Working with images and files in essay responses

Adding images in essays

Within an essay response, you can insert an image by clicking the Image button in the tool bar.

The image upload window will appear. 

You can only insert or upload specific file types in Labflow. If you cannot insert a file from your computer, make sure it is saved as one of the following types of files.

Images formats allowed:

• HEIC
• JPG
• JPEG
• PNG
• BMP
• TIFF
• GIF
• SVG

Once you select the file you want to upload, you will be prompted to make any edits to the image. When you are done making any edits, click the Upload button and your image will be inserted into the essay response.

Editing an image

If you want to edit the image after you have already added it to the essay, click on the image and you will be able to do the following:

• Click and drag the small white boxes on the corners of the image to resize the image.
• Set the alignment of the image to be left, center, or right aligned using the alignment buttons located at the top of the image.
• Open more advanced editing options by clicking on the Edit Image button in the pop-up window that appears. 

Inserting files in essays

Typically, you use the file upload module to upload files, however, there are cases where you will want to insert a file within an essay. The essay module treats files and images differently. If your goal is to make an image appear within your response, you should be inserting an image. If you want to attach some ancillary data with your submission, inserting a file makes sense. 

Acceptable files

The following file formats allowed in Labflow: 

• Portable document format (.pdf)
• Comma-separated text (.csv)
• Plain text (.txt)
• HTML (.html)
• MS-PowerPoint (.pptx)
• MS-Excel (.xlsx)
• MS-Word (.docx)
• Open office presentation (.odp)
• Open office spreadsheet (.ods)
• Open office word processor (.odt)

Pay special attention to .pdf files. These are considered files, not images. A .pdf file may have an image in it, but the file itself will get treated as a file, not an image, for the purposes of inserting into an essay response within Labflow.

Inserting a file

Within an essay response, you can insert a file by clicking the file button in the tool bar.

The file upload window will appear, notice that it is the same as the image upload window. 

Click the middle of the screen to find the file you want to add to the essay response. Once selected, click on the Upload button to add the image to the essay response.

File Preview

Once you add the file, you will see a preview of the content of the file within the essay response. This may or may not include the entirety of the file. In addition to seeing this preview, your instructor will be able to download the file and open it when they are grading your submission. 

This is an example of an Excel file inserted into an essay response.