Managing student and staff photos

Synergetic can store student and staff photos that can be viewed within Synergetic when you view the relevant student or staff record. These photos are stored in a separate database from the rest of the Synergetic data, called SynergyOneMedia. You can:

• import photos, either individually or in bulk from graphics files
• export a photo from Synergetic into a graphics file.

Graphics file formats

Photos are stored as graphics files. There are a very large number of different file formats for storing graphics. When using the Load From File option the import program supports:

• JPEG (file extension .jpg)
• Bitmap (file extenstion .bmp)
• Enhanced metafile format (file extension .emf)
• Windows metafile format (file extension .wmf)
• ICO (file extension .ico).

When using the Load All From Files option the import program only supports JPEG files. If your file name extension is not .jpg, then the Load All From Files import does not work. In this case you need to convert the images using a conversion program. Contact Synergetic Management Systems for more information.

JPEGs are of lower photo quality (resolution) but take up a lot less disk space than bitmapped images. Synergetic Management Systems recommend .jpg format as the best balance between photo quality and file size.

There are a number of different sources for photos. For example, you can choose to scan in photos of staff and students, or the school photographer supplies you with a CD containing individual photos of staff and students.

For ease of loading, photos should be saved as ID.jpg, where ID is the Synergetic ID of the student or staff member. Therefore it is best to request this format from the school photographer.

Tip: You can use the DefaultPhotoResolution configuration setting to change the resolution of photos used in some Synergetic reports. See DefaultPhotoResolution configuration setting.

What you can do: