Printing and downloading a proposal

Most proposals go out as a link. But there's still the walkthrough where you want to leave a hard copy on the kitchen counter, the client who asks for "just the numbers", and the signed job you want a file for. Both Print and Download PDF now ask the same question first: what goes on paper?

Where to find it

On any project with a built proposal, go to Bid → ② Proposal and look at the bar pinned across the top:

• PDF — sits right next to Edit and saves a PDF to your device. On a phone it moves into the ··· menu as Download PDF.
• Print — in the ··· menu. Opens your browser's print dialog.
• Arrange sections — also in the ··· menu. The same checklist, for changing the order without printing.

If you're in the middle of editing, tap Done first. The PDF and the printout are built from the finished proposal.

Either one opens a short checklist before anything happens.

Choosing what prints

The checklist shows every section this proposal actually has — scope of work, itemized pricing, payment schedule, terms & conditions, credentials & insurance, project photos, the finished-space renders, our work, the agreement, attached documents, and the acceptance & signature lines. Untick anything you don't want in this copy.

Example. Leaving a quick estimate with a homeowner who hasn't decided yet? Untick Terms & conditions, Agreement, and Attached documents and hand them two clean pages: the scope, the price, and the payment schedule.

A few things to know:

• Your header and the client's details always print. A proposal with no name on it isn't a proposal, so those aren't on the list.
• Only sections that are on the page are listed. If your terms are covered by a long-form agreement, you'll see Agreement and not Terms & conditions. No photos on the project? No photo option.
• Files follow their section. In the PDF, your insurance certificate, license and warranty are stapled on as real pages. Untick Credentials & insurance or Attached documents and those pages stay out too.
• Include everything puts every tick back in one tap.

Changing the order

Every row in the checklist has a grip on the left. Drag a section up or down and the whole proposal follows: the order is saved to that proposal when you print, download, or tap Save order, so it reads the same way on your screen, on paper, in the PDF, and on the link your client opens next.

• Cancel throws the drag away. Nothing changes until you confirm.
• Default order puts the style's order back.
• Ticks are separate from dragging. Unticking leaves a section out of one copy; dragging changes the proposal itself.
• Already-sent links don't move. A proposal a client is holding keeps the order it was sent in. Resend it if you want them to see the new one.

Setting the default order

Head to Settings → Proposal Settings, tap the Layout & pricing card, and drag the Section order list into shape, then tap Save. Every new proposal in that style starts in that order. If you keep more than one style, say Builder and Homeowner, each has its own. Reset to default brings back the standard order.

Your choices are remembered

Untick the terms once and they stay unticked the next time you print, on that device. Tick them back and that sticks instead. Each device remembers its own answer. (The order is different: it is saved to the proposal, not the device.)

Print or Download PDF?

They're the same document with the same sections. The difference is what comes out:

Both keep a line item, a photo, or the signature block whole on one page instead of sawing it in half across two. Terms, the agreement and the photo pages each start on a fresh sheet when you print.

Tip. Want a PDF with real text? Choose Print, then pick Save as PDF in the print dialog. The file is named after the client for you.

If you hide per-item prices

Both the printout and the PDF show the proposal the way your client sees it. If you've turned on Hide per-item prices from client in this proposal's ··· menu (a Per-item prices hidden note shows under the proposal bar while it's on) — or your style is set to Total only under Prices your client sees (Proposal Settings → Layout & pricing) — the paper copy lists every line and one total, with no per-line pricing — the same as the link.

On a phone

Download PDF works everywhere. Print hands the job to your phone's own print sheet, which some phone browsers and the installed app don't offer; if nothing opens, use Download PDF and print the file from there.

Related

• Sending a proposal to your client — the link is still the fastest way to get a signature.
• Badges, credentials, and portfolio photos on proposals — what gets attached to the PDF and how to pick it.