Android: How do I take a picture with the camera and store the full resolution image in imageview?

Question

I am trying to make an app where the user can take a picture and that picture gets stored in an imageview. I have tried dozens of methods to get this to work.

A lot of answers I've viewed suggest using data.getExtra("data") with using the MediaStore intent and passing in ACTION_CAMERA_CAPTURE. This returns a smaller image and the image I am trying to display is large so the image shows up blurry using this method.

The other option is to use this same method and pass in EXTRA_OUTPUT. However, this requires putting in the storage location and every answer I have seen tells me to put in Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES). However when I try to do data.getData() in onActivityResult I get null. How do I do this?

alert.setPositiveButton("Take Photo", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
        profileFile = new File(Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES), "image_" +
                                String.valueOf(System.currentTimeMillis()) + ".jpg");

        profile = Uri.fromFile(profileFile);
                        Intent intent = new Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);
                        intent.putExtra(MediaStore.EXTRA_OUTPUT, profile);


        startActivityForResult(intent, 1);
    }
});


protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);

    if (requestCode == 1 && resultCode == RESULT_OK) {

        ImageView imageView = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.ProfileImage);

        //This returns null. 
        //I am guessing that the Environment.getExternalSt...() method is getting a storage 
        //location that does not exist. 
        //I don't know what the correct storage location is and I have not 
        //been able to find it.
        Uri u = data.getData();

        File finalFile = new File(getRealPathFromURI(u));

        Picasso.with(this).load(finalFile).into(imageView);

    }
}

Answer 1

I am guessing that the Environment.getExternalSt...() method is getting a storage location that does not exist.

Probably not. However, you are assuming that your EXTRA_OUTPUT value is returned to you by the camera app. There is nothing in the ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE documentation that would suggest that this occurs.

I don't know what the correct storage location is and I have not been able to find it.

You know where the image is supposed to be. It is supposed to be in the location that you supplied in EXTRA_OUTPUT. So, go look there to see if the image is there. However, make sure that you are putting profileImage in the saved instance state Bundle, as there is no guarantee that your process will remaining running while the camera application is in the foreground. Also, bear in mind that there are many buggy ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE implementations, so there is no guarantee that the image will be where you requested, though it should be.

For example, here is an activity that uses ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE to take a full-resolution picture, then uses ACTION_VIEW to have some image viewer display the result:

/***
 Copyright (c) 2008-2016 CommonsWare, LLC
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
 use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy
 of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0. Unless required
 by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the
 License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS
 OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
 language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

 From _The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development_
 https://commonsware.com/Android
 */

package com.commonsware.android.camcon;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Environment;
import android.provider.MediaStore;
import java.io.File;

public class CameraContentDemoActivity extends Activity {
  private static final String EXTRA_FILENAME=
    "com.commonsware.android.camcon.EXTRA_FILENAME";
  private static final String FILENAME="CameraContentDemo.jpeg";
  private static final int CONTENT_REQUEST=1337;
  private File output=null;

  @Override
  public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    Intent i=new Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);

    if (savedInstanceState==null) {
      File dir=
        Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_DCIM);

      dir.mkdirs();
      output=new File(dir, FILENAME);
    }
    else {
      output=(File)savedInstanceState.getSerializable(EXTRA_FILENAME);
    }

    if (output.exists()) {
      output.delete();
    }

    i.putExtra(MediaStore.EXTRA_OUTPUT, Uri.fromFile(output));

    startActivityForResult(i, CONTENT_REQUEST);
  }

  @Override
  protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
    super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);

    outState.putSerializable(EXTRA_FILENAME, output);
  }

  @Override
  protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode,
                                  Intent data) {
    if (requestCode == CONTENT_REQUEST) {
      if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
        Intent i=new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);

        i.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(output), "image/jpeg");
        startActivity(i);
        finish();
      }
    }
  }
}

(from this sample app)

Over the long haul, this is not a great solution, as file Uri values are going away. The official training page, and this revamped edition of my sample app, show using FileProvider instead.