Exporting to GeoDin
Every form you create in GeoDin Onsite eventually needs to reach your team — either for further processing in GeoDin Desktop or as a deliverable for a client. Onsite offers two ways of handing data off:
Export — save deliverables to a folder you choose, then transfer manually (email, USB drive, etc.)
Publish — push deliverables automatically to a shared folder your team already syncs
This page covers Export. For Publish, see Publishing & retrieving forms.
When to use Export vs Publish
Export is the simplest mode — it doesn't require any setup. Use it when:
You don't have a shared folder configured
You want to send a form ad-hoc by email or USB drive
You need a one-off PDF for a client
Publish is for teams who work with field-to-office workflows routinely — see the File delivery & ownership concept page for why you might want it.
Export formats
From the Export menu, Onsite offers:
GeoDinML — a structured XML file ready to import into GeoDin Desktop. Produced for drilling and sampling forms.
PDF — a printable document. Every exported PDF is watermarked "draft" unless it was produced via Publish as final (see below).
Which forms produce GeoDinML:
G1 Drilling Report
✓
✓
—
ISO 22475 SEP 3
✓
✓
—
Picture Log
—
✓
✓
Sample Picture Log
—
✓
✓
G1 + SPL bundle
✓ (drilling part)
✓ (combined)
✓ (photos)
Export to GeoDin
With the form open and validated, click Export → GeoDin from the menu.
Choose where to save the file.
Onsite generates a
.geodinmlfile using the standard naming convention:<Location>_<FormCode>_<Date>.geodinml— for example,BH-1_G1DR_20260423.geodinml.
Export to PDF
Click Export → PDF.
Choose a save location.
Onsite generates the PDF.
Why does the PDF say "draft"?
Every PDF exported via the Export button carries a "draft" watermark. This is deliberate — PDFs are easy to share, and a watermark prevents an in-progress form from being mistaken for a final deliverable.
The only way to get an un-watermarked PDF is through Publish as final, which requires the form to pass validation first.
Import into GeoDin Desktop
Once you have a .geodinml file, open GeoDin Desktop and use its GeoDinML import feature to bring the file into your database. Full Desktop instructions — including specific import workflows for different data types — live in the GeoDin Desktop documentation.
From an ecosystem perspective, importing your Onsite forms into Desktop is where the data becomes reusable — layered into your database, combined with data from other forms and other projects, and used as the basis for plates, cross-sections, and reports.
See also
Publishing & retrieving forms — the shared-folder alternative to manual export
G1 drilling report — the form producing most of your GeoDinML output
Sample picture log — photo-form outputs
Last updated
Was this helpful?