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Creating Punch Lists from AI Detections

Carlos Camacho
Updated

Once you've reviewed and edited the AI detections on your photos, you can export everything to a PDF "punch list" report that you can share with your team or client. SuperClear AI generates the punch list server-side, embeds the annotated photos with their detections and captions, and downloads it to your browser as a PDF. This article walks through the generation process and the options you have for what goes in the report.

Looking for the AI-written report instead? The Report button covered here builds a photo log / punch list PDF. If you want SuperClear AI to write the observations and action items for you and produce the QA field report, use the Generate AI Report and Download QA Report buttons — see Generating AI Reports.

Step 1: Open the SuperClear AI Screen

  1. Sign in to superclearai.nspec.app
  2. From the dashboard, find the inspection you want to generate a report for
  3. Click View SuperClear AI on the inspection card (or open the inspection and click "Open SuperClear AI Inspection")
  4. The SuperClear AI Screen opens with all photos and their AI detections

Step 2: Prepare Your Photos

Before generating the report, take a moment to confirm everything is ready:

  • AI processing is complete — Make sure no photos are still showing the "Analyzing..." overlay
  • Edits are saved — If you've added manual annotations in the image editor, save them
  • Captions are written — Photos with descriptive captions look much better in the report
  • Tags are assigned — Photos grouped by condition tag are easier to navigate in the PDF
  • Metadata is set — Building, floor, and elevation appear under each photo in the report

Step 3: Choose What to Include

You have two ways to control what ends up in the report:

Include all photos

If you want every photo in the inspection to be in the report, leave the selection empty and skip straight to generation. This is the most common case.

Include only specific photos

If you only want a subset of photos in the report:

  1. Use the filter and sort controls in the toolbar to narrow down what's visible
  2. Check the boxes on the photos you want in the report
  3. Use Select All in the toolbar to grab everything visible at once

When you generate the report, only the selected photos will be included.

SuperClear AI Screen with photos selected and Report button highlighted

Step 4: Generate the Report

  1. Click the Report button in the toolbar (blue button with document icon)
  2. A confirmation dialog appears asking you to confirm the generation
  3. If you have photos selected, the dialog confirms that only those photos will be in the report
  4. Click Generate
  5. The button changes to "Generating..." while SuperClear AI renders the PDF on the server
  6. When the PDF is ready, your browser automatically downloads it
  7. The file is named SuperClearAI_Photo_Log_Report.pdf
  8. A success toast appears in the corner: "Report downloaded"

What's in the Report

The generated PDF includes:

  • Cover page — Project name, inspection name, inspection date, inspector
  • Photo log — One photo per entry, with:
    • The photo with all AI-detected and manually-added annotations baked in
    • Building, floor, and elevation metadata
    • The caption you wrote
    • Assigned condition tags
  • Detection summary — Counts of detected defects by condition

How Long It Takes

Most punch lists generate in a few seconds to a minute. Large inspections with many high-resolution photos take longer. The button shows "Generating..." for the entire wait — don't refresh the page or click Report again, that just creates extra work for the server.

If Generation Fails

If something goes wrong, you'll see an error toast: "Failed to generate PDF. Please try again."

Common causes:

  • Slow or interrupted connection — Check your internet and try again
  • Inspection is too large — Try selecting fewer photos and generating in smaller batches
  • Server temporary error — Wait a few seconds and click Report again

Best Practices

  • Generate the report after reviewing all photos — Don't generate, find a missing tag, then generate again. Get everything ready first.
  • Use selection for client-specific subsets — If you want to send a punch list with just the critical findings, select those photos and generate
  • Group photos by tag before generating — Tagged photos are organized into sections in the PDF
  • Add captions for the client's benefit — A photo with no caption is just a photo. With a caption, it's a finding.
  • Double-check the file before sending — Open the downloaded PDF to confirm everything looks right

Troubleshooting

I don't see a Report button

Solutions:

  • Make sure you're on the SuperClear AI Screen, not the Detailed Inspection View. The Report button is in the toolbar at the top of the SuperClear AI Screen.
  • Refresh the page

The PDF didn't download

Solutions:

  • Check your browser's downloads folder — the file may have downloaded silently
  • Check that pop-ups and downloads aren't blocked for the SuperClear AI domain
  • Try a different browser to confirm whether the issue is browser-specific

The PDF is missing photos

Solutions:

  • Confirm AI processing completed for all photos before generating — incomplete photos may not appear
  • If you used selection, double-check which photos were selected
  • Try regenerating

The button is stuck on "Generating..."

Solutions:

  • Wait — large reports can take a minute or more
  • If it's been more than 5 minutes, refresh the page and try generating again with fewer photos selected
  • Check your internet connection

Next Steps

Need help? Contact our support team at support@nxtconstruction.ai

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