File sharing for contractors: plans, photos and documents
One link for drawings and photos out, one request for signed documents back: a per-job routine for contractors.
File sharing for contractors covers two jobs: getting drawings, quotes and progress photos to the right client, and getting photos, approvals and signed paperwork back without a long email thread. This article sets out a routine for both, one job at a time, with a short check before any file goes out. Tarkle covers both directions: one link to send files and one file request to collect them.
Prepare file sharing for contractors: one folder per job
Start with a folder for each job, named after the client and the address or the job number. Inside it, keep drawings, quotes, photos and signed documents apart, so you never hunt through a mixed pile when a homeowner calls about the kitchen layout.
Name files so they sort without help: job, what it is, date or version. "Hargreave-loft-drawing-v3-2026-11-02.pdf" tells everyone what they hold. "Final final 2.pdf" tells them nothing.
In Tarkle, folders and the library organise your files in folders, with search, favourites and filters by type. When you send, you pick files or whole folders, using share files by link.
Create the job folder on day one, before the first quote goes out. Moving files into order later is the part that never gets done.
Deliver: one link for drawings, quotes and photo sets
A large drawing pack or a full set of site photos can be too big to attach to an email, and it often ends up split across several messages. One link replaces that. You pick the files, create a transfer, and send the link to the client.
The homeowner opens the link and downloads the files. They do not need an account to download. The links carry your branding: custom branding puts your logo, colours and favicon on every transfer page, request page and portal, and Free includes custom branding too. On Free, the Powered by Tarkle line stays on your pages. Pro removes it.
Check the limits before a job starts. Free supports uploads and transfers up to 1 GB each, and Free allows 15 transfers a month. Pro and Agency support files up to 200 GB. If a drawing file or video is over 1 GB, plan for Pro or Agency before the job starts.
Check before a file goes out
Mistakes in this trade are usually small: a quote for one client sent to another, an old drawing revision, a link that stays open for years. Run through four questions before you press send.
Right client? Read the name in the address line, then the file names. A quote for another job should never be in the transfer.
Right revision? Open the file and look at the revision mark in the title block or footer, not just the file name.
Right access? Add a password when the files hold prices or personal details, and send the password in a separate message.
Right end date? Set a link expiry date when the quote is only valid for a few weeks.
For a repeat client, or a job with several people involved, group the contacts into a client organization. You can limit a transfer to one client organization and see who can open it, using how to limit a transfer to one client organization. This is a Pro feature, and Agency includes everything in Pro.
Collect: ask for documents and photos with a file request
Getting files back is usually harder than sending them. Homeowners have the signed quote on their phone, the insurance letter in a scan, the reference photos in a chat. A file request gives them one link to upload to.
You write a title and short instructions ("Please upload the signed quote and a photo of the existing boiler"), choose the job folder where the files should land, and send the link. A public file request lets anyone with the link send files into that folder, with no sign-in. A request can also be limited to one client organization. Email notifications are on unless you switch them off for a request. You can also set a deadline on a request and the most a visitor can upload at once, in request deadlines and limits.
Be exact in the instructions. Say which documents you need, which file types are fine (PDF or a phone photo), and by when. For signed paperwork, the client signs the way you already handle it and uploads the signed copy.
Name each file request after the job and choose that job's folder as the destination, so everything the client sends lands in one place. On Free, one file request form can be active at a time, so use Pro when several jobs collect files at once.
Give repeat clients one place to look
If a client has several jobs, or a project partner needs files across weeks, sending a new link each time gets untidy. The client portal is a branded place where each client signs in with a link sent to their email, sees what you shared with them, and uploads files back. The client portal is included on Pro and Agency.
For a single kitchen or bathroom job, a transfer link and a file request are usually enough. The portal pays off when the same people keep coming back. For a longer look at the choice, read client portal vs file sharing.
Drawings and photos also need a clear yes or a list of changes. Client feedback turns images and PDFs into a review board that clients comment on and approve with one link, no account. Client feedback and approval is on the Free plan too.
Revised drawings: replace, do not re-send
Drawings change. The risk is that the client keeps working from revision 2 while you are on revision 4. Name each revision clearly and tell the client in the message which one replaces the last. On Pro and Agency, file versions let you upload a new version of a file, see its history and go back to an earlier one. Free does not include file versioning. For the habits around it, see how to send updated files to clients without version confusion.
Close the job
When the work is handed over, move the final drawings, signed documents and key photos into the job folder and check that nothing is missing. Then close the links you no longer need. Set an expiry date so the link stops working after it, or disable a link in one click. A disabled transfer can be enabled again later, so an old quote can be reopened if a client asks.
Set this up today
Create one folder per live job and move today's files into it.
Pick a file naming pattern and use it on the next file you send.
Send your next drawing pack or photo set as one transfer link instead of attachments.
Create a file request for the documents you still need from a client.
Add a password or an expiry date to the next transfer that holds prices.
Free covers sharing and requesting files, client feedback and approval, and passwords, with no credit card required. Start for free and run this routine on your next job.
What to remember about Tarkle
Tarkle gives a contractor one link for what goes out, such as drawings, quotes and photo sets, and one file request for what comes back, such as signed documents and photos. Free covers sharing, file requests, client feedback and approval, and passwords, with files up to 1 GB each. Pro and Agency raise the file size to 200 GB and add the client portal and file versioning. Start for free