Is there anyway to automate the process of moving an attached image to a cell?

Brooke.Harris

The Smartsheet that I'm currently working on generates a document with images in it after a form is submitted. The images won't be placed onto the generated document, however, until someone manually moves the attachments to the individual cells. Is there any way to avoid doing this manually for every entry?

It is similar to this question, but the end result is for a generated document: https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/90283/can-an-image-uploaded-in-a-form-be-inserted-as-an-image-in-a-cell-in-the-row

Alternatively, if there's a way to use the attachments for the generated document without moving the images, that would work too, but I don't think that is an option.

Ipshita

@Brooke.Harris

An easy way to get what you are trying to achieve is to upload the desired image in a cell and then you can use this to be linked out to (using cell-linking) to another sheet or sheets. I just tested this and it worked.

That is the only available option known to me so far. Unfortunately, there is no such option under Automation tab so far.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Ipshita

Brooke.Harris

@Ipshita

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately, the images must be submitted by users via the form. And since they come in as attachments, linking cells would still create the same problem, just in a different Smartsheet.

Then, to generate the document with images, each image must be in an individual cell.

Ipshita

Dear @Brooke.Harris

We are also using a Forms thing so I will test it out for your scenario in our Form and see if I am able to achieve what you desire for your users. Just curious though, do you have a column named as "Images" where you are saving all of these images? We should start there and then test out the automation for the Forms.

Cheers :)

Ipshita

Brooke.Harris

@Ipshita

Yes - in this sheet, there are three image columns for up to three images by the user. If we were able to automate just one image attachment, though, we could live with just one image instead of up to three.

Ipshita

@Brooke.Harris and you want these images submitted by the users in, let's say one of the three image columns and then have an automation move these cells to another sheet? Are you using the document builder to generate the documents? can you please share some images and you can hide the content or if you can share some test data, may be I will be able to better suggest a solution.

Cheers!

Ipshita

Andrée Starå

Hi @Brooke.Harris

I hope you're well and safe!

Unfortunately, it's not possible now, but it's an excellent idea!

Please submit this as a Product Feedback or Idea (If it hasn't been added already) when you have a moment.

Here's a possible workaround or workarounds

• Smartsheet API
• 3rd-party service

Is that an option?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Brooke.Harris

@Andrée Starå

Do you think it could be possible with Power Automate? Or even some workaround to just add the images to the end of the PDF file?

Brooke.Harris

@Ipshita

Thank you for working through a possible workaround with me! See my responses below:

And you want these images submitted by the users in, let's say one of the three image columns and then have an automation move these cells to another sheet? Are you using the document builder to generate the documents?

BH: Everything stays in the same sheet right now. Then the Document Builder is used to create a PDF via automation.

Can you please share some images and you can hide the content or if you can share some test data, may be I will be able to better suggest a solution.

BH: Essentially, the form will create BOLO documents for the police department in a standardized format. The document generator will generate a different version of the document based on how many images are in the form submission (0 to 3 images). Once the user uploads the images, they go to the attachments area of the row instead of to the individual cell, which creates the manual process of moving attachments to the Image columns.

The best workaround that I have come up with so far is to generate the BOLOs with just the text. When Smartsheet sends the information in an automated email, it will send all the attachments (images and generated document). It's not all in one document, but it doesn't require someone to move pictures to a different cell manually. See the Workaround screenshot.

I also attached example data and a screenshot of an example generated document. 

Data.xlsx

Document Example.png

Workaround.png

Genevieve P.

Hi @Brooke.Harris

As @Andrée Starå noted, there currently isn't a way to automatically move attachments from the attachment column into cells in the grid of the sheet as images in a cell. You'll need to keep doing this manually for now. I personally have not worked with Power Automate or Zapier to achieve this, however adding an image to a cell is available using the Smartsheet API (see here) so it's possible that a third party integration has leveraged the API to automate adding images.

In the meantime, please add your vote and voice to this Idea post: Include Images in cells through Forms

Cheers,

Genevieve