I spend a lot less time posting changes and as-builts, but with much more professional results. I also love the time it's cut down on creating our punch lists and tracking the completion of those items.

I love that it can "read" my plans, and help me with my takeoffs. The search function can look for either words or symbols, and is incredibly useful when I'm looking for something specific. The different user type profiles are tailored to show the tools and functions that someone in that role would be more likely to use the most. It's easy to switch between these profiles, even when viewing the same file, so no matter what or how many hats I'm wearing that day, it's easy to find the tools that I need for the job I'm doing. The customizable tool box is great - I can use the existing tools, or create my own! These are handy for posting as-builts, as well as for doing take offs and estimates. I love all the short cut keys!! Instead of using my mouse to select tool options, I can simply use the "G" key to take a "photo" of a certain part of my open file, or "C" to cloud an area. I use these frequently and it really cuts down the time I spend posting changes to our drawings. There are so many tools, functions, and options, that you're sure to find everything you need for seamless and efficient construction drawing management!

At first, it was a bit overwhelming to use. There are so many tools and menus that it definitely took a little time to learn; however, Bluebeam offers hundreds of short "how-to" videos on many different topics. After watching these, and using the software for a few weeks, it got much easier.

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.

The customer service-technical help is just horrendous. Their 'technicians' are just phone operators, many with very bad attitudes (if I worked for a company with these policies I'd be grumpy too!) but read on... Anything beyond the very basics like opening the program or setting up menus are completely beyond their abilities. To make matters MUCH worse they have no escalation policy at all. Read that again; a SOFTWARE company has zero escalation policy. Who you get, regardless of whether they can actually answer your question, is who you get (I was TOLD this -it's recorded too- by an operator! If they don't know something (most of the time) they put you on hold for 5-10 minutes while they go ask someone who supposedly does. Invariably there is a follow up question (or more likely, they just have the wrong answer) and so they put you on hold for ANOTHER 10 minutes. When you ask to be transferred to the person they obviously keep putting you on hold to ask, you are rebuffed. Ask harder, in fact DEMAND to be connected to a qualified tech often enough and they will revoke your service contract. Read that again, if you complain too much they will FIRE YOU instead of fix their internal problems! Eventually I was able to work out an 'email only' connection to a senior tech who actually HAS the answers, but by revoking my service, they also robbed me of my updates so I can't even benefit from all the work I've put into helping them improve their product.

It is hands down the most powerful PDF editor available today. As of v. 2018.6 they have fixed MOST of the issues that made it crash (but not quite all) and I can operate this software for an average of 9 hours a day without too much cursing at the screen. Takeoff is WYSIWYG and once you learn the product, very adaptable to whatever way you like to work. Another terrific feature is the 'slipped plans' feature where you can slipp addendum plans together with existing plans and transfer all of your current takeoff without loss. No other takeoff software allows this kind of functionality. The ability to automatically generate 'links' within the drawings (from flags to the correct page indicated by the flag) is also very valuable. Other programs DO provide this, but Bluebeam is much more accurate and faster.

The exporting function. Only allows limited functionality (.csv .xml .pdf and print) and Nemetschek refuses to work with us to provide access to the API so we can truly integrate the takeoff with our ERP system. It functions but it could be SO much more. The tech help was TERRIBLE! First, they refuse to help unless you grant them remote access to your machine ( I won't). Then they cant actually do their job. See below for a full description;

Once you understand how to use bluebeam you will never go back to adobe again! I absolutely love all the extra things that I can do in bluebeam that I cannot in adobe. Being able to use this software for more than just a PDF and for estimating projects has made life way easier and help make sure we are not missing items on the estimates.

Bluebeam has an amazing customizable tool box which I find the most helpful! There are certain tools I will use over and over again and having this quick popup with all my tools to grab and use saves me so much time. Also, adding pages into a current document is as easy as just dropping into the place where you want it. If you are using bluebeam more for just PDF purposes, this software will do so much more than adobe and give me cleaner documents. I use it alot to make submittals and I need to markup and add/ move pages alot and this makes it the easiest and fastest way for me to do so. I can remove items off the pages and add notes when needed. I can go on about the list of amazing features this offers, like counting how many outlets I need on the plan, or resizing and signing it. Your options here are endless.

The biggest downside to bluebeam is that it takes time to learn and isn't very user friendly for the average person. Figuring out what each tool does takes some time, and sometimes there are a few you can use for the same thing. Since bluebeam has so many features it can be hard to narrow down or even locate the one you are needing. This is why that custom tool box is so handy.