Working with the Tool Chest

To save a markup from a PDF to the Tool Chest, right-click it, then go to Add to Tool Chest and select the desired tool set. This function is only available for Studio Session PDFs.

To use a tool to place a markup on a PDF, click the tool in the Tool Chest to select it, then click on the document to place the markup. This function is only available for Studio Session PDFs.

To copy a tool in one tool set to another tool set, click and drag the icon to the desired tool set.

To reorder the tools within a set, click and drag the icon to the desired location.

To delete a saved tool, use any of the following methods:

• Click a tool to select it, then click Delete Icon on the Tool Chest toolbar.
• Click a tool icon to select it, then press the DELETE key.
• Right-click a tool icon and select Delete.

To duplicate a tool, right-click a tool icon and select Duplicate.

The Recent Tools tool set records markups as they are added to the PDF.

To reuse a tool, click the icon to select the tool and click on the PDF to place the markup. This function is only available for Studio Session PDFs.

When more tools have been saved in Recent Tools than can be shown, an arrow appears to the right of the tools as shown in the image above. To see all the tools in Recent Tools, click the arrow.

The maximum number of tools that are kept in Recent Tools is configurable. To change the maximum number of tools kept, click the Properties gear to the right of Recent Tools, go to Maximum Recents and select the desired value.

The Recent Tools history is automatically cleared when Bluebeam Vu is closed. To clear your recent tools before then, click the Properties gear to the right of Recent Tools and select Clear Recents.

The My Tools tool set is designed to be a configurable collection of frequently used tools that provides easy access to them. As such, it has a few special properties:

• Tools in the My Tools tool set are automatically assigned hot keys for quick access. The hot keys are numeric, according to the tools position in the My Tools tool set. Its hot key is shown in the upper right corner of its icon in the My Tools tool set and changing a tool's position in the My Tools tool set automatically changes its associated hot key.

  

• The My Tools tool set is a permanent part of Vu. It is available in all Profiles by default and, while it can be hidden, it cannot be completely removed.
• Tools in the My Tools tool set can be toggled between Properties Mode and Drawing Mode (described below).

Most tools found in My Tools, Recent Tools, and custom tool sets can function in two different modes: Drawing Mode and Properties Mode (described below). Double-click a tool in any of these tool sets or click / Toggle Mode (which icon is shown depends on which mode is currently active) in the Tool Chest toolbar to switch between modes. The tool's icon changes to show which mode is currently being used.

Drawing Mode	Properties Mode

Properties mode adds a new markup with the same appearance properties of the saved markup. In this mode the Properties (as shown on the Properties tab) are retained but the exact dimensions, text, and so on are not. In the example above, using the tool in Properties mode would create a new yellow text box with black border and red text color, but no text would be inside the box yet, nor would the box have a fixed size.

Drawing mode adds a new markup that is an exact duplicate of the saved markup, as if you'd copied and pasted the original markup rather than made a new one of a similar type.

To change the mode of a tool in any of these tool sets, double-click on the tool's icon or select it and click / Toggle Mode (which icon is shown depends on which mode is currently active) in the Tool Chest toolbar. All information of the original markup is always retained when switching modes. Only the icon and the way that the markup is added to the file changes when the mode is changed. By default, most tools are saved in Properties Mode, though there are some markups that always remain in Drawing Mode; Stamps and Grouped markups are two examples.

The Recent Tools tool set can be configured to default to either Properties Mode or Drawing Mode. To set the mode, click the Properties gear to the right of Recent Tools and either check or uncheck Properties Mode, as desired.

For quick and easy access, a tool set can be pinned to any Toolbar. To do so, click the Properties gear to the right of the section name, then go to Pin and select the specific Toolbar.

Tool sets can be created at a certain scale and set to automatically scale up or down when placed in a calibrated drawing or viewport using Vu's Dynamic Tool Set Scaler. This can be a particularly powerful tool option, especially when used in conjunction with Sketch Tools, which allows for the creation of precisely sized markups.

Once a scaling tool has been placed on a PDF, its scale is set and it will no longer automatically scale up and down.

Setting a Baseline Scale for a Tool Set

To set the baseline scale of a tool set:

1. Click the Properties gear to the right of the section name and select Set Scale. The Set Baseline Scale dialog box appears.
2. Enter the scale or click Calibrate to open the Calibration tool.
3. Click OK. A icon appears to the right of the tool set's name to indicate that a baseline scale has been established.

Repeat the process to change the scale, if necessary.

Toggling Scaling On and Off

When a tool set has a baseline scale set, the icon appears to the right of its name.

When a tool set has an established baseline scale, you can choose whether or not the tools from it will scale when placed on a drawing. To turn scaling on, click the icon to the right of the tool set's name. It will be outlined to indicate that scaling has been turned on.

To turn scaling off, click the icon again.