Ipsos - Screen Shot Uploads Won't Accept .PDF Files

December 18, 2021 07:56PM

I am working in Windows XP and it doesn't have the Clip It app or whatever it's called in the newer versions of Windows.

I do my phone call shops on my laptop at home. When they ask me for screen shots, I do a Ctrl, Prnt Scrn. I then paste it to a Word document.

Since I can't upload a Word document to the report, I "publish" it as a .PDF file which I upload. I've never had an issue with it before.

Today on the car service shops, I was told I needed to upload screen shots not .PDF files.

Is this a case of a millennial editor not understanding that we all don't work strictly on our phone?

I could use Acrobat to make the conversion, but I haven't bought Acrobat. I can do the conversion online for more time involved. There's about five screen shots per report. I'd rather @#$%& here than do the conversions.

My phone or tablet give me .png files, but I'll be damned if I have to basically redo the shops on my tablet because they can't accept the .PDF files. It's not worth my time for $13 per shop since each screen shot is about five pages long.

So I if they don't accept them, I guess Ipsos is out six completed shops.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

December 18, 2021 09:03PM

I paste my screen shots into Paint. A computer running XP should have Paint installed. In Paint it’s easy to just click on Paste and then you can save the file in PNG format.

December 18, 2021 09:48PM

Thank you kenasch, I do have paint, I'll have to start doing that.

December 18, 2021 11:44PM

Will it work sending the screenshot to your drive and then upload it ?

December 19, 2021 12:22AM

@kenasch wrote:

I paste my screen shots into Paint. A computer running XP should have Paint installed. In Paint it’s easy to just click on Paste and then you can save the file in PNG format.

This is true, and you can also save as a jpg (not sure all MSCs accept PNGs).

If you have other photo software on your laptop (IrfanView, Gimp, Photoshop, etc.) you can also paste your screen shot into an image and use that. I don't have any of the screen-shot capture programs, either, but it's an easy workaround.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

December 19, 2021 01:21AM

I upload my screen shots to Paint (it's already in Windows, ALL versions) and they save as .jpg.

December 19, 2021 04:52AM

I have a Mac. I export .pdf files as .jpg files. Sometimes I do a screenshot and upload the .png file.

December 19, 2021 03:56PM

Arch, I don't know how to do that. What I do is similar to a copy command and I need to paste it somewhere.

December 19, 2021 04:52PM

You can also open the pdf or whatever format you have on your laptop and take a new screenshot of that. Then open the new screenshot and edit by cutting the margins to include only the original screenshot and save.

December 19, 2021 05:30PM

The thing they don't clarify in the instructions is they say upload a screenshot of the main page and the service page.

I can scroll down five screens on each of the main and service pages. Do they just want a screenshot of the first screen that shows up or all of the screens you can scroll through.

December 19, 2021 05:43PM

@wrosie wrote:

The thing they don't clarify in the instructions is they say upload a screenshot of the main page and the service page.

I can scroll down five screens on each of the main and service pages. Do they just want a screenshot of the first screen that shows up or all of the screens you can scroll through.

Not sure which shop this is, but I had one recently I think was similar. The MSC wanted screen shots of the entire home page, even if you had to scroll to reach the bottom. So that involved several screen shots in some cases. In that case, I asked if it was OK to convert my Word file into a PDF, and they said yes. But I don't think it was the same MSC. You can still do it in Paint or another program, but you have to keep pasting under your first capture.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

December 19, 2021 05:49PM

@Morledzep wrote:

I upload my screen shots to Paint (it's already in Windows, ALL versions) and they save as .jpg.

I like to use IrfanView instead of Paint because it's more full-featured (easier to crop and resize and you can adjust color, brightness, etc., when you need to). Paint is great, though, for making composite photos. I think it's the easiest program to do that in.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

December 19, 2021 06:24PM

@BirdyC wrote:

Not sure which shop this is, but I had one recently I think was similar. The MSC wanted screen shots of the entire home page, even if you had to scroll to reach the bottom. So that involved several screen shots in some cases. In that case, I asked if it was OK to convert my Word file into a PDF, and they said yes. But I don't think it was the same MSC. You can still do it in Paint or another program, but you have to keep pasting under your first capture.

It was a automobile service shop. And it seems that I'm exactly in the situation you described. And I did paste to word and convert to .pdf.

I really think the editor doesn't understand that I can't give them a .png from a laptop or desktop. I'm going to ask the scheduler.

December 19, 2021 09:45PM

I am not on my laptop at the moment, I will update with the name of the program when I am. But I downloaded a program from the windows store that allows one to screenshoot on a windows machine and save directly as a png or jpg file (or pdf...etc).

Edited to say you don't have to past together multiple screens with this program either...it allows multiple page screenshoots to be taken.

Lady Marius
Canadian Mystery Shopper

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2021 09:48PM by Lady Marius.

December 19, 2021 09:55PM

@Lady Marius wrote:

I am not on my laptop at the moment, I will update with the name of the program when I am. But I downloaded a program from the windows store that allows one to screenshoot on a windows machine and save directly as a png or jpg file (or pdf...etc).

Edited to say you don't have to past together multiple screens with this program either...it allows multiple page screenshoots to be taken.

If you just press simultaneously the windows button (the 4 squares on the left of space, and the PrtSc on the right of space) Windows takes a screenshot that should be saved in the screenshots file, under pictures.

December 20, 2021 12:20AM

[/quote] you just press simultaneously the windows button (the 4 squares on the left of space, and the PrtSc on the right of space) Windows takes a screenshot that should be saved in the screenshots file, under pictures.[/quote]

That only captures one page at a time of a multiple page webpage. Picpick captures multiple pages in one file, no need to past multiple screenshoots together. I was wrong I had to download it directly from picpick, it is not in the Windows Store. I think I heard about it from someone on here.

Lady Marius
Canadian Mystery Shopper

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2021 12:31AM by Lady Marius.

December 20, 2021 12:50AM

Here is a link with details on how to capture the entire webpage based on your browser and operating system. [www.softwarehow.com] I have to do it for an online shop and they had instructions on how to do it by installing the screen capture extension on chrome.

December 20, 2021 04:36PM

@wrosie wrote:

I really think the editor doesn't understand that I can't give them a .png from a laptop or desktop. I'm going to ask the scheduler.

If you open Paint or another photo program and keep it open, you can paste your screen shot into it directly and save as a PNG; you just keep closing the current view, not the program, and pasting in the new screen shots. You don't need to paste into Word first, then convert to PDF, then convert to jpeg. I do that when I'm capturing multiple screen shots so that I can upload just one file, but if I have to upload individual images to a report, I do the first operation (in IrfanView; it's free, and I highly recommend it. It's not as powerful as Photoshop or Gimp, but you can do almost anything with it). .

I really don't understand why these MSCs won't allow PDFs of the screen shots; they get the same image!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

December 20, 2021 08:59PM

Well I asked the scheduler and she passed along to the editor that .pdf files were acceptable for this client. They accepted my shops without me having to do anything more.

December 21, 2021 03:03AM

@wrosie wrote:

Well I asked the scheduler and she passed along to the editor that .pdf files were acceptable for this client. They accepted my shops without me having to do anything more.

That's good news! What a PITA it would have been to have to recapture your shots as image files. I have to wonder sometimes (often, actually) if the MSC right hand knows what the MSC left hand is doing! LOL.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

December 21, 2021 11:36AM

@BirdyC wrote:

That's good news! What a PITA it would have been to have to recapture your shots as image files. I have to wonder sometimes (often, actually) if the MSC right hand knows what the MSC left hand is doing! LOL.

There are shops that only allow the original screenshots in the format recorded when taken on the phone or computer, usually .png, for chain of custody, in order for the metadata to be recorded. When you transfer it to a pdf you can manipulate the screenshot.

December 21, 2021 05:14PM

@KateH wrote:

When you transfer it to a pdf you can manipulate the screenshot.

True, but somebody would have to be a pretty good file editor to change, for example, the date and time at the bottom of a screen shot, if that's one of the concerns, or change the text within a shot (rather than erase it in the original format before converting to PDF).. And you can alter the EXIF data in an image file.

I think no matter what format's used, someone can usually find a way to manipulate something.

And maybe some MSCs just don't think of allowing PDFs of screen shots. I did a shop several months ago and asked to submit the multiple screen shots it required as a PDF, and the project manager loved the idea--the MSC had simply not thought to make this an option instead of individual screen shots.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2021 06:10PM by BirdyC.

December 22, 2021 11:13AM

@BirdyC wrote:

True, but somebody would have to be a pretty good file editor to change, for example, the date and time at the bottom of a screen shot, if that's one of the concerns, or change the text within a shot
And maybe some MSCs just don't think of allowing PDFs of screen shots. I did a shop several months ago and asked to submit the multiple screen shots it required as a PDF, and the project manager loved the idea--the MSC had simply not thought to make this an option instead of individual screen shots.

Usually it is the customer who requires the metadata and may be it was OK for that client, or the project manager did not understand the importance of chain of custody. As for being a good file editor, it is amazing how easy it is. I actually had to do it because I forgot to open a lid in one of the food items in the partially opened container lids shot for a takeout shop. You superimpose a small photo on the larger one. It was very easy to do and there are so many instructions examples when you google it so many people must be using it. You do not need to download any programs, or have upgraded windows, just right click each photo and change one of the settings.

December 23, 2021 12:02AM

You can also use pdf2jpg.com
It's free.

December 24, 2021 09:22PM

I use that. They have just about any format, convertible to just about any other format. Quick and easy. I also use Page Saver WE, which is a browser extension that will capture part or all of a web page.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Ipsos - Screen Shot Uploads Won't Accept .PDF Files

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine