Run a Student Data Export (PSPA)

Overview

This article uses the PSPA format, which is primarily used by organizations in North America. For information on the SIMS format that is primarily used in Europe, click here. 

Creating a student data export is an important feature in your account, as they are frequently requested by organizations or required if you're doing yearbooks. With GotPhoto, this no longer has to be a long, tedious, and sometimes impossible task. You can acquire more organizations, save time and stay organized by creating your student data export using GotPhoto. 

In this article, we'll review the steps necessary for creating a student data export in PSPA format. Throughout the article, important points related to yearbook jobs will be marked with a "" symbol.

Job Setup

In order to run a Student Data Export, the Photo Job must use the settings QR-Tagging — with list of names. The required columns are Firstname, Lastname, Group, and Identifier. All other columns can be left blank. Teachers should have "Staff" written in the Group column.

  Yearbook Jobs: Under the job Access Type, select Yes - Yearbook photo under "Customers can select their favorite photo?" and click "Save Settings:

Choosing an Index Photo

When photos are uploaded, the first photo directly following each QR code (i.e. the Index Photo) will be used by default for the student data export. If you allow customers to select their favorite/yearbook photo, their selection becomes the index photo. Anyone who does not choose will keep the first image by default. Click here to learn how to restrict customers to choosing certain photos.

While you can manually change the index photo once uploaded, this may be time-consuming depending on the number of students you’ve photographed. We highly recommend taking the first photo in the correct format to save time.

  Yearbook Jobs: Give your customers time to select their photo in your shop. The timing you give them likely depends on when the school is expecting the yearbook photos or student IDs. Most photographers use the Archiving date as a trigger in their communication profile to drive customers to their shop to select their pose.

Selected photos will have a heart icon on the frame on the Photo Management page. You can also select the photo for the customer by clicking the index star on any highlighted photo. 

Important:

To ensure the download package is separated by the Group column in the names list (i.e. sorted by class), please be sure to check the Resort photos based on names list box and select Group from the dropdown when activating access codes. The file folders in the download package are sorted by the album names in Photo Management; if the albums are not resorted by Group, only the originally created album names will appear.

Creating the PSPA Export

Once all your images have been activated, you can complete the student data export by following the short steps below.

1. Navigate to the Selling tab from within your Photo Job.
2. Look for the box towards the bottom that reads Student Data Export and click on Overview.
3. You will be directed to this page, where you can:
   • View who selected the index images.
   • Check students with missing data or photos (you can download the list that includes all galleries/ students with issues).
   • Create your export by pressing the black Create Export button on the top left of your screen. 
   • View and download previous exports via the Actions button next export. 
4. Click the blue + Create export button in the upper right corner to begin the export process.
5. On the next screen, select the data source you would like to create your export from (1) and how you would like to filter the export (2). Make sure to select the groups/teachers/albums you would like to include in your export.
   Click Next to continue.
6. On the next page, select the formatting for your export. You can adjust the export type (1), sizing (2), crop (3), image file type (4), and background (5).
   

   Export File Types:

   • PSPA: This is the export type most commonly used in North America. Includes images in the standard size 640px x 800px or 1280px x 1600px and a text file ("Index File"); optionally, you can add a CSV file.
   • Custom: Allows you to select the exported images' size and the file names' pattern. In case you need larger file sizes as the default ones, please reach out to our Customer Care team, and they will be happy to activate them in your account (the maximum available file size is 3840 px).
7. Choose the settings for your exported files. You can also upload additional files to send to your organization as part of the export.
   
   • Select a file name: Make sure you select a file name format, and that it is based on information within the photo job (e.g., don't select "Identifier" if you do not have information in an Identifier column in your nameslist). Failure to do so will result in an error.
   • Include students without photos or incomplete data: This is not recommended unless schools request it.
   • Include student data as CSV file: Essentially, this is an export of the student data as it appears in the job's list of names.
8. On the following screen, you will see some key insights into the student export you have set up.
   

   The top bar shows a visual representation of how many students are missing photos or data, and how many access codes are missing students:

   

   The next section breaks down the format and settings of your planned export, as well as provides the ability to download lists of missing students and students in general:
   

   The Missing Students section provides you with an in-depth look at students missing photos or required data:

   

   Data can be updated by clicking on Actions → Edit. Missing photos must be uploaded from within the Photo Management tab.

   Finally, the Ready to Export section will show a list of all students who are ready for export:

   

   You can use the Actions dropdown to select an alternative photo under Select student photo.

9. Click the blue Run student export button in the upper right-hand corner to begin your export.
10. You will be notified via email once your student data export has been completed. Return to the Student Data Export screen in Step 3 to download the ZIP file.

The Takeaway

By following the outlined steps, from setting up the necessary parameters to running the export, you can easily generate organized exports for PSPA formats. This feature not only streamlines your workflow but also provides insights into missing data or incomplete photos, ensuring a comprehensive and hassle-free student data export experience.