The PDF Insider is going on vacation, and will be back to blogging in January. Have a great holiday and happy new year, and remember to keep on PDFin’!
-Karen
Archive for December, 2009
Happy Holidays from Bluebeam!
December 23, 2009Bluebeam’s Picks for Best Places to Eat & Drink in Pasadena, CA
December 18, 2009In the next few weeks, a lot of people will be traveling to our neck of the woods, Pasadena, CA. They’ll be coming for the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl Game on January 1st, as well as the BCS National Championship on January 7th. And while they’re here, I’m guessing they’re going to want to find a good place to eat!
So in the spirit of hospitality, I polled my coworkers and put together this list of best places to eat and drink in Pasadena, CA:
Best Coffee:
Zona Rosa Caffe
There are quite a few coffee shops by our offices, and this one isn’t one of the closest. But we still trek on over to Zona Rosa, because their coffee is that good.
Best Breakfast:
Russell’s
I’ll admit it – I’ve never eaten here. But when I asked them for a good breakfast spot, a couple of our developers swore by this place. They’re pretty picky when it comes to food, so I trust their judgment.
Best Lunch – TIE
Mediterranean Café
Mmmm…falafels!
It’s the tastiest Mediterranean food I’ve ever had! Their line moves quickly, so step aside to look at the menu first before going to the cash register to order.
Lovebirds makes delicious sandwiches, salads and baked goods. Some of my favorites include the avocado BLT and Thanksgiving turkey sandwich, served year round!
Best Dinner
Villa Sorriso
Are you a fan of Italian food? Then come to Villa Sorriso. Take advantage of southern California’s mild “winter” climate, and enjoy your meal in the outdoor seating area.
Best Place for Drinks
Lucky Baldwin’s
This pub has a great selection of beers on tap, including beer from Pasadena’s very own Craftsman Brewing. If you stop by to have a pint, you might even see some Bluebeamers unwinding after a long, hard day of PDFin’.
Safe travels to everyone heading to Pasadena in the next few weeks. And remember, to keep on PDFin’!
-Karen
PDF Markup Tools for Designing a Winter Wonderland
December 16, 2009It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Festive music is in the air, there’s a cold chill in the air and snow on the ground. Well, okay maybe there isn’t snow here in Pasadena. But trust me we’ve had a very cold December, by southern California standards, that is.
Anyways, to celebrate the changing season, I thought it was time to share some appropriate PDF markup symbols. After all, as you’re designing your gingerbread houses, snowmen and other wintery décor, you’ll want to keep those plans paperless and in PDF, right?
Go to Bluebeam’s Resources page to download these fun tools!
I made these fun symbols by using Bluebeam’s PDF markup tools, mainly by drawing out and then grouping polygons, ellipses, arcs and curves. For the markups with pairs, like the ice skates, I only drew the symbol once. Then I copied and pasted the symbol onto the PDF again, and used the Flip Horizontal icon on Bluebeam’s Alignment toolbar so I could have a left and right ice skate. Pretty nifty, huh?
You can download these Winter Wonderland Tools, which were made solely by using PDF markup tools in Bluebeam PDF Revu, or download them from our Resources page. And remember, to keep on PDFin’!
-Karen
How to Reduce the Size of Your PDF File with Bluebeam
December 16, 2009As of yesterday afternoon, Reduce File Size was winning the PDF Insider’s poll for Best New Bluebeam PDF Revu Feature of 2009. And I’m not surprised. Prior to Bluebeam PDF Revu v 7, it was a highly requested feature. And once we rolled it out, users like you kept on giving us props, not only for including it in version 7, but for giving you more control over how you reduce your PDFs.
You see, in Bluebeam, when you choose to reduce the size of your PDF, we don’t just shrink it. We let you decide what elements of the file to reduce. Take a look at this example:
- Save Mode: Save as the current PDF format, or as a 1.4 Compatible or 1.5 Compressed PDF
- Images: If your PDF includes images, go here to convert them to a different format, adjust image DPI or change color depth.
- Fonts: If you don’t need to embed fonts with your PDF, then drop ‘em here!
- Miscellaneous: Just what it sounds like – a smorgasbord of file elements that, if not needed, can greatly reduce your file size
- Estimated File Size: Here’s the killer feature of Bluebeam’s Reduce File Size functionality. As you adjust file reduction settings, you’ll get a preview of how much Revu could reduce the PDF size, if that element is changed.
For more about reducing the size of your PDFs, check out this video. And remember, to keep on PDFin’!
-Karen
Bluebeam’s Best of 2009 – You Tell Me!
December 15, 2009Greetings, my fellow Bluebeamers!
It’s that time of year again, when people start reflecting on the past 12 months and sending out their “Best of” lists. Well, I post lists of cool features and trips all the time. So today it’s your turn. Take my poll, and let me know your favorite new Bluebeam feature introduced in 2009:
Is your favorite new Bluebeam feature not on the list? Well, then just add a comment below to let me know. And remember, to keep on PDFin’!
-Karen
Tips for Calculating Takeoffs from PDF
December 10, 2009For all those who measure, estimate and count off drawings, this post is for you!
Today I’ve compiled a list of tips and resources for using Bluebeam PDF Revu to get length, area, perimeter, diameter and volume take-offs from PDFs, and for counting off PDFs, too. Take a look:
Take-off Tip #1
Use Bluebeam’s Measurements Profile
Bluebeam includes a variety of profiles, or interface configurations. What’s the best one for calculating take-offs? The Measure profile! It’ll remove unnecessary icons from your toolbars, and add useful columns in Bluebeam’s Markups list for displaying measurements in decimal format. These columns make it super easy to export the data to Excel for further calculations. Trust me.
To choose the Measure profile, click the man with the bow-tie in the bottom right-hand corner of Revu, then select “Measure.”
Take-off Tip #2
Calibrate, calibrate, calibrate!
Sure, you can enter the scale listed on your drawing directly into Bluebeam’s Measurement tab. But don’t you want to double check to make sure that scale is correct? That’s what I figured, and that’s why the calibrate tool is so useful for take-offs. Just select it, click the start and end point of a measurement you already know, enter in that value and you’re ready to go!
Calibrate is your friend.
Take-off Tip #3
Snap to Content
It’s so much easier to get an accurate measurement off a PDF when your take-off tool snaps to the drawing’s lines. And that’s just what Bluebeam PDF Revu does – it recognizes vector data, and gives you the option to snap to it. Sweet! To turn this feature on, check the “Snap to Content” box in the Measurements Tab.
Take-off Tip #4
Watch this video!
It’s everything you ever needed to know about using Bluebeam for take-offs! Watch Bluebeam University’s Custom Measurement Tools video, and become a pro at getting digital take-offs from PDF. Learn how to calibrate and measure, and also how to save custom take-off tools and export measurement data into Excel for further calculations.
Watch the video here, or go to the Bluebeam University page and click on Custom Measurement Tools.
Still want more information? Read how this Bluebeam user calculated 2,700 measurements with Revu – in just 3 days. And remember, to keep on PDFin’!
-Karen
RemodelingTV’s Green Police on Bluebeam PDF Revu: “It’s Incredible!”
December 9, 2009At the 2009 Greenbuild Conference and Expo , RemodelingTV Green Police Michael Anschel and Carl Seville stopped by our booth to talk about Bluebeam PDF Revu. With a tablet pc in hand and a camera crew in tow, Michael showed Carl why he thinks Bluebeam is an “awesome piece of software,” by demonstrating how you can use Bluebeam to review, markup and edit PDF drawings. He even says Bluebeam is the “ultimate in portability.”
Check out the quick video here (Bluebeam’s review starts at around 2 minutes and 50 seconds in).
Watch Carl Seville and Michael Anschel talk about Bluebeam and other green products on Hanely Wood’s RemodelingTV
Do you agree? Then share this video with your friends! And remember, to keep on PDF’in!
-Karen
How to clear out your document archival room
December 8, 2009Question:
How did the City of Plano’s Building Inspections Department turn this document archival room:
Into this meeting space?
Answer:
They made digital documents a priority, and implemented an electronic plan review process based on PDF. You can read about their electronic workflow for plan check here. And remember, to keep on PDFin’!
-Karen
Greenbuild 2009 – The REAL Recap Video
December 4, 2009Are you ready to see what really happened at Greenbuild? Sure, we met lots of designers, engineers and builders in our booth, and it was pretty fun (see this post).
But what about what happened off the trade show floor? After all, there was that huge celebration at Chase Field, featuring two people you may have heard of before, Al Gore and Sheryl Crow.
Don’t worry, we were there. As exhibitors, we got a couple of passes to the coveted opening keynote. And somehow, my coworker Jill (the Bluebeam Insider newsletter writer) and I managed to convince our boss to send us to the festivities! So check out our REAL Greenbuild Recap video, complete with some dancing green builders (and Bluebeamers) as well as a few fun outtakes from our booth:
Thanks for watching, and remember to keep on PDFin’!
-Karen
Bluebeam’s End-of-the-Year Special!
December 3, 2009Want to save $50 off your next purchase of Bluebeam PDF Revu?
Well, you’re in luck. Right now, we’re running an End-of-the-Year-Special for (you guessed it) $50 off your order of new seats of Bluebeam! To redeem this discount, click here to go to our online store. Make sure you enter promo code bb09 at checkout, and purchase by December 24th. Sorry, this discount doesn’t apply to upgrades, maintenance purchases or educational licenses.
Please share this blog post to help spread the word, and remember to keep on PDFin’!
-Karen
