Upload a Document with the AI Order Assistant

This is the step-by-step walkthrough for turning a blueprint, drawing, spreadsheet, photo, or CAD file into a ready-to-review order. The AI reads your document, pulls out dimensions, materials, and quantities, matches them to your catalog, and builds product line items for you to check before they land on the order.

For the concept and full capabilities, see the AI Order Assistant overview. For everything AI does across TimberCloud, see the AI hub.

Tip: Hours of hand-keying an order collapse into about a minute of review. You stay in control — nothing is added to the order until you click Add Products to Order.

Before you start

The AI Order Assistant is a plan-included feature — there is no separate "AI add-on" to enable, buy, or budget against.

• Plan: Available on the Commerce plan and up (Commerce, Build, Production, Enterprise). It is included, not metered, and it is available during the 14-day free trial. It is not available on the Free plan. See Subscriptions & Plans.
• Permission: Your user role must include the AI / product permission. If you don't see the AI Assistant button, ask a company Admin to grant the permission in Settings → Company → Permissions.
• Catalog: The AI matches what it reads against your existing products. The more complete your catalog (clear product names, attributes, and options), the better the matches. See Create a Product and Attributes.

Tip: You can steer every analysis company-wide with the Global AI Instructions prompt (terminology, product mappings, defaults). Set it once in Settings → Catalog → AI Settings — see AI Settings.

Step 1 — Open the AI Assistant

1. Go to Orders → New Order (or open an existing draft order).
2. On the order's products panel, click the AI Assistant button.
3. The AI Document Upload window opens.

Step 2 — Choose your file

You have two ways to add a document:

• Drag and drop — drag the file directly onto the upload area.
• Browse — click the upload area and pick a file from your computer.

Supported file types

Note: DWG files are supported — upload them directly. (Earlier versions required converting DWG to DXF; that is no longer necessary. Both DWG and DXF work.)

For the cleanest results:

• Text-based PDFs read more accurately than scanned images of pages.
• Label dimensions clearly and keep units consistent throughout the document.
• For spreadsheets, use clear column headers and include units of measurement.
• For images, use good lighting, high resolution, and include a scale or ruler when you can.
• Multi-page PDFs are fine; if a file is very large or busy, consider splitting it.

Step 3 — Add analysis instructions (optional)

The Analysis Instructions (Optional) field lets you give the AI context about the document so it reads it the way you intend. A sentence or two here noticeably improves matching.

Useful instructions:

• "These are cabinet door dimensions."
• "Material is 3/4 inch maple plywood."
• "All measurements are in millimeters."
• "Focus on the drawer box specifications."
• "Only extract the framing dimensions from page 2."

Tip: Be specific. "3/4 inch oak plywood" beats "wood," and naming the unit system ("measurements are in millimeters") prevents conversion mistakes. These instructions apply to this one upload; your company-wide Global AI Instructions apply automatically on top of them.

Step 4 — Run the analysis

Click Upload Document to start. The AI analyzes the file, extracts specifications, and matches them to your product catalog. You'll see status updates while it works; larger or more complex documents take a little longer.

Step 5 — Review the results

When analysis finishes, the detected products appear as cards for you to review and refine. Nothing is added to your order yet.

Each product card shows:

• Product name — the catalog product the AI matched.
• Product options — detected attributes such as material, finish, and style.
• Line items — a table of the dimensions and quantities found for that product.

Adjust the products

• Replace a match — click the edit icon on a card to swap in a different product from your catalog.
• Flag as incorrect — click the X on a card to exclude it from the order; click the checkmark on a flagged card to restore it.
• Reorder — drag and drop cards to reorganize the product list.
• Add a product — click Add Product to insert another catalog product the AI may have missed.

Adjust the line items

• Edit values — click the edit icon on a line item to correct dimensions or quantities.
• Flag a line item — click the flag icon to mark a single line as incorrect.
• Move between products — drag and drop line items from one product to another.

Take a moment to confirm the matches, options, and measurements before continuing — this review step is where you catch anything the AI read differently than you meant.

Step 6 — Add the products to your order

When the cards look right:

1. Do a final pass over the products and line items.
2. Click Add Products to Order.
3. The products are added to your order form with options and dimensions pre-filled.
4. Continue editing the order as you normally would — pricing, customer, shipping, and so on.

From here it's an ordinary order: see Create an Order for the rest of the flow.

Tips for better matches

Prepare the document

• Label every measurement and keep one consistent unit system.
• Avoid blurry, low-resolution, or heavily skewed scans.
• Lay information out logically so related dimensions stay together.

Keep your catalog ready

• Give products clear, consistent names and complete attribute options — the AI can only match to what exists in your catalog.
• Keep options and pricing current so matched products carry the right details.

Write good instructions

• Name materials precisely, state the unit system, and call out which parts of the document to focus on (or ignore).

Common use cases

• Blueprint to order — pull window, door, and cabinet specs from architectural blueprints.
• Cut list processing — turn an Excel cut list into drawer, panel, or component line items with exact dimensions.
• Quote recreation — recreate an order from a competitor invoice or an existing quote.
• Photo estimation — snap a photo of an existing installation to start a replacement-part order.
• Sketch conversion — turn a dimensioned hand sketch into a formal order.

Troubleshooting

No products detected

• Check the document's quality and readability.
• Make sure your catalog actually contains matching products.
• Add more specific analysis instructions.
• Confirm the file format is on the supported list above.

Unexpected matches

• Review your catalog for similarly named products.
• Add clearer analysis instructions (material, units, focus areas).
• Re-check your Global AI Instructions — a company-wide hint can fix recurring mismatches.

Upload errors

• Verify the file format is supported.
• Make sure you have a stable internet connection.
• Try a cleaner export of the file.

The AI Assistant button isn't showing

• Confirm your company is on the Commerce plan or higher (it's included from Commerce up and during the trial) — see Subscriptions & Plans.
• Confirm your user role has the AI / product permission (a company Admin can grant it in Settings → Company → Permissions).

Processing seems slow or stalls

• Large or complex documents take longer to analyze.
• Split very large multi-page documents and try again.
• Contact support if problems persist.

Related

• AI Order Assistant overview
• AI Settings (Global AI Instructions)
• AI in TimberCloud
• Create an Order
• Subscriptions & Plans