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Add 360° Photos

This article explains how to capture 360° photos of the job site with a supported 360 camera and add them to your job on ContentsPal.

Written by Pal

🧭 Summary

360° photos capture an entire room in a single shot. Instead of taking many overlapping photos, you place a 360 camera in the middle of the room, capture once, and get an interactive image that anyone viewing the job can pan and rotate to look in every direction.

You can add 360° photos in two places:

  • Job Media — general documentation of the job or loss site

  • Rooms — attach 360° photos to a specific room, alongside the room's regular photos

The capture and import flow is identical in both cases. The screenshots below show the Job Media flow; for a room, start from the room's media gallery instead.

⚙️ Prerequisites

  • A job must be created before adding 360° photos

  • A supported 360 camera:

    • Ricoh Theta — capture from the app & import

    • Insta360 — capture from the app & import

    • Akaso 360 — import photos taken on the camera

  • The camera powered on with its Wi-Fi enabled (the app connects to the camera over Wi-Fi)

📷 Recommended Device

  • Ricoh Theta X — our recommended 360 camera. It offers the smoothest experience with ContentsPal: capture and import directly from the app, with high-quality previews of your captures before you import them.

🚀 How to Add 360° Photos

1. Open Job Media (or a Room)

  • Open your job from the Jobs list (this opens the Job Report)

  • Ensure you are on the Inventory tab

  • Tap the Job Media button at the top

  • For a room 360: open the room from the Rooms list and use the room's Add photo/video button instead — the remaining steps are the same

Job page with Job Media button

2. Start Adding Media

  • In the Job Media gallery, tap the Add Photo/Video tile

Job Media gallery with Add Photo/Video tile

  • The camera opens — tap the 360° button in the bottom-right corner

Camera screen with 360° button

3. Select Your Camera

  • Pick your camera model from the Select 360 Camera list

Select 360 Camera screen

4. Connect to the Camera

  • First time only: enter the camera's Wi-Fi name (SSID) and password — for Ricoh Theta the default password is autofilled for you

  • The app remembers the camera, so future connections happen upon selection

  • Wait for the green Camera connected indicator at the top of the screen

5. Capture and Import

  • Place the camera in the middle of the room, then tap Capture to take a 360° photo remotely

  • New photos appear in the list below — tap the import button next to each photo you want to add to the job

Ricoh 360 screen with Capture button and import buttons

  • Imported photos are marked Imported. When you've imported everything you need, tap Done

Done button after importing photos

  • When prompted, disconnect from the camera's Wi-Fi so your phone can get back online and upload

6. Uploading Happens in the Background

  • Back in the gallery, your 360° photos show an Uploading… indicator

  • You can save and exit — uploads continue in the background and resume automatically when you have a connection

Job Media gallery with 360 photos uploading

  • Once uploaded, the photos display a 360° icon and are ready to view

Job Media gallery with 360 photos uploaded

👀 Viewing 360° Photos

  • Mobile: tap a 360° photo in Job Media or a room's gallery to open the interactive viewer — drag to look around the room

  • Web: open the job and go to the Photos & Notes tab — 360° photos open in an interactive viewer you can pan with the mouse

  • 360° photos are also included when you share the job, so adjusters and policyholders can look around the loss site themselves

✅ Best Practices

  • Use room 360s for room documentation — attaching the photo to its room keeps before/after documentation organized per room

  • Place the camera in the center of the room at roughly chest height for the most useful coverage

  • Step out of the shot (or stand close to a wall) before capturing — the camera sees in every direction

  • Turn on the lights — 360 cameras need good lighting for sharp results

  • Disconnect from the camera Wi-Fi when done — uploads can't start while your phone is connected to the camera

🧩 Troubleshooting

The app can't reach the camera:

  • Make sure the camera is powered on and its Wi-Fi is enabled

  • Confirm your phone joined the camera's Wi-Fi network

  • If the camera's Wi-Fi password was changed from the default, enter the new one

Capture fails on Ricoh Theta:

  • Make sure the camera is set to Photo mode (video mode can't be used for 360° photos)

Photos are stuck on Uploading…:

  • Check that you disconnected from the camera's Wi-Fi — your phone needs an internet connection to upload

  • Uploads resume automatically once you're back online; you can keep working in the meantime

🔑 Key Takeaways

  • 360° photos can be added to Job Media or to individual rooms — the flow is the same

  • Ricoh Theta, Insta360, and Akaso 360 cameras are supported over Wi-Fi

  • Uploads run in the background — you can save and exit

  • 360° photos are interactive on mobile, web, and shared job pages

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