User Personas: Admin | Project Manager
Your project documents and log pages can be downloaded as PDFs or exported to a spreadsheet for printing, distribution, data analysis, or record keeping. The same PDF flow also lets you email a document without leaving the viewer.
To perform the actions described in this article, you must have the General Permissions - View and Share permissions for the document type you are working with.
Use the links below to jump to a topic:
- Generate and Download a Document PDF
- Open PDFs Automatically in Your Browser
- Export a Document Log
- FAQ
- Permissions
Generate and Download a Document PDF
- Select the document from the log page to view it, then select View PDF.
- Select the sections and attachments to include, then select Generate PDF.
- Review the PDF in the viewer, then select Download.
- To change what is included, select Configure and repeat step 2.
| Use the three-dot button in line with a document on the log page to reach View PDF without opening the document first. |
PDF Display Options
Before the PDF is generated, display options let you control what the output contains. The available options depend on the document type.
Option |
What it controls |
Sections |
Which parts of the document body appear in the PDF. Clear a section to leave it out. |
Attachments |
Which attached files are included. Attachments that can be converted to PDF are appended to the document. Files that cannot be converted appear as a download link instead. |
Images |
Which attached photos are included. On document types that support image selection, all images are selected by default. See the Document Media & Attachments article. |
Reorder PDF Attachments
While generating a PDF for a document that supports attachments:
- Select the attachments to include, then click and hold the Reorder icon on an attachment and drag it into position.
- Select Done.
-
The PDF downloads to your default downloads folder.
The reorder icon on a selected attachment.
-
Email a Document from the PDF Viewer
You do not have to download a PDF to send it. Every document type that supports PDF generation lets you email the document from the same flow, and the display options you chose carry over into the email so the recipient gets exactly what you reviewed.
- Generate the PDF as described above.
- From the PDF viewer, select Email.
- Add recipients and any comments, then select Send.
- To change what the PDF contains, select Configure, adjust the display options, and generate it again.
See the Emailing Documents article for distribution lists, email history, and the message itself.
| If you cancel out of the email step, you are returned to the view you came from rather than to the log page, so you do not lose your place. |
Open PDFs Automatically in Your Browser
By default some browsers download a PDF to disk instead of opening it. If you would rather have PDFs open in a browser tab, change the setting below for the browser you use.
Browser |
Where to change it |
| Open the browser menu, then Settings > Privacy and security > Site Settings > Additional content settings > PDF documents. Turn Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome off. | |
| Open the browser menu, then Settings > General > Applications. Find Portable Document Format (PDF) and set it to Preview in Firefox. | |
| Open the browser menu, then Settings > Cookies and site permissions > PDF documents. Turn Always open PDF files externally off. | |
| Select Safari > Settings > Websites > PDF documents, then choose how Safari should handle PDFs. |
| These are browser settings, not eSUB settings. Browser vendors move and rename these menus without notice, so if a path does not match what you see, check your browser's own help. |
Export a Document Log
Exporting a document log is useful for chasing outstanding items, sharing status in a meeting, or keeping a record outside eSUB. Logs export from either the global log or the project log, and the export reflects whatever filters you have applied.
- Open the log you want to export.
- From the global navigation menu, select Documents, then choose the document type from the slide-out menu.
- Or from the Projects log, select a project, then choose the document type from the slide-out menu.
- Apply any search, sort, or filter criteria you want reflected in the file.
- Select Actions, then select Export Log, then choose your format.
- The file downloads to your default downloads folder.
| Filter the log before you export. It saves you the cleanup afterward and makes the file far easier to hand to someone else. |
What the Excel Export Includes
Every log type exports to both a spreadsheet and a .csv file. Choose based on what you are doing with it: the spreadsheet is better for reading and presenting, the .csv file is better for feeding another system.
Format |
What you get |
Spreadsheet (.xlsx) |
Native cell data types and formatting, so currency arrives as currency and dates arrive as dates. No cleanup needed before you sort or total a column. |
.csv file |
Plain text, one row per record. Best for importing into another system or building your own pivot from scratch. |
Two log types add extra structure to the spreadsheet (.xlsx) version:
Log |
Extra structure |
| A Media Summary sheet, linked to the main Field Notes Log sheet, so you can see the media attached to each note without opening the notes. | |
| Packaged items are grouped under their package rather than listed flat. |
Larger logs take a moment to build. An in-progress indicator appears while the file is generated, so wait for it to finish rather than selecting the export again.
FAQ
Does the log export as a .csv file or a spreadsheet?
Both. Every log type supports both formats, in the global log and the project log. Pick the format when you export.
Why does my export contain more rows than I expected?
The export follows the log as it is filtered on screen. If you have not applied filters, you get the whole log. Filter first, then export.
Why are some attachments missing from my PDF?
Check two things. First, the attachment has to be selected in the display options before the PDF is generated. Second, only files that can be converted to PDF are appended to the document; anything else appears as a download link instead of inline content.
A photo came out sideways in an older PDF.
Photos taken on a phone can carry rotation information that the app honored but the PDF did not. Attachments now pass through an orientation step before they are placed in the PDF, so what you see in the app is what you get in the file. Regenerate the PDF to pick up the corrected orientation.
Downloading and exporting is governed by the permissions on the document you are working with rather than by a permission of its own. The pattern is the same for every document type (Field Notes, Daily Reports, RFIs, Submittals, Change Order Requests, Purchase Orders, Time & Material Tickets, and Progress Billing).
Permissions
Permission |
What it allows |
| <Document type> - General Permissions (View) | See the document, and download or generate its PDF. |
| <Document type> - Share | Email the document to internal or external recipients. |
| Project Drive / Company Drive - General Permissions (View) | View and download files and folders stored in the Drive. |
Administrators can adjust permissions; see Set Up User Permissions.
See also: Document Media & Attachments and Emailing Documents.