How to Export a .vp File

A .vp file is the editable source of a VisionPlan project — every wall, opening, fixture, dimension, annotation, and flooring assignment, packaged into a single file you can hand off, email, or stash in a backup folder. Export it from the Project List, and anyone else running VisionPlan can open it and pick up where you left off.

This article covers the export flow. To open one you've received, see How to Import a .vp File. For the difference between a .vp file and cloud sync, see .vp Files vs. Cloud Sync.

When to use a .vp export

Reach for .vp export when:

• You want to hand the editable plan to another VisionPlan user — a subcontractor doing the kitchen, a designer revising the layout, a homeowner who wants their own copy.
• You want an offline backup you control — sitting on your desktop or a USB drive, independent of your browser's local storage or your account on the portal.
• You're switching browsers or machines and want to bring the project across by hand, instead of relying on the automatic sync.

If you only need to share a view-only version of the drawing — for a client review, a permit submission, or a printout — use the Print dialog's Save as PDF option instead. See How to Print a Plan. PDFs aren't editable; .vp files are.

Export from the Project List

1. Open the Project List — that's the screen with all your projects laid out as a table (desktop) or card list (mobile). You land here when you launch VisionPlan, or you can get back from inside the editor by tapping the back arrow.
2. Find the project you want to export.
3. Tap the download icon in the project's row (desktop table) or in the card header (mobile). The tooltip reads "Export .vp".
4. A .vp file downloads immediately. A snackbar at the bottom of the screen confirms with "Exported VisionPlan-{ProjectName}.vp".

There's no dialog — export is a one-tap action. The file lands wherever your browser is configured to save downloads (the default Downloads folder on most desktop setups).

The filename pattern

Exported files are named:

VisionPlan-{ProjectName}.vp

For example, a project named "Master Bathroom Reno" exports as VisionPlan-Master_Bathroom_Reno.vp.

A few things VisionPlan does to the project name to make a clean filename:

• Spaces become underscores — Master Bathroom Reno becomes Master_Bathroom_Reno.
• Punctuation is stripped — characters like apostrophes, slashes, parentheses, and ampersands are removed.
• Letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores survive — so a project named "Smith-Job #3" exports as VisionPlan-Smith-Job_3.vp (the # is dropped, the hyphen and the digit stay).

If you re-export the same project, the file gets the same name. Browsers usually append (1), (2), etc. on repeat downloads — that's the browser, not VisionPlan.

What's inside a .vp file

The export bundles everything the project needs to reopen exactly as you left it:

• The project record itself (name, customer, address, job type, dates).
• Every room in the project — walls, fixtures, flooring, annotations, tape dimensions, and per-room settings.
• Every opening (doors, windows, cased openings) across all rooms.
• Every construction guide (the alignment lines you drop while drafting).

A .vp file is plain JSON text under the hood — it's safe to keep alongside other text-based project files, and it stays readable to future versions of VisionPlan.

What's NOT in a .vp file

A .vp file is the project itself — not your account or your app preferences. The following stay with you, not with the file:

• Your My Info / My Business Info identity (name, business name, contact, logo) — that travels with whoever is logged in and isn't baked into the export.
• App-level settings — theme, units, autosave interval, snapping preferences.
• The current app mode (Customer or Contractor) — the recipient opens the file in whatever mode they're using.
• Any cloud sync state — the file is a standalone snapshot. The recipient's copy won't push back to your account.
• Any per-project watermark unlock — watermark unlocks are tied to your account, not the project file. A .vp shared with someone else opens with their own watermark gating, not yours.
• Last-used print dialog choices (paper size, scale, section toggles) — those are session settings, not bundled with the project.

Mode awareness

The Export icon and the export flow are identical in Customer mode and Contractor mode. The Project List screen carries the same Import/Export controls regardless of which mode you're in.

Tips

• The Project List is the only place to export — there's no Export option inside the editor itself. If you're mid-edit and want to export, save your work (or just wait for autosave to fire), go back to the Project List, and export from there.
• The file is generated from your locally saved project state. If you've made unsaved changes in the editor and somehow haven't autosaved yet, those won't be in the file. Hit Ctrl+S or wait the autosave interval before exporting if you're unsure. See Save your work.
• .vp files are portable across platforms — a file exported from the web app opens fine on any other VisionPlan install.
• Keep a .vp export of important projects in your own backup chain — a folder on your computer, a cloud drive, an email to yourself. Cloud sync is robust, but a .vp file is yours, on disk, no account required.

Related

• How to Import a .vp File
• .vp Files vs. Cloud Sync
• Save your work — autosave and manual save
• How to Print a Plan