Best Of

In the Combine PDF Files menu (File > Combine), you should have the
option to add any files you want and then choose the Modify button to
type in which specific pages you want to combine (i.e. "3, 5, 12-16")
from each document. This would create a third document made up of
whatever combined files you chose.

I believe that the way the Combine PDFs dialog handles this is what I attempted to outline (and seems to be generated from a similar dialog that the Stapler tool uses), however we would want to use this functionality AND be able to save how it was set up similar to the Stapler Tool's use of ".bsx" files to save file lists/orders for future use. Would it be viable to add the underlying tool from "Combine PDF Files" to the Stapler tool?

Conversely, you could go into the Thumbnails panel to complete more
specific functions like extracting pages (one page up to every single
page), inserting pages, or even slipsheeting (replace pages). In
addition, you can use the batch menu to slipsheet multiple pages into
your files at one time.

Understood, and this has been our current workaround. The main concern being that in projects with many files and/or revision iterations increase the likelihood that an issue creeps in, so we have been interested in setting up automation that can help limit potential mistakes from manual operation.

The Batch Menu seems like it has potential in the meantime, perhaps via the "Split Documents" tool in combination with the "Slip Sheet" tool and some careful use of Page Labels, however this still appears to require a number of manual steps in addition to selecting individual pages for use.

Maybe if there was a way to also save the Manual Correlation choices in the subsequent "Match Pages" dialog?

I see that you have this idea of saving the settings for repeatability.
Do you mean specific page numbers that you might access over and over
again, or something else?

Correct, to somewhat generalize, our procedure involves a document of Section Title Pages that are then filled in with respective drawings/documents that are varying page sizes/layouts.

The stapler tool has been the most straightforward/closest to accomplishing the goal of a repeatable method (via saving the ".bsx" settings) for re-combining these files in a mostly automatic way, however the need to break up the Title Pages for sections (along with handling various page-size documents), has created complexity that we simply have to workaround for now.

I do think if the way that the "Combine PDFs" tool references files could be incorporated into the Stapler tool, it would address 80-90% of that need for our team (with a hopefully simple/minimal effort required from the Dev team).

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On a separate note, I realize that some of this seems viable via using Sets, however for our use case of the tool seems to struggle with documents spanning hundreds of pages of varying size/layout, and adds additional complexity for a significant efficiency hit compared to the Stapler Tool (e.g. one deliverable package was combine-able via Stapler, even with some manual steps, in 3-4 minutes, while the setup/loading for the equivalent Set took 30-40 minutes to process).

Using "Publish" with an organized Set via "Combine PDF" files was fairly close to the desired workflow, but the default workflow with Stapler for using/organizing whole files was much more efficient and allowed us a quicker turn-around to a final item. In particular, making a sort order for the final document/set-wide Page Index seems somewhat dependent on either "AutoMark" to create Page Labels, a manual Tag to create a Set-wide Page Index, or some combination to yield said Set-wide Page Index.

Some more advanced features may be able to be used though these, or perhaps creating an initial document (with Page Labels then serving as a full set-wide index) could be useful, however then this abstracts the Set from the underlying files we would want to Revisions….

Thank you for looking at this!

The Create Bookmarks function is probably going to be the most helpful tool to you. You can use this to create bookmarks from the page labels if they are detailed enough, or you can use the Page Region function to use Automark to capture a spot on the page to name your bookmarks after (such as the title block). You can bookmark all the pages and then remove the pages that don't apply to your work, or you can type in specific page numbers and only bookmark those. You can also nest bookmarks under a header so you don't have to see the ones you don't want. Additionally, you can export your chosen bookmarks into a hyperlinked cover page and attach it to the front of your document.

Another option that might work for you is using the search function to find those specific comments that apply to you. You can use this tool to find them, highlight them, and even hyperlink them.

And, if you want to get really specific with hyperlinks and navigating your document. You can use Batch > Link to make chosen phrases link where you need them to.

Would this be for a Studio Session or a locally stored file?

In the meantime, you could bookmark only the pages you want to reference. It doesn't help with scrolling but it would make it easier to skip those extra pages.

Thanks Luke we'll give that a try, though it only fades out the markup, which may still be a good thing so that were not repeating markups.

Have you tried Custom Filters?

You can drag and drop (preferred) or right-click and get this menu. Unfortunately, the detached menu can float mostly off screen and be hard to spot. Look for a small toolbar floating at the bottom of your screen.

Can this be accomplished by launching Bluebeam twice? May not be as convenient but could you open separate sessions in each or will it still only recognize one session?

I just created a ToolSet for steel framing where I used a Custom Column to display the Steel Member Size on the Markup Dimension (what I use for Steel Framing) on the PDF. This worked great because I used a Choice Custom Column to filter the different sizes into different categories based on the Markups Subject name.

I am working on an idea for Structural reinforcement that displays on the PDF and calculates the area in the background so I can put that into a Legend.

Just always keen to hear other peeps ideas and what I can test/create/share next.