This article provides intake instructions for manually uploading plan review documents in PDF format and supporting attachments in any format to a Project.
Incoming plan review documents will undergo an inspection via our PDF Scout™ Inspector tool.
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An open project record exists. See Add a Project record, Step 1.
Plan review documents in PDF format and supporting documents, in any file format, are accessible to the user.
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Navigate to the Projects page and select the Documents tab.
Click the upload icon
on the bottom right of the Documents tab.Click SELECT FILES to browse for documents or drag and drop files.
All PDF files will list under the “Plan” section by default and any other file types will list under “Attachments. If a PDF is not meant to be marked up during the review, it should be moved to the Attachments list before processing the files. NOTE: Non-PDF files can only be processed as attachments - they cannot be moved to the “Plan” section.
Plans: Refers to any files that need to be marked up during review. These must be submitted in PDF format.
Keep these files listed under the Plans section.
Attachments: Refers to any files that will not be marked up during review. These files will be accessible to all plan reviewers as reference material from the Attachments tool in the EPR Review page.
Drag these files over to the Attachments section.
Confirm that the plans and supporting documents are listed in the correct panels, then click the PROCESS button to launch the PDF Scout Inspector, which will check “Plan” files for the following:
Submittal Requirements
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Issue
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Description
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Message
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Result
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Solution
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File Size
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Documents must not exceed 400 MB.
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REJECTION
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Return to the source document and create PDF files that are below the file size limitation or break up PDF into smaller files.
Follow the instructions in the DOCUMENT SUBMITTAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
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Page Size
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Checks for page sizes smaller than 8.5" x 11" or larger than 36" x 48"and will trigger a warning if detected.
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Warning
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None required.
These suggestions are in place because most printers cannot print wider than 36 inches, but EPR will allow pages of any size.
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PDF Version
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Checks PDF version.
If PDF version older than 1.4 is detected, the file will be rejected. (Version 1.3 was released prior to 2001.)
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REJECTION
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Update the PDF to a newer version.
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Password protection
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The inspector checks for password security that prevent opening the PDF.
If the PDF cannot be opened, the file will be rejected.
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Accessible
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REJECTION
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Remove the password protection to allow PDF access.
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Page Access
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The inspector tries to read each page in the document.
If a page is not readable, the file will be rejected.
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REJECTION
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Adobe Reader may report these pages as damaged or in need of repair.
Recreate the PDF from the source document using Adobe Pro or Nitro Pro.
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Annotations/SHX Text
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Checks for annotations that appear in the pdf Reader ‘Comment’ panel, such as SHX Text generated by AutoCAD.
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Warning
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None required.
Note that SHX text annotations will be removed from pdf 'Comment' panel when printing deliverable files so they do not interfere with review comments. (No other annotations will be removed.)
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Filename Special Characters
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Checks if filename contains any of the following characters:
!,*, ', \, ;, :, @, &, =, +, $, , (comma), /, ?, %, #, [, ], ", <, >, |
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REJECTION
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Remove these characters from the filename and re-upload file.
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Page Orientation
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Checks if document has mixed page orientations.
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Warning
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None required.
Manually checking that pages are not upside down or sideways is recommended.
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PDF Portfolios
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Portfolio PDFs or PDFs with attachments will be rejected as they are a serious security issue. (see PDF Portfolios)
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REJECTION
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A PDF Portfolio contains multiple files assembled into an integrated PDF unit. The files in a PDF Portfolio can be in a wide range of file types created in different applications.
For example, a PDF Portfolio can include scrips, macros, text documents, e-mail messages, spreadsheets, CAD drawings, and PowerPoint presentations.
The results of the PDF inspection are displayed on the REVIEW PROCESSED DOCUMENTS tab, shown below.
For files flagged with a warning icon or X status click the eye icon to view the inspection results and correct errors.
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Delete plan review files marked with an X status
PDF's that do not pass inspection are flagged with a red X status as shown above. These cannot proceed to plan review and must be corrected before processing.
To correct:
Delete the version that returns an error (X status).
Fix the problem indicated by the response.
Then upload the corrected file along with any other files that must be processed.
Finish upload for Plan Review files that pass inspection
Files that pass inspection are flagged with a green check mark, as shown above.
Select the FINISH button to complete the upload process.
Plan review documents will be sent to the rendering server.
An optical character recognition (OCR) process is then performed to capture the sheet numbers.
Attachments/supporting documents will be visible on the ATTACHMENTS page.
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Whether uploading documents directly to EPR or routing them from goPost or another integrated partner, EPR will check incoming files and, if routing is successful, allow you to create assignments (when no integrated partner handles assignment creation). The direct, manual upload process for plan review documents (PDF format required) and supporting attachments (in any format) is covered below.
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Uploading Files
Files can either be uploaded directly into EPR or routed over to EPR from an integrated partner system. For integrated partners, the specific routing process will vary, so only refer to the following instructions if required by your implementation.
To upload a file directly into EPR:
Open a project record.
Click on the DOCUMENTS tab.
Click on
(Upload) at the lower right corner (this button appears semi-transparent until you hover over it with your cursor).In the upload screen, either click on SELECT FILES or drag and drop files into the file window.
If you need to upload more files, click on
(Add) on the lower right. Additional files will be added to the current list.
Files are sorted into either “PLAN” or “ATTACHMENTS” windows based on file type:
PDFs are listed under “PLAN” by default, but can be dragged over to the “ATTACHMENTS” window if the file is for reference only and does not require markup/plan review.
An optional Document Type dropdown next to each filename allows users to select a value that either describes the file or helps better organize the project files. This can be left blank if desired.
If a file should not be uploaded after all, click on
(Delete) to remove it from the list before processing.To clear all files from this list, click on DISCARD ALL.
All non-PDFs are listed under “ATTACHMENTS” by default.
These cannot be moved as they are reference-only.
An optional Attachment Type dropdown next to each filename allows users to select a value that either describes the file or helps better organize the project files. This can be left blank if desired.
If a file should not be uploaded after all, click on
(Delete) to remove it from the list before processing.To clear all files from this list, click on DISCARD ALL.
Once all files are ready to be uploaded, click PROCESS.
| Note |
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Once files are processed as either “PLANS” or “ATTACHMENTS” they cannot be moved to the other category, so make sure everything is listed correctly before clicking on PROCESS. |
DOCUMENTS Tab | File Upload Screen | File Sorting Screen |
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| Info |
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When uploading a file, the DOCUMENTS tab may display basic upload instructions along the top of the tab. From there you can click to view the detailed submittal requirements or, if you no longer need the instructions, click the checkbox for “Don’t show this message again” and then click on “X” at the top right to hide these instructions going forward. |
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Processing Files
Once files have been sorted, all files are processed and any listed under “PLANS” must be inspected by the Scout™ Tool.
Click on PROCESS to begin Scout inspection.
A window will pop up to show the progress of each file being inspected by Scout.
Larger files may take longer to inspect, though no file should take longer than 5 minutes.
Once all files are inspected, the progress window closes and the screen reloads. The results of the inspection are displayed as a file status icon (see below).
| Info |
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Scout inspects uploaded PDF plans to ensure they are accessible, readable, and that they meet EPR’s conditions for submittal across several categories.
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Process Button | Progress Window | File Status (Scout Results) |
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Removing Rejected Files
PDFs that do not pass inspection must be removed, fixed separately, and then reuploaded so that they can be processed successfully.
To see why a file was rejected, click on View Scout Results (
).Any issues indicated by Scout will need to be addressed.
Remove the rejected file(s) by clicking on Delete (
).Fix the problems with the rejected files.
Upload the corrected file(s), along with any other files that were not already processed, and process once more.
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Completing File Uploads
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Once all plan files have successfully passed Scout inspection, the process can be completed.
Click FINISH to complete the upload process.
Plans will then render and have sheet number information captured, if available.
Plan files will go to the INTAKE page, where assignments can be created (first submittals) or updated (resubmittals).
Attachment files will be processed automatically and can be accessed from:
The project ATTACHMENTS tab
By clicking on the Attachments Tool (
) in the Review page header By opening the Review page menu (
) and then hovering over Attachments
| Info |
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Based on browser settings, any attachments selected will either display in another tab (such as in the browser’s built-in PDF viewer) or will download to the desktop for viewing. |