How do I create a picture directory?

The first step to creating a picture directory is to obtain digital images of each family that you want to include in your directory. These images work best in jpeg (.jpg) format. For best results, use an image resizing program to shrink the images to 800x600 or smaller (ChurchTrac can load smaller images much faster than larger images. Some computers may not have the processing power or memory to use larger picture files. You may even find that 400x300 resolution images work well in ChurchTrac).

All of the pictures that you use should be located in the same folder on your hard drive or network. If you change the default location for pictures, you'll need to tell ChurchTrac which folder the pictures are in. You can do this by clicking on the Utilities tab, then Program Settings, then People Screen Settings.

The next step is to assign each picture to a family. Open the People screen, click on the Pictures tab and browse to locate the image for each family (the Pictures tab also lets you assign a picture to each individual).

When the Pictures tab is selected on the People screen, the Picture Directory button appears on the Main toolbar. There are several styles of pre-formatted picture directories to choose from. The family-based directories will display the family picture, family name, and optionally the family's address and phone number. The family directories are unable to display individual fields, like email address, cell phone, birthday, etc. If you want to include this information with your directory, it is recommended that you create a Custom Picture Directory using the Custom Reports screen. This screen will allow you to include birthdays, cell phone, or any other family or individual field in your directory.