Export

DPlan supports eight export paths — from saving a portable project file to generating polished PDFs and Excel workbooks. All export actions are in the EXPORT tab of the ribbon.

Save as .dplan File

The .dplan format is a plain JSON file with a .dplan extension. It is the primary way to back up, share, and transfer your project between devices.

How to save: EXPORT ribbon → Save, or press Ctrl+S (Windows/Linux) / Cmd+S (Mac).
Filename: Derived from the project name (spaces replaced with hyphens, e.g., Website-Redesign.dplan). The browser downloads the file to your default Downloads folder.
Contents: Full project data — all tasks, resources, holidays, events, baseline, settings. Human-readable JSON. See File Format for the full schema.
Portability: Open the file on any device with a modern browser — no installation required.

Tip: Save a .dplan file at the end of each working session as your reliable backup. Auto-save to localStorage is convenient but browser storage can be cleared accidentally.

Open a .dplan File

How to open: EXPORT ribbon → Open File, or press Ctrl+O / Cmd+O. A file picker opens — select a .dplan file.
Merge vs. Replace: DPlan asks how to handle the file:
- Replace — Discards the current in-memory project and loads the file as the active project. Any unsaved changes to the current project are lost. A warning is shown if there are unsaved changes.
- Merge — Adds the projects from the file to the current project list without removing existing projects. Use this to combine multiple .dplan files into one session, for example when assembling a portfolio view.

Replace permanently discards unsaved in-memory work. Save your current project first (Ctrl+S) before opening a different file with Replace.

Export to Excel (.xlsx)

Generates a multi-sheet Excel workbook from the active project.

How to export: EXPORT ribbon → Export to Excel.
Filename: ProjectName-export.xlsx, downloaded to your browser's Downloads folder.

The workbook contains three sheets:

Tasks — One row per task with columns: WBS, Name, Type, Duration, Start, Finish, Progress, Status, Priority, Assigned Resources, Fixed Cost, Total Cost, Notes. Summary phases appear as bold rows. Indentation is reflected in the Name column via leading spaces.
Resources — One row per resource with columns: Name, Role, Day Rate, Total Days Assigned, Total Cost. Totals are summed at the bottom.
Summary — Project-level totals: total tasks, total duration (calendar days), total cost, number of milestones, number of summary phases, project start/finish dates, and completion percentage.

If Cost Tracking is enabled, an additional Cost Detail sheet breaks down resource cost vs. fixed cost per task, with phase subtotals and a project grand total.

Portfolio Excel Export (All Projects)

When you have multiple projects loaded in DPlan, you can export them all to a single workbook.

How to export: EXPORT ribbon → All Projects (Portfolio).
Filename: Portfolio-export.xlsx.

The workbook structure:

Portfolio Summary sheet — One row per project with columns: Name, Total Tasks, Completion %, Start, Finish, Status, Total Cost. A grand-total row at the bottom.
One sheet per project — Each project gets its own task sheet, named after the project (truncated to 31 characters, the Excel sheet name limit). Sheet naming collisions are resolved by appending a number.

Excel sheet names are limited to 31 characters. Long project names will be truncated. Rename projects to short identifiers before exporting if you need readable sheet names.

PDF Export

Generates a print-quality PDF of the project plan.

How to export: EXPORT ribbon → Export to PDF.
Contents:
- Project header: name, export date, total tasks, completion percentage.
- Task table: all visible columns (WBS, Name, Duration, Start, Finish, Progress, Status, Assigned Resources).
- Gantt chart: the SVG timeline rendered at current zoom level, scaled to page width.
- Page numbers and project name in the footer.
Layout: Landscape orientation, A4 or Letter size (browser print settings). Long projects paginate — the task table and Gantt are arranged to minimize mid-task page breaks.
Print-friendly: Dark theme is converted to light background for PDF output regardless of current UI theme.

Tip: Set the zoom level to Month or Quarter before exporting PDF to fit more of the timeline on each page. Day zoom produces very wide Gantt output.

HTML Report

Generates a standalone HTML file containing a formatted project report.

How to export: EXPORT ribbon → HTML Report.
Filename: ProjectName-report.html.
Contents: Project summary header, full task table with status color coding. All CSS is inlined — the file is self-contained and opens correctly in any browser without an internet connection.
Use case: Share a read-only plan snapshot with stakeholders who don't use DPlan. The HTML file can be emailed, uploaded to a shared drive, or attached to a wiki page.

Save as PNG Image

Renders the Gantt timeline SVG to a PNG bitmap image.

How to export: EXPORT ribbon → Save as Image.
Filename: ProjectName-gantt.png.
Contents: The full Gantt timeline (task table + bars) at the current zoom level and scroll position. The image width scales to include all visible tasks and the full time span.
Use case: Slide decks and presentations. Paste the PNG directly into PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, or a Confluence page.

Tip: Collapse summary phases and set zoom to Month or Quarter for a clean, high-level PNG suitable for an executive presentation. Expand phases and zoom to Week for a detailed developer handout.

Print Gantt (Print Button)

The Print button in the EXPORT ribbon (Export As group) opens a purpose-built print page in a new browser tab and immediately triggers the browser print dialog.

Layout: A3 landscape. Full task table (WBS, Name, Start, End, Duration, Progress, Status) followed by the SVG Gantt chart snapshot at the bottom of the page.
Theme: Always renders in a clean light theme regardless of your current UI theme — prints correctly on any printer.
Due-date badges: Overdue, today, and soon badges are included in the task table column.
No pop-up? If nothing opens, allow pop-ups for this site in your browser settings.

Tip: Collapse summary phases in the main view before clicking Print to produce a compact high-level overview. Expand them for a full detail print.

Client View Export

The Client View button in the EXPORT ribbon generates a clean, client-safe HTML report that strips all internal information — no cost figures, no notes, no internal comments. Share it confidently with clients, contractors, or stakeholders who should not see your internal cost or note data.

What is included: WBS, task name, start, end, duration, progress bar, status, assigned resources, and tags.
What is excluded: Fixed cost, labour/material cost, resource rates, task notes, task comments, blocker flags.
Format: A4 landscape HTML, opens in a new tab and auto-triggers browser print. Self-contained — can be saved as PDF from the browser print dialog.
Summary phases: Shown in bold with background shading. Milestones in italic.

Pro tip: Apply filters before clicking Client View to export a subset — e.g., filter to a single phase or assignee to send a role-specific view to that client or team.

Task Journal

The Task Journal button exports an HTML document organised like a project diary. It is designed for retrospectives, project close-out reports, and handover documentation.

Structure: Tasks are grouped by phase (chapter dividers). Each task with notes gets a full card showing status, progress, assigned resources, and the complete dated note log.
Tasks without notes: Shown as compact rows — name, WBS, status, and dates only.
Date labels: Note entries that start with [YYYY-MM-DD] are rendered as a date pill + body text, giving the journal a timeline feel.
Summary bar: Total tasks / tasks with notes / total note entries / completion percentage.
Print-friendly: CSS print media rules included. Opens in a new tab and auto-triggers print.

MSPDI XML Export (MS Project)

The MSPDI XML button in the Integrations group exports the active project as a Microsoft Project Data Interchange (MSPDI) XML file.

Filename: ProjectName.xml
Compatible with: Microsoft Project 2007 and later, ProjectLibre, GanttProject, Smartsheet (via XML import).
What is exported: All tasks with WBS hierarchy, milestones, dependencies (FS/SS/FF with lag), all three resource types (Person/Equipment/Material) with rates, resource assignments with allocation %, material quantities, fixed costs, actual costs, baseline dates, constraints, deadlines, project calendar (holidays), and currency symbol.
How to open in MS Project: File → Open → Browse → select the .xml file → choose "Project XML Files" in the file type dropdown.

MSPDI export produces a standards-compliant file. Minor field differences may exist between DPlan and MS Project (e.g., constraint handling). Review key milestone dates after importing into MS Project.

Jira CSV Export

The Jira CSV button exports the active project as a Jira-compatible CSV file for bulk import into Jira.

Filename: ProjectName-jira.csv (UTF-8 BOM for Excel compatibility)
Type mapping: Summary tasks → Epic, Tasks → Story, Children-of-tasks → Sub-task, Milestones → Task.
Field mapping: Priority (Highest/High/Medium/Low), Status (To Do/In Progress/Done/On Hold/Cancelled), Assignee (first Person resource), Epic Name + Epic Link (parent hierarchy), Labels (phase tags + milestone flag), Due Date, Story Points (progress ÷ 10), Fixed Cost / Actual Cost.
How to import into Jira: Go to your Jira project → Project Settings → Import Issues → CSV → upload the file → map columns in the Jira import wizard.

Print (Browser Print)

Press Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P) to open the browser's native print dialog. DPlan includes print CSS that:

Switches to a light background regardless of current theme.
Hides the ribbon, titlebar, and non-essential UI chrome.
Renders the task table and Gantt side by side in landscape layout.
Adds page breaks between summary phases where practical.

For best results, set the browser print orientation to Landscape and scale to Fit to page. PDF Export (above) generally produces higher-quality output than browser print for sharing.

Tips for Sharing

For collaboration with other DPlan users: Share the .dplan file. The recipient opens it with EXPORT → Open File → Merge to add it to their session.
For stakeholder updates: Use HTML Report (view in browser) or PNG Image (slides).
For finance / PMO reporting: Use Excel export for data manipulation, or PDF for a polished formatted report.
For version control: The .dplan file is plain JSON — it can be committed to Git. Diffs are human-readable at the field level.
For portfolio reviews: Load all active project files (EXPORT → Open File → Merge repeatedly), then use Portfolio Excel export for a cross-project summary.