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Best practices for handling files over 50MB with Beam’s AI estimating assistant

Reduce planset file size and improve AI estimate performance when working with large PDFs.

Optimizing Plansets for Beam AI

While you can upload 100 MB total combined file size to the AI Assistant, the single file limit is 50 MB. If your document is between 50-100 MB, you can simply split the document and upload both parts separately.

Alternatively, if your single file size is larger than 100 MB, you'll need to delete unnecessary pages. Since construction sets often contain sizable proportions of "boilerplate" info, the best way to reduce file size without losing detail is to remove these pages.

What to Keep vs. What to Remove

Removing "fluff" allows our AI to focus its processing power on the data that actually drives your estimate.

Keep These (The Essentials) Remove These (The "Fluff")
Floor Plans & Elevations Cover Sheets & Renderings (Heavy images)
Foundation & Framing Plans General Notes & Specs (Boilerplate text)
Schedules (Door, Window, Finish) Landscape & Irrigation (Complex vector lines)
Key Sections & Details Standard Details (Generic cross-sections)

How to Remove Pages (Fastest Methods)

Option 1: Mac Users (using Preview) 

This is the fastest method and automatically optimizes file size.

  1. Open your PDF in Preview.

  2. Click View > Thumbnails to see the sidebar.

  3. Hold Cmd (⌘) and click the thumbnails of pages you don't need.

  4. Hit Delete on your keyboard.

  5. Go to File > Export and save the PDF as a new file 

  6. Check the new file size before replacing the original

Option 2: Windows Users (using Chrome/Edge)

No software needed—just use your browser’s "Print" function.

  1. Open your PDF in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

  2. Press Ctrl + P (Print).

  3. Change the Destination to Save as PDF.

  4. Under Pages, select Custom and enter the page numbers you want to keep (e.g., 1, 5-12, 18-25).

  5. Click Save.

Option 3: Use a Browser Extension

 

Pro Tip: if you've trimmed your file and it's still over 100MB, try splitting the document between two projects.

  1. Create a first project "[Address] Architectural" and a second project "[Address] Structural" for instance.

  2. Upload the matching documentation to produce two separate bids, edit each as needed, and download both of those bids as PDFs.

  3. Create a third project "[Address] Combined", upload both bid PDFs from Architectural and Structural, and ask the AI assistant to combine them into a single scope of work.

  4. Once the combined bid is to your liking, you can then delete the first two projects and rename the third.