May 20, 2019 04:33 PM
I am using airtable to keep track of medical records. I’ve uploaded several X-rays of the same bone, but they all came in as separate records. Is there a way of combining all the images in a single record now? drag and drop isn’t working, and copy paste just replaces the one whole image with another. I need multiple images to be attached to one record. Any ideas?
May 20, 2019 05:51 PM
Yes, all the attachment fields support multiple uploads in the same field. You may need to click the plus button to the left of your existing attachment, to add a new one instead of replacing the old one. See screenshot:
May 20, 2019 05:51 PM
Yes, you can have multiple images within the same attachment field for a single record.
However, as far as I know, there is no current way to move attachments from one record to another, if your attachment field is already in the exact same table as your other fields (which it sounds like it is).
As far as I know, you would need to download the attachments to your hard drive and then re-upload them into the appropriate record.
For future reference, a possibly better long-term solution might be to create an entirely new “Images” table. Then, from your main table (I’m assuming it’s some sort of a “Patients” table?), you could link to multiple images in the Images table. Then, if you ever needed to move images from one patient to another, you could simply re-link the existing image to a different patient.
May 20, 2019 06:25 PM
Thank you! It sounds like there is no way of combining rather than re-uploading, right? <> is there another option if its in a different table?
May 20, 2019 07:18 PM
Right, it sounds like you’ll need to re-upload.
However, if you’re still early on in the building of your database (i.e. your table isn’t much more than individual images in individual records at this point), you could change this table to become your “images” table.
Then, create another table to become your “patients” table (I’m assuming “patients” here). Then, you can manually link from the “patients” table to the images table — by manually linking multiple image attachments to each patient record.
Apr 17, 2020 01:52 PM
A similar concept:
Create a new Lookup field that points to the attachments / photos in another table.
It is a good way to look at your photos / attachments aggregated.
If you do not have linked records, you could make them linked following this method:
[Linking every record of one table to a single record of another]
Aug 04, 2020 10:38 AM
If you have attachments in different fields and you want to combine them all to be in one field, this tool allows you to do that directly in Airtable without having to download and upload any attachments.
Aug 04, 2020 10:57 AM
Hi @Moe, Thanks! There also seems to be an additional need for an extension that does the OPPOSITE of this: taking multiple attachments from one record and extracting them into individual records in a linked table. There was a thread about this the other day that I tagged you in.
Aug 07, 2020 08:13 AM
@ScottWorld I’ll see if that’s something we can build!
Apr 18, 2021 06:54 PM
Hello, has this question on creating an opposite app been solved? I have the same need:
I use Airtable on my mobile/iPad to take photos when processing products for my store, however, I am hitting the max storage usage due to these photo attachments. I want to continue to be able to take the original photos through a single attachment field in a single record. Meaning, multiple photos in one attachment field in one record per product.
I’ve restructured my one base into many bases so I can separate out a processing product base, product base, inventory base, and published base (syncs to my online shop).
When I’ve marked the processing record as complete I have an automation that is triggered to create a new inventory record in my Inventory base. This record is now linked to the original record in the processing record base, has already been linked to an existing or new record in the product table in the product base, and when it is triggered to publish from the Inventory base - it gets added to the Published base. Here, I need to simultaneously be uploading each of those attachments from the original product processing record as new records in the Published base’s Image table. This is the first time the images get touched, since I want to avoid linking them in the inventory/product bases for the aforementioned storage reasons.
Thank you,
TT
Apr 18, 2021 07:10 PM
You might be able to do this in Airtable with either a custom JavaScript, or by creating a series of formula fields that break up the attachment URL’s into separate fields — and then have different automations handle the different URL fields. Others can probably guide you on these techniques, and I think there have been some threads in the forum about separating attachment URL’s into separate fields.
However, my personal recommendation for what I think is the easiest & simplest & quickest way to do this would be to just use Integromat, which is a no-code/low-code automation platform.
You could also do this with Zapier, but Integromat is easier, more powerful, and more affordable than Zapier. Integromat also offers full support for Airtable, whereas Zapier only offers partial support for Airtable.
In Integromat, you would do this by using the Iterator tool to loop through the attachments, and then you can do whatever you’d like with each attachment:
Jul 07, 2022 01:55 PM
Hi, I know this is older post but hoping you can help. I am trying to merge attachments fields using miniextensions and I can’t get the look up field attachments to show. I have to copy and paste them in a new record. Any way I can get around doing that?
Oct 31, 2022 06:23 AM
It would be great if someone can show the integromat scenario setup. I still haven’t worked out how to merge multiple attachments into one field.
Mar 04, 2023 01:41 PM - edited Mar 04, 2023 01:42 PM
The iterator setup can be tricky for a user not familiar with Integromat. I used it for text and have spent couple of hours figure it out. You may be better to reach out to Integromat / Make community there, they have finally a forum setup so no need to use your facebook account to message them.
Anyhow, just a note, I found 2 more ways of doing the picture merge:
1. pictures to pictures separate using URL extension converter