Managing multiple photos
You can add photos to AD one by one (as described here), but CodeTwo Active Directory Photos makes it easy to manage multiple pictures at the same time. The program offers several useful features such as automatic matching of images with users.
To manipulate AD photos collectively, select users on the Users and Contacts list (Fig. 1.). Standard keyboard shortcuts (e.g. Ctrl+A or holding down Ctrl) can be used for multiple or custom selections.
Fig. 1. Selecting multiple users.
The selected photos can be managed via the buttons located on the toolbar (see Fig. 1.). You can:
- Import local photos to Active Directory for the selected users;
- Export the user photos from AD to a local computer;
- Edit images for the selected users (one by one or collectively) via a built-in photo editor;
- Remove the AD photos of the selected users.
Importing photos to Active Directory
The program allows you to add new images to users in your Active Directory or change the existing user photos.
- The most common picture formats (JPEG, BMP, PNG, and GIF) are supported.
- You can add high-resolution images. The only limit is the file size, and it depends on the Active Directory attribute to which you write user photos.
Learn how to select the AD attribute to which images are uploaded
See how images are modified to meet the file size limits
To add (upload) photos to AD, select users on the Users and Contacts list and click the Import (
) button on the toolbar. A new window opens (Fig. 2.). You need to decide if you want the program to import photos for the selected users or the whole AD container. Next, choose a local folder with the pictures you want to upload to your AD, and define a name pattern that corresponds to the image files in this folder. This pattern can be based on the users' AD attributes, and it will enable the program to automatically match your photos with users.
If you name your images correctly, the program will be able to automatically match them with your AD users and upload these pictures to AD. Keep in mind that the Automatch feature is case-sensitive, so make sure that you use e.g. first name and last name of a user exactly in the same form as they appear in Active Directory. These attributes, for example, are usually capitalized, so when you name your image file, remember to capitalize the first letters as well. We also recommend using the most common Active Directory attributes in the names of your files, for example: [First name]_[Last name].[extension]. The program will recognize these files if a corresponding pattern is specified in the Import photos configuration window (see Fig. 2.). As a result, if you’ve chosen the above-mentioned file naming pattern and your example user’s first name is John and the last name is Doe, the correct image file name should be John_Doe.jpg.
Fig. 2. The Import photos configuration window.
Important
Remember to keep all image files directly within your selected folder, without any subfolders.
When you finish the configuration, click Automatch to view the results of the automatching process (Fig. 3.). Click the first column header to sort your users by the status of the matching operation. All the results are summarized in the legend at the bottom. Photos that have not been matched automatically are displayed on the right - you can drag and drop them onto users to match them manually. To unmatch a picture, click the Unmatch 
() button next to the image thumbnail and the picture will be displayed on the right side. You can also upload local images to individual users via the Browse (
) button located next to each photo thumbnail.
Fig. 3. The results of automatic matching.
When you finish the matching and proceed, a built-in photo editor opens (Fig. 4.). It allows you to modify images (one by one or collectively) before finally uploading them to Active Directory. Learn more about the photo editor
Fig. 4. The photo editor.
Exporting user photos
The program allows you to export images from Active Directory to a local folder. Select users whose photos you want to upload and click the Export (
) button on the toolbar. The Export photos wizard opens (Fig. 5.). You can choose to export pictures of all/selected users to a specific location and define the names of the picture files (based on users' AD attributes). Before you proceed, choose what the program should do if there are any filename collision conflicts in the destination folder.
Fig. 5. The Export photos configuration window.
Editing images
To edit multiple user photos, select users and click the Edit (
) button on the toolbar. The photo editor lets you modify images individually or apply your settings to all selected users. Learn more about the photo editor
Important
In the photo editor, you can only modify existing images. To change user photos, use the Import option described earlier in this article.
Removing user photos
If you want to delete user photos from Active Directory, select any users on the Users and Contacts list and click the Remove (
) button on the toolbar.
Info
Some of the actions described in this article can be performed via the shortcut menu that is displayed when you right-click your selection (Fig. 6.). Additionally, you can copy and paste images between users.
Fig. 6. The shortcut menu.