What If the Sketch Could Tell the Entire Story of the Project?

In a window and door project, there is an enormous amount of information that may seem insignificant—until someone needs it. Which window is being replaced? Which direction does that door swing? What was the final measurement? Why is this opening marked as N/A? Is there a photo documenting that condition? Who spoke with production about that change? Where is the document the installer sent?

The information usually exists. The problem is where it lives.

One part may be on the plan, another in someone’s phone photos, some notes inside a PDF, and an important conversation buried in an email or chat. Sometimes, the explanation behind a decision exists only in the memory of the person who was there. The result is a project that may contain a lot of documentation and still be difficult to understand.

With the new WindSketch editor, we wanted to start from a different idea: what if all that information could live visually exactly where it belongs?

The sketch can be much more than a drawing

The sketch has always been one of the core parts of WindSketch. It is where a property begins to take shape, where walls, rooms, windows, doors, and openings appear, and where the team starts to understand the actual layout of the project.

But once that space exists, it contains something even more valuable than a drawing: it contains context.

A window is not simply “Window 4.” It exists in a specific position on the property, with dimensions, a type, an orientation, and a relationship with everything around it. That is why, with this new generation of the editor, we have worked to evolve the sketch into something much broader: a visual space where the project can be understood, documented, and discussed.

Every opening has a place and a context

When someone opens a project, they should be able to start understanding it before even searching for additional information. In WindSketch, windows and doors can be positioned exactly where they are located on the property, creating a clear visual layout for the entire team.

Each opening can include the information needed to work with it: window or door type, dimensions, notes, swing direction, and other relevant details. N/A can also be used to visually identify elements that are part of the property but will not be removed or replaced.

The goal is not simply to store more data. It is to reduce the number of questions someone has to ask to understand what is happening. When the context is visible directly on the project, different departments can begin working from the same reference.

Measurements need context too

A measurement inside a table can tell us how large something is. A measurement placed visually on the project can explain much more.

The new Measure tool makes it possible to represent dimensions and distances directly on the sketch. It can be used to show the size of an opening, the distance between two elements, the separation between a window and a wall, or any other reference that helps the team better understand the property.

When those measurements appear alongside openings, notes, and geometry, the sketch begins to function as a common visual language for everyone involved in the project. Sales can use it to present the job, production can understand the existing conditions, and the field team can reference it during execution.

Even months later, someone who was never present during the original visit can return to the project and understand what was happening.

Documenting something should be as natural as seeing it

Photos are a fundamental part of almost any window and door project. However, a folder containing 30 or 40 photos can create a different problem: someone still has to remember what each image represents, where it was taken, and why it mattered.

In the new WindSketch editor, media files can be placed directly on the sketch. A photo can live directly on the window it is documenting. A video can be associated with the area where a particular condition was discovered. A document can be placed exactly in the context where the team will need it.

The Media layer supports images, videos, audio, and documents directly within the project’s visual workspace. Images can also be edited to add text, timestamps, symbols, and other annotations that help explain what is being shown.

Documentation is no longer separated from the project. Documentation becomes part of the project.

When something needs an explanation, the conversation can start right there

A photo can show a condition, but it does not always explain what should be done about it. Production may need to review it, an installer may have a question, or someone may need to make a decision before the project can move forward.

In many workflows, that is exactly where context starts to break down. The photo stays in one place while the conversation happens somewhere else.

With WindSketch Discussion Pins, a team member can open a discussion thread exactly where the question exists. That thread can begin on a window, a door, a photograph, or anywhere on the sketch. Inside the conversation, users can mention team members, share media files, and reference openings or other related elements.

The Discussion feature is not limited to pins on the map. It is also available directly from individual elements such as openings and media files. If someone has a question about a specific image, for example, they can start a discussion directly on that image and mention members of the team. Those users receive a notification and are taken directly back to that specific context.

The conversation no longer has to begin by explaining what everyone is talking about. The place where it started already provides much of the context.

We didn’t want to create another chat

Companies already have enough places to communicate: email, text messages, internal chats, calls, and notes. The problem was not the lack of another inbox. The problem was preserving context around those conversations.

That is why WindSketch Discussion Threads remain connected to the project elements being discussed. A conversation may begin from a specific point on the sketch, but it does not get buried there. Every thread also appears in the project’s central Discussions area, clearly indicating where it originated.

This creates two natural ways to review communication. A user can find a conversation from the exact place where it happened, or they can open Discussions and review every active project conversation from one centralized location.

Files follow the same logic

Documentation works in a similar way. A file can be placed on the sketch, associated with an opening, added inside a conversation, or included within a visual folder created directly on the plan.

However, WindSketch does not require users to remember where every item was placed. Everything is also registered inside the project’s Filesystem, organized according to the context where it was created or added.

This allows teams to work visually throughout the day without sacrificing a centralized structure for reviewing project documentation later. Users do not have to choose between context and organization. They can have both.

Sometimes an arrow explains more than a paragraph

Not every piece of information needs to become a long note. Sometimes it is enough to indicate a direction, identify an area, highlight a problem, place a label, or make something impossible to overlook.

The Symbols layer allows teams to add labels, arrows, signs, and other visual elements directly to the project. Combined with annotations, measurements, and media tools, this gives each team the flexibility to adapt the sketch to the information they actually need to communicate.

A good visual workspace should not force us to explain everything with text. It should help us show it.

Building all that context also needs to be fast

All of this capability loses value if documenting a project requires too much time. That is why we have also worked on accelerating the way elements are added to the sketch.

Quick Elements make it possible to insert openings rapidly while building the project, while the Components library includes hundreds of window representations that can be dragged and dropped directly onto the sketch.

The goal is to maintain one of the principles that has always been important to WindSketch: the platform should be able to become more powerful without passing that complexity on to the user.

When we zoom out, the purpose of the sketch changes

Now imagine the finished project. What started as a few lines representing a property now contains windows, doors, measurements, distances, notes, images, documents, symbols, and conversations. Every element is positioned where it makes sense, while Files and Discussions provide centralized spaces where the team can review everything happening across the project.

That change may seem small until we think about how these teams actually work. One person performs the measurements, another prepares the estimate, someone else reviews production, another handles documentation, and another ultimately performs the installation. Months later, someone completely different may need to understand why a particular decision was made.

Each person enters the project from a different perspective, but all of them can work from the same visual reference.

The sketch becomes the place where all of those perspectives meet.

A project you can understand just by looking at it

For years, sketching software has mainly focused on one question: how do we draw the project?

We believe there is now a much more interesting question: what can that drawing do once it exists?

It can show where every window and door is located. It can preserve measurements and distances. It can identify which elements will not be replaced. It can store evidence exactly where it was found. It can highlight a problem, hold a document, and become the place where a conversation begins.

And perhaps most importantly, it can preserve enough context for someone else to understand the project days, weeks, or even months later.

That is what we are building with the new WindSketch editor. Not simply a better way to create sketches, but a visual workspace where the project can live, evolve, and preserve its history.

Sketch it. Document it. Discuss it. Keep the context.