Bluebeam

Knowledge Sharing (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
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
o
o
o
o

Arc tool takes some practice

Tutorial located in Bluebeam folder
Polyline elements can be converted to arcs
Bottom expandable menu is used to filter/group/erase markups
Can be placed on different layers for sorting/hiding purposes
Check dim % in Settings > Preferences > Markups Tab for hiding markups
Holding shift snaps to vertical, horizontal, and 45 degree directions
How to add leader to Callout
To change highlighter from highlighting text or vice versa Settings > Preferences > Tablet
Pen commitment interval can be set here too
Summary of markups/comments can be exported

o
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