I often get asked why I use Flir Reporter rather than Flir tools, or Quickreport.
I know that Quickreport is free, whereas Reporter has to be purchased, and I understand that people today expect everything for free. There are a number of reasons I choose to use Reporter. Firstly, and this is very important, it does create much more professional reports compared to any freeware. Secondly, it is much more flexible, but only when you get used to it. It is more advanced, and is not intended for part time thermographer’s, nor is intended for those that are not fairly computer literate. It can be tricky to use, and there are occasions when it it difficult to figure out which functions are Reporter functions, and which are Word functions, but this comes with time. Quickreport, and Flir tools are very limited in function and this is what makes them easy to use. For most people the reports that they create are acceptable. I like Reporter, as it allows me to make changes after the report has been created. I can make each report different, and each page can be different. While this is not always necessary, it is very useful.
Reporter has full functionality within MS word, so it allows me to make complete changes into how the image is presented to the customer, it makes use of the spellcheck feature within word, it allows all the analysis that you would expect from Flir, while having all the features of word.
Reporter allows me to create my own templates, so I can have one report for electrical surveys and another for building surveys etc., I can also have separate templates for individual customers. The templates can be adjusted to the customer requirements. As a consultant thermographer Reporter allows me to minimize my time spent in the office, and maximize my time in the field. It increases my efficiency and by reducing my office time it allows me increase my earnings.
Currently I use Flir Reporter 9, and have invested quite a bit of time in making my own templates, of which I have several, perhaps 20-30 that I use regularly. In my experience, the only people that complain about Reporter are the ones that don’t fully understand it.