Until two years ago, Phil Herzegovitch, owner of Daedalus Design, in Danbury, Conn., fought upgrading from his analog phone to an iPhone4. But within weeks of making the switch, he had sold a job using his smartphone’s features.

The project involved adapting a suite to add a track to help a 16-year-old quadriplegic move from the bedroom to the bathroom. While on site, Herzegovitch used his phone to find medical equipment vendors and spoke to a salesperson at one company who asked for additional information to determine if the track and hoist installation was feasible.

The remodeler used the iHandy Level app to find the angle of one section of the hallway ceiling; used the phone to take a picture of the ceiling; used the My Measures app to place dimensions on the photo; and then emailed the photo to the sales rep, who determined that his company could build a track to meet the client’s needs. Impressed with how quickly Herzegovitch gathered the information, the clients hired him for the job.

Prior to having the iPhone, the process of taking a photo, returning to the office to download the image and add dimensions using Photoshop, email the photo to the medical device salesperson, etc., would have taken at least a day and a half, Herzegovitch says. This all happened on one device in about an hour.

In addition, because the medical equipment sales rep was armed with information about the project before meeting the homeowners, Herzegovitch says: “I increased the efficiency of the person I am dealing with, too.”

Photo Annotation Apps

  • My Measures by SIS: Add arrows, angles, and text to photos; store the photo dimensions; organize photos. $2.99
  • Skitch by Evernote: Mark-up and share photos, screen shots, maps, and Web pages. Free.
  • Photo Measures by Big Blue Pixel: Draw measurements directly on photos; add text comments. $4.99

Measured by Hollingtech Software: Measure width, height, distance, and elevation using a photo; measure multiple objects at different distances; key-in measurements; store photos with dimensions. $2.99

Click to see a comparison of Photo Measures and Measured.

—Nina Patel, senior editor, REMODELING. twitter.com/silvernina