Send the drawing revision. Keep the client’s reply with it.

Droplana is a client portal for architects to send drawing exports and collect documents back. Each client gets one private, persistent portal with file comments and no client signup.

Your client is holding five emails with PDF attachments and is not sure which drawing is current. They have a question about one section but do not know where to ask. A portal gives them one place to look, and their question lands on the drawing it is about.

A client portal for architects, with named revisions

Send Courtyard - Ground floor - Rev A.pdf. When the design changes, upload Courtyard - Ground floor - Rev B.pdf as a separate file and tell the client which revision to review. Ask them to put questions on that file and return their survey or site photographs through the same portal.

Actual product view with fictional demonstration sheets.

The client can comment and mark the file Approved or Rejected. Either side can change or clear that status; it is not an immutable stage sign-off. Keep any formal approval process your project requires. Our document approval guide explains the file-level exchange.

From site documents to handover

• Before design: request the survey, title plan and planning correspondence with a document checklist. Clients can upload files or photograph paper with a phone.
• At a design milestone: send the relevant drawings, renders and specifications. Ask for comments on the named revision before preparing the next set.
• During construction: share client-facing progress photographs, reports and relevant RFI responses. Keep contractor coordination in your project system.
• At handover: send as-built exports, manuals and warranties. Agree how long files will remain available and keep your required archive separately.

Organise by client, not by project permissions

Droplana is the client-facing layer for PDFs and images. Keep CAD and BIM models, drawing markup and contractor coordination in your design and project tools. One portal belongs to one client. There are no project folders or project-specific access roles inside it. For several jobs with that client, include the project, phase, revision and date in filenames. Separate client entries can provide separate portals, but they do not create a shared project room for contractors and consultants.

Files are stored in Germany and encrypted at rest per file. Review the security and access model before deciding who should receive access.

If you currently deliver drawing exports through shared folders, compare a client portal with a cloud drive. The client portal guide helps you assess client access and document exchange separately from CAD and project coordination.

Try one drawing exchange

Start with a sample export and ask one client to return a site document and comment on the drawing. Free includes 3 clients, 2 GB total storage and 100 MB per file. Solo costs €19/month plus tax for unlimited clients, 50 GB and 1 GB per file. Practice supports 5 team members including the owner; Studio supports unlimited team size.

Questions before you start

Choose a plan for your document exchange

On Free, each file expires 180 days after upload. Your clients and their access stay active, so you can keep sharing new files. Active paid plans have no plan-imposed retention limit. Expiry settings, deletion and cancellation rules still apply; a persistent portal address does not guarantee permanent file availability. Team sizes include you. No setup fees or automatic overage charges. Prices exclude applicable tax.