We're looking to invest in some estimating software and was just wondering whether Bluebeam is capable of doing what Planswift does
I use Bluebeam because I can easily manipulate drawings, customise markups to clearly detail what has been measured, add custom columns so my markups can be allocated to sections of work, etc.. I looked at several other packages but none of them offered me the flexibility that I needed to create different workflows for different trades.
@Peter Jury, I had a similar question on comparisons because PlanSwift is much more intuitive but the things required by Bluebeam to do takeoffs are hidden in tabs and tables where in PlanSwift I could make folders to store all my QTO takeoffs and the legends were much easier to customize.
What did you end up learning?
I don't use it for estimates but if that's a focus of your workflow, I would think you could make a custom profile where the tools you need are set to be easier to find. From custom Tool Sets to custom toolbars.
I have different profiles for measuring different trades - I even have several profiles just for measuring groundworks including foundations, external works, retaining walls, drainage, etc..
This is because not only do I only need certain tools for each workflow but I also have custom columns which collect specific information which I need in order to complete my tenders.
My tools are easily accessible but also many of them automatically generate the information for custom columns e.g. a sewer run from an internal SVP (foul drainage) will self populate with the fact that it starts with an SVP, it will be 100mm diameter pipe and in UPVC and the trench will have as dug back fill. For this item all I will need to do is enter the details of where it ends such as a manhole or joining onto another drainage run.
That sounds impressive @vfrench maybe you should make a how-to video.
Hi @Luke Shiras
This is a link to a video where I demonstrate the drainage workflow. You'll see as I am marking up much of the information required in the custom columns is prepopulated leaving the absolute minimum of manual input where there are 'variables'.
There are also a few 'bonus' bits in here such as exporting to Excel, copying markups from one scale to another, using the lasoo tool, etc..
Very nice, @vfrench!
Most of that went over my head but I could see how useful it was, @vfrench. Thanks for sharing.
I can no longer copy/paste markups when using latest version 21.7
I'm not sure how long ago this changed, but it was pretty recent…. I used to be able to make a legend from my tool counts per page by selecting the counts to be per the "current" page and then at the begining of the document on the cover page I could create a Master Legend with the Total Counts that had ALL the counts from…
This morning I did a batch overlay with a set of over 150 pages. What I would like to know is if I can modify the alignment of pages once it has processed? I would like from it using page region to reprocess individual pages as auto alignment.
I would like to know if there is any information that explains the best use for overlay and compare in there own functions?
Hi all, I have reached out to the support team at Bluebeam with little success with an issue i am having recently. I have a selection of custom mark-up tools and columns that were created last year for the take-off of pipework and ductwork insulation and have been working well for the most part. As I carry out my ductwork…
I would like to know if there are any place I could go to download toolsets for doors?
When I open a set of plans in Bluebeam, I get hundreds and many times thousands of items that automatically populate into the Markups List. I try to delete them but it won't allow this to happen. Does anyone know how to get rid of these or stop them from importing? They are mainly random labels, words or drawings…
Hi All. i have reached out to the support team, but without getting the needed help. They wrote that the problem was due to the drawing being "large", but the problem is not connected to all large drawings. The Drawing is not responding dynamic to zoom, but keeps loding in small bites/fields, making the it slow to work…
When extracting pages, I currently have to either: Select all pages first, then use Extract [Ctrl+Shift+X], or Go to Extract and change the page range dropdown from Selected to All Pages. Is there a way to skip these steps and have All Pages set as the default so I can extract the full document with a single click?
Hi all. Anyone else having a problem since the latest update, where you go to change a line size & it jumps up to highlight?
