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Bluebeam Revu Tips + Tricks Guide

At Bluebeam, we develop tools and features that enable workflows to help you get your work done faster, with higher quality and in a way that meets the specific needs of your projects and how you prefer to work. We believe that software should complement your expertise, not try to replace it. This is our purpose: to empower people to advance the way the world is built.

This article highlights some of the most popular tips and tricks for using all the different tools and features in Revu.

Interface

Toggle tabs open or closed

Press Shift+F4.

Auto-hide panel access

Right-click the panel bar, and select Auto-Hide Panel Access.

Reposition panels

Select and hold the icon of the panel, and drag it to a new location.

Reposition files

Select the file tab, and drag it to a new location.

Quickly open a second instance of Revu

Press Shift+click the Revu icon in your Windows taskbar.

File Access sort options

On the File Access panel, select the sort options in the upper-right corner of Recents.

Pin a tool to a toolbar

Go to Tools, and hover over a tool.
Select the push-pin to the right of the tool.
Select the toolbar to add it to.

Pin a toolset to a toolbar

Navigate to the toolset in the Tool Chest.
Select the toolset settings icon.
Go to Pin, and select the toolbar to add it to.

Navigation

Pan with an active markup tool

Select a tool.
Press and hold the spacebar.
Use your mouse to pan.
Release the spacebar and the tool

Switch between scroll and zoom mode

Press and hold Ctrl, and use your mouse wheel to scroll up and down.

Open other files in a Windows folder

With a file open, press Alt+Page Up or Alt+Page Down to open other files in that folder.

Open files in the background

On the File Access panel, press and hold Ctrl.
Select the files you want to open as inactive tabs in Revu.

Open a PDF on startup

Go to Revu > Preferences (Ctrl+K).
On the General page, under the Options tab, Browse for a PDF to open on startup.

Markups: Editing

Select multiple markups

Drag right to left to select any markup you touch.
Drag left to right to only select markups that are fully enclosed by the selection box.
Press and hold Shift and select the markups.

Move an entire callout markup

Select the callout markup.
Press and hold Alt, and drag the markup.

Move markups orthogonally

Select the markup.
Press and hold Shift, and drag the markup vertically or horizontally.

Draw markups orthogonally

Select the first point of a markup (line, arrow, etc.).
Press and hold Shift, and select the second point of the markup.

Move markups using the Properties panel

Select the markup, and open the Properties panel.
Under Layout, enter a value in the X and Y fields for the distance you want to add (+) or subtract (–) from the current position of the markup along the X and Y dimensions, respectively.

Quick copy a markup

Press and hold Ctrl, and drag the markup.

Paste in place

Copy a markup.
Go to a new page, and press Ctrl+Shift+V.

Rotate a markup 1 degree

Select the markup.
Select the rotate control point for the markup.
Press and hold Shift, and drag to rotate.

Edit components of grouped markups

Select a Group markup.
Press and hold Alt.
Select and manipulate an individual component of the Group.

Markups: Squares, circles, arcs

Create a perfect circle or square

Select the Rectangle or Ellipse tool.
Select the first point of the circle or square bounding box.
Press and hold Shift, and select the second point.

Change a rectangle to a square, or an ellipse to a circle

Select the rectangle or ellipse.
Press and hold Shift.
Select and hold a corner control point, and drag to resize.

Resize a circle from the center

Select the circle.
Press and hold Shift.
Select and hold a side, top, or bottom control point, and drag to resize.

Create a circle from the center point

Select the Ellipse tool.
Press and hold Alt.
Select where you want the center of the circle to be, and drag outward.

Convert to arc

Right-click a segment of a polyline.
Select Convert to Arc.
Manipulate the arc.

or

Press and hold Ctrl.
Select a control point of a polyline (your cursor will have a small arc to the lower right).
Manipulate the arc.

Create a three-point arc

Select the Arc tool.
Press and hold Alt, and select three points along an arc.

Delete the last control point

While using the Polyline, Perimeter, or Polylength tools, press Backspace to undo the last control point.

Add or subtract a control point

Press and hold Shift, and hover over a polyline, perimeter, polylength, or area markup.

The cursor displays a small + if located over a segment of the markup. Click to add a control point.
The cursor displays a small – if located over an existing control point. Click to subtract that control point.

Turn off snap temporarily

Press and hold Ctrl when making or editing a markup.

Markups: Callout, text box, clouds

Add an additional leader to a callout

Right-click a callout markup, and select Add Leader.

or

Select a callout.
Press and hold Shift.
Hover over the "elbow" control point of the callout leader line until you see a small + next to the cursor.
Select the "elbow" control point and a new leader appears.

Autosize a text box

Right-click any markup with a text box, and select Autosize Text Box.

or

Select a markup with a text box.
Select Autosize Text Box in the Properties Toolbar.

Autosize text

Select a markup with a text box.
Select Autosize Text in the Properties Toolbar.

Change a shape or cloud markup to highlight

Select a shape or cloud markup with an opaque fill.
Select Highlight in the Properties Toolbar.

Highlighted text to comments section

Use the Highlight tool to highlight text. That text appears in the comments column of the Markups List for that highlight markup.

Translate markups

Go to Document > Translate markups.

Markups: Snapshot

Create a non-rectangular snapshot

Instead of dragging, select and release to go point to point.

Snapshot content

Go to Edit > PDF Content > Snapshot content.

Copy page to snapshot

On the Thumbnails panel, right-click the page you want to snapshot, and select Copy Page to Snapshot.

Change snapshot colors

Right-click a snapshot, and select Change Colors. Or, select a snapshot and select Color Processing on the Properties Toolbar.
Select the source color you want to change, and then select the color to change it to.
Click OK.

Revu 21

Features

This article highlights some of the most popular tips and tricks for using all the different tools and features in Revu.