VDC Release: Dusty Portal

Knowing a layout was ready used to mean waiting for someone to send a message, and sharing one project with a trade partner meant workarounds. Portal now emails project members when a layout is published or a print date is coming up with no layout ready, and Admins can invite trade partners to a single project. Amba answers Portal questions in plain language without leaving the page, and the new Measure Tool checks dimensions right on the layout canvas instead of in a separate CAD tool.

• Layout Notifications: Get an email when a layout is published, plus a warning when a print date is approaching.
• Updated Roles and Project Sharing: Clearer roles, Project Admins, and confirmations when access changes.
• Amba: Your Portal Assistant: Ask about your projects and layouts, get how-to help, or open a support ticket from the chat.
• Measure Tool: Measure distances on the File Prep canvas, with snapping to lines, arcs, intersections, and points.

VDC Updates

Layout Notifications: Know When a Layout Is Ready

Portal now sends project members an email when a layout is published, so field and VDC teams know a layout is ready without waiting for a message from the publisher.

Two notification types ship in this release:

• Layout published: Sent to everyone with a role on the project, except the person who published.
• Print date warning: Sent once a day for layouts that are close to their scheduled print date, so there is still time to act.

How to choose which notifications you get:

1. Open a project and go to Project settings > My Notifications.
2. Turn each notification type on or off for that project, then click Save. Cancel restores the last saved settings.

How to turn off notifications:

1. Click on your name and select the new option Profile.
2. In the Notification section, go to Email and turn the switch off. The per-project switches will be disabled until email is turned back on.

Updated Roles and Project Sharing: Clearer Access for Every Project

Portal has new invite flows for an organization and a single project, so Admins can give people access to every project or only the jobs they work on.

How to invite people to an organization (Org Admins):

1. Open the organization's Members page (formerly Users). The page is titled with the organization's name, for example "Acme Corp Members."
2. Under Invite members, enter one or more email addresses, separated by commas.
3. Choose Viewer, Editor, or Admin from the role dropdown at the right end of the Emails box. The dropdown defaults to Viewer, and the role applies to everyone in that invite.
4. Click Invite. Each person gets an email that names the organization and their role.

How to invite people to a project (Org Admins and the Project Admins):

1. Open the project and go to Project Settings.
2. Under Invite people to this project, enter one or more email addresses, separated by commas.
3. Choose Viewer or Editor from the role dropdown at the right end of the Emails box. The dropdown defaults to Viewer, and the role applies to everyone in that invite.
4. Click Invite. Each person gets an email that names the organization and their role.

After each invite, Portal shows the result for every email address: invitation sent, or already has access. "Already has access" means the person already holds that role or a higher one, so nothing changed. To change a project member's role later, use the Role dropdown on their row; to take them off the project, click Remove. When giving access to someone outside the company, start with the lowest role that covers the work, usually Viewer.

An organization role covers every project in the organization. A project role covers one project. Use project invites to add trade partners, GCs, or outside VDC teams as Collaborators, who see only the projects they're invited to. If someone has both roles, the one with more access applies.

For a full breakdown of what Admins, Editors, and Viewers can do at the organization and project level, see Dusty Portal: User Roles and Project Sharing.

Amba: Your Portal Assistant

Finding a quick answer in Portal used to mean clicking through projects, searching the Help Center, or emailing Support. Amba, Dusty's new AI assistant, lives right inside Portal. Ask a question in plain language and get an answer without leaving your work.

• Ask about your projects and layouts: Get instant answers about your own Portal data, like print status, recent print activity, or which layouts include elevation data.
• Get how-to help from the Dusty Help Center: Amba searches Dusty's Help Center articles to answer setup, workflow, and troubleshooting questions.
• Open a support ticket from the chat: If Amba can't solve the problem, Amba opens a support ticket once you confirm you want one, so the Dusty Support team picks up where the conversation left off.
• Follow-up questions: Amba keeps track of the conversation, so follow-ups and rephrased questions don't start over.
• Honest answers: When Amba doesn't know something, Amba says so and points to Support rather than guessing.
• Resizable chat window: Drag to resize the chat panel for longer answers.

Try asking Amba:

• "What can you do?"
• "What is the print status of all layouts in this project?"
• "Which layouts were printed in the last seven days?"
• "Which of my projects have layouts with elevation?"

Measure Tool: Check Distances Without Leaving Portal

VDC teams now measure distances directly on the File Prep canvas in Portal, without exporting the layout to a CAD tool first.

The Measure Tool snaps to exact points on the layout geometry, including line endpoints, positions along a line or arc, control points, MEP points, and the intersection where two shapes cross. A 45° angle lock keeps a measurement straight along common angles. On a touchscreen, a magnifier appears beside the fingertip so the exact snap point stays visible while placing each end of the measurement.

How to measure on a layout:

1. Open a layout in File Prep.
2. Turn on the Measure Tool. {{REVIEW: Confirm the UI label and location of the Measure Tool control.}}
3. With a mouse or trackpad, click the start point, move, and click the end point. On a touchscreen or with a pen, press at the start point, drag, and release at the end point.
4. Pan the layout as usual. Panning works the same way it did before the Measure Tool.

Additional UI Improvements

• Layout Editor Presence now lists every teammate's name when you hover over the indicator, and a tooltip explains the indicator shows who has the layout open. Portal does not sync edits in real time or lock a layout to one editor.
• The MEP Points CSV export (Production tab > Download CSV > MEP Points) is simpler and includes only trade and printable points. Elevation measure points are no longer included.
• Estimated print time now shows in hours instead of days.

Bug Fixes

• Floor Elevation exports use exact unit conversions, removing small rounding errors that added up on large coordinates.
• The Points Measured card no longer shows 0% when only a small share of points has been measured.
• Elevation Coverage shows "No Data Yet" instead of "0% Measured" before any elevation data is collected.
• The control points list no longer overlaps the Lowest Elevation field in Floor Elevation PDF exports.
• PDFs exported from the Production tab viewer include custom text, and the point legend is readable.
• Multiline custom text is added to the Production tab viewer.
• The Printing by Day chart shows activity when only QR codes were printed.
• Scheduled Print Date no longer fills in today's date by default.
• Adding a project with a name that already exists shows one clear error instead of two.
• User avatars show the person's initials instead of the first two letters of their email.
• Building icons in the project side panel stay full size next to long building names.
• The Quick Cleanup panel fits narrow browser windows.

Related Articles

• Dusty Portal: User Roles and Project Sharing
• What Is the Dusty Portal?
• September 2026 release notes