Question 1

What is a P&ID and what is it used for?

Accepted Answer

A P&ID (Piping and Instrumentation Diagram) is the most detailed form of process flow diagram in process engineering. It shows all equipment, piping, valves and instruments of a plant and is the master document for detail engineering, commissioning, maintenance and plant modifications. It's the basis for bills of materials, line lists and I&C lists.

Question 2

Which standard applies to P&IDs in Germany and Europe?

Accepted Answer

DIN EN ISO 10628 applies in Germany and Europe. Part 1 (DIN EN ISO 10628-1) defines which information a flow diagram must contain and which is optional. Part 2 (ISO 10628-2) defines the graphical symbols for equipment, piping and instruments. IEC 81346 is additionally used for the identification of plant components. piblaster ships its symbol library already aligned with DIN EN ISO 10628.

Question 3

How is piblaster different from classical CAD tools for P&IDs?

Accepted Answer

Classical CAD solutions are powerful but require installation, expensive licenses, training and IT effort. piblaster runs in the browser — no installer, no workstation requirement, no license-key management. You open the editor and draw. Multi-user access, versioning and bills of materials are built in. This makes piblaster suitable also for engineers who only create P&IDs occasionally — without the learning-curve hurdle.

Question 4

What's the difference to general-purpose browser diagram tools?

Accepted Answer

General-purpose diagram tools aren't specialised for process engineering: no ISO 10628 symbol library, no process categories like nozzles, instruments, valves — and above all no bill of materials derived from the placed symbols. piblaster was built specifically for P&IDs. Tag bubbles, numbering, material and nominal-size fields, per-equipment nozzle grouping — all of that is part of the data structure, not just a drawing.

Question 5

Is the bill of materials really generated automatically?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every symbol you drag from the library becomes a BOM row — with tag, category, description, size and material. Multi-page projects are consolidated, nozzles are grouped per equipment. Changes to the diagram update the BOM in real time. Export as PDF or CSV takes a single click.

Question 6

Can I export the BOM to Excel?

Accepted Answer

Yes. piblaster exports the BOM as a CSV file that opens directly in Excel or LibreOffice Calc. Columns, tag numbers and categories are preserved and can be processed further — for equipment lists, I&C lists or purchasing lists. A PDF export is additionally available for documentation.

Question 7

Which symbols are included in the library?

Accepted Answer

The library follows DIN EN ISO 10628 and contains vessels, heat exchangers, pumps, compressors, valves — ball valves, diaphragm valves, check valves, safety valves — as well as instruments per the ISA-5.1 convention. Nozzles, flanges and Tri-Clamp connections are provided as dedicated symbols. Favourites and per-user library ordering can be saved.

Question 8

Which exchange formats can I use to share my diagrams?

Accepted Answer

piblaster currently exports P&IDs as PDF (for review, documentation and release), as SVG (scalable vector graphics for datasheets, reports and web embedding) and the BOM as CSV (Excel, LibreOffice, ERP import). DEXPI — the open, vendor-neutral XML standard (ISO 15926 / DEXPI specification) for exchanging P&ID data between systems — is on the roadmap; our internal data model (equipment, nozzles, instruments, connections with attributes) is already close to DEXPI, so we can add the export cleanly once demand is concrete.

Question 9

How compatible is piblaster with existing CAD and engineering systems?

Accepted Answer

piblaster is deliberately built as a standalone web app and does not replace full engineering CAD such as AutoCAD P&ID, SmartPlant P&ID or AVEVA Diagrams. Handover to existing systems runs via PDF (release, attachments to quotes and datasheets), SVG (embedding in TDS, reports, website) and CSV (BOM → equipment, I&C and purchasing lists in Excel / ERP / PDM). Direct, semantic exchange with other P&ID systems will be added with DEXPI (on the roadmap) — equipment, nozzles, instruments and connections including attributes will be transferred, not just the graphics. For targeted integrations — for example connecting to your PDM or ERP — please get in touch.

Question 10

How do team-wide review and release workflows work?

Accepted Answer

piblaster has teams with roles: administrators set up users, editors draw and modify projects, reviewers see the current state without write access. For formal release, the diagram is exported as a PDF and signed in your existing approval workflow (email, DMS, PLM) — the PDF automatically carries title, project ID and export date. Within a project an automatic per-user lock prevents overwrites; whoever is currently editing is visible to everyone else. Changes are versioned so earlier states remain traceable.

Question 11

Can multiple people work on a project simultaneously?

Accepted Answer

Several team members can work on different projects in parallel. Within a single project an automatic lock applies: the person who opens a project for editing holds the write lock; other people see who is currently editing. On close the lock is released. This preserves data consistency — nobody accidentally overwrites someone else's work.

Question 12

Do I need an installation or special hardware?

Accepted Answer

No. piblaster runs in every modern browser on Windows, macOS and Linux. No installation, no plugin, no GPU requirement. Older laptops or tablets with a keyboard are sufficient. This saves IT effort and reduces onboarding of new team members to a matter of minutes.

Question 13

How long is the free trial and do I need a credit card?

Accepted Answer

The trial lasts 30 days and includes the full feature set. No credit card is required for the trial. We remind you in time by email before it ends, and you then decide whether to subscribe — monthly or yearly, cancellable at any time.

Question 14

Where is my project data stored?

Accepted Answer

All data resides on servers we operate in Germany. Backups run automatically. Transmission is exclusively encrypted (HTTPS). Login attempts are rate-limited, accounts are secured by email verification. On request we provide technical detail documents for your IT compliance review.

Question 15

Can existing drawings be imported?

Accepted Answer

Currently piblaster focuses on creating clean new P&IDs directly in the browser — faster than the import-and-clean-up effort of a legacy inventory. piblaster's PDF and CSV exports remain usable in any classical CAD or ERP workflow. For targeted migration projects please contact us — we assess the effort individually.

Straight answers to the questions that actually get asked.

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