Section 1

How to Export Roster Information from PDS for your Directory

To export roster information to send to Lifetouch for your directory, click on the Information tab at the top of the screen.
In Church Office, click on the Family button. In School and Formation, click on the Student button.
Select Reports from the menu at the left side of the screen. Click on the Data Exports section to open it. Select the
Export for Lifetouch Picture Directory report.

Click on the Next button to display the Overview screen, then click Next again.
Enter Lifetouch as the Company name, then select a location and name for the file that will be created. Pay special
attention to this field and write it down some place because you will have to be able to find the file once the report is
finished. Tip: Type Ctrl+P to print this screen with the location and file name on it.

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Click Next to go to the Select Members where you can include and exclude groups of members. Then click on the Build
button.
When the process is finished, the program will display a short report that includes the name of the file and total number of
records in it.

Print this report or click on Close.

Use the location and name of the file in order to send that file to Lifetouch.

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Section 2

Lifetouch Image Import Process:

How to Import Lifetouch images into PDS

If you have a Compu-View Image CD from Lifetouch you can import the pictures on that CD into the PDS
Church Office, Formation Office or School Office program. There are two steps to importing the pictures:
1. Copy the picture files to your computer in your default picture directory
2. Run the import report to assign the picture files to your family and member records
Step 1: Copy the Lifetouch portrait files to your computer
To determine where your default picture directory is, start the PDS program and click on the Setup / Admin.
tab at the top of the screen. Then click on the Setup Options button.
Choose Initial Setup. Your default picture directory will appear in the first field on this screen.

Note: if you have not yet set up a default folder for your pictures, enter a valid folder name in the first field.
If the folder is within your \data folder, then pictures will be included in your regular backups. This may make
your backup files much larger. If the folder appears outside of your \data folder, then you should use an
alternative method to back them up. Remember, if you hold on to your Lifetouch CD, that is a backup of your
portrait files.

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Once you have determined or set where your default picture folder is, copy the portrait files from the Lifetouch
Compu-View Image CD into that folder.
Step 2: Run the import report to assign the picture files to your families and members.
In the PDS program, click on the Information tab at the top of the screen, then click on the Families button. Select
Reports from the menu on the left side of the screen. Click on Listing Reports to open this section and select the
Import Family and Member Pictures report.

Click on the Next button, to go to the Overview screen, then click Next again.
There are 3 options at the top of the screen that you can use:
Print Information
Change Pictures
Overwrite Pictures
To print which families and members will be modified by the process without actually making any changes, mark
Print Information and unmark the other two options. To post the picture files to your data without overwriting any
existing pictures, mark the Change Pictures option but UNMARK the Overwrite Pictures option.

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To pull all picture files into the PDS program, overwriting any current pictures and printing the information about
what pictures were imported, mark all three options.

Enter the name of the .lcd file on the CD that Lifetouch provided. Now click on the Next button. Click on the Build
button on the next page of the wizard to begin the import process.
Upon completion, if you have asked to print the information, that will preview on your screen.

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The report will show the ID/Env number, the photo file name and whether this picture was assigned to a family
record or to a member record. If the ID/Env in the file does not match any ID/Env numbers in your data file, then
the report will say No match found.
Print the report or click Close.
At the completion of the process, the following message will be displayed:

Viewing the Pictures on the Family and Member Screens

To view the pictures you have imported, click on the Information tab at the top of the screen. Then click on the
Family button. The picture displays on the Primary Information screen.

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To view he member picture in Church Office, click on the Member button.

In Formation Office, the member pictures can appear on the Student, Catechist and Parent/Guardian screens.
In School Office, the member pictures can appear on the Student, Teacher and Parent/Guardian screens.
If you are sharing a data file between PDS office programs, importing pictures into one program will make those pictures
visible in sharing programs as long as the family or member is visible.

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