or CSV. One row per photo, holding file name, project ID, capture time, tags, caption, uploader role and linked job number, serves both people and software.
| Approach | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Folders by project name | Easy for staff to browse | Names change and repeat across years |
| Folders by project ID | Stable and unique | Needs the manifest to look up details |
| Folders by date | Clear chronology | Splits one project across many folders |
| One flat folder with a manifest | Simple for scripts and tools | Hard for people to browse |
Illustrative: a restoration contractor builds a photo archive#
Illustrative: a fictional water and fire restoration contractor has used CompanyCam for years alongside a job management system and Xactimate estimates. Crews tag photos by room and stage, and project managers caption moisture readings and demolition decisions.
Ahead of a system change, the operations director has a contractor script an API pull for completed projects. Each photo lands in a folder named by project ID, and the manifest records tags, captions, capture time and the job number used in the estimating and job systems. Subcontractor uploads are flagged by role.
When the owners later explore a data license, they can show which projects have photos linked to estimates and final invoices and which have photos alone. The linked projects become the proposed scope, and the rest stay in the internal archive.
Privacy limits on job site photos#
Privacy limits on job site photos apply because crews photograph the inside of people's homes. Faces, family pictures, mail on counters, house numbers and vehicle plates all show up in ordinary job photos, and some state privacy laws may apply to images of people.
Location data needs its own decision. Phone photos may carry coordinates that point straight to a customer's home, which helps internal matching but should never travel in a copy that leaves the company. Keep one restricted master archive and produce stripped working copies as needed.
Restrict the internal archive to the staff who need it. For any outside use, photos go through review and redaction, and some categories, such as images of children or of personal documents, are usually excluded outright.
How SourceX approaches photo archives#
SourceX approaches photo archives through the SourceX five-step transaction: Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval and Delivery. The fit check works from a description of projects, years, tags and linked records, not from the photos themselves.
When a package proceeds, preparation removes or blurs identifying details, and the SourceX Evidence Packet records provenance, licensing rights, permitted use, the privacy record and release authorization. Large photo sets stay in the company's own storage or ship on encrypted drives.
Frequently asked questions
Does a CompanyCam report count as an export?
A report is a useful summary for a customer or adjuster, but it is not a complete export. It holds selected photos laid out on pages, and the images inside are usually not the original files. Use reports for communication, and use original files plus a manifest for the archive.
Will capture dates survive a bulk download?
Original image files often carry capture time in their embedded data, but processing, compression or app settings can change or strip it. Pull capture and upload times from the application data into the manifest, so the project timeline does not depend on what survived inside each file.
How should we handle photos taken by subcontractors?
Flag them by uploader role in the manifest. Subcontractor agreements may say who owns photos taken on your jobs, and some subcontractors upload through their own accounts. Review those agreements before including their photos in any outside use.
Can we export only tagged photos?
You can, but untagged photos in a well-linked project still carry dates and project context. A safer approach is to archive every photo in the projects you keep and use tags later to pick subsets. Re-exporting after an account closes is usually not possible.
What about videos and audio notes?
If crews record them, treat them as a separate batch with the same manifest fields. Video files are large and can capture conversations, so storage and privacy review need more care. Recordings of people can raise consent questions in some states, so flag them for review rather than mixing them into the photo set.
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