Is there a way to select a portion of the photo to make it the “headshot” / profile pic for the given person?
There isn’t a tag or zoom option inside of RM.
In Windows 10/11, you can use the “Snipping Tool” to copy the head shot (or any other part of a picture) and then save it as a separate image. That new image can then be added to your media and setup as the primary media for the person so it will show in his/her record. The snipping tool is included in Windows.
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Unfortunately a “picture box” as it sometimes referred to — it no an option available in RM – I have see it in other desktop software and believe it available with Ancestry. not sure if it has requested as a feature enhancement if you want you can make that request.
The database has the fields required to support the feature for many versions. But the software was never implemented
A suggestion- when you alter a photo, either by cropping it or changing its coloring etc, my practice is to keep both the original and modified the versions both attached to a custom m Photo fact.
@jwyckoff Funny you posted this. I was thinking the same thing. I was dealing with media, and it was driving me crazy. The thought of saving a head shot for each person, so let’s say you have a 10-person group picture, you will now have 11 photos to save - one for each person and the main photo - that is just absurd. IMO the media functionality in RM is behind the times and needs a major upgrade. I come from Family Historian where in my opinion they have the gold standard in this area. Don’t get me wrong RM is a good software, and its superpower is Tree Share with Ancestry and FS but just think how great this software would be if it had Tree share and a very cool cutting edge media functionality. Just my opinion.
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thanks for reminding me – I had forgotten I guess was not sure if I was confused having tried numerous software
fair observation / criticism - All software has strengths and weaknesses.
RM Advanced search has “caught up” (well closer) to FH query language and is much less non-intuitive. RM does not have plugins but it OPEN DB sqlite. So one needs to decide which better for them. Both are great software for diff reasons. I use FH occasionally for some specific tasks. I do still use FTM (2024 now) for the Family Book creator that makes really great “books” with very little effort – I wish the book builder was less tedious to use.
Not within RM.
There are too many better photo editors - irFanView, Faststone or Snipping tool
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We are not talking about a photo editor, with that I agree. We are talking about simple media workflow - Here is a simple example - when dealing with your media wherever you store it say Microsoft Explorer when you add a title, description, date or other metadata to that file when you “Drop New Media” in RM the metadata should follow so you don’t have to type the data in again.
I agree with you on both fronts I too wish the book builder was a little better - although I do like being able to build a custom report in RM! IMO if more of us that have used other software keep providing feedback - we can only make the product better - Like did we really need the AI Prompt builder - it’s cool etc. but most of us probable store our AI prompts in other places etc. and will not use the wizard. IMO those resources could have been used to update the media or other areas.
It “likely” took ~way less~ programming effort to add that AI Prompt builder, than it would to modify an existing feature, add code that will impact various elements of an already intact UI arrangement (and “possibly already planned” future implementation, ie. those unused schema additions). Just saying, feature-requests and wishes are probably considered, digested , and a need versus ROI (return on investment) calculated. I, personally think that adding the new options would be cool, but only used by a small portion of users.
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I also have some sense of what resources would be not to develop and implement “enhancements” but also supporting them. (@kbens0n describes this also)
I tried to only push suggestions that more than two users would benefit from. RM has made a lot of good strides since ver 8 - ver 8 was a complete do over and I understand that some users were disappointed. RM11 has “grown up” from RM8 but I know it does not cover everything for everyone. There is not software that likely does that for any individual – one chooses based on it doing MOST everything and using alternatives if /when needed
IMO - I do think that if RM had the ability to tag faces on a media (like Ancestry or FH7) then have that tag be your primary picture (if you desired) while automatically saving it in each person’s media file and the best part only having one media file, I believe, would become as popular as Tree share. I think, in general, if all you know is RM functionally you miss out on other software’s functionality to get a better sense of Pros and Cons.
For me personally I use RootsMagic for Tree share and keeping FS and Ancestry up to date with RM in an automated fashion and addressing Ancestry Hints within the software, which I think is really good. For me that workflow and connectivity with Ancestry and FS is the most important aspect for my genealogy process and why I’m using RM. However, if it were not for Tree Share functionality I probably would be using FH7 as my main software. (But don’t get me wrong FH7 has its challenges too e.g. there has not been an update in years.)
The OP asked if you can “select a portion of a photo” within RM and the answer is no. You need to use a photo editor.
RM is a genealogy software that incorporates many features.
The Media portion is just basic in it’s features (people have commented on it going back to v4). You can add Pictures to your data!
Had RM focused on Media, we wouldn’t have 1 program Mac/PC, no interface with FamilySearch or Ancestry, no Health/DNA, no AI, etc.
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