When the drawing is ready, you either share a live link or produce files. This page is the traffic plan path. Event plans use a different exporter — [Export an event plan](/hc/test/articles/export-event-plan).

Use this when a municipality wants a URL, or when someone asked for PDF or Excel. Skip it while you are still placing signs.

## Sharable link (recommended) vs Export files

Click **Export** in the editor header. The screen is **How would you like to export your map?**

![How would you like to export your map? Sharable link recommended versus Export files](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/traffic-plans/export/01-export-choice.png)

**Sharable link** is marked **RECOMMENDED**. Copy it with **Copy** (**Link copied to clipboard**). Benefits in that panel: **Accepted by most municipalities**, **Fastest way to get a permit**, **Also saves some trees**.

The link is the same public URL as **Copy link** on **Plans**. It stays current after you save. How it behaves: [Share a plan and read-only view](/hc/test/articles/share-link-and-read-only).

**Export files** is the file path. On-screen warning: **Only recommended when a municipality or 3rd party explicitly asks for this.**

In that column you can toggle:

- **Include map**
- **Include materials list** — then **PDF** and/or **Excel**
- **Include post orders** (when the catalogue has post signs)

The main button is **Export map** if you included a map (or Excel, which needs an export rectangle). Otherwise it is **Export files**.

**Excel** shows a **Pro** badge when you cannot use it (**This is a pro feature.**). You also need to be logged in with a saved plan (**Log in and save the plan before exporting Excel.**).

## Draw export maps

An export map is a rectangle on the basemap. Each one becomes a PDF page. The sidebar accessible name is **Traffic plan export maps**. The heading is **Export maps**.

![Detail export rectangle on the map (Map 1)](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/traffic-plans/export/03-export-area-drawn.png)

| Type | Role |
|------|------|
| **Detail** | Standard page. Size is limited so signs stay readable |
| **XL** | Larger coverage. **XL maps require a PRO account.** |

### Steps

1. Save, or wait for **Auto-save: saved**.
2. **Export** → set **Include map** (and materials / post orders if you need them) → **Export map**.
3. The **Export maps** sidebar opens (**Traffic plan export maps**). Empty state: **No export maps yet.** **Use Draw new map below to add a Detail or XL map.** **Start below** points at **Draw new map**. In read-only export: **No export maps have been added to this plan.**
4. Under **Draw new map**, click **Detail** or **XL**.
5. Drag a rectangle over the area you need on paper.
6. Select **Map 1** (and later maps). Set **Paper size** and **Change orientation**. Until paper is chosen the row shows **No paper size**.
7. Confirm **Map pages**, **Materials list**, and **Post instructions**.
8. If **Materials list** is on, choose **Materials PDF** and/or **Materials Excel**.
9. Click **Export now** (while it runs: **Exporting...**). Keep the tab open. Open the download and check every page.

You need **at least one export map** before PDF export is enabled (**Add at least one export map to enable export.**).

[Export a traffic plan from start to finish](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/traffic-plans/export/07-full-export.mp4)

*The whole path in one run: **Export**, then **Export files**, then **Detail**, drag the rectangle over the works, set **A4 - landscape**, and **Export now**. The progress list ticks through **Export maps** and **Materials list** before **Download started!** appears.*

If a **Detail** rectangle hits its limit: **This detail map has reached its maximum size. Switch it to XL map if you want to export a larger map.** Changing **Scale:** can reset **Detail** maps — confirm **Confirm scale change** only if you accept redrawing them.

**Close export mode** returns you to the editor. While the file is handed to the browser: **Starting download** / **The PDF is ready. Your browser is starting the download now.** After a successful file: **Download started** / **Your export is ready and the PDF download has started.** / **Your download has started.** **Back to export maps** if you need another run.

## Paper size and orientation

Each export map has its own **Paper size** (A4, A3, and other series in the list) and orientation.

Match what your municipality or printer expects (for example A3 landscape). **XL** still needs a paper size — content scales to that page. It is not infinite paper.

**Remove export map** deletes that rectangle.

## XL maps (Pro)

Use **Detail** for junctions that must stay sharp. Use **XL** for a larger overview. Without Pro, **XL** stays disabled with a **Pro** badge and **XL maps require a PRO account.** Paying for unlimited signs on the plan does not by itself unlock **XL**.

An existing rectangle can change type: select the row and use the **Export type** select (**Detail** / **XL**). That is the fix for **This detail map has reached its maximum size.**

## Detail frames: one overview drawing

A file pack of separate pages leaves the municipality guessing which junction each page covers. **Detail frames** answers that on the paper itself: the **XL** page gets a numbered orange box around every **Detail** map that sits inside it, labelled **MAP 1**, **MAP 2**, and so on. They carry the same numbers as the rows in the sidebar.

One XL page with frames, plus a Detail page per junction, is the overview drawing most municipalities want.

**Detail frames** is a switch on the export map row, and only on **XL** rows. **Detail** rows do not have it, so draw the detail maps first.

### Steps

1. Draw a **Detail** map over each junction first. Until one exists the switch stays greyed out: **Add a detail map first to show frames.**
2. Zoom out until one rectangle can cover all of them.
3. **Draw new map** → **XL**, and drag it over the whole works.
4. Click that row to select it (**Map 3** in the example below).
5. Set its **Paper size** and use **Change orientation**. A3 landscape reads well for an overview.
6. Turn **Detail frames** on. The row picks up a **Frames** badge, and the numbered boxes appear on the map immediately, so you can check the framing before you spend an export on it.
7. Turn on **XL maps first** so the overview is page 1 rather than the last page.
8. **Export now**, and open the PDF.

![Export maps sidebar with Detail frames on for the XL map: Map 1 and Map 2 as Detail, Map 3 as XL with a Frames badge, and numbered MAP 1 and MAP 2 boxes drawn on the map](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/traffic-plans/export/09-detail-frames.png)

Only **Detail** maps that **overlap** the XL rectangle get a box. A Detail map elsewhere in the plan is left off that page. That is what you want when the works run along two streets and each gets its own XL.

Frames belong to that one XL map. If you also want a clean overview without boxes, draw a second XL map over the same area and leave its **Detail frames** off. The tooltip says the same: **Draws numbered boxes for overlapping detail maps on this XL page. Add another XL map if you also want an overview without frames.**

### What it looks like on paper

![Exported PDF overview page: the XL map with orange numbered MAP 1 and MAP 2 boxes marking the two detail pages](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/traffic-plans/export/10-pdf-overview-frames.png)

*Page 1 of the export. The **MAP 1** and **MAP 2** boxes mark the two **Detail** pages that follow, so the reader can go straight from the overview to the right page. The header carries the plan title and date range, and the footer the author and **Format: A3 - Map 3 - XL**.*

## Page order: XL maps first

**XL maps first** sits with **Map pages** and **Materials list** at the bottom of the sidebar, and **only appears when the export holds both a Detail and an XL map**.

- **On**: XL pages come before Detail pages. Use this for an overview drawing: the reader sees the whole works, then the junctions.
- **Off**: the pages follow the order of the rows in the sidebar.

## Choose which maps go in this export

From two export maps upwards (with **Map pages** on), each row gets a checkbox. Use it when a plan holds ten rectangles and today's request is for two of them. You do not have to delete the others.

- The checkbox is **Add to this export** / **Remove from this export**.
- **Select all** in the sidebar header puts every map back in.
- Under the **Export maps** heading you see how the export stands, for example **2 of 3 in this export**. Rows that are out are dimmed.
- The button counts what you picked: **Export 1 map**, **Export 3 maps**. With everything selected it stays **Export now**.
- Deselect everything and the button is disabled: **Select at least one map to export.**
- If the picked maps cannot be exported at all (no paper size, or XL without Pro): **None of the selected maps can be exported.**

Rectangles you leave out stay on the plan for the next run.

## Layers per export map

Each row has a **Layers** button (the sliders icon). It opens a small panel, headed **Layers**, that hides plan content on **that page only**:

| Option | Hides |
|--------|-------|
| **Traffic Signs** | Placed signs |
| **Lines & Shapes** | Sketch lines, rectangles, circles, shapes |
| **Text Areas** | Map text |
| **Bulk Placement** | Bulk lines and their signs |
| **GPX Imports** | Imported GPX tracks |

The button carries an orange dot while that map hides anything. Use it for an XL overview that should show the works area without every cone on top of it, while the Detail pages keep the full drawing. This is per export map. It does not change the editor or the other pages.

## PDF preview

**PDF preview** (right side of the map) shows paper-relative sizing while you edit, with **Off** / **On**. It appears when your account can use XL maps.

1. Turn **PDF preview** **On**.
2. If you have no XL map yet, **Draw preview map**, pick **Paper size**, then **Draw XL map**.
3. Choose an existing map from **Select XL map**, or **Detail mode** to leave the selector empty.
4. **Lock preview map** before selecting some objects (**Lock the preview map to select this object.**). **Unlock preview map** when you need to move the rectangle.
5. Adjust placements for readability at paper scale.
6. Turn preview **Off**, then run a real **Export now**.

**Scale cannot be changed while PDF preview is on.** Preview is not a substitute for checking the downloaded PDF.

Toast after creating a map: **XL map created. Unlock the preview map to move or resize it.**

The chip, **Select XL map**, **Draw XL map**, and **Lock preview map**: [PDF preview](/hc/test/articles/pdf-preview).

## Materials list

**Materials list** is the packing list: types and **Qty**, plus **Stacked signs** as a mounting overview (those plates are already in the totals).

1. Enable **Include materials list** on the export choice, or **Materials list** in the export sidebar.
2. Choose **PDF** / **Materials PDF** and, if you have access, **Excel** / **Materials Excel**.
3. Export and check the extra PDF pages (and the spreadsheet).

Excel description: **Download the materials list as an Excel file with a total tab and one tab per drawing.** Unsaved changes are saved first. Excel needs at least one export map (**Create an export map first.**).

Combination signs appear under the **Name** you set on the board. Bulk lines show as bulk quantities. Packing-list columns, Excel, and post-order cards: [Materials list and post orders](/hc/test/articles/materials-and-post-orders).

### What the exported PDF looks like

One page per export map, then the extras you ticked. The map page carries the plan title, the date range, a scale bar, and a north arrow.

![Exported PDF map page with the plan title, date range, scale bar, and north arrow](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/traffic-plans/export/08-pdf-page-1.png)

The materials page follows, listing each sign type with its code and **Qty**, grouped by catalogue category.

![Exported PDF materials list page with sign codes and quantities](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/traffic-plans/export/08-pdf-page-2.png)

## Post orders

**Post orders** are instructions for traffic controllers.

1. Open **Posts** (**Manage traffic controllers and their orders per post.**).
2. Place a post item from **Post items** if the country has them (**No post signs available for this country.** otherwise).
3. Select a post: **Post name (label)**, **Orders**. **Move post up** / **Move post down**, **Go to post**, **Google Maps**.
4. Save.
5. On export, enable **Include post orders** (choice screen) or **Post instructions** (sidebar).

Fill instructions before the crew PDF goes out.

## Every label on the sidebar and the progress panel

The **Export maps** sidebar and the progress panel between them carry about seventy distinct strings. They have their own page so this one stays a walkthrough: [Export labels and progress messages](/hc/test/articles/export-labels-reference).

## When PDF fails

Leave the tab open if you see **This is taking longer than usual. A slow network connection can delay map tiles and layers. Please keep this window open while the export finishes.** Check the file if **Some map layers took longer than expected to load. The export may be incomplete; please check the PDF before using it.**

After a failure, **Export Feedback** may appear. Stay logged in if asked (**Log in to send export feedback.**), describe blank pages or stuck progress, and **Send feedback**. You can also use **How did the export go?** after a successful run. After send: **Feedback sent** / **Thanks for the feedback. We use this to keep improving PDF exports.**

See [Export fails or is blank](/hc/test/articles/export-fails).

## What good looks like

Municipalities who can work from a URL have **Sharable link**. File packs open on an **XL** overview with **Detail frames** on, so **MAP 1** and **MAP 2** on that page point at the Detail pages behind it, followed by a **Detail** page per junction, materials pages that match the map, and post orders the crew can follow. You opened the PDF before you sent it.

## If something blocks you

| Situation | Where to go |
|-----------|-------------|
| Blank or stuck PDF | [Export fails or is blank](/hc/test/articles/export-fails) |
| **XL** or **Excel** locked | [Feature not available for my account](/hc/test/articles/feature-not-available) |
| **Detail frames** greyed out | No **Detail** map yet: **Add a detail map first to show frames.** |
| A Detail page has no box on the overview | That rectangle does not overlap the XL rectangle |
| Cannot draw rectangles | Read-only or review lock — [I can’t open or edit a plan](/hc/test/articles/cannot-edit-plan) |

## Related articles

- [Create, organise, and share traffic plans](/hc/test/articles/create-organise-and-share)
- [Tour of the traffic plan editor](/hc/test/articles/editor-tour)
- [Working with signs](/hc/test/articles/working-with-signs)
- [Drawing and measuring](/hc/test/articles/drawing-and-measuring)
- [Materials list and post orders](/hc/test/articles/materials-and-post-orders)
- [PDF preview](/hc/test/articles/pdf-preview)
- [Share a plan and read-only view](/hc/test/articles/share-link-and-read-only)
- [Export fails or is blank](/hc/test/articles/export-fails)
- [Export labels and progress messages](/hc/test/articles/export-labels-reference)