What resolution are my photos, and will labels be readable?

What the app stores, honestly

When you take a photo with the in-app camera:

• From version 2.1, the app stores a working copy at 1400 pixels on its longest side on Android, and 2400 pixels on iPhone (JPEG, high quality) — this is what appears in the report PDF and in the photo archive your assessor downloads. Earlier versions stored 1200 pixels on Android and 3600 on most iPhones; photos already taken keep the size they were saved at.
• The full-resolution original goes to your phone's photo gallery, with the location embedded, as the untouched backup copy.

Photos imported from your gallery, and photos recovered from it, are processed to the same working copy, so report quality is consistent however the photo arrived.

Why these sizes

It is a deliberate balance. Above roughly 1000 pixels, printed text like serial numbers and product labels stays reliably readable in a PDF; these sizes keep that legibility with headroom for zooming in, while keeping each plot's photos and report at a size that generates and uploads reliably on site connections. Earlier versions kept Android's copies at 1200 pixels so the report was small enough to attach to an email; version 2.1 emails a link to the report instead, so Android keeps a little more detail, and iPhone's much larger copies come down to a reasonable size. Assessors review reports on screens, and these sizes render sharply at the sizes reports are viewed at.

Part L's requirements are about content, not megapixels: the photos must show the detail clearly, be geotagged and date-stamped, and be taken before closing-up. No assessor scheme prescribes a minimum resolution; they reject photos for being unclear, dark or contextless, not for their pixel count.

Getting labels readable — technique beats settings

If a serial number is not legible in a report, the resolution is almost never the culprit; the shot is. What works:

• Take a dedicated close-up of the label as its own photo, separate from the context shot of the appliance. The checklist's services section expects identification labels specifically — give the label its own frame.
• Get close rather than zooming: phone digital zoom just crops and softens.
• Light it — a torch across a cylinder label in a dark cupboard transforms legibility.
• Check the shot at capture time. Tap the thumbnail after adding it: if you cannot read the label on your phone, your assessor cannot read it in the PDF. Retake while you are stood there.

If your assessor needs the full-resolution original

The gallery copy is full resolution and location-tagged. You can share it with your assessor directly (email, WhatsApp — noting some messengers strip metadata unless you send "as file/document") if they query a specific detail. For the formal record, the report and photo archive remain the delivery route.