This guide walks through every step: creating a workbook, defining your column schema, importing an existing Excel file, mapping columns, and connecting the workbook to a running workflow.
Before you start: You need a RenderDraw account with at least one workspace. Workbooks are workspace-scoped. If you are importing from Excel, have the .xlsx file ready. Column names in the spreadsheet do not need to match your workbook schema — you will map them in Step 3.
In the RenderDraw sidebar, navigate to Workbooks and click New Workbook. Give it a name that reflects its purpose — for example, Q1-2025-Takeoff or RFP-Response-Tracker. Names become part of the workbook's URL slug and cannot be changed after creation without breaking existing workflow references.
Best practice: use a descriptive prefix like a project code or workflow type. Workbooks are version-controlled — you can archive old workbooks without deleting data.
Click Add Column to build your schema. Each column requires a name, a type, and an optional description. Column descriptions are surfaced to AI blocks so the model knows what to populate. A well-described schema dramatically improves AI write accuracy.
Free-form string. Use for item names, descriptions, part numbers, notes.
Integer or decimal with optional unit. Required for quantities extracted from drawings.
Monetary value with currency code (USD, EUR, GBP). Required for cost columns.
ISO 8601 date. Use for deadlines, submission dates, last-updated tracking.
Foreign key to another workbook row, catalog entry, or CRM record ID.
Calculated from other columns. Example: =qty * unit_cost
If you have an existing spreadsheet, click Import from Excel and upload your .xlsx file. RenderDraw will detect the headers and display a mapping UI. For each column in your spreadsheet, select the target workbook column or choose Create new column.
Columns that do not map to any schema column are skipped by default. You can mark them as Import as text to capture them in a catch-all text column. Formulas in Excel cells are evaluated at import time — the result is stored, not the formula expression.
RenderDraw supports .xlsx and .csv. Password-protected files must be unlocked before upload. Sheets beyond the first sheet are not imported automatically — you can repeat the import step for each sheet and choose a different target workbook.
Optional but recommended: add per-column validation rules to prevent bad data from entering the workbook, whether from an AI block or a human editor. Common rules:
In the Workflow Editor, open the block you want to write workbook data. In the block's Output section, select Write to Workbook and choose your workbook. You will then see a field-mapping UI: the block's output fields on the left, your workbook columns on the right. Drag to connect them.
You can connect multiple blocks to the same workbook. Each block's writes appear as separate rows (or update existing rows if you configure a match key — a column that identifies whether to create a new row or update an existing one).
Match keys prevent duplicate rows when a workflow runs multiple times on the same input. For takeoff workbooks, use the drawing file hash as the match key. For RFP trackers, use the RFP document ID.
Trigger your workflow against a real document. Open the workbook after the run completes and verify that rows were created with the correct values. Check the Audit Log tab to confirm that each populated cell shows the correct source (AI block name, datasource name, or user name for manual entries).
If a cell is missing data, open the workflow run log, find the block that should have written it, and inspect the output payload. Common causes: the AI returned a different field name, a validation rule rejected the value, or the match key found an existing row and updated instead of creating.
Open RenderDraw and follow these six steps. Your first workbook takes under 10 minutes to configure.