---
title: "What is the Advanced File Viewer — and When Should You Use It?"
url: "https://help.ontraccr.com/en/article/what-is-the-advanced-file-viewer-and-when-should-you-use-it"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2025-07-25T17:42:09.683Z"
---

# 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.

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## 🚧 **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.

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## 🔍 **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.

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## **🧰 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.

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## **👷 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.

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## **🧾 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.