📅 September 2024 Challenge – Seal of Approval!

Marco M

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the September 2024 Monthly Challenge! This topic generates many questions, which is why we'd like to talk about it here. This month, we're focusing on how you give your documents the final seal of approval. Whether it's signatures, stamps, watermarks, or images, we want to know how you make your mark.

For those wanting to know more about monthly challenges, please visit this link.

Last month’s challenge ended with some great custom tool sets. Check them out in this link. 

🎖️ Rewards 

Participants will earn a special badge and points to help you level up in the community ranks. 

💬 Create, Share, and Discuss 

• Describe or post your seal, explain your process, and offer tips for others. 
  • If you use a custom signature, stamp, or watermark but are unable to share it directly, feel free to discuss your process and the importance of this final step in your workflow.
• Share how you add your seal of approval, whether it's a signature, stamp, watermark, or image.
• Engage with others by commenting on and upvoting your favorite seals.

🤝 Why Participate? 

• Your seal adds authenticity and closure to documents. 
• Show how you uniquely sign off, whether with a signature, watermark, or stamp. 
• Your approach could inspire others to create their own seals of approval. 

We’re excited to see how you complete your documents. Let’s showcase our community’s attention to detail!

For more information on digital signatures and stamps in Bluebeam Revu, check out the links below.

• Document Security & Verification - Bluebeam University course
• Working with Markup Tools - Bluebeam University course

https://youtu.be/ObiPYNb4jMU?si=ZtvcA1ZrcgFFpV_Q

https://youtu.be/RpCxaCzIV2c?si=mUS7vgiBckImh-ZW

Jorge Contreras

When we review our documents we use a stamp with JAVA code that timestamps the addition and prompts for Project number to indicate that these files are approved. When we assign permits we use the comment log to track signatures added by users, our users create stamps with their signatures to apply. Our document management team then locks the files before logging them in our EDMS repository.

Sumit Roy

We are using digital stamps with user initial, time & date for checking & approving drawings.

jrideout

Do we post the signature suggestions as a comment here, or as a new topic in the Bluebeam Community Discussions? Thank you for confirming, @Marco M

An interesting aspect of the Stamps is its ability to retain it's dynamic functionality when grouped together with other tools, this grouped tool and stamp combo can then be utilized by other users that have access to that stamps directory and tool set.

In our use-case we wanted an automatic filepath affixed to a particular tool whenever it was inserted into a PDF, we accomplished this via the following steps:

• Create and save a stamp to any folder; »»»»» in a shared directory if other users are accessing this tool
  • This does not have to be your active Stamp folder, just needs an accessible directory.
  • Set the stamp to have it's "&" dynamic field(s); »»»»» &[Path] in this example
  • Ensure the stamp boundary works with the size of your grouped tool.
    • https://support.bluebeam.com/online-help/revu21/Content/RevuHelp/Menus/Tools/Stamp/Editing-Stamps--MT.htm#:~:text=A%20dashed%20blue%20line%20shows%20the%20boundary%20of%20the%20stamp%20on%20the%20page.
• Get a desired tool (say a letterhead insert).
• Set the Stamp folder to the location of the (dynamic) stamp

This folder can be changed later, it needs to be pathed here solely for this step.

• Stamp your tool with the (dynamic) stamp.
• Group the tool and the stamp, then save to a Toolchest.

You now have a tool that automatically inputs a file path every time it's utilized from the toolchest.

Marco M

@jrideout You can comment here in this discussion!

samisasm

We are using digital stamps with user initial, time & date for checking & approving drawings.

Matt

If we need to sign something we sign "manually" as digital signatures are not supported by Revu for iOS. And stamps.

Molly.Richardson.CSC

As a delegated designer, I am often applying my stamp, signature and date.

To create this, I manually stamped a sheet of paper, put my signature separate a little beneath it, and then scanned this sheet.

I created a stamp with just my signature. Then I created a "Florida" stamp with my PE stamp, signature overlayed and &Date below. As I add more state licensures, I will make ones with that specific state stamp and same signature.

The biggest limitation to this is the quality of our scanning machine. It's not "perfect", but I think that adds to it as a true stamp.

Also, for a few projects I have to apply a digital signature. For this case, I purchased a third-party certificate from IdenTrust, installed it and have a digital signature also available for this case.

Luke Shiras

Our office works similar to @Molly.Richardson.CSC but our state seal is generated from AutoCAD/Revit and converted into a PDF. This gives us the clarity of a vector image and then we apply the scanned signature over that. The combined image is saved as a stamp which we apply to our documents.

Jeff Morris (ZGF)

I have an AutoCAD DWG for each partner. For those partners who don't insist on wet stamping their projects, a scan of their handwritten signature is placed centered at 0,0. A layer exists for every state for which the partner has a license. The state graphics is drawn on that layer relative to the position of how the partner would naturally sign it. Sometimes that is centered on the signature. Sometimes more sloppily to the right/left. Sometimes underneath the graphics. Two stamps are saved from PDF prints. One for a "signed" stamp (again, if partner allowed) and another for unsigned. These are stored in a central read-only network folder where project admins are taught how to redirect the stamp folder location. All stamps are saved within the extents of the same fixed box size. This allows hot swapping of a stamp without compromising its position in the title block.

Rebecca Yu

We use the same procedure that @Molly.Richardson.CSC and @Luke Shiras described. Our biggest draw back typically is that once signed, the files are non-editable - even to combine together and so we have to flatten and combine or combine and then sign. Would love if there were some very small exceptions to the lock down procedures once a signature has been applied.

Marco M

This challenge has now closed.

Great posts, everyone! 👏 Excited to see so much participation and contributions this month!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the October Challenge in the Community Hub category!