PDF markups
PDF markups
(OP)
I am an old school PE, still marking up drawings with red pen, scanning the markups and emailing them around. It takes too long. I'd like to become more efficient but still use a pen/stylus. What software/hardware packages are out there that can allow me to open PDF files, mark up drawings by hand, maybe even rasterize, and save/email them off in an entirely digital environment?
I really appreciate any insights that anyone can offer. Thank you!!!
I really appreciate any insights that anyone can offer. Thank you!!!






RE: PDF markups
It's a terrible medium for collaboration on drawings.
Nobody cares.
So there's a market for third-party applications that can open and edit PDF files and re-save them somehow.
I don't think Adobe has ever officially revealed the details of the format, so the best choice for an editor is probably Adobe Acrobat. ... which is not free, but mostly works.
About rasterizing:
Acrobat can save a text file as text, plus instruction on how it should be displayed, and I think it can save a drawing file in vector format, comprising lines, with color. In both cases, they can be stretched or shrunk without losing detail or proportion, and the files are not terribly large.
If you use a scanner to make an image of a drawing or a sheet of text, that puts it in rasterized form, i.e., a bitmap. The files, especially for something like a scanned book, are very very large. Worse, when the images of pages or drawings are shrunk, you lose detail (as the detail becomes smaller than a pixel, it disappears), and when you enlarge rasterized pages or drawings, the lines become fat and fuzzy, or turn into a line of dots.
You lose a _lot_ of information when you rasterize a drawing or document, so don't ask for it if you don't want it.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: PDF markups
RE: PDF markups
The PDF file been an open, standardized format since 2008. I wouldn't worry too much about using a 3rd party application.
RE: PDF markups
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: PDF markups
RE: PDF markups
It appears that they also offer dedicated authoring and API tools which they charge $$ for.
RE: PDF markups
I've been looking long and hard for something like this. And, because I'm into my tech, cost is pretty much irrelevant to me. That said, it's the stylus bit that I've never been able to solve. Yeah, there's iPad's and bamboo tablets out there with drawing apps but they all either fall into one of two categories of disappointment:
1) Drawing is not precise enough for engineering sketches.
2) Drawing is utterly precise and therefore painful beyond measure to use.
These days, I'm into Bluebeam all the way, both on my computer and my iPad. Here's how I use to satisfy most of my needs:
1) You can set scales and measure things which is very helpful.
2) If you're adding text comments, it's great to just type everything in there. The people that read your markups can isolate them using the internal database which is awesome for processing redmarks.
3) You can easily set up a custom tool chest full of commonly used symbols. I've got expansion anchors, deck callouts, weld sybols etc to cover the day to day stuff.
4) Often, I'll lift the content of an architectural detail, paste it back down screened to 30%, scale it to suit me, print it, and hand draw my structural details over top. It's a real time saver being able to draw perfectly to scale without any effort at all.
5) I can do most of my markups on reviews within Bluebeam using the stuff mentioned above. On occasion, I may want to add a detail to a set of shop drawings etc where attempting to draw the detail in Bluebeam is just to painful. When that happens, I draw the detail on paper old school, take a picture of it with my phone, wait five seconds for the the dropbox app on my phone to synch with my computer, and paste the detail into bluebeam looking all sexy. It sounds like a lot of operations but I can literally go from finished sketch to having it in blue beam in under ten seconds. It's faster than getting up to go to the scanner, although much less healthy. Sometimes I'll sketch a detail graphically but then use Bluebeam to annotate the detail. It goes fast, cure's my physician's handwriting, and allows me to edit content later.
I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.
RE: PDF markups
Walt
RE: PDF markups
Curious, what version of Bluebeam Revu do you use - Standard, CAD, or eXtreme for your applications?
RE: PDF markups
I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.
RE: PDF markups
Walt
RE: PDF markups
Works fine for me.
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.
RE: PDF markups
All projects are session based, so markups are centralized, editable and workable by anyone. I also use Sets for construction administration, drawings have RFI's in them, makes tracking easy and can be accessed by anyone.
RE: PDF markups
RE: PDF markups
Is Bluebeam Xtreme worh the extra $ over the CAD version ?
RE: PDF markups
RE: PDF markups
RE: PDF markups
The Comparison tool is great too. Saves you having to play 'spot the difference' when architects issue new and improved drawings.