Photograph submission-upload speeds and cost

[cp622]

Dear users

For data collection in Bangladesh we want the enumerators to take multiple phtotographs per participant, and I was asked whether photo upload via kobo collect mobile app would be slower than a regular form if internet speeds vary?

I was also asked if this process would be more expensive to upload a photo rather than just traditional form?

Best wishes

Catherine

[Josh]

Hi @cp622, can you please clarify what you mean by a “regular”/“traditional” form?

[cp622]

Hi Josh

By regular form i mean just questions and answers in text format rather that photo or media uploads.

Best wishes

Catherine

[Josh]

Hi @cp622, the costs and speed will depend on the amount of data being transferred, cost of internet, etc. Depending on which KoboToolbox server you are using, there can also be a storage limitation if you are collecting a large amount of media. If you are using the non-humanitarian server and will be exceeding those limits, you can reach out to info@kobotoolbox.org for more details.

[cp622]

Hi Josh

Thank you for your response. I will ask my Bangladesh colleagues to look into those details.

I saw that kobo toolbox recommended using open camera instead of the device installed camera as it can change the image quality to 80% but it would still be clear on download. It may not take up as much storage space on the server either.

Do you have any experience using this method?

Regards

Catherine

[Kal_Lam]

@cp622, there are two ways to reduce the picture quality. The first approach is through the Formbuilder as discussed in our post here:

Save Images to Camera Roll

Hi @datacollector, Seems like you are using Enketo aka web-form to collect image question type for your survey. I assume you were able to capture the image and send it through the form. If you haven’t you should be able to do it by following the instructions outlined below: Open the survey form in Enketo. Go to the image question. There you should see a box which allows you to upload a file. Select the box. It will take you to a gallery where you are able to upload images from the device. At …

And the second approach is to set the size limit within the Collect android app. You can do this through Settings (Project Settings)>Form management as shown in the image below:

So after making this configuration, you could collect a sample photo to see it’s size. Then multiply this with the number of photos you wish to have in a single form. Once again multiply this with the total number of submissions you wish to have for the entire project to see if this size should cross the threshold offered by KoboToolbox. Maybe this should help you to decide if you should need to go for an extra space for your project (account).

[cp622]

Hi @Kal_Lam
Thanks so much for the two options, form management from the app seems to work well in my tests I will ask my Bangladesh colleagues to test their side.
Best wishes
Catherine