05_Uploading Specifications: Creating a Specs Folder and Using the Documents Upload (1:44) 

Overview

This video covers the specification side of project setup: creating a folder for your specs and uploading them through the Documents upload rather than the Drawings upload used for floor plans. Because specification pages usually have no title block for the system to read, the Documents path replaces automatic sheet naming with a prefix you define yourself, and skips the OCR step entirely. It is for anyone loading spec books, spec volumes, or any sheet set that the system cannot name automatically.

What you'll learn

• Create a folder for specifications inside a project
• Choose between the Drawings upload and the Documents upload
• Set a naming prefix so uploaded documents are labeled predictably
• Drag and drop multiple specification files into one upload
• Merge and upload a spec set without running the OCR title block step

Before You Begin

You need a project already created in AECinspire and your specification PDFs available on your computer. This upload follows the same overall flow as the sheet upload demonstrated in Creating Folders and Uploading Floorplans — folder first, then file — so it helps to have watched that video first.

Part 1 — Create the Specs Folder

1. Open the project you are loading specifications into.
2. At the top of the screen, click the Create a Folder option.
3. Name the folder Specs.
4. Click Create Folder to save it.
5. With the Specs folder open, click Upload File to This Folder.
6. This time, choose the Documents upload rather than the Drawings upload.
7. In the Documents upload, enter a prefix.
8. Choose a prefix that matches how you refer to the set. Instead of naming a file Sheet A1, the system will name it using your prefix — for example DOC 1-1.
9. If you are loading a specific volume, enter Volume 1 as the prefix. If you just want a simple label, enter Spec 1.
10. Click the next arrow to continue.
11. On the file step, drag and drop your specification files into the upload area, or browse to grab them from your computer.
12. Add the files to the Specs folder.
13. Highlight both (or all) of the files you want in this upload — multiple files can go in at once.
14. Click Merge and Upload.

Best practice: You can separate the specifications out however you like, but the general recommendation is to upload all specs to one folder. Keeping them together makes them easy to search for later.

Part 2 — Start the Upload and Choose Documents

Note: The Documents upload is meant for specifications, or for sheet sets that do not have a title block the system can extract.

Part 3 — Set the Naming Prefix

Because there is no title block to read, you name the files by adding a prefix before the upload runs.

Note: The prefix is applied automatically to everything in the upload, so define it before you add your files.

Part 4 — Add and Upload the Specification Files

Note: This is the same process as the sheet upload, with one difference: this time the system skips the step where you drag the green and blue box for OCR. The documents upload straight through, already tagged with the prefix you defined, and the system processes the whole set for you.

Quick Reference

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Continue with the next video in the series: Sheet and File Management.