Importing Shoots Help
How To Import A CSV File of Shoots/Participants
With Headshot Tools you can add shoots / participants to a job in bulk by importing a CSV file.
To import a CSV file:
- Navigate to the job you want to import into.
- Click the three vertical dots icon in the “Shoots” panel.
- Click “Import CSV”.
When To Use The CSV Import
You typically use the CSV Import when you don't want participants to use the normal sign-up or booking forms. The CSV Import will simply get your participant's data into the system so you can double-click them in the shooting dashboard when they arrive.While it's tempting to always use the CSV Import, our data shows that having all the participants imported ahead of time offers very little speed increase compared to having participants sign up using the normal sign-up form prior to shooting.
Try to use this tool when it makes sense for the job. If it seems like it's overcomplicating things or getting the participant CSV file ahead of time is difficult, it's your best bet to just have participants sign up prior to getting photographed.
How To Import
Importing a CSV file is simple. Here are the steps:
Step 1 – Download our CSV Upload Template.
Step 2 – With any spreadsheet software, open then template and paste your participants information into the appropriate columns and save.
Step 3 – Navigate to your job in Headshot Tools, click the 3 dots icon in the Shoots panel then click “Import CSV”. Select the CSV file you saved in Step 2 and click “Import Shoots”. That's it!
Participants are import in the order specified in your file and duplicates will never be imported. The CSV file import tool is intelligent and will skip exact duplicate rows within the file as well as participants already imported into the job. This is perfect for situations when you’re importing participants from scheduling software like Acuity or 17Hats progressively over time and don’t want duplicates to be added.
Step 2 – With any spreadsheet software, open then template and paste your participants information into the appropriate columns and save.
Step 3 – Navigate to your job in Headshot Tools, click the 3 dots icon in the Shoots panel then click “Import CSV”. Select the CSV file you saved in Step 2 and click “Import Shoots”. That's it!
Please note, that this tool will only ever add shoots. It will NEVER delete or edit!
Do The Sign-Up & Booking Forms Still Work?
Utilizing this CSV Import feature does not prevent you from using the sign-up or booking forms. If additional participants show up after importing, you can still have them sign up using the sign-up or booking forms without issue!Resolving Issues With Your CSV Files
While uncommon, there are situations where a CSV file may be formatted incorrectly and you will receive a friendly error message from Headshot Tools about your file and how to fix it.This CSV file does not contain the <field name> column header.
If you receive this error, it simply means that the very first row of your CSV file does not contain the mentioned column header. This is generally caused by one of two issues.
Possible Cause #1 - You have the column name spelled incorrectly, missing the space between words, has a leading or trailing space, different capitalization, or entirely missing. The column headers are case-sensitive and must be exactly:
Possible Cause #2 - When you exported your CSV file from your spreadsheet software, your spreadsheet software exported the file / table name as the very first row. Your file might look perfect on your screen, but the saved CSV file looks different!
To solve this problem, make sure that when you export your CSV file, you are not exporting the table name. This is typically only an issue if you utilize Mac’s Numbers application. In Numbers, when exporting as a CSV file, make sure you uncheck the “Include table names” option before saving as a CSV.
- First Name
- Last Name
Possible Cause #2 - When you exported your CSV file from your spreadsheet software, your spreadsheet software exported the file / table name as the very first row. Your file might look perfect on your screen, but the saved CSV file looks different!
To solve this problem, make sure that when you export your CSV file, you are not exporting the table name. This is typically only an issue if you utilize Mac’s Numbers application. In Numbers, when exporting as a CSV file, make sure you uncheck the “Include table names” option before saving as a CSV.
Missing <field name> for participant on row number #
If you receive this error, it simply means that you're missing data for this field / participant within your CSV file. All fields within the CSV Import are required. Re-open your CSV file and either add the missing data or delete the participant. Then re-save your file and try importing again.