Saving shipping labels as pdf any beacons or tracking

bluegrass1 · #1 09-30-2016

ok i been a thinkin .. I need to save a few shipping labels to pdf . could there be any tracking with these files ? I wanted to save them to file then send email to fax back to my warehouse so items can be shipped out while i am away.
just making sure didnt want to link any accounts via something i wasnt sure about thanks folks for ALL the help

bluegrass1 · #2 10-01-2016

i been reading about all kinds of crap that can be hidden in a pdf file meta data viruses drm and other stuff .. dont know if this applies to eb shipping labels . anyone ?

easy.bake.oven · #3 10-01-2016

I am not to sure/clued up about this so I am just mentioning what I think which is probably useless info......

...... when I open up .pdf file in certain programs, my firewall lets me know that that certain program want so access the internet..... for me, there is no need for the program to access the internet so I say 'block' on my firewall (I don't think this helps but I though I would mention it).

Maybe there is a 'stripper' program out there like the 'image strippers' that might 'clean' your /pdf file from any of that stuff.

My info is probably useless, was in Amsterdam the other week messing about with wax so my brain is still recovering

& another

and one more

for the Amsterdam crew.

bluegrass1 · #4 10-01-2016

i hit properties then remove personal info like i do with pics and it makes a copy but unsure if that cleans everything needed to be removed ...
I vape enough wax a day to kill a horse lol keeps me smiling

vogeltron · #5 10-04-2016

Good question. I save as XPF or whatever the windows version is all time because I run a few accounts using public WIFI. Know its not the smartest thing to do but 4-5 years and I haven't had a problem.

I have never thought about the tracking on the PDF/XPS. I didn't really know to clean my photos using Batch Purifier even from my 10 year old camera until recently either.

Great question.

phaz0rz · #6 10-04-2016

How do you guys save a shipping label as a PDF?

I use stamps.com for postage, and anytime I try to print a shipping label to a PDF file (like in the case of returns) I get an error message saying something like "USPS regulations prohibit printing shipping labels to PDF files."

I can see why they do it. It would be easy enough to recycle the same shipping label hundreds of time. How do you do it, OP?

MM78 · #7 10-04-2016

In order to save a label to pdf you need Adobe Acrobat Pro I believe.

idds · #8 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

I can see why they do it. It would be easy enough to recycle the same shipping label hundreds of time. How do you do it, OP?

How would that be possible with the same tracking number? It would get flagged right away.

phaz0rz · #9 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by idds

How would that be possible with the same tracking number? It would get flagged right away.

PDF's are editable, and it's very simple to generate your own barcode for a slightly modified tracking number.

@MM78 - I have the Adobe CS6 Master collection and I'm still not able to do it. :( I think it's just stamps.com preventing me from doing it. Even on their support website it says if you try printing a label to a PDF file, there will be a runtime error and the application will crash on the spot, no questions asked.

MM78 · #10 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

PDF's are editable, and it's very simple to generate your own barcode for a slightly modified tracking number.

@MM78 - I have the Adobe CS6 Master collection and I'm still not able to do it. :( I think it's just stamps.com preventing me from doing it. Even on their support website it says if you try printing a label to a PDF file, there will be a runtime error and the application will crash on the spot, no questions asked.

Yeah, I believe Stamps.com doesn't allow for pdf creation.

amzpro · #11 10-04-2016

I use a virtual machine with network connections disabled to print PDF files. This applies to both FBA shipping labels and Amazon FNSKU labels. You can apply the same thing to anything generated from ebay/paypal.

I know I'm being paranoid as hell, but if my accounts get linked I'll take a 6 - 7 figure loss.

idds · #12 10-04-2016

I dont understand the fuss in generating a pdf, I download every label I print as a pdf and have done it on every selling platform I use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

PDF's are editable, and it's very simple to generate your own barcode for a slightly modified tracking number.

@MM78 - I have the Adobe CS6 Master collection and I'm still not able to do it. :( I think it's just stamps.com preventing me from doing it. Even on their support website it says if you try printing a label to a PDF file, there will be a runtime error and the application will crash on the spot, no questions asked.

Mind blown. Well, not the editable PDF part, but the rest.

So you can generate a random tracking number of your own and it will enter the postal system as if it was new?

They use an EAN-128 barcode with the IDAutomationC128L font. That font should be readily available.

idds · #13 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by amzpro

I use a virtual machine with network connections disabled to print PDF files. This applies to both FBA shipping labels and Amazon FNSKU labels. You can apply the same thing to anything generated from ebay/paypal.

I know I'm being paranoid as hell, but if my accounts get linked I'll take a 6 - 7 figure loss.

If this were the case, I think many accounts would have been lost by now.

I found a few links out there related:

Document Metadata Scrubbing

Ride The Lightning: Adobe's Advice on Purging PDF Documents of Metadata

Ride The Lightning: Adobe Offers More Helpful Metadata Scrubbing Tips

I am not sure this is the kind of scrubbing people are looking for, but thought it would help.

phaz0rz · #14 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by idds

I dont understand the fuss in generating a pdf, I download every label I print as a pdf and have done it on every selling platform I use.

Mind blown. Well, not the editable PDF part, but the rest.

So you can generate a random tracking number of your own and it will enter the postal system as if it was new?

They use an EAN-128 barcode with the IDAutomationC128L font. That font should be readily available.

Here is the (somewhat contradictory) explanation given by stamps.com:

https://stamps.custhelp.com/app/answ...nting-to-a-pdf

As for generating your own valid tracking number, I don't think it would be very hard. USPS used to (I think they still may) have tracking labels available in pads of 50. I've used many of them and it's not hard to pick up on the pattern they issue tracking numbers in. Hell, you wouldn't even have to. You could simply edit the PDF to have a tracking number from one of their tracking labels. You know what I mean? Then as soon as a mail carrier or post office scans the forged label for the first time, you would have a validated tracking number.

I wouldn't dream of trying anything like that because I'd go out of business overnight if I got blacklisted by USPS. But I'm fairly certain this is why the "security regulations" mentioned by stamps.com are in existence.

idds · #15 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

Here is the (somewhat contradictory) explanation given by stamps.com:

https://stamps.custhelp.com/app/answ...nting-to-a-pdf

As for generating your own valid tracking number, I don't think it would be very hard. USPS used to (I think they still may) have tracking labels available in pads of 50. I've used many of them and it's not hard to pick up on the pattern they issue tracking numbers in. Hell, you wouldn't even have to. You could simply edit the PDF to have a tracking number from one of their tracking labels. You know what I mean? Then as soon as a mail carrier or post office scans the forged label for the first time, you would have a validated tracking number.

I wouldn't dream of trying anything like that because I'd go out of business overnight if I got blacklisted by USPS. But I'm fairly certain this is why the "security regulations" mentioned by stamps.com are in existence.

So you can't just setup a printer driver such as CutePDF? I'd be surprised if you couldn't get around that. Oh wait... stamps.com is a stand alone app on your desktop. I guess they have more insight into your OS than a browser.

Is there a web version? I bet that would work.

Ya, faking postage is a good way to get sent upstate. I wouldn't mess with something like that personally, regardless of how many of my packages those miscreants loose.

I always thought tracking numbers were registered against a paid shipping label and were somehow generated against a root tracking registry that doled out numbers based on some API. It's pretty astonishingly bad IT to have it function this way, so no wonder they lose money hand over foot.

I would be surprised if there was even a backend batch process reconciling tracking numbers against paid postage and if there was any awareness at all at how much of this might go on.

amzpro · #16 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by idds

If this were the case, I think many accounts would have been lost by now.

I found a few links out there related:

Document Metadata Scrubbing

Ride The Lightning: Adobe's Advice on Purging PDF Documents of Metadata

Ride The Lightning: Adobe Offers More Helpful Metadata Scrubbing Tips

I am not sure this is the kind of scrubbing people are looking for, but thought it would help.

Again, it's me being paranoid as hell, but you never know if they'll start putting in some tracking beacon on amazon generated PDF files. And if that happens I don't want to get caught by it.

idds · #17 10-04-2016

I don't print amazon labels on the site

If this becomes a thing, best to use a 3rd party as a default part of stealth

MM78 · #18 10-04-2016

Honestly, printing a label on any site is pretty safe, saving a label in PDF isn't going to make your Computer blow up, it's ok.

amzpro · #19 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by idds

I don't print amazon labels on the site

If this becomes a thing, best to use a 3rd party as a default part of stealth

I'm FBA so I pretty much have to print their labels.

idds · #20 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by amzpro

I'm FBA so I pretty much have to print their labels.

Oh, you mean FBA. Yeah, I guess if you can't get past the paranoia then it's understandable.

amzpro · #21 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by idds

Oh, you mean FBA. Yeah, I guess if you can't get past the paranoia then it's understandable.

Well, it's only slightly more effort to print out of a virtual machine vs printing off the actual machine, so might as well do it.

I spend a lot of $$ to keep my accounts unlinked, so this is just a minor thing.

BTW, if you guys are self fulfilled and ship with UPS, you should use different UPS accounts with each ebay/amazon account. Your UPS account # is part of the tracking # and can be used to link you if someone's doing a manual review.

idds · #22 10-04-2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by amzpro

BTW, if you guys are self fulfilled and ship with UPS, you should use different UPS accounts with each ebay/amazon account. Your UPS account # is part of the tracking # and can be used to link you if someone's doing a manual review.

This is an excellent point. I can assume the same is true for FedEx.