After you upload a drawing set, Synthspec walks the project through a fixed sequence of setup phases before the takeoff is ready to review. Some phases ask you to confirm something. Others are waits while Synthspec processes the drawings. This page lists every phase, what you see in each one, and what advances out of it.
The setup workflow at a glance
Setup is organized as two numbered steps, with one or more phases inside each step:
| Step | Step label in the footer | Phases inside this step |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Review project details & diagram selection | Processing the drawing set → Reviewing project details and diagram selection → Extracting the fixture schedule |
| 2 | Configure Lighting Fixture Schedules | Configuring the fixture schedule → Counting fixtures |
When counting finishes, Synthspec navigates the project to the review view automatically. Setup ends there.
The phase footer
A bar pinned along the bottom of the setup view holds every control that moves you between phases. From left to right:
- Step indicator —
Step 1/2orStep 2/2. - Two pill buttons showing the step labels: Review project details & diagram selection and Configure Lighting Fixture Schedules. The active step is highlighted. Once you have reached step 2 at least once, the step-1 pill becomes clickable from step 2 (and the step-2 pill from step 1) so you can jump between them.
- Back — visible in every phase but only enabled inside step 2.
- Primary action — labeled differently in each phase. Sometimes it advances you forward (
Next,Start counting); during a wait it shows progress (Extracting...,Counting...) and is disabled. - Re-extract — a secondary button that appears in step 1 only when you have changed diagram regions since the last fixture schedule extraction.
The phases below describe what each control does in each phase.
Each phase in detail
Processing the drawing set
The first phase begins as soon as the upload completes. Synthspec is reading the PDF, classifying the sheets, and locating the RCP and fixture schedule regions. The canvas shows a status panel listing what Synthspec is working on (finding details, identifying RCPs, identifying fixture schedules) with a percentage that climbs to 100%.
- You can do: nothing. The canvas is read-only and the footer’s primary button is disabled.
- Advances when: processing completes successfully. Synthspec moves you into the next phase automatically.
- If processing fails: see the failed-upload how-to (TODO: link to “Recover from a failed upload”).
Reviewing project details and diagram selection
This is the first phase that asks for your input. Synthspec has identified the project metadata and the diagram regions on each sheet — RCPs and fixture schedules. Your job is to confirm them: scan the sheets, correct any misclassified regions, and add or remove regions where Synthspec missed something.
- You can do: edit project metadata, draw new diagram regions, adjust or delete existing ones, add comments to teammates, and switch sheets.
- Primary button: Next. Enabled once at least one RCP region exists in the project.
- Advances when: you click Next. Synthspec then begins extracting the fixture schedule, which moves you into the next phase.
- What you’ll see if you’ve already extracted once and changed regions since: a Re-extract button appears next to Next. Use it to re-run the extraction with your updated regions; use Next to keep the previous extraction and skip ahead. Synthspec asks you to confirm before keeping a stale extraction.
Extracting the fixture schedule
A wait phase. Synthspec is reading the fixture schedule region you confirmed and turning it into a structured table. The canvas shows the schedule region with a progress indicator overlaid.
- You can do: nothing in setup. You can leave the tab and come back; extraction continues in the background.
- Primary button: shows Extracting… and is disabled.
- Advances when: extraction completes. Synthspec moves you into step 2 automatically.
- If extraction fails: a recovery message appears with a Back option that returns you to the previous phase so you can adjust regions and try again.
Configuring the fixture schedule
The first phase of step 2. Synthspec presents the parsed fixture schedule as an editable table. You correct any parsing errors, set which sheets each fixture type applies to, split out emergency variants if needed, and pick the symbol Synthspec should look for on the RCPs.
- You can do: edit any cell of the fixture schedule, change which sheets a row applies to, toggle variant splitting, and pick or change a fixture symbol.
- Primary button: Start counting. While Synthspec saves your edits the label changes to Saving fixture schedule… or Hashing legends N/M… and the button is disabled. If you have toggled a variant split since the last count, the label changes to Apply variant changes instead.
- Back button: enabled. See Going backward below — Back returns you to step 1.
- Advances when: you click Start counting (or Apply variant changes). Synthspec saves the schedule, kicks off counting, and moves you into the next phase.
Counting fixtures
The final wait phase. Synthspec is detecting fixture instances on every RCP across the drawing set.
- You can do: nothing in setup. You can leave the tab; counting continues in the background.
- Primary button: shows Counting… and is disabled.
- Advances when: counting completes. Synthspec navigates the project to the review view automatically — setup ends here.
Going backward
The Back button is enabled only in step 2 — specifically, in the Configuring the fixture schedule phase. Clicking it returns you to Reviewing project details and diagram selection, regardless of how far you have progressed inside step 2. Back is not a one-step undo.
You can also use the step-1 pill button to jump between steps once you have reached step 2 at least once. The pill is the same destination as Back: it lands you in Reviewing project details and diagram selection.
If you go back, change a diagram region, and then click Next again, the Re-extract button appears so Synthspec can re-parse the fixture schedule with your updated regions.
Resuming setup
If you close the tab partway through setup and reopen the project later, Synthspec restarts the most recent interactive phase you reached, not the wait phase you left in:
| You closed the tab during… | You return to… |
|---|---|
| Processing the drawing set | The same phase, with progress where Synthspec left it |
| Reviewing project details and diagram selection | The same phase |
| Extracting the fixture schedule | Reviewing project details and diagram selection |
| Configuring the fixture schedule | The same phase |
| Counting fixtures | Configuring the fixture schedule |
This means a wait phase you left running may have already completed by the time you return — Synthspec drops you at the next interactive phase rather than the wait.