What's changed
Important: Exports now go directly to your download folder instead of your email. If it doesn’t appear in the downloads within one minute, it should arrive by email. If you want to download your export again, you can visit the Exports page found directly under your profile name.
Visi PDF exports have been rebuilt so you can export a whole project at once, instead of level by level. Large exports are split into parts, so they're more reliable. Exports are built in the background, so you can keep working while they run.
Where to export from
You can open the export dialog from four places:
The project Visi list: select the Visis you want, or select all to export everything that matches your current filters, then select Export.
The company Visi list: export across every project your company is on.
A single Visi: open the Visi and select Export in the top-right corner.
Mobile: open a Visi and select Export in the top-right corner. On mobile, you can export one Visi at a time.
Choose a format
Before you start, the export dialog shows an example of each format, so you can see what you'll get.
Format | What you get | Best for |
Full details | One PDF per Visi, with its nested and linked Visis, activity, requirements, comments and an attachments appendix. | Records and handover |
Summary | One PDF with a card for each Visi, grouped by location. Each card shows the Visi's description, key details, a grid of its photos and its requirement answers. Photos are shown whole and never cropped. | Site walks and reviews |
List | One PDF with a row for each Visi. | Quick updates |
Options
The options you see depend on the format you choose and where you're exporting from.
Option | What it does | Full details | Summary | List |
Show full activity | Includes every event from the activity feed. | ✓ |
|
|
Show comments | Includes comments in the activity log. | ✓ |
|
|
Links | Includes the Visi's links in the PDF. On by default. [CONFIRM BEFORE PUBLISHING: check this description of the Links option] | ✓ |
|
|
Individual export per company | Creates a folder for each assigned company. Useful for sending defect lists to subcontractors. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Individual export per project | Creates a folder for each project. Only available when exporting from the company Visi list, where it's on by default. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
High contrast | Formats the PDF for printing and easier reading. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Attachment links | Sets who can open the attachments linked in the PDF. Only available when exporting from a project. See Shareable attachment links below. | ✓ |
|
|
Include full-sized attachments | Adds a full page for each photo and PDF after the attachments appendix. Each thumbnail in the appendix links to its full page. | ✓ |
|
|
Include attachments as a ZIP | Adds each Visi's original attachment files to your download, in a folder for each Visi. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
How folders are organised
When you use any of the folder options, your export comes as a single ZIP. Inside it, folders are organised by company, then by project, then by Visi. If you turned on Include attachments as a ZIP, each Visi folder contains its original attachment files. In a Full details export, each Visi's PDF goes in its folder too. Summary and List make one PDF for all the Visis, which sits next to the Visi folders.
Export.zip
└── Tile Co/
└── Richmond Quarter Stage 2/
└── RQ-42 Level 3 waterproofing/
├── RQ-42 Level 3 waterproofing.pdf
└── (attachments)
If you don't turn on a folder option, only the levels you've chosen appear. For example, a project export with Include attachments as a ZIP turned on has a folder for each Visi, but no company or project folders.
Shareable attachment links
Shareable attachment links let people outside your project open attachments and documents from an exported PDF, without a Visibuild login. This is useful when you're sending an export to a client, consultant or subcontractor who isn't on the project.
Choosing who can open attachment links
When you export in Full details format from a project Visi list or a single Visi, use the Attachment links dropdown to choose who can open the attachments in the PDF:
Anyone with the export: anyone who has the PDF can view and download the attachments, without a Visibuild login.
Only users with access to Visis: people need to sign in to Visibuild and have access to the Visi to open its attachments.
The Attachment links dropdown doesn't appear when:
you export in Summary or List format.
you export from the company Visi list. Shareable links are set up per project, so to share attachments with people outside the project, export from the project instead.
shareable links are turned off for the project or company.
Copying a shared link
Once a file has been included in an export with shareable links, a Shared button appears when you open the file in Visibuild. Select Shared, then Copy link to share it directly.
You can't create a shareable link without exporting the file first.
Sharing documents
Documents work the same way as attachments. When a document is attached to a Visi and included in an export, it gets a shareable link. The link always opens the revision that was exported, even if the document is updated afterwards.
⚠️ Shared documents can be opened by anyone with the link, whatever their Visible to setting. Check what's attached to your Visis before exporting with shareable links.
Filtering for files which are shared
On a project's Attachments and Documents tabs, use the Share access filter to see which files are shared:
Only users who have access to linked Visis: files that haven't been shared.
Anyone with the exports: files that have been shared through an export.
Revoking access
Revoking access stops a file opening from every export it's been included in, for everyone, including PDFs people have already downloaded.
To revoke access to one file:
Open the attachment or document.
Select Shared, then Revoke access.
To revoke access to several files at once:
Go to the project's Attachments or Documents tab.
Select the files.
Select Revoke share access.
Revoking is permanent. If you include the file in a new export afterwards, it gets a new link. The old link stays unavailable.
What people see when a link stops working
When someone opens a link that has been revoked or has expired, they see a message saying the link is no longer available. If they have access to the Visi, they can sign in to Visibuild to open the file there.
Sharing activity
Each attachment and document records when it was shared and when access was revoked, and by whom. The activity doesn't show whether anyone opened the link.
Setting links to expire
By default, shareable links never expire. To change this, a Project Admin can choose an option in Expire links in Project setup > Exports: Never, 1 year, 5 years or 10 years.
Expiry counts from the last time a file was included in an export. Each new export restarts the clock.
The setting applies to existing links as well as new ones. If you shorten the expiry, any links that are already past it expire as soon as you save. Before you confirm, the page shows how many links will expire. Expired links can't be restored, even if you change the setting back, but exporting a file again gives it a new link.
Turning off shareable links for a project
Shareable links are on by default for every project. To turn them off, switch off Allow shareable attachment links in Project setup > Exports.
This setting can be changed by Project Admins of the company that owns the project, or by that company's Company Admins. Partner companies can't change it.
Turning this off:
revokes every link already shared from the project.
hides the Shared button on attachments and documents.
removes the Attachment links dropdown from the export dialog.
If you turn shareable links back on later, files need to be exported again to get new links.
Turning off shareable links for your whole company
Company Admins can turn off shareable links for every project in Company setup > Exports. Turning this off revokes every link in every project.
While it's off, the project setting is greyed out, with a note saying it's been disabled by a company admin.
Receiving your export
Your export is built in the background, and you can follow its progress in the downloads tray at the top of the app. It keeps going if you close the tab or move to another page. When it's ready, it downloads in your browser, whatever its size.
Email is only a backup. If the export hasn't downloaded within a minute of being ready, for example because you closed Visibuild, we email it to you instead. Exports up to 10 MB are attached to the email. Larger exports, and exports that include attachments, come as a link to download the export from Visibuild. If an export fails, we always email you to let you know.
To download an export again, open the Exports page, either from View all exports in the downloads tray or from the menu under your profile name. Exports stay available to download for 14 days.
Large Summary and List exports are split into parts and arrive as a ZIP with numbered files, for example Richmond Quarter (part 1 of 3).pdf. In Full details, a Visi too large for one PDF is split into numbered PDFs in a folder named after the Visi.
Exports from the company Visi list arrive as a ZIP with a folder for each project, unless you turn off Individual export per project.
You can export up to 5,000 Visis at once, from the web app or the API.
Exporting via the API
Core API customers can request the same formats programmatically. See Exporting Visi PDFs via API.
Bulk export to CSV
To share project status with people outside Visibuild, you can export a CSV with the status of Visis in your project, along with details like location, assignee and due date. Filter for the visis you want, select all then export to CSV
Exporting from the mobile app
You can only export one visis at a time on the mobile app. The export is sent to your email and can also be found in the Export tab under your profile name in the menu. The export feature is located inside the inspection, top right.
