In Bluebeam Revu, all markup tools have a default appearance setting. The markup’s appearance can be adjusted using the Properties toolbar or the Properties panel; however, once you stop using the adjusted tool, its settings will revert back to their default. This can often be frustrating, as if you consistently use text boxes and always use a size 12 font size, it can be cumbersome to have to adjust the font size manually every time you need to use the tool.

After adjusting the text box markup on the page, the text box tool will revert back to its default settings when the tool is selected again.
In order to get around this, we can adjust the default settings for the markup tool. This allows us to set up defaults for the specific tool and have the tool automatically revert to those defaults every time the tool is selected.
This article will go over how to adjust the defaults for a markup tool in Bluebeam Revu. The following examples are taken using Bluebeam Revu 20 eXtreme version, but the functionality is available within all versions of Bluebeam Revu.
To adjust the default settings for any markup tool, first select the tool. Using either the Properties Panel or the Properties Toolbar, adjust the tool’s appearance as desired.

Once the appearance is set, use the Subject dropdown in the Properties Toolbar and select Set As Default. The same button will also be available in the Properties Panel.

Once set as default, set appearance properties will automatically be the default for the tool every time it is selected.

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Lauren Hecker is a Bluebeam Certified Instructor and teaches Onsite Bluebeam Certified Courses, virtual Bluebeam Basics and Advanced courses, and custom onsite or virtual courses. To see her next open enrollment course, please visit our calendar. To schedule an onsite or custom course, please contact us!
Thank you for this tip! This really helped me out.
very helpful – thank you
Does this work for typewriter? I do not have the option to set as default after opening the settings. Default and add to tool chest are both grayed out.
Hi Bobby,
Is typewriter the only markup where the options are grayed out? These instructions should work for the typewriter tool as well. Both the Set As Default and Add to Tool Chest buttons are available for me while using the tool.
I’m happy to help troubleshoot if this is happening on multiple tools, so please let me know!
How do I reset the default to original settings? I have my preferred default set up for the legend tool. It was working at first but, now when I create a new legend none of the counts or measurements are appearing in the legend. Only the title and column headings.
Hi Michael,
To reset the default to its original settings, you will need to reset your version of Revu to its default settings. You can do this by selecting the Revu menu > Preferences > Admin > Reset. Be aware that this will reset Revu to its default settings, which will affect everything within the program. However, this is the only way to reset your markup defaults to their orginal settings.
When setting the cloud+ default settings, it doesn’t seem to include updating the subject. It always shows as “Cloud+” and must be manually updated. This is not consistent with other callouts and textboxes. Is this expected?
Hi PRS,
I just tried this on my end and I was able to adjust the default subject of Cloud+ markups. I would imagine this is just a glitch that can be fixed by resetting your application. This can be done by selecting the Revu menu > Preferences > Admin > Reset.
Hopefully this fixes the issue!
how do you make bluebeam remember the last used?
Hi Jason,
The default settings you apply should save to the profile you’re using. If they are not saving, select Revu > Profiles > Save Profile and see if it saves then.
Please let me know if you need any further help!
This is a great tutorial! Easy to comprehend the solution. Thanks!
lock on my own toolsets, but when reopening application default bluebeam toolsets reappear when previously they had been removed
Hi Nigel,
After making the changes to the markup defaults, make sure to save the changes to your profile. You can do this by selecting Revu > Profiles > Save Profile. Hopefully that solves the issue – let me know if you need any more help!
Hello, can I set two defaults and switch between the two somehow using a shortcut or something? Or can I make a new button and set different defaults? I’d like two revision cloud buttons available with different default properties.
Hi Logan,
You can do this by adding your markups to the Tool Chest. Here’s an article showing how to use the Tool Chest. If you save the two versions of cloud markups to the Tool Chest, you will be able to select which one you want to use each time. You can also give them keyboard shortcuts by adding them to the My Tools toolset in the Tool Chest.
Please let me know if you have any further questions!