HandbookGet started

Find your way around

One picture of the window, then each area in turn: what it is for and where you find it. After this page you know where to look for everything the rest of the handbook talks about.

The window in one picture#

The Model page with the garden hose reel model: sidebar on the left, toolbar at the top, search panel, canvas in the middle, inspector and audit log on the right, chat dock at the bottom right — The Model page, where most of the work happens.

Sidebar: On the left: the seven pages of a study, top to bottom, and the Workspace block at the bottom.
Toolbar: Along the top: the model you are working on, the functional unit, the impact method, the actions on the model, Calculate, and on the far right the dark-mode switch and the Settings gear.
Search panel: Left column of the Model page: find background datasets by describing them.
Canvas: The middle: your product system as boxes (processes) and arrows (flows).
Inspector and audit log: Right column: the details of the selected process, and below them every change made to the model.
Chat dock: Bottom right of the canvas: the optional AI assistant.

The entries in the sidebar (headed Navigation) are not a menu of features. They follow the order of a study: work down them and you have done an LCA.

Page	What it is for
Overview	The start page: your models (with folders), key numbers for the workspace, the last models you opened, What's new, the Handbook button and Take the tour again.
Model	The canvas. Build the product system, link it to background data, calculate.
Parameters	Named values and formulas that drive amounts on the canvas, so one change moves every flow that depends on it. See Parameters and formulas.
Scenarios	Sets of different parameter values — a recycled-plastic variant, a longer transport — without a second model. See Scenarios.
LCIA	The impact methods: Compare factors side by side, and Manage methods to build your own. See Impact methods.
Results	Three tabs: Results compares models, scenarios and datasets across indicators; Decomposition tree shows the contribution tree and the elementary flows; Sensitivity analysis shows which parameters move the result. See Compare results.
Report	Full reports (AI), drafted chapter by chapter by the assistant and released by you, and Short reports (w/o AI), generated from the model alone. Both end as a PDF. See The full study report.

The Overview start page: the models list with folders, the key numbers of the workspace, What's new and the green Handbook button — The Overview, where PrismLCA opens.

The small button beside the PrismLCA logo, Collapse sidebar, folds the sidebar to a strip of icons when you need room; click the strip to unfold it again.

The Workspace block#

At the bottom of the sidebar sits the Workspace block. Its dropdown switches between workspaces; below it you see the model you are on and whether it is a foreground model or the library. Four small buttons sit beside the title: New workspace (＋), Back up this workspace, Restore a workspace backup and Delete workspace.

The toolbar of the Model page: Model picker, Model info button, FU pill, LCIA method selector, Model, Process, Tags, Distances, Undo, Redo, Export model and Calculate — The toolbar on the Model page, left to right.

Control	What it does
Model · (dropdown)	Switches to another model of this workspace.
Model (tree icon)	Opens Model info: goal and scope, functional unit, system boundaries, allocation, authors.
FU: 1 …	Shows the functional unit of the calculation: one reference unit of the process you selected.
Method selector	The impact method for Calculate. A ★ marks the standard reporting indicator of its category.
Model (plus icon)	Creates a new model, or duplicates one.
Process	Adds a new process of your own to the canvas.
Tags	Manages tag groups such as life-cycle phases. See Life-cycle phases and tags.
Distances	Road, sea, air and rail distances between two places. See Transport distances.
Undo, Redo	Take back the last change, or bring it back.
Export model	Writes the model to a `.prism` file.
Calculate	Calculates the selected process with the chosen method. It needs exactly one selected process.

Other pages show a shorter toolbar. On the Overview it holds Background (everything about your background data), Model and Undo/Redo; on LCIA it holds the two tabs.

The search panel#

The Semantic search panel finds background datasets by meaning. Describe what you need in plain words — freight transport by truck — and press Enter or Search. Below the field you tick which databases to search, filter by type (Production, Market, Market group) and by region.

The Semantic search panel with results, the database checkboxes, the Production/Market/Market group chips and the region filter — Search results, each with its type, region and a Select button.

Each hit has an ⓘ button for the full dataset, and Select to place it on the canvas (or drag it there). A dataset that exists in several regions shows a region picker first. See Find the right dataset.

The canvas#

The canvas shows your product system. Your own processes are editable boxes; background datasets appear as locked boxes (references) that you use but cannot change. Arrows run from the supplier on the left to the process that consumes it on the right, and each arrow carries its amount.

Right-click a box for its menu: on a locked box Localize (edit) and Remove from canvas; on your own process Duplicate, Move to library and Delete.
Right-click empty canvas for ＋ New process here.
Drag on empty canvas to select several boxes; the middle mouse button pans.
Above the canvas: Auto-layout, a tag highlighter, a colour brush and Clear all node colours.

See Build on the canvas for all of it.

The inspector and the audit log#

Click a box and the right column shows it: name, description, location and classification, its Reference product with amount and unit, and its flows on the tabs Inputs and Outputs. For your own processes every field is edited in place; a background dataset is shown read-only with a padlock.

The inspector with a selected process: name, location, classification, the reference product block and the Inputs tab with several flows — The inspector with one of your own processes selected.

Below the inspector, the Audit log lists every change to the model with its author — you, the assistant or an external agent. Parameters and Scenarios have the same log. See Check, undo and the audit log.

The chat dock#

At the bottom right of the canvas sits the AI assistant's chat, with a small map of the canvas above it as soon as the canvas has a box on it. Without an API key, the field says so and points you to SettingsAI. Everything else in PrismLCA works without it. See Set up the assistant.

Settings#

The gear at the top right opens Settings: General, Language, Modelling, Reporting, the groups Transport distances and AI, and About (version and Check for updates). Every change applies at once — there is no Save button here either. See Settings, page by page.

Where do I…?#

…	Go to
import background data, add impact methods	OverviewBackground
create, open, export or delete a model	Overview, model list
enter goal, scope and functional unit	Model page, Model button with the tree icon
find a dataset	Model page, search panel
add my own process	Model page, Process, or right-click the canvas
change a background dataset	Right-click it, Localize (edit)
undo a change	Undo in the toolbar; history in the Audit log
see the result of one process	Model page: select it, Calculate
compare variants or indicators	Results, tab Results
find the hotspots	Results, Decomposition tree
see which parameters matter	Results, Sensitivity analysis
write the report	Report
enter an API key	SettingsAIProvider
check for updates	SettingsAbout
open this handbook	The green Handbook button on the Overview

Find your way around

The window in one picture#

The sidebar: seven pages, in the order of a study#

The Workspace block#

The model toolbar#

The search panel#

The canvas#

The inspector and the audit log#

The chat dock#

Settings#

Where do I…?#