Learning how to add and activate a Dynamics 365 image field can make a significant difference to how your business handles its data. Giving you the option to display a specific visual representation for each record, it’s possible by creating the right type of field for it. Microsoft Dynamics 365 features three distinct types of field that can be part of an entity: simple, calculated, and rollup.
- Calculated fields usually contain data that is obtained as a result of applying specific formulas to data in other fields, either within the same entity or in related parent entities. This might involve calculating a total revenue by adding numbers from a set of customer records, for example, or verifying whether a sales lead is active or not with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ output.
- Rollup fields are populated by aggregating values from fields in records related to the relevant record, or computing a value over a hierarchy of records. For example, you can use a rollup field to calculate the total time spent and billed on all of the different activities related to a particular customer account, taking data from multiple related fields.
- In contrast to these types of field, a simple field is populated by entering data manually into the database, or it can be imported from somewhere else, or just set to a default value.
Of the many data types available for simple fields, Image is one of the most interesting and useful ones. Creating an image field for your records can have a significant impact on how you process your data, and is a Dynamics 365 feature that is worth learning how to use.
What is a Dynamics 365 image field?
With a Dynamics 365 image field, you can set up each record to display a chosen image within the application. Sometimes this field will need to be added manually, and sometimes it will already be included in an entity. The display image can be modified to be anything that you want, or you can use the generic default one that is provided. Each entity can have a single image field, and thus a single image assigned to it.
Image fields allow you to organize your data to be processed and handled more effectively, and give it a strong visual theme that makes it more accessible and user-friendly. The ability to use a form to customize your records with any image you want has all kinds of benefits, and it also brings in an extra dimension in which you can conceptualize your data and relate it more directly to your real-world business activities.
For example, each client account or sales opportunity could include a photo of the relevant person, allowing you to easily see who the data is referring to. As well as being informative in various ways, these display images can also help you navigate your data more easily. Image fields are a fast and efficient way of identifying particular records, giving you a clear visual indication of their contents and relevance without having to sift through large amounts of complicated text.
Where can you add a Dynamics 365 image field?
Dynamics 365 image fields can be added to any of the custom entities that you create. In general, they can’t be added to system entities.
There are a number of system entities that already have an image field included. Some of them are enabled by default, so they will display in your records without you having to make any modifications, while others will need to be set up manually if you want them to display an image. These entities are as follows:
SYSTEM ENTITY IMAGE ENABLED BY DEFAULT?
Account Yes
Article No
Campaign No
Case No
Competitor Yes
Connection No
Contact Yes
Contract No
Currency No
Email Server Profile No
Goal No
Invoice No
Lead Yes
Mailbox No
Opportunity Product No
Order No
Organization No
Product Yes
Publisher Yes
Queue No
Resource Yes
Sales Literature No
Territory No
User Yes
How to add a Dynamics 365 image field
The process of adding and activating a Dynamics 365 image field is relatively straightforward.
1. Firstly, you’ll need to select the Solution and the Entity where you want to had your Image field.
2. In your selected entity, create a new field, and choose Image from the Data Type drop-down menu.
3. Now activate the Primary Image checkmark. Select Done and Save and again Save the entity.
4. Finally, you should go to Forms, select the form where you want to add your image field and drop it into the form. Save the changes.
This will set the entity to display an image. Now Save, and go in the account where you want to upload the image. Select your image and Save.
The image will be displayed in the top left corner of the record. If no image has been chosen for a particular record yet, it will display a generic placeholder image.
Adding an image field to an account can have many benefits. You will have a better visualization of some information or you will be able to download it anytime, anywhere to use it into your PowerPoint presentation for example!
How to select a specific image to display for the record?
When viewing the form in your database, users can now select a specific image to display for the record, instead of the default one. Just click the default image to edit it, and you can then choose any image to upload from your computer.
There are a number of restrictions and conditions that apply to the images that you can use in this form. Firstly, the image file must be one of the following types:
- JPG
- GIF
- TIF
- TIFF
- BMP
- PNG
There is a maximum filesize of around 5 MB. When the image is uploaded, it will be cropped to a square, 144 pixels by 144 pixels. Make sure to adjust or crop the images manually beforehand, so they will display properly in this format. If both sides of an image are smaller than 144 pixels, the image will be cropped to be a square with the dimensions of the smaller side.
To get around some of the limitations placed on image display in Dynamics 365, there are a number of add-ons available. Installing third-party software or modifying the code can allow you to have more freedom to choose how the image is displayed, in terms of proportions and size, and it’s also possible to add more than one image to a record.
As well as providing extra information that can be useful, image fields give a better visual dimension to your records, making them easier on the eye and easier to navigate. Furthermore, the images can allow for more efficient use of this data, giving you the ability to identify particular records at a glance. Image fields are just one of the many useful fields that you can add to your database in Microsoft Dynamics 365, as part of the practical and powerful range of features that it offers for record management. At Gestisoft, we can show you how to make use of image fields in your Dynamics 365 activities, and demonstrate the whole range of Dynamics 365 features with our GestiOnTheGo training program.
Gestisoft provides custom implementations of Microsoft Dynamics 365 that are adapted to the specific needs and goals of your business or project. We also offer similar custom implementations for other CRM products, and we can provide you with technical demos and a consultation service to help you decide which solution is the best for you. We’re based in Quebec, and we can help businesses improve their customer service offering, sales performance, and marketing efficiency, with the benefit of over 20 years of software expertise.
