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Creating Your First Project

Learn how to get started creating proposals in Curate!

Written by Carlos Sanz

Welcome to our video series of how to create your very first proposal! Each portion is broken out into chunks so you can watch them at your leisure. Let's get started!

#1 Prerequisites: Settings & Catalog

Before creating your first project, make sure your account is properly set up. You can follow along with the videos for a visual walkthrough, or click into the linked articles for more detailed guide.

Settings

  • Tax rates, profitability, and accounting – Set these up first so proposals calculate correctly.

  • Markup profiles – Define how markups are applied to your items or recipes for accurate pricing.

  • Item categories – Organize your recipe components by categories like flowers, ingredients, or fees (these can vary by industry).

  • Additional settings – Configure timezone, currency, and custom measurement units to apply to your recipes.

  • Payments – If you want clients to pay online, visit the Payments tab and set up your preferred credit card processor.

  • Automations – Set up rules to automatically update project stages, send notifications, or trigger actions when key milestones occur. This helps save time and keeps your projects on track.

  • Notifications – Configure which notifications you receive (e.g. Email alerts for payments.)

  • Custom Properties – Add any custom fields to capture information specific to your workflow or projects.

Product Catalog & Contacts

  • Product Catalog – Add your recipe components in advance so they’re ready when creating proposals.

  • Contacts – Add clients or collaborators for easy proposal sharing.

Tip: You can also add categories, catalog items, and contacts on-the-fly while creating a proposal if that’s easier.

Once these prerequisites are set up, you’re ready to start creating your first project! Don’t forget, you can refer to the videos above or click into the linked articles for a more detailed guide.

#2 Getting Started

This section demonstrates how to create your first proposal by using the + New Project panel. You’ll be guided through each required and optional field, including project details, customer selection, ownership, tax profiles, venues, and tags. It also covers how duplicating an existing project can be used to speed up setup or create a starting point for future proposals.

Video Walkthrough

Creating Projects

First, you'll want to access your Projects page, which shows a list of all projects added to your account, and click on "+ New Project" at the top right.


A panel will appear on the right where you can add the name of the new project and other required information, such as the project date and the contact linked to the project. Once ready, click "Create" to create the project and go directly to the Workroom.

Tip β€” Create Project Templates Faster

If you have projects you build repeatedly, consider using Duplicate to turn an project into a reusable Project Template. This helps keep Designs, Settings, etc. consistent while still letting you customize details per client.
πŸ‘‰ Learn more: Project Templates & Duplicating Projects

Note: Fields marked with a * (red asterisk) are required and must be filled out before you can proceed.

Project Overview

You can access the Project Overview in two ways: from the left-side panel under Quick Access β†’ Overview, or by clicking the Overview button in the top-right corner of the Project page.
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​The Project Overview gives you a clear snapshot of the project, including status, value, date and time, branch, owner, guest count, markup, tax profile, and production notes. As you scroll, you’ll also see portal information, Google Calendar sync settings, and custom properties such as labor fees or color palettes. This Project Overview is fully interactive: most fields can be updated directly from this page, making it easy to quickly adjust project details.


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#3 Navigation in the Workroom

Learn how to navigate the Workroom, including where to find key sections, tools, and actions.

Video Walkthrough

Before exploring the Workroom sections, take note of the key tools at the top of the page.

The Publish button creates a new version of your proposal each time it’s clicked.
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Published versions represent the public view that clients can access and can be switched using the Versions dropdown.
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Use Share button to send the proposal to your client, copy the public link, or download a PDF.


For a more detailed walkthrough of each section, watch the video above for a complete breakdown of the Workroom navigation. You can also click the dropdown section below for an overview and quick links to articles.

Workroom Navigation Overview

Left Side Panel

The left side panel provides access to the main sections of the Workroom:

  • Portal – Customize and view the project portal.

  • Contracts – View and manage project contracts.

  • Orders – Assign, create, and manage proposal items.

  • Recipes – Access recipes and related components.

  • Components – View and track individual items and components.

  • Rentals – Track rental items and logistics.

  • Staffings – Manage staff assignments.

  • Payments – View and manage project payments.

  • Timelines – Manage project milestones and schedules.

Quick Access

Frequently used tools for a faster workflow:

  • Overview (Project Overview) – A snapshot of the entire project.

  • Portal Messages – Access messages between clients and your team.

  • Order Breakdown – View detailed project information, including item costs and profit.

  • Event Prints (soon to be Project Prints)– Access printable project documents.

Actions

Common actions you can perform from the Workroom:

  • Create Shopping List – Generate a shopping list from the project (primarily for vendor use).

  • Download PDF – Export the project Portal as a PDF.

  • Share – Share the project or portal with your clients.

  • Preview – View the proposal exactly as your client will see it.


Middle Section

The middle section is the Workroom / Portal Preview, where you can:

  • Edit and customize how the Portal will appear to clients.

  • Preview real-time changes to ensure the portal reflects your project accurately.


Right Panel

The right panel provides additional reference and navigation tools:

  • Version Number – Tracks the current version of the project or portal.

  • Table of Contents – Quickly navigate between Workroom sections.

  • + Add Content – Add Workroom sections with different layout and content options.

#4 Cover and Inspiration Board Sections

This video covers the cover and inspiration board sections of the workroom.
These are both sections where you may add images to give personality to your proposal and guidance to your client as to what style you're going for.
Feel free to click on any image field on those boards to open the media library and upload images from your computer or even Pinterest. You may also manage your images within your library and move them between folders in order to store them better!
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#5 People & Vendors, Dates & Locations Sections

This video covers the People & Vendors, Dates & Locations sections of the workroom.

The People & Vendors section will show the contact linked to the proposal by default. You may then add as many more contacts linked to the project, such as friends and relatives to the client involved in the project, or vendors, such as project planners, florists, caterers, photographers, etc., simply by clicking on the plus button at the top right. At the bottom of the box, there's also a text field that will allow you to add a description of the project.
Below it, you'll find the Dates & Locations box, which will show the project's date and times by default, but will also allow you to add any other dates or times relevant to the project, such as delivery times, ceremony, reception, etc., again, by clicking on the plus button at the top right.

#6 Proposal Details (Orders) Section

This video covers all the basics of adding products and recipes to an project! Tons of tips and tricks are shared in this video to help speed up the creating process for future proposals.

You may open the orders section by clicking on the proposal details box, the "edit" button at its top right, or even access the "Orders" tab at the very top of the proposal. Either way, you'll be managing all the line items and components offered in your proposal.

You may separate your line items in as many section as you'd like. Then, either add the line items' data on its own row within the section, or click on the arrow button at the lefthand side. That will open the editing module of the line item, which also includes a recipe tab that will allow you to add your recipe components, as well as add the tax rates and markups applied to them.

#7 Payments

This video covers how to setup a payment schedule, entering payments if you're taking payments outside of Curate and begins the discussion of Payment integration.
Similarly to "Orders", you may open the payments section by clicking on the scheduled payments box, the "edit" button at its top right, or access the "Payments" tab at the very top of the proposal. That will allow you to add, edit and manage your scheduled payments and received transactions.
Click on "+ Add scheduled payment" to add a new payment. The amount of the payment maybe be a percentage of the whole total, or you may set all the payments to be divided equally from the total. You may also customize the amount at will. To mark a payment as paid, you'll just want to click on "+Add transaction" for the same amount of that payment. You'll also be able to add notes to that transaction as well.

#8 How to build out your contract

This video covers the basics of setting up a contract in the system. We have have a light discussion on how contract templates work.
Contracts have their own tab as well. To add a contract, you'll just want to click on the plus button at the top of that page. Then you'll be able to edit your contract at will. You may add more than one contract and more signatures as well, by clicking on the plus button below the signatures. To sign the contract yourself, as the company, you'll just want to click on "Add Your Signature".

#9 It's time to publish and sharing the project!

We're at the finish line! We're now ready to publish the project so it can be shared with your client! This will also cover how to create a PDF file of the project for sharing or safe keeping.

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