Document Rendering

Owned by Stacy Reno (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Aug 20, 2024 by Jorge Raya-Navarro
3 min read

Documents uploaded or routed to EPR for plan review are automatically converted from PDFs to images through an automatic “rendering” process. These images are then displayed to users within the Review page while conducting plan review.

 

What is Rendering?

The rendering process creates several PNG images for each page within a plan review document: a small image (used for thumbnails) and larger-resolution images (used within the EPR Review page window). When a user first opens the review page for a new document assignment, EPR will load a page image for the first time. This image may appear blurry or fuzzy at first while the initial loading completes, but should become clear momentarily. The image is then stored in the user’s disk space, meaning that the next time the user has to open the same page it will reopen much more quickly.

As noted, when a file is uploaded or routed over to EPR, rendering occurs automatically, but there is also a secondary manual rendering method available if the automated rendering fails.

Files uploaded or routed over to EPR as ‘attachments’ are not rendered because they are not opened in the review page window.

If a page image remains blurry after a minute or so, try reloading the browser tab to see if this is the result of a momentary internet issue. If that still does not resolve the problem, consider downloading the PDF to see if the PDF page itself is unclear or consult EPR Service Desk for support.

Manually Re-render a Document

If a document or document page fails to render automatically, staff with rendering permissions can use a secondary, manual re-render option to try and fix the issue before contacting support. (If you do not have rendering permissions, you will not see the menu with the render option. Consult an agency Admin or Project Coordinator as they usually have rendering permissions and may be able to help.)

To manually re-render a file:

  1. Select a project within EPR.

  2. Click on the DOCUMENTS tab.

  3. For the desired file, click on the Go To arrow icon ( ) to navigate into the document Details sub-tab.

  4. Click on the Submittals sub-tab to switch to that view.

    1. This section will list all of the linked document submittal versions.

  5. For the desired document version, click on the three-dot expand menu ( ) on the far right.

  6. Click on the Render button that pops up.

EPR will then try rendering the file using another method (different than the initial automatic rendering) to see if it can create the rendered images.

image-20240820-205414.png
EPR Documents Tab View

 

image-20240820-205440.png
EPR Documents Submittals Sub-tab View

If you have re-rendered a document or document page but other users report they cannot see the new renders, ask staff to clear their disk space to remove the cached image and get the updated view. If this still does not result in a rendered image, contact the EPR Service Desk for support.

Deliverable Documents

When ready to return deliverable documents to a customer at the end of a plan review cycle, EPR will create a copy of the original PDF, any markup layers added during plan review, and combine them into a final copy to be returned. The rendered images are not used as part of this deliverable process.

See Preparing Document Deliverables for details.


Related articles