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Recommended
Ryan S.
Estimator
Construction, 11-50 employees
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Ryan S.: Hi, my name is Ryan, and I'm a construction estimator. I would give Bluebeam Revu a five out...
Patrick M.
Project Manager
Construction, 11-50 employees
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Patrick: My name is Patrick. I'm a project manager. I would rate Bluebeam Revu a five out of five. And...
Tyler D.
Verified reviewer
Construction, 201-500 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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I can't say enough good things about this software using it in the construction industry. I have used multiple different PDF editors but nothing comes close to as how good BlueBeam is. There is not much of a learning curve and you can learn the basics very quickly. It goes about as advanced as you would need and can do almost anything. Marking up blueprints is straightforward and easy to do. There...
The only complaint I have been able to come up with but I'm sure it is user error is that my customized toolbar keeps reverting back to the default. I have locked the toolbar and messed with it but randomly every now goes back. I am unsure why this happens and is pretty frustrating when it does. Other than this no complaints.
Kelsey F.
Verified reviewer
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Overall, great experience with Bluebeam Revu. Been a customer for the past 5 years. Never looked back or started looking for another program. Bluebeam has made my work quite simpler. Once you learn the basics, this program is so simple to do quick field measurements, combine/edit files, markup pdf's, extract pages to separate files and so many more functions that I have still to learn.
So many functions that are pertinent to the construction industry that I can use on a daily basis from viewing files to doing quick measurements to editing files to combining or converting to and from PDF files. One very big pro about Bluebeam is the customer service. I had a laptop die on me and it locked out my bluebeam account. I contacted customer support and within a few hours, they unlocked my account for me to register on my new laptop. I thought that was absolutely incredible with the quick turnaround on my Bluebeam license.
Probably my biggest con for Bluebeam is the cost of the software. It is a little pricey, little higher than competitors. But well worth it if you use this program on a daily basis.
Josh T.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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Technical support is non existent.
All the pros of this software are irrelevant because of how bad the support staff is.
Customer support is the worst I have ever dealt with. I bought bluebeam because the explained all of the great things you can do connecting to your employees through their I pad and I phone apps. After looking into it we were excited and bought the program. After the program was purchased they explained to be that I can't use the I phone app unless I purchase the $150 maintenance plan. Felt like...
Anonymous Reviewer
Verified reviewer
Architecture & Planning, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Bluebeam is my go-to software for both internal document markup, and external document storage and collaboration. It is the most effective annotation tool for computer-savvy architectural professionals and has simplified drawing compilation and collaboration.
The extensive markup tools bring traditional architectural document annotation into the 21st century, allowing quick, intuitive, and professional looking markups to be quickly documented and shared with team members.
Bluebeam can be unnecessarily clunky and demanding on hardware at times, and occasional bugs/glitches can make tools like "Reduce PDF File Size" have unpredictable results.
Audrey T.
Civil Engineering, 5,001-10,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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A useful tool I've been using since 2016. The private consulting industry has basically embedded this software into their workflow. Sadly, probably due to its cost, the public sector/client dont tend to use Bluebeam or they have the entry level version without all the features.
Bluebeam works perfectly with drafting and producing drawings through Civil 3D. It's quick and convenient to use for engineering drawings. One particularly great feature, is the ability to calibrate your own scale and measure quantities to scale. It is a great tool for producing markups and redlines on PDFs to share with the team. Before the pandemic, we occasionally did the markups and comments by hand, now it's exclusively all through PDF markups.
When they have yearly program version updates, they tend to change the UI around so it takes some time to relearn the Bluebeam features. For the polyline feature, it's annoying having to press enter to finalize the command and save the line drawn (especially if it's not a close polygon). I use this tool daily and it's extremely annoying when I lose my line! I would love it if they made it so a right-click during the command saves and exits so I can complete the entire command with my mouse.
Gina B.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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I utilize BlueBeam Revu pretty much on a daily basis whether it be to open/review documents (as a PDF reader) or to edit/modify documents, invoices, etc. It has become a HUGE tool for me, a time saver AND a stress saver as well! :-)
After struggling through Adobe for many years, I was introduced to BlueBeam Revu about 3 years ago and it has made my life SO much more pleasant! The features and ease of use (once you have been properly trained) are a Godsend! The ability to relocate text placement more precisely is the most valuable tool for me.
I do struggle with changing the font sizes when creating new text boxes to be uniform to the last but not a deal breaker - LOL!!
Aditya M.
Civil Engineering, 10,001+ employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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I am very satisfied with the BlueBeam and its capabilities. It makes my work more manageable and accessible.
BlueBeam supports many different file formats compared to Adobe Reader. It can open Image files and can open Internet browser through it. This makes it one stop solution station for multiple problems. It reduces workload. BlueBeam allows sessions that can be used by multiple organizations and trades and same time. This save project budget and time.
BlueBeam can not open 2 online sessions at same time. In order to that, you have to exit out of one session to access another. This is time consuming and unnecessary.
Erwin C.
Architecture & Planning, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Bluebeam is simply a game changer when it comes to collaborative work.
this software is heaven sent. it cuts time in marking up drawings, making notes and comments. it has a lot of features and colors that are useful in marking up drawings for multiple consultants. the ability to reduce the file size is a big factor.
i hope there were more advanced drawing tools and document editing features.
Anonymous Reviewer
Verified reviewer
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used weekly for 2+ years
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BlueBeam is a comprehensive solution for use in the construction industry that allows you to easily view and mark up plans and drawings.
BlueBeam is a very complex software that has extensive capabilities for creating and marking up PDF documents and it has a lot more options than the standard Adobe products.
There are so many tools available to use in the software that it can be a little hard to learn how to use them all.
Ahmed d.
Oil & Energy, 10,001+ employees
Used monthly for 2+ years
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It is a good software for sharing documents in large organizations with multiple location around the world.
My company uses Bluebeam Revu to share PDF files for the purpose of reviewing and adding comments. The software is doing the job efficiently. I can see all reviewers and their comments which is really helpful.
The Bluebeam is not easy to deal with when it comes to connecting/sign in to a studio. Sometimes the session includes multiple documents that the user needs to navigate between them. Sometimes I deal with over 30 documents in the same session. The software provides a list of document. Whenever the user selects a document, it will open, but it will not be highlighted in the documents list. Keeping the last opened document highlighted is important to know where the user stopped and which documents that are not opened yet.
Jennifer V.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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I have used this software everyday since joining the construction industry. Like every software there are glitches, however the benefits MAJORLY outweigh the pitfalls.
Every day I am learning about a new feature that makes life even easier in the industry. Love their takoff capabilities, measuring, stamps, and just the general fact that I can view PDFs and manipulate them. I have had VERY few complaints over the many years I have used this software.
Like all softwares, there are glitches. One bummer is the lack of integration on android phones. There was also an issue with integrating the software with an apple update; this was resolved fairly quickly though.
chandra s.
Civil Engineering, 5,001-10,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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its very good. uses daily, its very compatible with AutoCAD Revit and other software's where its gives best pdf viewer experience and editing marking or comment session. best options are availed to make changes for document. security is high. content is preserved.
any changes in the pdf it can be preserved with the owner with date and time itself. Variety of pdf editing options like text editing . marking highlight and work sharing with others. its can be operated with number of other software's to make pdf and print setting.
nothing much but its taking some time to load file at starting of opening.
Anonymous Reviewer
Verified reviewer
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Manage pretty much any PDF Document. Customizable and user friendly interface.
This program has so many functions I know I am missing out on key and crucial aspects of it. The customer service is a bit non-existent but they will respond to emails. I think that the cost effectiveness if you learn things yourself is great, but asking for $250 for classes at the top end and $100 for classes at the low end is a bit steep.
Glenn G.
Construction, 201-500 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Powerful tool to manipulate pdf's. Definitely use Bluebeam Revu as the default pdf tool.
Tool sets make mark up easy. Bluebeam Revu is the best for viewing and manipulating pdf's.
Sometimes customization is a little cumbersome. The process to make custom symbols and color them can be confusing. I do not like the way the audit trail for markups does not stay on the sheet you are working on. Continually have to navigate back the part of the audit trail for that sheet. Combining documents sometimes does not work. Adobe Acrobat is better for basic combining.
Bailey K.
Architecture & Planning, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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bluebeam has made it easy to collaborate among our team members and communicate project related tasks all in one place.
bluebeam creates/edits PDF's in a re-imagined way. the tools and functionality are limitless. the studio version makes it easy for an entire team to collaborate on one PDF and mark up revisions as needed.
you must all be working in the same year version of the software to use studio. sometimes when a file is too big, it will slow down the software and become virtually unusable.
Ann M.
Architecture & Planning, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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It has been a great collaborative tool for the company I work for. We are all in different locations and has made remote working much easier. Supervisors can look over files and redline things while another worker in a different location is correcting the items at the same time. It is also a great file management tool as the Sessions allow to keep document files together that many people can access simultaneously
The features that Bluebeam Revu has are far above and beyond to other PDF reading/editing software out there, especially for those that are in the design/construction industry. It has a slight learning curve when you're used to other programs, but once you learn, there is no going back. The best feature in my opinion is the ability to collaborate in real time. When files are uploaded to a Session, multiple people can be in the same file at the same time. Someone can be marking up and making comments while others can be seeing these comments and revising things on their end at the same time. There is no need to wait for a person to finish marking up a file and send it in an email, it can be done simultaneously.
Honestly, there are not many cons about this software. The only issue I had with the program was the learning curve of how to use it, as I had to learn on my own.
Nathan R.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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We have designers that draw projects with a different program. Once that project is drawn, it gets sent to all the personal that need to look at it and use it for their specific tasks. BlueBeam makes it so I can get my notes and my measurements fast and easy. For example, when I am with a client making siding selection, I can add the note right on the plan with there Text tab. Simple and easy. When they want to change a window location, neat, crisp lines can be drawn to show were it should go. Bluebeam also helps me daily when I receive PDF documents from vendors or suppliers.
It is my go-to program to look at and edit PDF's. When one has to measure something, its easy to use and easy to give accurate information to the project managers, vendors, & suppliers. Easy to add notes and clean up PDF's to make them look and say the things you want. Like the fact my toolbox is saved and can be used over and over. While I was filling this out, a sub called and asked a question about a plan. I used Revu to answer the question because its quick and easy to get the information they are looking for.
Learning the way the Revu works takes time. Once you figure it out, its great though. I had to have someone else that had used Revu before set up my toolbox and headers because trying to do it myself was taking so long. Mostly that is my own fault but getting a program tailored to yourself should not be hard to set up. There is not much I don't like about the this program.
Charlie M.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Our estimating team switched to this from planswift and we've had more people get on board who were doing paper takeoff. While there were definitely some pains with transitioning once we got used to the new layout we came to appreciate some of the additional features Revu has to offer. I would say planswift is a bit quicker for doing small quick takeoffs, but when we do larger jobs and especially jobs...
Lots of different functions (construction takeoff/room scheduling, document mark-up/review, document creation) Customization for different users/tasks through profiles Excel export of markups/takeoff Cheaper than alternative takeoff software Easy to share with others (uses .pdf files) Ability to transition from takeoff to room schedule through spaces feature (big time saver for us as we do lots of air device takeoff) Easy to combine/compare revised drawings to old drawings/takeoff.
Takes a while to get up to speed on compared to other takeoff software (all the features can get overwhelming) Takeoff functions are not as polished/fast to use as some dedicated takeoff software (although the latest update fixed some of this) Certain PDF's can take long to load/render (rare problem, but very difficult to work around when it happens)
Ana B.
Architecture & Planning, 201-500 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Overall one of my favorite tools to use daily. This tool makes my job fun and helps me manage my team and project with less stress and difficulty for me.
This is easy for even the most computer illiterate person to use. I use this on ever team and always have it open on a monitor - every project I have a bluebeam session for. I find that this tool makes my life easier in collaborative review of drawings, markup and sharing of changes and information, directing people to issues or topics for discussion, and using as a tool to sketch together live while in a virtual meeting.
The marking complete feature could be less clunky. The pen tool could be vastly improved. Having a way to know if someone did not get in to review by a deadline, or enter the session at all, would be helpful. All in all minor things
Apeksha J.
Apparel & Fashion, 201-500 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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I am using this great software for some designing works. I can simply edit all my designs as per clients requirements and make them perfect with absolute easy.
There is no doubt that Bluebeam Revu is the best software available at the market today for viewing and editing PDFs. Software is fairly easy to handle and learn. Free versions are available for use. There are so many editing options, tools and functions are available. PDFs can be converted to word files with high accuracy.
I absolutely have nothing against the bluebeam revu. Files with macro details takes some times to load and zooming. But that is acceptable.
Bianca Z.
Construction, 5,001-10,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Overall I think Bluebeam Revu is a wonderful program. It is easy to use and difficult to make mistakes that aren't easily fixed. I think it is a necessity for anyone dealing with official documents, editing PDFs, and working in the architectural/construction industry.
There are so many pros about this program. My favorite tools would be the calibration tool for verifying and editing architectural plans, the stamp and markup tools for approving and commenting on official documents, and the comparison tool for overlaying revised documents to see design changes. I love that Bluebeam Revu is simple yet sophisticated.
One con is that whenever I lose network connection, my stamp folder loses the path to my stamp folder. It would be helpful if there was a way to save the default stamp folder so when I regain connection it will automatically connect. Another issue is with flattening. It would be nice if there was a password or something users could share with a team in order for everyone in the team to have access to flattening and unflattening. Perhaps there could be a way to choose whether to only have the user who flattened be able to unlock it or to give access to teams.
Deniel A.
Construction, 10,001+ employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Markups of documents for red lines and revisions. Calculation area/volume/length of certain items in drawings for use in construction planning and estimating
Excellent document markup interface, accurate measuring tools for estimating, OCR fairly accurate and tracking of markups
When integrated with InEight Documents, the time for opening and saving documents is extended. No notification when emailing document if the document is too large. When using print to bluebeam, characters and whole words are not transferred to the Bluebeam version of the document.
Baldemar A.
Construction, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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What is there not to like about Bluebeam? I first started using it when I got in the construction industry in June 2016 and I have never used a PDF editing software that is as user friendly as Bluebeam. There is countless things you can use it for and more than anything, it is the editing options and capabilities that this program has what makes it simply unique. Being able to create a session and invite members to join is quite a unique feature too; I am glad my company uses it for basically everything!
This isn't a negative comment, as I truly don't have anything bad to say about it, but if anything I would say that I would like to have a bit more training on how to use the software as it updates from one version to the other; I wish there was either trainings or instructional videos that would show the users how it is that a new version of Bluebeam compares to the older one. With that said above, it is by far, the best PDF viewer/editor there is out there!
Anonymous Reviewer
Verified reviewer
Construction, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Bluebeam is my favorite takeoff software, and I have used so many over 20 years of estimating.
Easy to measure lines and areas. Easy to count items. The ability to organize the items into groups and layers is key to the functionality. Layers are able to be turned on and off. Ability to change size and color of various items is also key.
Not many Cons. Every once in a while the file size will slow the process down. But other than that, nor Cons.
Jeff C.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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I think that Bluebeam is the best PDF manager/user tool created since the original Adobe.
It is easy, powerful, and allows you to be the master of all documentation. PDF to word conversion, drawings tools, measurement tools, scaled take-offs, etc. etc. Very powerful. The creation, modification, and use of the Stamps is another great tool for the contractor. We use Bluebeam to review, mark, and submit 100% of our shop drawings. We then have to digitally stamp each page and being able to change the date and comments in the stamp so quickly is awesome. It integrates well with PROCORE which is an excellent Management Software. The license is transferable between devices so that I can carry my SINGLE license from my work laptop to my home computer very easily by logging in on my license number.
Cost could be a factor...although I don't pay the bill at my company so I don't have the answer to the license requirements and costs.