Print the 3-week lookahead and other paper

By the end of this workflow you have the superintendent's three-week lookahead on paper or as a PDF, and the settings saved so next week's takes two clicks.

Who does this#

Project managers, schedulers and superintendents who work in the editor: Editors and Admins. See Who can see and do what. Crews get their own paper from their crew links; see Run the day from the handout or the Day plan.

Before you start#

• The project is open in the editor, and its progress is up to date (see Update progress and the data date). The lookahead leaves out finished work, so percent complete matters.

Steps#

1. 1
   Filter to the next three weeks. Press Views in the toolbar and choose 3-week lookahead. The grid and chart now show only incomplete work that overlaps the next 21 days. Phase rows stay, dimmed, so each task keeps its context. The status bar says how many tasks are showing.

2. 2
   Open the PDF dialog. Choose Export ▾ → PDF…. With the filter on, the dialog offers to print the filtered tasks only, ticked, and fills the Date range from the filter's three weeks. The preview shows a one-page, date-cropped lookahead.
3. 3
   Choose what prints. Under Content, pick Table + Gantt chart, Gantt chart only or Table only, and tick the columns you want. Crew histogram adds the crew bars under the chart; Legend placement puts the key on a Separate page or With schedule if it fits.

4. 4
   Print or save. Print… opens the PDF in a new tab with the print dialog ready. Export PDF saves it as a file.
5. 5
   Save the print settings. Under Saved print settings, press Save settings… and give them a name, for example Weekly lookahead. Next time, pick that name from the same list. A company admin also sees Set as company default…, which puts these settings in everyone's Saved print settings list as ★ Company default.
6. 6
   Save the view. Back in the editor, choose Views → Save current view… and name it. A saved view keeps the filter, the columns showing and the chart's zoom, and comes back with one click from Views. Click 3-week lookahead again, or Clear filter, to see the whole project.

Other paper and files#

7. 7
   Excel or CSV. Export ▾ → Excel (.xlsx) or CSV. With a filter on, a small dialog asks whether to export only the filtered tasks, ticked by default. Row numbers stay as they are in the project, so the gaps show where rows were left out.
8. 8
   Microsoft Project. Export ▾ → MS Project XML (MSPDI) writes the whole project, whatever the filter, because Microsoft Project needs every task and link. Open it in Microsoft Project with File → Open. Primavera P6 imports the same file.

Good to know#

• The filter is only yours. Filtering never changes the project and your teammates keep seeing every task. You can still edit while filtered; only dragging rows to reorder them is off.
• Your own filters. Views → Filter… combines conditions: text, crew, progress state, color tags, dates, a rolling window, near-critical work and crew still needed.
• Where your settings live. Saved views and print settings follow your account, on any computer you sign in on.
• A lookahead from a Draft. If the project is in Draft, the printed lookahead says DRAFT — not published to crews in its header.
• Crews and names. The lookahead above lists tasks. The crew-and-equipment lookahead, with the names of the people and units on each day, is on the Reports page; see Report on progress, crews and equipment.
• What MS Project doesn't get. Crew, equipment, costs, your own columns, colors and text styles stay in Ganttry.