I rely heavily on Smartsheet’s Document Generation. However, this workflow is currently dependent on having photos stored inside cells, since row attachments alone cannot be used directly in document generation..
If Smartsheet allowed attachments to be displayed as thumbnails in cells (as a reference), document generation could use them directly without any manual re-uploading directly into cells or external workarounds using API.
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1.1 - Suggested Formula Functions
Introduce two new functions:
1. ATTACHMENTS(@row ) → returns a list of filenames attached to the row.
• Example: =ATTACHMENTS(@row ) → "photo1.jpg, photo2.jpg, document1.pdf"
2. IMAGEFROMATTACHMENT(source [, selector]) → renders the actual thumbnail of a selected attachment.
• Examples:
- Show image by filename in a cell:
=IMAGEFROMATTACHMENT([Attachment Filename]@row )
- Show latest / oldest attachment:
=IMAGEFROMATTACHMENT(MIN(ATTACHMENTS(@row )))
=IMAGEFROMATTACHMENT(MAX(ATTACHMENTS(@row )))
- Show first attachment matching keyword in filename:
=IMAGEFROMATTACHMENT(FILTER(ATTACHMENTS(@row ), CONTAINS("inspection", @item )))
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1.2 - Suggested New Column Type
Add an Image from Attachment column type, where users can:
• Display the first og latest image automatically.
• Optionally filter which attachment is shown based on filename patterns, attributes, keywords, First, Latest, By filename contains…, By index etc.
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1.3 - Context Menu Action in Attachments
Add a quick action in row attachments (right-click or a "•••" hamburger menu):
"Insert as cell image → [Choose column…]@row"
Workflow:
1. User opens row attachments and selects an image file.
2. Chooses Insert as cell image.
3. Selects target Image column (or creates a new one).
4. Smartsheet places the thumbnail directly into the cell (binding it to the chosen attachment).
Optional toggles in the dialog:
• Keep dynamic link to attachment (default).
• Auto-update if replaced or newer file with same attributes are added to the row.
—2 - API Reference
Today, external systems using the Smartsheet API can already combine an attachment filename in a cell with a row attachment and render it as an image outside of Smartsheet. Bringing this capability natively into Smartsheet would:
• Remove the need for external workarounds.
• Align Smartsheet’s core product with what the API already makes possible.
• Give all users equal access to this functionality without coding and the use of external 3rd part systems with Smartsheet integration.
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3 - Data Safety and History
When an image is placed directly in a cell, deleting the cell content also deletes the image permanently. While Smartsheet’s cell history will still show the filename and timestamp of when the image was there, there is no way to restore the actual photo.
If instead, cells contained a reference to row attachments, the underlying files would remain safely stored.
Like this:
• Users could still view the full attachment history.
• Cells could dynamically display the "current" attachment (first, latest, by keyword, etc.).
• No image would ever be lost just because a cell was cleared.
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4 - Final thoughts
For some of us, this would in my opinion, make Smartsheet document generation even more powerful, as attached images could be rendered directly in cells.
As of now, this would reduce manual work for users dealing with hundreds of attachments where images are not stored directly into a cell. This would also provide a consistent way to use attachments in formulas and in some cases the same way we already use MIN() and MAX() on numbers or dates.
In the end, this approach would combine the safety of attachments with the usability of cell images – giving both reliable history and dynamic flexibility.
As I see it, these are features that would make attachments useable on a new level, and enable even more automation and reporting scenarios in Smartsheet.
