What is the Advanced File Viewer — and When Should You Use It?

🧠 What is the Advanced File Viewer — and When Should You Use It?
 

The Advanced File Viewer in Ontraccr isn’t just a better way to view files — it’s a purpose-built tool designed to help construction and operations teams interact with complex documents in smarter, more collaborative ways.

Whether you're reviewing shop drawings, specifications, contracts, or annotated estimates, the Advanced Viewer gives you the flexibility and power to work with files like never before.

🚧 Why Was the Advanced Viewer Built?

Construction and field operations are document-heavy, and many of those files aren’t just read-and-forget — they’re working documents:

• Drawings get revised
• Specs need to be referenced
• Notes need to be left for team members
• Questions arise and must be tracked to resolution

The Basic Viewer handles simple file previewing. But as soon as you're dealing with multi-page documents, OCR scanning, revision markups, or collaborative feedback, you need a more robust interface — and that’s where the Advanced Viewer comes in.

🔍 What Makes It “Advanced”?

The name isn’t just for show. Here’s what elevates it:

✅ OCR Search

Search inside scanned documents or PDFs — even if the text isn’t selectable. Ideal for blueprints, scope documents, or drawings with embedded labels.

✅ Commenting System

Leave comments, tag areas, reply, assign statuses, and track them all in one place — just like tasks.

✅ Rich Markup Tools

Highlight, draw, underline, strikethrough, freehand, add notes, link to external URLs, and much more — all styled your way.

✅ Version Control

Every saved annotation or upload becomes a new version. You can always roll back or reference older versions.

✅ Mobile & Tablet Friendly

Everything you can do on the web is available on tablets and phones too. Mark up a drawing on-site — no laptop required.

🧰 When Should You Use the Advanced Viewer?

The Advanced Viewer is ideal for:

• Marking up construction drawings
• Collaborating on design/spec feedback
• Leaving review notes on estimates or reports
• Managing multi-party comments on large documents
• Finding content inside long or scanned files instantly

If you’re working with long PDFs, technical documents, or files that require collaborative input, the Advanced Viewer is the right tool for the job.

👷 Real-World Example

You’re reviewing a 100-page electrical drawing for a commercial project:

• You need to find every instance of "Panel A2" — use OCR search
• You want to call out outdated lighting specs — use comments with “Rejected” status
• Your estimator adds clarifications — they reply in-thread
• You upload a revised version next week — it’s saved automatically as a new version

With the Advanced Viewer, everything happens in one place, fully tracked.

🧾 Summary

The Advanced File Viewer transforms how teams engage with documents in Ontraccr. It’s not just about viewing — it’s about:

• Collaborating
• Searching intelligently
• Marking up clearly
• Tracking revisions
• Doing it all in context

If your team works with drawings, specs, or anything that evolves over time — the Advanced Viewer will quickly become one of your most-used tools.