The recommended method for adding your cards to the App is to use the Import from Photos option. This option works better than the Photograph a Card option, as it will properly size your card within the display window on the screen. However, you should create a clean image of your card in your Photos app before importing it.
Tips for creating the best possible image for your card
- When photographing the card, be sure to hold the camera directly above the card so as to maintain the rectangular shape of the card. Adjust the light source so as to avoid reflections from the card surface. Generally, you will obtain best results using ambient light rather than flash.
- If you have a good scanner, you may obtain better results by scanning the cards. After scanning, you can import the images into your Photo Gallery by connecting your computer to your iPhone or by emailing or AirDropping them to yourself.
- For best possible results, use an editing tool to correct any defects in the image before importing it into the App. One of the best of these is an App called Snapseed, which is available in the App Store for free. With this app you can make tiny rotations of the image, correct for lozenge effect (where the top is narrower than the bottom or vice versa), and even adjust brightness, contrast, hue, color saturation and more. Also, you can trim the edges so that any background which is showing around the card is removed. (Thank you to SoulCollage® Trainer and professional photographer Catherine Anderson for this information).
Tips for managing your card images
- We recommend that you create an Album within the Photos app on your device, where you will store all of your card images. You can name the images to match the card names so that you can more easily find them in the future. As your deck grows, you might create additional Albums, one for each Suit, or one for each year or other time period, for example. As you move your images into the Album, change the name to correspond to the name of the card.
- Once your images are prepared, open the SoulCollage® App and tap Add a Card, then tap in the rectangle at the top to add your image. Tap Upload from Photos and select the desired image from your Album. A thumbnail of the image should appear in the rectangle. Enter the Card Name and Suit. The date will default to the current date, but if you wish to enter another date (e.g., the date when the card was first created) you can change it. Check the appropriate box for copyright status as a future reminder as to whether this card should ever be displayed publicly. Leave the card status as Active.
- In order to keep the database to a manageable size, images are compressed when they are imported into the SoulCollage® App using a standard compression algorithm designed to optimize use on iOS devices. By keeping the original full-resolution images in the Photos app as described above, you will always have access to them should you wish to print them out or view them in full resolution for some other purpose.
- If you are not satisfied with the image of a card in your deck, you can easily replace the image, using the Replace Image function in the Notes View of the card. You should not delete the card and start over. If you do delete the card and start over, you will lose all notes associated with the card and you will lose the card image in all Past Readings. For this reason, it is not recommended that you delete a card which has been in your deck for any length of time. If you want to hide the card so that it does not appear in future Readings, we recommend that you set the card status to Retired, instead.
- If you wish to add a card quickly, you can just take a quick photo of it and add the card to your deck. Later, you may want to go back and correct any issues with the image, add it to the appropriate Album in the Photos app and then replace the image in the SoulCollage® App.