Document Media & Attachments

User Personas: Admin | Project Manager | Field User

Attaching files and media to a document is how you back up what the document claims. A photo of the condition, the vendor quote, the marked-up sketch, the signed ticket: attach it to the record and it stays with that record for the life of the project.

Attachments also travel. They can be appended to the document's PDF and sent with the document by email, so the person receiving it sees the same evidence you do.

To perform the actions described in this article, you must have the General Permissions - Create and Edit permissions for the document type you are working with.

Use the links below to jump to a topic:

• Attach Files and Media to a Document
  • From Your Computer
  • From a Drive
  • The Attach Files Modal
• Remove Files and Media from a Document
• Reorder Attachments
• Include Media When Emailing a Document
• Where Attachments Appear in a PDF
• FAQ
  • What file types can I attach?
  • Can I choose which photos go out by email?
  • A photo came out sideways in a PDF.
  • Does removing an attachment delete the file?
  • I updated a file in eSUB Drive. Did my attachment change?
• Permissions

Attach Files and Media to a Document

There are two ways to attach: pick files from your computer, or attach them directly from a drive with the Attach Files modal, without downloading anything first.

From Your Computer

While creating or editing a document:

1. Go to the Media & Attachments section, then select the + button.
2. Select the files in the file browser window, then select Open.
3. Enter a description in the Notes field if desired.
4. If a PDF is being uploaded and on select documents, the option to Select as an official Response can be checked making it easy to find approved documents among other attachments. 
5. Select Save when finished.

You can drag and drop files straight into the upload box instead of using the file browser. Use the Notes field while you are there: a description written now is worth a great deal to whoever opens the record in six months.

From a Drive

Files stored in eSUB Drive or Project Drive can be attached directly, without downloading them to your computer first.

While creating or editing a document:

1. Go to the Media & Attachments section, then select Browse Drive to open the Attach Files modal.
2. Select a source on the left side of the modal: eSUB Drive, Project Drive, or This Computer. 
3. Browse to the files you want. Select a file to add it to your selection, and select it again to remove it. The checkbox at the top of the list selects everything in the folder. Folders cannot be selected; selecting a folder opens it.
4. Select from as many folders and sources as needed. Everything you choose collects along the bottom of the modal, where any file can be removed before attaching.
5. Attach the selected files. Progress displays along the bottom edge of the window while the files are added.
6. Select Save on the document when finished.

Depending on your company’s configuration, connected cloud storage accounts (such as Google Drive or Dropbox) may also be available. These open the service’s own sign-in window, and only the files you pick are shared with eSUB.

Attaching from a drive always attaches a copy. The original file stays in the drive, untouched, and later edits to the original do not change what is attached to the document. To update an attachment, remove it and attach the new version.

The Attach Files Modal

A few features worth knowing:

• Table and Card views. The buttons at the top right switch between them, and your choice is remembered. Table view shows name, date modified, and file size; columns can be sorted and each column has a filter, so a long folder can be narrowed to only PDFs or only files changed this month. Card view shows a preview for every image and a file-type icon for everything else, which is best for media-heavy folders.
• Folders stay separate. In both views, folders are listed above the files as compact rows and sort separately, so there is no hunting for them among the pictures.
• Drive File Path. The path across the top shows where you are, and any part of it can be selected to jump back. In Project Drive the path starts with the project’s number and name, so it is clear which project you are looking at.
• Search. The search box narrows the current folder as you type. It does not search the whole drive.
• Refresh. Re-reads the folder, for when a file was added a moment ago.
• Remembered per project. The modal reopens the way it was left in that project: the last source, the view, and any sorting or filtering. One project’s arrangement does not follow you into another.

The Attach Files modal is available on all document types while creating or editing a document, and also when uploading sheets and profile avatars. Attaching from a drive is done on the web; files attached this way can be viewed on mobile like any other attachment.

Files in eSUB Drive and Project Drive are managed in the drive itself. See the eSUB Drive and Project Drive article.

Remove Files and Media from a Document

While creating or editing a document:

1. Go to the Media & Attachments section, then select the X on the attachment you want to remove.
2. Select Save when finished.

Reorder Attachments

The order of attachments matters when you generate the document's PDF, because that is the order they are appended in. Document attachments can be reordered per your preferences.

While generating a document PDF:

1. Select the desired attachments to include in the PDF, then click/hold and drag the reorder icon on the selected attachment(s) to reorder it

   

See the Document Downloads and Exports article.

Include Media When Emailing a Document

On some document types you can choose which photos go out with the email rather than sending all of them. This matters most on media-heavy records: a Field Note documenting one crack does not need the other fourteen photos from that day attached to it.

Where image selection is available, all images start selected. Clear the ones you do not want and send.

See the Emailing Documents article for the rest of the email flow.

Where Attachments Appear in a PDF

When you generate a document's PDF, attachments that can be converted to PDF are appended to the document itself. Attachments that cannot be converted appear as a download link in the PDF instead of as inline pages.

Photos taken on a phone can carry rotation information. Attachments now pass through an orientation step before they are placed in the PDF, so a photo that looks upright in eSUB is upright in the file you send.

FAQ

What file types can I attach?

Files, photos, video, and other supporting documentation can all be attached. What changes by file type is not whether you can attach it, but how it behaves in a generated PDF. See Where Attachments Appear in a PDF.

Can I choose which photos go out by email?

On some document types, yes. See Include Media When Emailing a Document for which ones and how it differs.

A photo came out sideways in a PDF.

Regenerate the PDF. Attachments now pass through an orientation step before they are placed in the file, so a PDF generated today will show the photo the way the app does.

I updated a file in eSUB Drive. Did my attachment change?

No. Attaching always makes a copy, whether the file came from your computer or from a drive. The document keeps the version you attached, so a signed-off record cannot quietly change underneath you. If the document should carry the new version, remove the old attachment and attach the updated file.

Does removing an attachment delete the file?

Removing an attachment takes it off that document. It does not touch the original copy on your own machine or wherever else you have it stored, so re-attach it if you removed it by mistake.

Attaching and managing media follows the permissions on the parent document rather than a permission of its own (Field Notes, Daily Reports, RFIs, Submittals, Change Order Requests, Purchase Orders, Time & Material Tickets, and Progress Billing).

Permissions

Administrators can adjust permissions; see Set Up User Permissions.

See also: Document Downloads and Exports and Emailing Documents.