Reference Guide
Detailed explanations of every feature and function in NutshellMedia Capture
The Media Capture component allows you to take advantage of the device’s camera and/or image library within your app. Note: it is also available in the Device tool bar.
The Media Capture component triggers your end-user’s camera to take or upload photos
The Media Capture component enables your end-user to do one or a combination of the following:
- Take a photograph using their device’s built-in camera
- Record a video using their device’s built-in video camera
- Upload a photograph or video from their device’s library
What kind of content you want to be uploaded is entirely up to you; you can be as specific or as vague as you like.
You get lots of choice over what your end-user can upload or capture
Image Quality
If you choose to allow your end-user to capture or upload photographs, Nutshell gives you some control over the physical size of those images and the level of compression required.
For example, if you’re allowing your end-user to upload lots of images, you may want to restrict the size and increase the level of compression so that they don’t eat up your storage allowance too quickly.
Jpeg compression is available in several bands, ranging from Low quality (smaller file size) to Uncompressed (much larger file size). Experiment with the settings to find a compression level that suits your needs. Further information about Jpeg image compression can be found on WikipediaMore information can be found here.
You can also restrict the physical size of images that are captured. Any images your end-user captures will be resized to fit within the size you specify, reducing the amount of storage space required to hold them.
Required Fields
If a Media Capture field in your form is mandatory, Nutshell can automatically validate that an end-user has not left it blank. Just set the field to be a required field, and Nutshell will do the rest.
Resizing a Media Capture Component
To resize a Media Capture component, click and drag on a corner of its bounding box. A Media Capture component can only be scaled horizontally. Its height depends on text-size, padding and margins applied.
Media Capture Properties
When a Media Capture component is selected on the Canvas, the following settings are available in the Properties panel:
| Basic Settings | |
|---|---|
| Reference | A unique identifier for the field. This is critical, as it allows you to reference the field directly when mapping to and from a Data component, or inserting data into emails and documents. |
| Button Label | On-screen, the Media Capture component is essentially a Button. This allows you to set a custom label for this Button, such as “Take a Photo” or “Upload a Video”. |
| Allow user to upload | Allows you to choose what kind of media you want your end-user to capture/upload: Photos, Videos or either. |
| Allow user to upload from | Allows you to choose where your end-user can upload media from: either from their device’s built-in image library, captured directly from the camera, or either. |
| Image Quality | If you choose to allow Photos to be uploaded, you will be able to set the level of compression that will be applied to the images before they’re processed or saved to a database. This helps you be more economical with your storage allowance. |
| Restrict physical size to | If you choose to allow Photos to be uploaded, you will be able to restrict the physical size of the image uploaded by entering the maximum longest edge allowed in pixels. |
| Allow multiple items | This allows you to restrict the number of files that can be uploaded at once. |
| Validation Settings | |
|---|---|
| Required Field | If enabled, Nutshell will not allow the end-user to progress along the workflow until this field has a value. |
| Styling | |
|---|---|
| Various | A host of options to style your Media Capture component – including both the button and the thumbnails of images captured. These options should be quite familiar if you’ve ever used a basic document editor like Microsoft Word. |
Just getting started? Try the Tutorials section for handy quick-start guides.
Prefer to watch the action? Try our series of short video tutorials.
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