This article will show how to use the Snapshot tool in Bluebeam Revu.
The Snapshot tool in Bluebeam Revu is used to copy and paste content from one part of a PDF to another. The Snapshot tool copies the actual raster or vector content of the PDF to the clipboard. Once pasted, the Snapshot can be edited like a Markup or even added to the Tool Chest for reuse. The Snapshot tool is particularly useful for creating custom tools from details or symbols already on the drawing.
The following examples are taken using the 64x Bluebeam Revu 2019 eXtreme edition, but these functionalities are available within all versions of Revu.
To access the Snapshot tool, select Edit > Snapshot. The tool can also be selected using its keyboard shortcut, G.
The Snapshot tool will display cross hairs on the cursor that can be used to make a selection. Click and drag the cursor around the desired content to take a snapshot. The selected content will highlight in blue, indicating that it has been saved to the clipboard.
The snapshot can now be placed on another part of the PDF by right clicking and selecting Paste. Once pasted, the snapshot can then be selected, moved, and resized like any other markup.
The visual properties of snapshots can be adjusted using Color Processing. To change the color of a snapshot, right click on the snapshot and select Change Colors.
The Color Processing dialogue box allows you to manipulate the colors of the snapshot in a variety of different ways. First, select a Process Type from the dropdown menu. There are 6 options available:
- Modify Colors: replaces selected colors found in the snapshot with other colors
- Colorize: converts all colors in the snapshot to a single color square.
- Grayscale: converts all colors in the PDF to grayscale
- Black and White: converts all colors in the PDF to monochrome black and white
- Luminosity, Saturation, and Hue: transforms all colors in the PDF by luminosity, saturation, and hue using the slider bars
- Mask Images: creates a transparent area in an image corresponding to a single color
A preview of the selected changes will appear in the After section. Select OK to apply the settings.
A useful way to use the Snapshot tool is to save snapshots to the Tool Chest for reuse. To add a snapshot to the Tool Chest, right click on it, select Add to Tool Chest, and select the desired Tool Set. The snapshot will now be available from that tool set for use on other PDFs.
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please use the comment section on the bottom of this page, and don’t forget to subscribe to our blog to get more Bluebeam tips & tricks directly in your inbox!
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!
Hello, I have found on my bluebeam that the “change color” option in the properties tab (or in the right-click pop up menu) is not visible, thus cannot change a color of a pasted image. Is there any option that should be activated before using the “change color” feature?
Hi Glovanni,
Double check to make sure that you’re working with a Snapshot markup, as this is the only type of markup that features the Change Colors feature. Additionally, if your markups are flattened or if you’re using a View mode, the option won’t be available as well. Please let me know if this solves the issue – if not, I can continue trying to troubleshoot for you.
Hello,
I am using Bluebeam Revu x64 Standard, version 2019.1.20. The Snapshot (G) is not working in my files. When I press G, it clips, but I couldn’t paste the snapped image. Can anyone help me sort this?
Thanks.
This error sometimes occurs when using PDFs that weren’t created in Bluebeam. To fix this, try selecting File > Create > From File and select your PDF file. This will create a copy of the broken PDF in Revu and change the PDF producer to Bluebeam. After doing this, you should be able to properly use the Snapshot tool.
Is there a way to print the ‘contents’ of a Snapshot?
Hi James,
You can’t directly print a Snapshot, but you can create a new PDF, paste the Snapshot onto it, and then Print the PDF. That would be the easiest way to print the contents of a Snapshot.
Hello, I am using the markup tool to extend the pattern of a wall on a set of architectural prints. Is there any way to crop the pasted markup so that I can reduce its length to fit the desired size? You can resize the pasted markup using the adjustment nodes but this distorts the wall partition hatch pattern angle.
Additionally, is there any way to create a custom markup line/ rectangle based off the appearance of existing elements. i.e. I want to be able to have a custom line tool that allows me to add partitions in the same size and style as the prints.
Thank you!
Hi Blake, there is unfortunately no way to crop a pasted markup. You can adjust the size of the markup using either the control points, or the Document Width and Document Height fields in the Properties panel. The only markup type that can be cropped is the Image markup type.
By existing elements, what do you mean? Snapshot markups can be created from underlying PDF content. Additional markups can be created from existing markups using the Group function. You can find how to do this here.
Feel free to email me directly at lhecker@taradigm.com if this didn’t answer your question, I’m happy to assist further if so!
Is there a way to edit the text in a snapshot?
Hi Saige,
You can not edit the text in a snapshot. However, if the underlying PDF content that you created the snapshot from is vector data, you can edit the text in the underlying PDF content using the Edit Text tool. You can find how to do this here. My recommendation would be to adjust the udnerlying PDF text, taking a snapshot, and then adjusting the underlying text back as needed.
Is there a way to “freehand” a snapshot?
Hi Chesney,
Unfortunately there is no way to freehand a snapshot – you are limited to the set square/rectangle.
Is there a way to change the color processing defaults when pasting a snapshot? i.e. Automatically make all black lines turn red or make the border a red cloud without manually modifying the color processing options after pasting each new snapshot.
I frequently use the snapshot tool for taking notes during meetings. I like to change the color of these edits to make them stand out afterwards, but currently I’m doing this manually by right clicking “change colors” after every new snapshot. It would be a nice convenience if my snapshot already had my preferred color processing properties as soon as I paste it.
Hi Charlie,
Unfortuantely there isn’t a way to do this – I would love a feature like that as well. One thing to note however is that you can adjust the colors of several snapshots at once. Select all of the snapshots by holding down the SPACE bar on the keyboard, then right click on the markups. Select Change Colors and you’ll be able to adjust all snapshot colors at once.
Hopefully that helps a bit!
Hello,
Sometimes when I snapshot one area of a PDF, and then I paste it onto another PDF it is transparent and you can see the copied content on top of the background as well as seeing the background. However, on other drawings, I snapshot and paste it into another drawing and the pasted content totally obscures the background. Is there a reason for this?
Hi Matt,
This has to do with whether the document is a vector document or a raster (scanned) document. If you’re working with a vector document, the program will automatically set the white background to transparent within the snapshot. If you’re working with a scanned document, the program will keep the background visible as the program doesn’t understand what the images within the snapshot are.
If the background of the snapshot appears, you can try to use the color processing window by right clicking on the snapshot and selecting Change Colors. Within the color processing window, set the Process Type to Modify Colors. For the first color, select the background color. For the second color, select Transparent. This might work to remove the background even within scanned documents. However, the best bet would be to use vector documents when taking snapshots.