Taking a dashboard "snapshot" as a pdf and attaching to a given row

austinurbanSeagate

While the header of my question seems confusing, hopefully an easy solution exists somewhere.



I have a complex smartsheet's dashboard created which has metric widgets filled with values that update every time a new form is submitted to a sheet ("sheetX" for later reference).



What I want to do is try and capture a part (or whole if necessary) of the dashboard as a pdf, and attach said pdf to the corresponding row in sheetX (thus having a back-referenceable, visually appealing form of the data).



Through the smartsheet's API, I know you can convert a sheet to a pdf, but I couldn't find documentation on how to convert a dashboard to a pdf. Any suggestions would be great, I have already tried:



-embedding pdf creation html on the dashboard, but smartsheet does not allow the pdf creation API site

-linking outside programs such as Zapier or Google Docs (for company reasons, this must be done solely within smartsheet)

-making a visually appealing report (was not even close to the aesthetic and reading-ease that dashboards allow for)

Genevieve P.

To create a PDF out of a dashboard, go to print the Dashboard from the web app. The pop-up print window from your browser will then allow you to choose to create a PDF instead (in Chrome it's under the section "Destination").

If you only want an image of a section in the dashboard, you may want to look into taking a screen capture, instead. This won't create a PDF but it will create an image that you can then attach to your sheet as needed. How to take a screen capture will vary depending on the type of computer or device you are using.

Cheers!

austinurbanSeagate

Thank you Genevieve!

       I could get that far, but I need to figure out the functionality of adding that pdf as a row attachment within a sheet. This needs to occur without user input so either on a submitted form workflow basis, or a time driven event / workflow. I know this adds complexity to the original answer, but hopefully a solution exists. Thanks!



Another thought or possible solution I came up with but don't know how to implement would be to completely circumvent the dashboard, and see if there's someway to automate pulling all the info from a row into a template document, and then save the given document to the same row's attachments (and then repeat every time a new submission comes in).



-Austin

Andrée Starå

Hi Austin,

There are a few different ways to structure a solution.

Does it have to be automatic, or would it work to go through a recurring process?

One option could be to use the Google Docs integration and create a document that would attach to the correct row.

Another option could be to set something up with the third-party service, Zapier.

What do you think?

I hope that helps!

Have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

austinurbanSeagate

I can't integrate those apps into Smart Sheet for company reasons, but I think that may be the best way to go. Finding a work around is just too much effort so I'll put that effort into getting the app integration approved internally. Thanks for your help!



-Austin

Andrée Starå

I'm always happy to help!

That sounds like the best plan!

Let me know how it goes!