Art Condition Reports 1.3.1

Art Condition Reports 1.3.1 is a full redesign of the condition reporting app for museums, galleries, registrars, and conservators. It adds a new PDF report layout, tabbed report pages, native iPad annotation gestures, configurable tombstone field roles, and condition report requests that outside parties complete in a web browser. It also fixes sign-in, sync, and data-entry problems found since version 1.3.0.

What is Art Condition Reports?

Art Condition Reports is an app for documenting the physical condition of artworks and objects. You photograph an object, mark damage directly on the image, attach close-up detail photographs to each mark, record catalogue (tombstone) data, and export a signed PDF condition report. It runs on iPhone, iPad, and the web, and it works offline.

What changed in version 1.3.1?

Version 1.3.1 changes five areas:

Design. Every screen uses one new design system.
PDF reports. A new report layout with an organization-branded cover.
Report pages. Tabs for images, tombstone data, assessment, signatures, and activity.
Annotation. Native iPad gestures and easier editing of marks.
Collections data. Tombstone field roles and a rebuilt CSV checklist import.

Report requests for outside parties are new on the web. Many reliability fixes are also included.

A redesigned app

The whole app now uses one consistent design system, so screens look and behave the same way on iPhone, iPad, and the web.

New typography. Report titles use Cormorant Garamond. All other text uses Lato.
New icon set. One consistent line-icon style replaces the mixed system icons.
Light, Dark, or System appearance. Choose it in Settings > Appearance.
Larger report rows on iPhone and iPad. Each report in the list shows a bigger image thumbnail, the object, the creation date, and the annotation count.
Consistent dialogs and confirmations. Destructive actions, such as deleting a report, ask for confirmation the same way everywhere.
Better accessibility. The app has visible keyboard focus on the web, Escape-key support for dialogs, labelled icon buttons, and text contrast of at least 4.5:1. It also respects the system Reduce Motion setting.

On the web

On a wide browser window, Art Condition Reports uses a sidebar and sortable tables. Report, project, and object lists show columns for the object, inventory number, artist or maker, and object type, with a filter field above each table.

New PDF condition report layout

Exported PDF condition reports now open with a branded cover band that shows your organization’s name and initials, the report title, the date it was generated, and the number of images and annotations.

The first page then gives:

The written condition assessment, before any other content.
A tombstone table with title, artist, inventory number, medium, dimensions, date, provenance, and any custom fields.

Later pages show each master image with its numbered annotations, followed by the detail photographs for each annotation. Running headers and footers carry the organization name, inventory number, and page numbers.

The PDF engine was rebuilt for this release, and it renders the same layout on iOS and on the web. A new Report PDF Template setting (Settings > Reports) selects the layout that exports use.

Image quality is unchanged: photographs go into the PDF at full resolution, with no downscaling or extra compression.

Tabbed report pages

Each condition report now has five tabs:

Tab	What it holds
Images	Master images, their annotation counts, and a strip of detail photographs
Tombstone	The object’s catalogue fields, linked to an object in a project
Assessment	The overall written condition assessment
Signatures	Signatures collected for the report
Activity	A history of changes to the report

Other changes on the report page:

Rename a report from the report’s action menu.
Clear save feedback. Save buttons show “Saved” for three seconds after a save.
Unsaved-changes prompts. You get a prompt before you leave Assessment or Tombstone edits that are not saved.

Faster annotation on iPad

On iPad, the annotation editor now uses native gestures: one finger uses the selected tool, and two fingers pan and pinch to zoom. You can mark an image without switching between draw and move modes.

Other annotation improvements:

Move a drawing before you save it. With the select tool, drag an unsaved multi-shape drawing to move it as one unit.
Drag finished marks. The hand tool now moves an annotation, not only the canvas.
A labelled tool strip. The tools are Move, Pen, Freeform, Rectangle, Circle, and Arrow, with colour swatches and stroke widths.
A six-colour marker palette that stays readable on both light and dark images.
A conditions side panel that lists each annotation, its condition type, and its notes.
Keyboard shortcuts on the web, including undo and redo.

Tombstone field roles

You can now tell Art Condition Reports which tombstone field is an object’s label, which is its identifier (inventory or accession number), and which is its detail (artist, maker, or author). Set this per object type in Settings > Object types.

Field roles control:

the name shown for each object in lists and on report pages,
the Inventory and Artist columns in object tables, and
the title of the exported PDF.

If you do not set roles, the app infers sensible defaults from field names such as “Title”, “Inventory #”, and “Artist”. Object type settings now show tombstone fields and annotation types on one screen.

Rebuilt CSV checklist import

The Import checklist flow, which creates many objects from a spreadsheet or collections-management export, has four steps:

Upload a CSV file.
Map fields. Matching column names are mapped automatically. A type column can assign rows to different object types, for example Painting and Sculpture.
Preview each row before import.
Import the objects into a project.

The import now works at iPhone width, not only on iPad and the web. Import mistakes are listed row by row.

Condition report requests (web)

Registrars can now request a condition report from someone outside their organization, such as a lender, courier, or conservator, without giving that person an account.

In a web browser, open Report requests and create a New report request.
Enter a request title and the recipient’s email address, and add an optional message.
The recipient receives an email invitation with a secure link. They add images, annotate them, fill in the tombstone data and assessment, sign, and submit, all in their browser.
Review the submitted report, then Accept into Reports to add it to your organization’s reports.

You can cancel a request or resend the invitation at any time. Links that have expired or been cancelled become read-only.

Fixes and reliability

Fixed sign-in that could stay on a loading spinner indefinitely on iOS.
Sign-up confirmation emails now return you to the app and continue automatically.
Improved offline sync and session restore when you reopen the app.
Fixed a crash on iOS when you cancel a photo crop.
You can no longer save an object with empty required tombstone fields, and create forms show which fields are missing.
Tombstone edits are no longer lost when data syncs in the background.
“Start without object” no longer attaches an object from an earlier report.
Report search treats % and _ as plain characters, and it shows a spinner while it searches.
Long object titles are truncated cleanly in editor headers.
Team invitations are validated, and pending invitations work on the web.
CatalogIt integration keeps your account ID and rejects incorrect input.
Image picking works in desktop web browsers. HEIC files and files larger than 50 MB get a clear message.

Frequently asked questions

Does the redesign change my existing reports?

No. Your reports, images, annotations, objects, and projects are kept as they are. Only the presentation changes. Existing reports export with the new PDF layout.

Can I use Art Condition Reports offline?

Yes. Art Condition Reports stores your data on the device and syncs it when a connection is available. You can photograph, annotate, and write condition reports with no network connection.

Does Art Condition Reports reduce photo quality?

No. Art Condition Reports keeps photographs at full sensor resolution in the app and in exported PDFs, because condition reports are archival records.

Can someone outside my organization fill in a condition report?

Yes. With report requests, which are managed from the web app, you send an email invitation. The recipient completes and signs the report in a browser without an account. You review the report and accept it into your organization’s reports.

Can I import my collection from a spreadsheet?

Yes. Use Import checklist in a project to upload a CSV file, map its columns to tombstone fields, preview the rows, and create the objects.

Which devices does version 1.3.1 support?

Version 1.3.1 runs on iPhone and iPad, and in current desktop web browsers. Report requests are created and reviewed in the web app.

Art Condition Reports 1.3.1 — What's New