Best Practices for Taking Ad Screenshots for Clients

Would you pay thousands of dollars for an ad campaign without any proof that your campaign was actually served in front of your target audience?

Probably not. Ad screenshots play an important role before and after campaign launch. In this guide I'll cover some best practices for capturing ad screenshots for publishers and media agencies.

Why Take Ad Screenshots

Ad screenshots can serve different purposes and use cases. Let's clarify a few of them first:

• Pre-sale pitches: you may want to show a potential advertiser how their ad will look on the web page before making a deal. The screenshot shows the ad in-context and in a real-world placement.
• Quality control: an ad screenshot makes sure that the specs you've negotiated with the advertiser are in line with their expectations. Think about ad sizes, ad renders, placement, etc.
• Brand safety: advertisers commonly require their ads to be displayed on pages that don't provoke hate, slander, or other negative topics they don't want to be associated with. Providing ad screenshots of where the ad will be shown removes part of the doubt they may have.

How to Take Ad Screenshots

Ad screenshots can be captured either manually or automatically. Capturing ad screenshots is as simple as opening the web page, making sure the ad is loaded and pressing print-screen on your keyboard.

However, there are automated tools like AdShots.io that can insert ad creatives into web pages and generate polished PNG ad screenshots at scale.

Manual vs Automated

Taking screenshots manually can have a few drawbacks:

• Incorrect frame: for HTML5 ads, you have to press print-screen at the right moment so that you capture the ad frame you're interested in.
• Data leakage: the screenshot may show open windows or elements in the OS bar or browser that you did not want to show to your advertiser.
• Programmatic ads: if an ad is targeted to a specific audience, you have to simulate that audience in order for the ad to appear correctly.
• Not scalable: taking hundreds of screenshots per month consumes valuable time you and your team can devote to other tasks.

...whereas automated screenshots come with lots of advantages:

• Fast with pixel-precision: tens of screenshots can be generated within less than a minute, allowing you to choose the best one to be sent to your client.
• Exact frame: choose the exact frame you wish to use in the ad screenshot.
• Resistant to targeting: since you upload the ad to the automated ad screenshot tool, it will appear on the designated ad slot 100% of the time.
• Scalable: you can generate thousands of screenshots while working on other things, allowing you and your team to free up valuable time (=money).

Include Important Information

Cropping a screenshot is generally not a good idea. Advertisers want to see their ad in-context, showing all elements of a full screen capture.

For example, you can show the date and/or timestamp when the ad was captured by opening the date widget from your OS. Also, it's important to take a screenshot with the full URL of the page in your browser.

Apart from that, some publishers and media agencies include metadata to their screenshots, like the ad tag JS/HTML code, the campaign ID, the browser version and device info.

Use Automated Tools for Bulk Ad Screenshots

Automation saves huge amounts of time. Look for a tool that can capture screenshots of multiple URLs at the same time, that can emulate different screen sizes (desktop, tablet, mobile) and that integrate with DSPs and ad server to automatically pull ads.

For large publishers and media agencies that handle large-scale campaigns, it's imperative to use automated ad screenshot tools to prevent inconsistencies, data leakage and to free up valuable time.

How Do Automated Ad Screenshot Tools Work?

Automated ad screenshot tools work by capturing a screenshot of a live page, identifying all ad units, and then overlaying the creative onto the designated ad slot.

Here's how tools like AdShots work:

The web page is loaded and all ad units are identified.

The advertiser's creative is uploaded to the platform.

The creative is placed onto the designated ad slot. Done.

When to Use Ad Mockups?

Ad mockups can be indistinguishable from ad screenshots at the pixel level. They present an artificial screenshot showing the ad as if it was served in the ad slot on the page.

These mockups are typically not what advertisers want for tear sheets: they want proof that their campaign was served, and a mockup does not provide any proof to that.

However, mockups provide great value for other use cases. Tools like AdShots.io can automatically insert an advertiser's creative into real ad slots, without the need for a live campaign.

You basically will have your screenshot in less than 60 seconds, and it can be used for different use cases:

• Visual confirmation that the ad loads correctly
• It gives a sense of how the ad is presented in a live environment
• The mockup shows the scroll depth of the page, i.e. if it's displayed above the fold
• You can create branded visuals for sale pitches and presentations
• The ad mockup can be shown in the final report for the client

Conclusion

Taking high-resolution ad screenshots is more than a routine task — it's a critical part of providing transparency and professionalism in digital advertising.

For publishers and media agencies looking to streamline their ad screenshot process, AdShots.io simplifies the generation of ad screenshots and mockups while ensuring consistency and accuracy for high-quality visuals.

By implementing these best practices, you can improve client trust while freeing up time for more human creative tasks.