Markups Legend

Revu's markups Legend can help anyone looking at a PDF gain an easy understanding of the markups in the document.

Presented in a table style, the Legend is a specialized markup with some dynamic properties. At a minimum, the Legend simply shows a symbol that represents a markup on the page with a correlating description, but taken a step further, other columns like measurements and quantities (or most anything found in the Markups list) can be added, providing a high-level summary for takeoff quantities or even the number and status of outstanding issues.

A Legend can show information about markups used on all or some of the pages in the document or just of those used on the current page. As markups are added to or removed from the associated pages, quantities for matching markups in the Legend are automatically updated. Additional columns can be added to provide more detail to the Legend and, as this detail is added, additional rows may be automatically created to differentiate between otherwise similar markups.

For Revu 21, this feature is available only in Core and Complete subscription plans.

There are two ways to generate a new Legend. The main difference between them is the markups that are included:

  • Tool Set Legends include any markups added to a document from a specific tool set in the Tool Chest.
  • Ad-hoc Legends include any combination of user-selected markups.

A Legend can be generated a third way if one has been saved to the Tool Chest previously. To do this, place it like you would any markup from the Tool Chest.

Legends cannot be created on PDFs currently in a Studio Session. Further, if a PDF with a Legend is added to a Studio Session, that Legend will appear as a Snapshot while the PDF is in the Session. Once removed from the Session, the Legend will resume normal functionality and will, in fact, automatically update to incorporate changes made to the PDF while it was in the Session.

A tool set Legend is created from the Tool Chest and automatically includes any markup on associated pages that is in the tool set. When it is generated, it will automatically include any markups that have already been placed from the tool set if there are any. Unlike an ad-hoc Legend, a tool set Legend can be added to a drawing before any markups have been placed.

Any markups placed on the associated pages from the selected tool set will be automatically added to the Legend. Additionally, any markups added to the tool set after the Legend has been placed will be automatically added to the Legend, if appropriate (that is, if the markup is also on an associated page).

To generate a tool set Legend, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Window >  Panels > Tool Chest or press ALT+X to show the Tool Chest panel.
  2. Select the Properties gear to the right of the desired tool set and go to Legend > Create New Legend.
  3. Select anywhere on the drawing to place the Legend.
  4. The default properties of the Legend, including the source pages, are used automatically. Adjust any of these Legend Properties as desired.

An ad-hoc Legend is created from one or more existing markups on a drawing. Any additional markups of the same type and with the same appearance properties that are added to an associated page will be automatically added to the Legend.

To generate an ad-hoc Legend, follow these steps:

  1. Select the markups to include in the Legend.
  2. Right-click any of the selected markups and go to Legend > Create New Legend.
  3. Select anywhere on the drawing to place the Legend.
  4. The default properties of the Legend, including the source pages, are used automatically. Adjust any of these Legend Properties as desired.

Legends can be saved to the Tool Chest like any other markup: right-click the desired Legend, go to Add to Tool Chest and select the desired tool set.

New markups added to a drawing with a Legend are automatically added to it if the markups meet certain conditions, depending on how the Legend was created (as described in Generating a Legend above):

  • Tool Set Legends: Any markup added to an associated page from the tool set in question will be automatically added to the Legend.
  • Ad-hoc Legends: New markups added to an associated page will be automatically added to the Legend, provided the new markup matches the type and appearance properties of one that is already in the Legend.

To add existing markups to a Legend, right-click the desired markup (or select multiple markups and right-click any one of them), then go to Legend and select the desired Legend. Legends are listed by their Title as found on the Properties tab.

New markups added to the Legend will either be added to the Quantity of an existing row or, if they contain information found in the Legend that is unique, added to a new row.

There are three ways to copy a Legend to another page in a document:

  • To copy a static version of a Legend, right-click it and select Copy Legend to Snapshot. This will create a Snapshot markup from the Legend that can be pasted to another page within the same document or to a different document. As a Snapshot, it will not update according to what markups are on the page to which it is pasted.
  • To copy a dynamic version of a Legend to one page at a time, right-click it and select Copy, then paste it (right-click > Paste or CTRL-V) on the desired page within the same document or to a different document. The Legend will automatically update to reflect the matching markups on the page to which it is pasted.
  • To copy a dynamic Legend to all pages in a document, right-click it and select Apply to All Pages. The Legend will be automatically copied and pasted to all pages in the document. Each page's Legend will automatically update to reflect the matching markups on the page and will appear in the same relative location as the original.

Alternatively, a Legend can be placed on a single page (for example, the cover page) and source markups across multiple pages in the document by placing the Legend on the desired page as described above and setting the Source Pages in its properties as described below.

The appearance of a Legend is configurable, including its title, what information it shows, as well as text and line appearances.

To change the appearance of a Legend, select the markup and select the Properties panel. Go to Window > Panels > Properties to show the Properties panel if it is hidden.

Title Appearance

  • Title: Sets the title of the table. If no title is set, the title bar remains, albeit blank, unless Show Title is disabled.

  • Show Title: When enabled, the table's title bar will appear. The actual title is set in the Title field. When disabled, the table's title bar is hidden.

  • Font Size: Sets the font size for text. You can choose a size from 2 to 72 points in the list, or enter any value from 1 to 144 points manually. You can also use decimal values with one digit after the decimal point.

  • Font Style: Control the formatting of the text. Options include Bold, Italic, Underline, and Strikethrough. Generally, any combination of these styles can be applied to format the text.

Columns Appearance

  • Description: Determines what data is shown in the Description column of the table.

  • Edit Columns: Select to choose which columns are shown in the table as well as arrange them. Columns available in the Markups list, including custom columns, are available.

  • Show Column Headers: When enabled, the table's column headers are shown. When disabled, the column headers are hidden.

  • Font Size: Sets the font size for text. You can choose a size from 2 to 72 points in the list, or enter any value from 1 to 144 points manually. You can also use decimal values with one digit after the decimal point.

  • Font Style: Control the formatting of the text. Options include Bold, Italic, Underline, and Strikethrough. Generally, any combination of these styles can be applied to format the text.

Table Appearance

  • Color: Sets the line color.

  • Fill Color: Sets the fill color of the table.

  • Opacity: Sets the opacity level of the lines defining the table, from 0 (invisible) to 100 (opaque).

  • Fill Opacity: Sets the opacity level of the fill color, from 0 (invisible) to 100 (opaque).

  • Line Width: Sets the line thickness in points. A setting of 0 effectively renders the line invisible.

  • Table Style: Sets the style of table used.

  • Source Page(s): Sets the range of pages associated with the Legend. Options are:

    • Current: Sets the range to the current page only.
    • All Pages: Sets the range to all pages.
    • Custom: Sets the range to a custom value. When you select this option, replace any text left in the field with the page or pages to be printed directly. To enter a custom range:
      • Use a dash between page numbers to define those two pages and all pages in between.
      • Use a comma to define pages that are separated.

      For example: 1-3, 5, 9 will include pages 1, 2, 3, 5 and 9.

  • Symbol Size: Sets the size of the markup symbols used in the Legend as a percentage of their default size, from 1% to 5000%.

  • Font: Sets the font used for the selected text. Available fonts are divided into three regions:

    • The first region shows all fonts used in the currently selected text element.
    • The second region lists the standard PDF fonts that are supported by all PDF viewers. These fonts don't need to be embedded in the PDF when used, thereby cutting down on file size.
    • The third region shows all other available fonts. When used, these fonts need to be embedded in the PDF.
    If you attempt to embed a font for which the viewing and editing permissions do not allow formatting, Revu will display a message indicating the font will not be embedded in the PDF.

    Font settings are retained in the PDF and will substitute as needed if the original font is unavailable.

  • Font Size: Sets the font size for text. You can choose a size from 2 to 72 points in the list, or enter any value from 1 to 144 points manually. You can also use decimal values with one digit after the decimal point.

  • Margin: Defines the amount of space between the text characters and the border of the Text Box.

  • Text Color: Sets the color of text.

  • Alignment: Defines the alignment of text within the box. The icons represent Left, Center, and Right Justified respectively.

  • Font Style: Control the formatting of the text. Options include Bold, Italic, Underline, and Strikethrough. Generally, any combination of these styles can be applied to format the text.

Related topics

Working with the Tool Chest