Exporting Boards

Create professional PDFs and Excel files from your boards for client presentations and vendor orders.

7 min read

Transform your boards into professional PDFs or detailed Excel spreadsheets for client presentations, vendor orders, or project documentation.

Export Formats

PDF Export

Best for:

  • Client presentations
  • Design review meetings
  • Printed material boards
  • Portfolio documentation

What's included:

  • High-resolution material images
  • Material names and vendors
  • Specifications and details
  • Pricing (optional)
  • Notes and descriptions (optional)
  • Your branding (Professional plans and above)

Excel Export

Best for:

  • Vendor purchase orders
  • Budget tracking
  • Detailed specifications
  • Material quantity calculations

What's included:

  • Material names, vendors, SKUs
  • Specifications (dimensions, materials, finishes)
  • Pricing and quantities
  • Lead times
  • Links to product pages
  • Custom notes

Creating a PDF Export

Basic PDF Export

  1. Open the board you want to export
  2. Click "Export" button (top right)
  3. Select "PDF"
  4. Choose options (see below)
  5. Click "Generate PDF"
  6. Wait 10-30 seconds (depending on board size)
  7. Download when ready

PDF Export Options

Layout:

  • Grid (2-3 columns): Visual, mood board style
  • List (1 column): Detailed, specification-focused
  • Presentation (1 per page): Large images, minimal text

Content to Include:

  • ✅ Material Images (always included)
  • ☐ Material Names
  • ☐ Vendor Names
  • ☐ Specifications
  • ☐ Pricing Information
  • ☐ Notes & Comments
  • ☐ Tags
  • ☐ Project Information (name, date, your company)

Images:

  • Quality: Standard (fast) or High-Resolution (slow, larger file)
  • Size: Small, Medium, Large, or Custom dimensions
  • Watermark: Removed on Professional plans and above

Branding (Professional+):

  • Add your company logo
  • Customize colors
  • Add cover page
  • Include contact information

PDF Use Cases

Client Presentation:

Layout: Presentation
Include: Images, Names, Brief Specs
Quality: High-Resolution
Branding: Company logo, cover page

Internal Review:

Layout: Grid
Include: Images, Names, Pricing, Notes
Quality: Standard
Branding: None

Printed Material Board:

Layout: Grid (2-column)
Include: Images, Names, Vendors only
Quality: High-Resolution
Branding: Minimal

Creating an Excel Export

Basic Excel Export

  1. Open the board
  2. Click "Export"
  3. Select "Excel"
  4. Choose columns to include (see below)
  5. Click "Generate Excel"
  6. Download .xlsx file

Excel Columns

Standard columns:

  • Material Name
  • Vendor/Manufacturer
  • SKU/Product Code
  • Category
  • Subcategory

Specifications:

  • Dimensions (length, width, height)
  • Material Type (wood, metal, fabric, etc.)
  • Finish
  • Color/Tone
  • Performance Ratings (fire rating, durability, etc.)

Pricing & Availability:

  • Unit Price
  • Unit of Measure (sq ft, ea, linear ft)
  • Lead Time
  • Availability Status

Project Details:

  • Quantity Needed (editable column for you to fill in)
  • Total Cost (calculated: Quantity × Unit Price)
  • Notes
  • Tags
  • Status

Links:

  • Product URL
  • Vendor Contact

Excel Use Cases

Vendor Purchase Order:

Columns: Name, Vendor, SKU, Quantity, Unit Price, Total
Add: Your PO number, delivery address (in Notes)

Budget Tracking:

Columns: Name, Category, Unit Price, Quantity Needed, Total Cost
Add: Budget column, Variance column
Sort by: Category or Total Cost

Specifications List:

Columns: Name, Vendor, Dimensions, Material, Finish, Performance Ratings
For: Architect/contractor review

Advanced Export Options

Filtering Before Export

Export only specific materials:

  1. Apply filters on board (tags, status, category, etc.)
  2. Export
  3. Only filtered materials included in export

Example: Export only "Approved" items

  • Filter board by Status: Approved
  • Export → PDF
  • Result: PDF with only approved materials

Example: Export materials by room

  • Filter by Tags: "living-room"
  • Export → Excel
  • Result: Excel with living room materials only

Selective Export

Choose specific materials:

  1. Select materials (checkbox)
  2. Click "Export Selected"
  3. Choose format
  4. Only selected materials exported

Use case: Create custom presentation with 5 favorite options

Multi-Board Export

Export multiple boards at once:

  1. From Boards list view, select boards (checkbox)
  2. Click "Export Selected Boards"
  3. Choose format:
    • Combined: All boards in one PDF/Excel file
    • Separate: Generates individual files for each board (ZIP download)

Use case: Export all room boards for complete project documentation

Customizing Exports

PDF Customization (Professional+)

Branding:

  1. Go to Account Settings → Branding
  2. Upload logo (PNG with transparency recommended)
  3. Choose brand colors
  4. Add company info (name, address, phone, email)
  5. Create cover page template

Per-export customization:

  • Override default branding per export
  • Add project-specific cover page
  • Include client logo (co-branded presentations)

Excel Templates

Create reusable column sets:

  1. Export board with desired columns
  2. Save as template (name it, e.g., "Vendor PO Template")
  3. Reuse template: Future exports auto-select same columns

Templates included:

  • Standard Presentation
  • Detailed Specifications
  • Purchase Order
  • Budget Tracking

Post-Export Editing

Editing PDFs

Tools: Adobe Acrobat, Preview (Mac), online PDF editors

Common edits:

  • Add annotations/highlights
  • Add text boxes with notes
  • Rearrange pages
  • Combine with other PDFs (cover letter, contract)

Editing Excel Files

Excel/Google Sheets:

Common edits:

  • Add Quantity column → fill in quantities needed
  • Add Total column: =Quantity * Unit Price
  • Add Budget vs. Actual comparison
  • Create pivot tables for analysis
  • Add charts (pricing by category, etc.)

Formulas to add:

Total Cost per Material: =Quantity * Unit Price
Project Total: =SUM(Total Cost column)
Variance: =Budget - Actual

Export Best Practices

1. Clean Up Before Exporting

Checklist:

  • ☐ Remove duplicate materials
  • ☐ Delete rejected options (or filter them out)
  • ☐ Verify pricing is current
  • ☐ Check that images loaded correctly
  • ☐ Update status tags
  • ☐ Add final notes

Why: Cleaner boards = more professional exports

2. Name Files Descriptively

Bad: board-export-2024.pdf

Good: Smith Residence - Living Room Materials - Dec 8 2024.pdf

Include:

  • Project/client name
  • Room/space name
  • Date
  • Version (if multiple drafts)

3. Test Print/Share Before Sending

PDF checklist:

  • ☐ Open on different device (phone, tablet)
  • ☐ Print test page (check image quality)
  • ☐ Verify all images loaded
  • ☐ Check that pricing is correct (if included)
  • ☐ Proofread notes for typos

Excel checklist:

  • ☐ Open in Excel or Google Sheets
  • ☐ Verify formulas work
  • ☐ Check column widths
  • ☐ Ensure links are clickable

4. Version Control

For iterative projects:

Exports/
├── Smith Residence - Living Room - Draft 1 - Dec 1.pdf
├── Smith Residence - Living Room - Draft 2 - Dec 8.pdf
└── Smith Residence - Living Room - FINAL - Dec 15.pdf

Keep history of exports to track changes over time.

5. Secure Sensitive Info

If export includes pricing:

  • Don't share publicly
  • Password-protect PDF (Professional+ feature)
  • Send via secure link (not email attachment)

Client-facing exports:

  • Include only info client should see
  • Remove internal notes
  • Remove vendor cost (show retail price only)

Sharing Exports

Email

Recommendations:

  • PDFs under 5MB: Attach directly to email
  • PDFs over 5MB: Use file sharing service (Dropbox, Google Drive)
  • Excel files: Usually small enough to attach

Email template:

Subject: Material Selections - [Project Name]

Hi [Client],

Attached is the material board for [space/room]. This includes:
- [X] options for [category 1]
- [X] options for [category 2]
- Pricing and availability information

Please review and let me know your thoughts by [date].

Best,
[Your name]

File Sharing Services

Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive:

  1. Upload export
  2. Create shareable link
  3. Set permissions (view-only recommended)
  4. Set expiration date (optional but recommended)
  5. Share link with client/team

Direct Board Sharing (Alternative)

Instead of exporting, create guest link:

  1. Click "Share" on board
  2. Generate guest link
  3. Send to client

Benefits:

  • Always up-to-date (no need to re-export after changes)
  • Interactive (client can zoom in on materials)
  • Comments enabled (client can leave feedback directly)

When to export instead:

  • Client prefers PDF/Excel
  • Project is final (no more changes)
  • Need printable document
  • Offline access required

Export Limits

File Size Limits

PDFs:

  • Standard quality: ~5-10MB (50-100 materials)
  • High-res quality: ~20-50MB (50-100 materials)
  • If board is too large, split into multiple boards or reduce image quality

Excel:

  • No practical limit (can export 1000+ materials)
  • Files rarely exceed 5MB

Export Frequency

Free Plan: 5 exports/month

Professional: 50 exports/month

Studio: 200 exports/month

Agency: Unlimited exports

(Resets monthly on your billing date)

Troubleshooting

"Export failed"

Common causes:

  • Board too large (500+ materials)
  • Network timeout
  • Server busy

Solutions:

  1. Try exporting in standard quality (not high-res)
  2. Filter board to export fewer materials
  3. Split large board into smaller boards
  4. Try again in a few minutes

"Images missing in PDF"

Causes:

  • Materials with broken image links
  • Images still loading when export started

Solution:

  1. Refresh board page
  2. Wait for all images to load
  3. Try export again

"Excel formatting looks wrong"

Cause: Column width auto-sizing in different programs

Solution:

  • Open in Excel or Google Sheets
  • Select all → Auto-fit column widths
  • Save adjusted version

What's Next?

Need help with exports? Chat with us (bottom right) or email support@palett.space.

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