Carl Cioffi, the Advance Response Concepts Software Engineer who wrote the photo capture program, offers some hints and suggestions for the RAPTOR User capturing photographs using the RAPTOR CONNECT Software.

• Once the photo capture application is started it will automatically attempt to connect to the first camera in the list of detected devices. If connection is successful the camera will be set to preview and an image will be displayed. If multiple camera are connected and this is not the camera you are using then click on the correct camera then click on “Connect” to release one camera and connect the other.
• Use the “Zoom” buttons on the right to position your subject for a properly framed picture as shown below.
• When satisfied with the preview image click on “Acquire Image” to capture the current preview. After capturing the preview image, the application will automatically analyze the image for PIV Card compliance. If the image is not compliant, a message box will be displayed and you will not be able to save the image. Click on “Preview” and restart. When the image is analyzed a series of messages will be displayed in a message box informing you of the non compliance errors.
• The only known issue with the RAPTOR CONNECT Photo capture software is the inability to turn off the flash when the software is used in combination with the RAPTOR REALTIME field kit. Manual adjustments to the light level and the brightness of the flash may be necessary.
  

Pictures can be captured in portrait or landscape mode. When taking pictures that are other than the normal landscape mode as above, use the arrow buttons on the right to rotate the picture so that the subject is upright. Do not take pictures that are really far away, if the subject is too far from the camera then use the zoom controls on the right to bring the subject closer. It is always advisable to use the flash to make sure there are no shadows, although it does not seem necessary. The flash is controlled by clicking on the “Flash On/Flash Off” button on the right. The flash is on when the button reads “Flash On”.

Once you have an image that has been analyzed you will get the image that is show below with an ellipsis around the head area and green crosshairs at the eyes, nose and lips. Clicking done here will save the image to a file if one was requested at execution time. Otherwise, the image is sent back to the calling application.

Seven key points to remember when capturing a photo

1. No Hats
2. No tinted glasses
   
3. No smiles
4. Look forward
5. The shoulders need to be in the picture
6. There must be space above the head in the picture
7. Saving the data may take a long time, this is normal.