Using Photo Reports
Photo Reports let you create professional, branded summaries of your work to share with customers. Instead of forwarding a handful of photos or attachments with no context, you can build a polished, organized report, complete with your company branding, job details, photos, and descriptions, and send it directly to your customer via email or text.
This feature is currently beta and is only available on Essentials and Up Plans.
What You Can Do with Photo Reports
Create one or more reports per job, each with a branded cover page
Add multiple sections with titles, descriptions, and attachments
Send the report to your customer by email or SMS, or print or download it as a PDF
Allow customers to view their report anytime from their customer portal
Edit and resend reports after they've been saved
Creating a Photo Report
Photo Reports are created from the Job Details page.
Open the Job you want to create a report for.
Locate the Photo Reports card on the job details page.
Click Create report to open the report builder.
🛠️ Pro Tip: You can create multiple reports for the same job — for example, a "Before" report and an "After" report.
Building Your Report
The report builder has two main parts: the Cover Page and Sections.
Cover Page
The cover page is automatically populated with your company information and job details. You can also customize it:
Field | Details |
Company info | Your logo, business name, address, phone, and email (pulled from your profile) |
Report title | Auto-filled as "[Report] for [Customer Name]" — you can edit this |
Report description | A rich-text field for an intro or overview (blank by default) |
Cover photo | Optional — select any attachment |
Date & employee | Automatically set to when the report was created and who created it |
Customer name & address | Pulled from the job |
To add or change the cover photo:
Click the cover photo area.
An attachment picker will open, showing all attachments (photos, videos, PDFs, etc.) associated with the customer.
Select the photo you want and click Add.
To remove the cover photo, click the photo and select Remove.
Sections
Each section in a report holds a group of related photos, along with a title and description to give your customer context.
Adding a section:
Click Add section in the report builder.
Give the section a title (e.g., "Before," "During," "After," "Equipment Installed").
Optionally add a description using the rich-text editor.
Click Add attachments to select any attachments associated with the customer.
Working with attachments in a section:
Attachments display in list view by default, showing the photo description alongside each image.
Switch to grid view to see photos in a compact layout (descriptions are hidden in grid view).
Edit a photo's description by clicking on it — this updates the description throughout the report.
Drag and drop photos to reorder them, or click Remove to delete a photo from the section.
Add more photos to a section at any time by clicking Add attachments again.
Managing sections:
Add as many sections as you need.
Reorder sections by dragging them in the left navigation panel.
Delete a section using the section menu.
🛠️ Pro Tip: Use the left navigation panel to jump between the Cover Page and any section — clicking a section in the panel scrolls the editor directly to it.
Previewing Your Report
Before sending, you can preview exactly what your customer will see:
Click Preview in the report builder toolbar.
Review the cover page and all sections as they'll appear to the customer.
Click any photo in preview mode to open it in the full viewer, where the description and metadata will be visible.
Click Back to edit to make any changes.
Sending the Report
You can send a photo report to your customer via email or SMS, or save it without sending.
Save Only
Click Save to save the report and return to the job details page. A pop-up will confirm that the report was saved. You can send it later from the job.
To Save and Send the Report:
Click Save and send.
Choose to send by Email or SMS (or both).
Review and confirm the sending dialog, then click Send.
You'll be returned to the job details page with a confirmation that the report was saved and sent.
What your customer receives:
Email: A branded email with the report title, a short message, and a button to view the report.
SMS: A text message with a link to view the report.
When your customer clicks the link, the report opens in their Homebase customer portal.
📌 Note: Standard SMS registration rules apply. If your account isn't registered for business SMS, you may see a prompt to complete registration before sending.
Downloading or Printing
You can also save a copy of the report locally:
From the report builder, click the Download or Print option in the toolbar.
The report will be exported as a PDF.
Finding Sent Reports
On the Job
All photo reports created for a job appear in the Photo Reports card on the Job Details page. Each report shows its title, the date last saved, and whether it's been sent.
Click a report to open it and make edits or resend it.
In the Customer Portal
When a photo report is sent to a customer, it becomes available in their customer portal under Gallery > Photo Reports.
The Photo Reports tab appears in the customer's Gallery once a report has been sent. Reports are listed by title, date sent, and service address.
Customers can:
See all reports sent to them, sorted by most recently sent
Click View report to open and read any report
View individual photos in the full-screen viewer
🛠️ Pro Tip: If a customer's portal isn't enabled, they can still view the report by clicking the link in the email or text they received.
Editing a Sent Report
Reports can be edited after they've been saved or sent:
Open the job and find the report in the Photo Reports card.
Click the report to open the editor.
Make your changes.
Click Save to update the report, or Save and send to notify the customer of the updated version.
📌 Note: When you save edits, the report is updated immediately. If you want the customer to see the changes, send them the updated report.
Photo Report on Jobs FAQs
Can I create more than one photo report per job?
Yes, you can create as many reports as you need for a single job.
Can I add videos to a photo report?
Yes, any file type that can be uploaded to a job can be added to a photo report.
What attachments can I include?
You can add any attachment that’s associated with a customer. This means attachments across different jobs, estimates, or customer profiles are available for selection.
Can customers download the report?
Customers can view the report in their portal or directly from the link sent via email or SMS. They will be able to download individual attachments inside the report. For downloadable PDFs, you can generate and send a PDF version using the Download option in the editor.
Does this work on mobile?
Photo report creation and editing are currently available on the web. Your customers can view sent reports from any device using the link they receive.
Need help or have questions?
We're here for you! Chat with Support using the Blue Chat Bubble in your Housecall Pro account, or give us a call at (858) 842-5746.