BluebeamKnowledgeSharing(Outline)

1 What is to be discussed

General Navigation & Setup

o How to change appearances

o Setting up profiles

Basic pdf editing

o Focus on what we use most often

Printing pdf's

Scanning & Adding signed seals

Text Editing

o SDSs

Adding content to border

o Shop Drawings/Markups

General Tools Properties

Structural Markup Tool chest

Adding complicated details (Use Revit)

Bluebeam Studio

2 General Information

2.1 Bluebeam University

Bluebeam University can be accessed through Help Tab > Resources

o Tutorials, Videos, FAQs, etc.

o The help search option is located here

F1 key accesses help menu

Place downloaded tutorial pdfs here: W:\LAFP\Bluebeam\Bluebeam Tutorials

2.2 View Preferences

Settings Tab > General

o Revit Style Ribbons

View Tab

o Tabs & Toolbars

View Tab > Toolbars/Tabs Dropdown

Recommend turning on all options to know what is available until you

get comfortable with what you use most

Interface Dropdown

o Pay attention to popups (Command Bar)

Expandable Menus (Left, Right, & Bottom)

2.3 Profiles

Used mainly for different menu displays, view settings and toolbar locations

Create your own or edit an existing and save

2.4 Navigation

Page navigation buttons at bottom of screen (Shop Drawing Example)

Split Screen

Mouse Shortcuts

Ctrl + mouse scroll shifts between scroll and zoom

Shift + click to select multiple items

Bookmarks

Shop drawings

Bookmark main sections or group sections of bookmarks

Split view

Contract Drawings (Contract Drawing Example)

Auto Bookmark

File access tab shows recent pdfs

Sets Tab

o This allows users to browse through multiple pdfs as though they were only one file

without actually having to create one file with all the individual pdfs merged (Set

Example)

o Can be useful when organizing current sets

3 Basic .pdf Editing

3.1 Printing

Keep the same quality throughout

o 600 dpi Tiff seems to look the best (Scan Comparisons)

Reducing file size

o Document Tab > Process > Reduce File Size

Printing defaults

o Help Tab > Administrator > Printer tab

Documents can be emailed directly out of Bluebeam

o Sent file is active document, not saved file

o Have to add signature in email window

Combining pages/documents

o Bluebeam stapler can be used to combine multiple files

o Copy and paste in the thumbnail menu is a quick alternative to use when you only need

to add a few pages

3.2 Comparing Documents

Two document comparison tools are located under the Document Tab > Comparison

o Compare Documents (Comparison Example)

Document A is base and Document B is revised

Very Sensitive to changes unless changes are made to advanced options

See compare documents tutorial in network folder for more

information on advanced options

Automatically Syncs movements and splits screen unless option is unchecked

o Overlay Documents

Visually easier to compare the changes (past and present)

Set individual pages or all pages to compare

o Overlaying Architectural and Structural

Overlay tool can be used with alignment options

Scale of drawings do not have to match

Alignment points need to be accurate and consistent

Snapshot tool can also be used

Changing colors and capacity makes drawing easier to read

Multiple overlays can be placed on layers to be hidden or revealed

o Markups can also be added to different layers for visibility or

organizational preferences

3.3 SDSs

Alternative to SDS Borders in Revit

o Blank LAFP SDS borders are located on network (W:\LAFP\Bluebeam\Bluebeam

Knowledge Sharing Presentation)

Copy to your desktop for future use

Adding a scanned seal

o Convert 600 dpi Tiff to full page photo with equivalent resolution

o Use snapshot tool and paste seal onto pdf

Adjust blend mode

Flatten file

Only reduce file size if there are no scanned images or high quality photos

3.4 Editing Content

Text

o Spell check uppercase words option Settings > Preferences > Spelling

Only shows errors in text box when it is active

Does not check flattened text

Adding custom words to the dictionary

o As long as Bluebeam can recognize the text as a font, it can be edited (Unprotected PDF)

Has difficult recognizing scanned, AutoCAD and microstation fonts (OCR

Extreme Version)

Edit Tab > Content > Edit Text (RFI Example)

o Text box and callout preferences can be set as default for future use

o Use Enter key to return when using the typewriter

Helpful to make all text tools the same fonts, sizes, and colors for uniform

markups

o Notes and flags are alternatives to temporary comments rather than color coding

markups

o Markup status/reviewing procedures (Team JT)

Content

o The snapshot tool creates the most editable content

Use Vector Snapshots

Content quality can be set to 600 dpi in the settings

Polygon capture area

It may be feasible to edit content on a blank page and then transfer the edited

content to the appropriate page rather than editing in the source program

(Revit)

The Snipping Tool can be used for screen shots and then pasted into a pdf and

edited for more professional looking markups

o Differences between length tool and dimension tool

Calibrating the length tool can prove helpful when reviewing plans or

photographs

Measurement tool settings have their own tab next to the properties tab

Searching

o Searching can be done by text or graphics

o Text can only be searched if it is recognized as a font

Hyperlinks

o Use hyperlink tool and draw rectangle around area that you want to be a link

o Text has to be flattened before it can be selected

4 Shop Drawing Markups

4.1 Structural Review Process

Tool Chest How To's are located in the Bluebeam folder (W:\LAFP\Bluebeam)

o Other helpful information is also located in the folder above

o Markups can be added to the My Tools for Hotkey quick access

o Snapshot tool can be used to place reference details on submittal

Markups

o Cloud tool or any other shape to create clouds

Control points can be added to modify shapes

o Arc tool takes some practice

Tutorial located in Bluebeam folder

Polyline elements can be converted to arcs

o Bottom expandable menu is used to filter/group/erase markups

o Can be placed on different layers for sorting/hiding purposes

Check dim % in Settings > Preferences > Markups Tab for hiding markups

o Holding shift snaps to vertical, horizontal, and 45 degree directions

o How to add leader to Callout

o To change highlighter from highlighting text or vice versa Settings > Preferences > Tablet

Pen commitment interval can be set here too

o Summary of markups/comments can be exported

Stamps

o LAFP stamps are in the Bluebeam folder

Once loaded, they are saved to your computer and can be edited

o Can be applied with single click or drag

Finishing Markups

o Use Save As to create Completed Folder file

o Remove temporary markups

o Flatten document

Reduce file size if there are no scanned images or high quality photos

4.2 Bluebeam Studio

Studio Session

o Most helpful during telephone coordination or when multiple people need to be in the

same file at the same time

Only the host is required to have a licensed version of Revit

Other users are only required to have the free viewer

o Join using email and a created password

Email validation gets caught in Postini

o Start Session and Invite Users

o Key Points

Can take a while to upload a document

Markups can only be edited by those who created them

Bookmarks cannot be edited after a session has started

Follow live on-screen movements in real time

Non-streaming

Slow internet connections are okay

Record of comments can be printed

Session is automatically deleted after 30 days of inactivity

Finishing a session is only available for the host

Studio Project

o Hard drive in the cloud

o Sessions can be created in projects

o Files can be checked out

Tutorial video and pdfs are available