Bluebeam Revu tracks, classifies and organizes PDF markups in the Markups List. A series of columns and rows display within the Markups List. The rows represent the markups, while the columns present their metadata. There are over a dozen built in columns that can displayed in the list, such as Subject, Date, Author, and Status. Additionally, users can create custom columns to perform specific workflows – such as assigning responsibility and tracking costs. With the Markups List, users are able to generate streamlined PDF summaries to aid in drawing navigation.

This article will outline how to create a PDF summary of the Markups List in Bluebeam Revu. The following screenshots are from Bluebeam Revu 2018, but the process will be the same for all versions of the program – from Revu 2018 to Revu 21.

To start, open up a marked up PDF. Then, click on the Markups List icon in the bottom left hand corner of the workspace to open the list.

Within the Markups List, select the Summary button. In Revu 2018 and 2019, this button will look the same as the Markups List icon. However, in Revu 20 and 21, this button will appear in the same place, but will look a little different. In later versions of Revu, this icon will be a square with an arrow pointing out of it. Pressing this button will give you several summary options – you can create either a CSV, XML, PDF, or Print summary. In this case, select PDF Summary. A dialogue box will open with options for generating the summary.

From this dialogue box, you can customize the summary to your liking. The Columns tab allows you to include or exclude columns and column data. By default, the columns currently displaying in the Markups List will display here. You can turn on more columns here as well by selecting their checkboxes. The Filter and Sort tab allows you to choose how to filter and sort the markups in the list. Again, by default, the current sort and filter orders will display – but you can adjust them as needed.

For this report, I’ll adjust the sort order by selecting Date under the Sort By field. This will sort the markups in the summary by the date and time they were placed on the PDF.

Under the Output tab, you can adjust how the summary report will look. Here, you can choose to Append and Hyperlink the report. This will attach and hyperlink the summary report items to the original marked up PDF. If the Append and Hyperlink option is grayed out, refer to our guide on how to enable it here. Under Thumbnail, we can adjust the size of the markup thumbnail within the summary. You can make more adjustments to the report here as well, such as changing the summary name or using a template.

Once the options are set, press OK. Depending on the size of the PDF, the summary report could take a few minutes – but it usually won’t take more than thirty seconds.

Once generated, the summary report will open in Revu. If you had chosen to Append and Hyperlink, the summary report will attach to the original marked up PDF. The summary will list each markup on the PDF with a thumbnail and its associated data. If you click on the thumbnail, it will take you to the actual markup on the drawing. This allows you to quickly navigate the markups on your PDF.

This was a demonstration of creating a PDF summary report from the Markups List in Bluebeam Revu. Along with PDF summaries, you can also create CSV, XML, and Print summary reports. All types of markup summary reports give you a quick way to summarize and navigate through a marked up PDF.

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Lauren Hecker is the instructor for the Bluebeam Revu Essentials and Advanced courses. To see her next open enrollment course, please visit our Bluebeam Revu training page. To schedule an onsite or custom course, please contact us!