Photo Upload Issues

Photo uploads are one of the most network-sensitive parts of nSpec — a weak signal, a large file, or a paused tab can all cause uploads to stall. This article walks through what to do when photos won’t upload, when uploads are slow, or when photos disappear after you save.

First-Pass Diagnostics

These quick checks resolve most photo upload problems:

1. Wait a moment. Photo uploads are async — the modal may not be visibly stuck, just patient. Watch for the progress indicator.
2. Check your internet connection. Try loading another website to confirm you’re online.
3. Try smaller photos first. If a small photo uploads but a large one doesn’t, the problem is file size.
4. Refresh the page and try again — temporary state issues often clear up.
5. Switch to Wi-Fi if possible. Cellular uploads are much slower than Wi-Fi.

Upload is stuck or never finishes

Symptoms: The progress bar shows but never reaches 100%, or the photo slot stays empty after you select a file.

Solutions:

• Check your internet connection — slow networks make large files take a long time
• If you’re on cellular, switch to Wi-Fi
• Wait at least 60 seconds before assuming an upload has failed — large files on slow connections genuinely take that long
• If the upload truly is stuck, refresh the page, re-open the modal, and try again
• If the same photo keeps failing, try a smaller version (resize on your phone first)

Uploads are very slow

Symptoms: Photos eventually upload but take a minute or more each.

Solutions:

• File size is the most common cause. Modern phone cameras produce 8-12 MB photos. nSpec doesn’t need that much resolution for most inspection work.
• On iPhone: Settings → Camera → Formats → use “High Efficiency” instead of “Most Compatible” to reduce file size
• On Android: Camera app → Settings → Picture size → choose a lower setting
• Use Wi-Fi over cellular whenever possible — Wi-Fi upload speeds are typically 5-10x faster
• For very large batches, use Quick Capture which is optimized for batch upload

Photo format not accepted

Symptoms: The file picker won’t show your photo, or selecting it produces an error.

Solutions:

• nSpec accepts JPG, PNG, and HEIC images. Other formats (like RAW or TIFF) are not supported.
• If you have a RAW file from a DSLR, export it to JPG first
• HEIC files from newer iPhones should work; if they don’t, change your iPhone camera setting to “Most Compatible” so it captures JPG instead

Photos disappeared after I saved

Symptoms: You added photos, saved the observation, and the photos aren’t there when you reopen it.

Solutions:

• If you were offline when you added the photos, check the Offline Hub to confirm sync completed
• Refresh the page — sometimes the local view doesn’t update immediately
• If the upload genuinely failed silently, try adding the photos again
• If you cleared browser data while you had pending offline operations, those photos are gone — see Offline Hub Guide

Photos not uploading from Offline Mode

Symptoms: You captured photos offline and they’re not appearing in the cloud.

Solutions:

• Open the Offline Hub and click Sync All
• Watch the pending operations count — when it reaches zero, sync is complete
• If sync fails, the failed operation will remain in the list. Try Sync All again.
• Don’t clear browser data while you have pending operations — that permanently deletes them
• See Sync and Offline Issues for more

Photo limit reached

Symptoms: You can’t add a 5th photo to an observation.

Solutions:

• nSpec limits each observation, action item, or specimen to 4 photos. To add more, create another observation or attach the extras to a related item.
• Quick Capture can create multiple draft observations from a batch, so you can break up large photo sets that way

Photo quality looks bad in the report

Symptoms: Photos look fine in nSpec but appear blurry or low-quality in the generated PDF.

Solutions:

• nSpec compresses photos for the PDF to keep file size manageable. Some quality loss is expected.
• If photos are clearly out of focus in nSpec too, retake them at the site
• For high-stakes reports, take photos at higher resolution and skip the iPhone “High Efficiency” setting

Browser-specific issues

Safari (iPad)

• iPad Safari has a known limitation on simultaneous uploads — try uploading photos one at a time
• If a photo doesn’t appear after upload, refresh the page

Chrome on mobile

• If Chrome won’t open the file picker, check that the app has photo library permission in your device settings

Photos not appearing in Procore

Symptoms: An action item synced to Procore but the photos didn’t.

Solutions:

• Verify your Procore account has access to the Photos tool on the project
• Check Procore’s project storage limits — you may have hit a quota
• Re-open and re-save the action item to retry the sync
• See Procore Permissions Guide for the required permissions

Reporting a Photo Upload Bug

If you’ve worked through this list and photos still won’t upload, contact support with:

• The browser and version you’re using
• The device and operating system
• The approximate file size of the photo that’s failing
• The exact error message (a screenshot helps)
• Whether it’s happening for everyone on your team or just you

Send to support@nxtconstruction.ai.

Related Articles

• Photo Organization and Tagging
• Quick Capture and Batch Photos
• Performance Issues
• Sync and Offline Issues