SheetNav

SheetNav is a browser-based tool for automatically creating bookmarks in construction plan PDFs. It is designed for architects, engineers, contractors, permit expediters, and other AEC professionals who work with multi-sheet drawing sets and need a faster way to prepare navigable PDF documents.

Instead of creating every bookmark manually, users upload a construction plan set and SheetNav analyzes the document’s searchable text layer. It identifies sheet numbers and sheet titles from drawing title blocks and uses them to prepare a bookmark for each page. The results can be reviewed, edited, included, or excluded before a new bookmarked PDF is generated.

For plan sets with consistent title-block layouts, users can define the areas containing the sheet number and sheet title. These recognition templates can be applied to selected page ranges, making it possible to handle cover sheets, architectural drawings, structural sheets, and other sections with different layouts. Detected text candidates are shown against page previews so users remain in control of the final bookmark names.

SheetNav is intentionally focused on one task: turning construction drawing sets into easier-to-navigate PDFs. It does not attempt to replace a complete PDF editor or a full construction document management platform. This focused workflow makes it suitable for teams that need bookmarks but do not want to install or purchase a larger desktop application solely for that purpose.

The current version supports PDF files up to 95 MB and plan sets containing up to 150 pages. It works best with digitally generated PDFs that contain searchable text. Scanned drawings without a usable text layer may require OCR before they can be processed effectively. Generated bookmarks currently use a flat outline rather than a nested hierarchy.

No account or software installation is required. The entire workflow—from upload and title-block recognition to bookmark review and PDF export—runs through a web browser. Users can try the tool free during its MVP stage.

Typical use cases include preparing drawing sets for permit submission, improving navigation during plan review, adding bookmarks to consultant-issued PDFs, and organizing construction documents received without a usable bookmark outline.

SheetNav is especially useful for small and midsize AEC teams, independent professionals, and permit specialists who handle plan sets from multiple sources and need a practical, repeatable way to create consistent bookmarks. Users can review the detected information before export, which combines automation with the manual control needed for real-world drawing sets.