Help CenterYes! Side-by-Side View opens automatically when you open a spec, giving you access to product documentation alongside the specification you’re working on.
Now, Side-by-Side View is powered by LaTrobe, which can find, read, and summarize product spec documents for you.
When you open a spec, LaTrobe uses the product information already available in Designer Pages to search for relevant manufacturer documentation. If the product has PDFs available on Designer Pages, those can be loaded directly. If not, LaTrobe can search the manufacturer’s product page for available spec sheets and other PDFs.
Once a document is selected, you can:
- View the PDF directly alongside your spec.
- Move between pages or select a different available PDF.
- Open the Plain PDF when you want to search or review the original document yourself.
- Click LaTrobe, read this to have LaTrobe use the attributes from your spec template to analyze the page you’re viewing and find information that can help populate those fields.
- Choose between a Quick Read or Full Read to review the information LaTrobe finds.
LaTrobe is designed to help you get to the right information faster, but you remain in control. If it finds the wrong PDF, switch to another document. If it lands on the wrong page, navigate to the page you want LaTrobe to read. If no PDF is available, or the source isn’t right, you can provide another product URL or upload your own document.
The first time LaTrobe analyzes a document, it may take a moment to study the PDF. Once analyzed, the document is remembered for 90 days, so returning to it is much faster.