Using Roam to capture photos and images for stock items

Using Roam to capture photos and images for stock items

In Retailer Roam, we have added the ability to quickly take a photo of a stock item, remove the background (if you want), then have the images automatically uploaded and attached to the stock item in Retailer. This makes the process of gathering images for your stock item a breeze. This is a free Roam service that is available to supported or Rental customers.  

Info
This facility works best when using a smartphone or tablet 
Warning
Please only follow these instructions after you have completed the steps here
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Retailer Roam can only be used with Chromium based browsers like Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome (not Firefox or Samsung Internet) or Safari

  1. On your device go to www.towersystems.com.au and login using your Tower username and password.  
  2. Once you are on the Dashboard, scroll down and select Retailer Roam.

  3. The Roam dashboard will then open, from the left hand menu select Image Management .

  4. The Image management screen will then open. 
  5. To begin taking your first photo, you can click the Barcode Button, on the right hand side of the product box. This will use the devices camera to scan the barcode.  If you are using this on a device with a barcode scanner you can simply scan the barcode into the product box.

  6. You will then be asked to Grant Permission for Roam to access the Camera.  Select Grant permission and then select the Allow when asked by your Operating system.  
  7. Scan the barcode.  (See the barcode scanning tips here ) 
  8. Once scanned it will ask you to confirm that the barcode is correct.  Please check and ensure it is correct. If not, click on No - Scan Again .  If correct, click on Yes - Take Photo .
  9. Once you have correctly scanned the barcode, you can take the photo of your item.
  10. You will then be shown a preview of the photo. 

    1. If the photo is not right, you can click on Take again to take another photo.  
    2. If the image is OK and you have an account with one of the supported background services, click on the Scissors button to remove the background.  See notes below on Removing Background Images to set this up.


  11.  If you are happy with the image, click on Save.
  12. The image will be sent directly to Retailer, and you will be asked if you want to capture another photo for the barcode scanned, or if you want to begin a new product.  Please see the notes below on images once they are received by Retailer.  

Retailer Images

  1. Retailer will automatically import images every couple of minutes.  
  2. If a match to the barcode is found, then the image will be automatically imported against the stock item.
  3. All imported images will be added to the end of any other images that are against the stock item.  No images will be replaced.
  4. Any images that can't be matched against stock items can be will be saved to the C:\EDI\weblink\failed_images folder.  These can then be manually attached to stock items at a later stage.
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    You can quickly see these failed images. From the main screen in Retailer, click the Notification button at the top (looks like a speech bubble), and double click the message 'Roam image failed to import'. This will open up the folder with all the failed images.

Barcode Scanning Tips

  1. Clicking the Cog in the scanning screen will allow you to enable to disable various barcode types to improve the accuracy of the scanner.  Typically you would want the bolded options enabled, but depending on your product mix you may need others enabled.  
    1. UPC (Typically US product)
    2. EAN (Australia, NZ, Asia the european physical barcodes use this standard)
    3. EAN2 (magazine barcode Only with the 2 digit addenda) 
    4. Interleaved 2 of 5 (Retailer generated, 2000 series barcodes)
    5. Code128 (Retailer Printed versions of Magazine barcodes) 
  2. You can also adjust the order in which the symbologies are processed, this may help with accuracy.   Please consult with the support team to determine your best order if you are experiencing any inaccuracy with the camera scanner.
  3. Moving the barcode slowly into the field of view from the top or bottom seems to yield more accurate results as it allows you to correctly line the barcode up into the scanning window. 

Removing Background Images

First you need to setup an account with either removal.ai or remove.bg. See Removing Backgrounds from your Stock Images

To add the API key to Roam follow these steps
1. Go to the Dashboard and Click on Settings
2. Select Background Eraser (the last option in the list)
3. In Removal Strategy, select which provider you have chosen.
4. Enter your API Key

You can also enable the Automatic Background Removal if you want the image background to be removed automatically, removing a step when taking images. 
Don't enable this if you want to be selective with which backgrounds your want removed.

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