This is the introductory tutorial. You upload one PDF, confirm what’s on it, let Synthspec count the fixtures, spot-check the result, and download a CSV. By the end you have a real takeoff for one small project.
The project we use here is deliberately uncomplicated — no emergency variants, no length-mode fixtures, no multi-discipline conflicts. Real projects usually have at least one of those, and there is a follow-up guide for each (see What this tutorial doesn’t cover at the end). Work through this one first; the others build on it.
Before you start
You need three things:
- An account. Your team admin sends a WorkOS email invite. Accept it and sign in. If you haven’t received an invite, ask your admin to add you to the org.
- One PDF drawing set on disk. If the architectural and electrical sets are separate PDFs, combine them into one before you upload. The PDF has to be 500 MB or smaller.
- A few minutes of attention, plus background time. Synthspec does extraction and counting in the background; you can leave the tab open and come back. Each phase has a status indicator that tells you when it’s done.
Steps
1. Sign in
You land on the dashboard. If this is your first project, the panel reads No projects yet, with the button Create Your First Project.
2. Click Create Your First Project
The upload screen opens with the heading Upload Construction Documents.
3. Add the PDF
Drag your PDF onto the drop zone, or click Browse files and pick it. The filename appears, the progress bar fills, and the screen flips to Creating project… with the message Your document is being processed. The project name is set to the filename without the .pdf extension; you can rename it later.
4. Wait for the project to open
Synthspec routes you into the project. The setup view loads with the sheet list in the left rail.
5. Tag the fixture schedule sheet and the RCPs
Find the sheet that holds the fixture schedule and tag it. Find each RCP and tag it. You need at least one of each before you can continue — Synthspec shows a toast warning (“Select at least one lighting fixture schedule” or “Select at least one reflected ceiling plan”) if you skip one.
6. Click Continue
The page swaps to Extracting Fixture Data with a progress bar and the description “Reading fixture types, descriptions, and symbols from your selected schedule diagrams.” When extraction finishes, you see a fixture-schedule table.
7. Review the extracted rows
Each row needs at least one RCP assigned to it, otherwise that fixture won’t be counted. If no fixture has any RCP assignment Synthspec blocks the next step with the dialog RCP sheet assignment required. If only some are missing it warns you with X of Y fixtures have no RCP sheets assigned and won’t be counted before letting you continue anyway.
8. Click Continue
The page shows Preparing counting process… for a moment, then routes you to the review page with a progress display.
9. Wait for counting to finish
The progress display swaps for the count review. The left rail lists every fixture type with its count, and the Export button appears in the top bar.
10. Spot-check a fixture type
Click into a fixture type in the side panel. The canvas highlights every fixture instance of that type on the current sheet. Use this to confirm that what Synthspec found matches what you expect on the drawing — pick one type with a small count first, then one with a large count.
11. Export the CSV
Click Export in the top bar. The Export count as modal opens on the CSV tab. Click Download CSV. A file named after your project — {project name}.csv — lands in your Downloads folder.
The same modal has a PDF tab that produces an annotated drawing PDF, optionally with the review table as an appendix page; that’s covered in (TODO: link to “Export an annotated drawing PDF”).
12. Open the CSV
You see one row per fixture type with the columns Fixture Type, Review Status, Count, Length, Manufacturer, and Part Number. That’s your takeoff.
What you’ve done
You uploaded a drawing set, confirmed which sheets matter, reviewed the fixture schedule Synthspec extracted, watched it count every RCP, spot-checked the result, and exported a CSV bill of materials. Sending a takeoff for approval inside Synthspec is on the way — see (TODO: link to “Send a takeoff for approval”) for that workflow when it ships.
What this tutorial doesn’t cover
- Emergency variants (EM, EMD, EMI, EM-GEN). See (TODO: link to “Handle emergency-variant fixtures”).
- Length-mode fixtures — fixtures sold by linear feet rather than by piece. See (TODO: link to “Counting linear fixtures”).
- Customer organization setup, user invites, and attribute customization — those are admin tasks. See (TODO: link to “Customer admin: set up your organization”).
- Re-running detection on a corrected schedule. See (TODO: link to “Correct a misclassified sheet”).
- The PDF export option — an annotated drawing PDF, with an optional appendix page that holds the review table. See (TODO: link to “Export an annotated drawing PDF”).