Use the Bluebeam Administrator

The Bluebeam Administrator lets you configure Revu through the various tabs described in the following sections.

Plugins tab

This tab displays a list of installed applications that are supported by our PDF plugin, which are detected by the "Bluebeam Admin User.exe" that launches when the client machine starts up.

All Bluebeam plans will list the plugins for Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, and Outlook). Plugins for AutoCAD, Revit, SolidWorks, and Navisworks will be available for Core, Complete, or Max plan.

Enable a plugin

You can find more information about troubleshooting plugin issues on this page, but if a plugin is missing within a supported application, you can enable it by following the steps below:

1. Close Revu, if open.
2. Select the Start button on the Windows taskbar and search Bluebeam Administrator.
3. Right-click Bluebeam Administrator and select Run as Administrator.
4. When prompted, enter your administrator credentials.
5. Select the Plugins tab.
6. Select the application you want to enable.
7. Select OK.
8. Open Revu.

Net Configurations tab (Net Config)

This tab allows you to set the location of various Revu settings and assets. They can remain in the default local folders listed in the Unmanaged section, or they can be accessed from a centralized server location which you can set in the Managed Net Configuration section. You can also configure Revu to use a combination of local and network locations based on folder paths you define in the Unmanaged section.

Unmanaged Net configurations

In a typical Revu installation, the Unmanaged option is enabled by default. Assets and settings are in various locations within the user's Windows profile under C:\ProgramData.

Managed Net Configuration

To configure your Revu installations to access all settings and assets from a centralized server location, select a computer to use as a "staging" machine and copy any custom settings or assets into their corresponding default locations that are listed when the Unmanaged option is enabled.

Open the default folder locations by double-clicking on their corresponding folder paths.

1. When you have finished copying the items, enable the Managed Net Configuration option. A dialog will open, where you can either browse to an existing network folder you want to use as the centralized location or create a new network folder. Select the folder and click Select Folder.
2. When the Copy All Files dialog opens, select one of the following choices:
   • Copy All: Creates folders for the asset type or setting in the server location, and copies everything to the correct location.
   • Merge: Takes all locally defined settings and resources and merges them with any existing items in the shared location.
   • No Copy: Points to the network folder, but does not copy or integrate anything into the folder. Once the operation has completed, the Net Config tab will display the locations of all assets and settings.

Printer tab

This tab is divided into four sections (Printer Options, Printer, Port Monitor, and Image Resolutions) which offer features and functions for controlling and reinstalling the Bluebeam PDF printer.

Printer options

These options determine what happens during and after a PDF is created using the PDF Printer or the Stapler:

• Prompt for File Name: When this option is enabled, a Save As dialog will appear, prompting the user to enter a file name, and if needed, choose a destination for the new PDF.
• Delete Source PS File: This option is disabled by default. When this option is enabled, the PostScript file that a PDF is based on will be deleted once the document has been produced.
• Open in Viewer: This setting determines whether the new PDF will be open in the default PDF application on the user's machine.
• Stapler Context Menu: When this option is enabled, the Combine Files in Revu and Convert Files in Revu options will be available when the user right-clicks an applicable file on their desktop or in the File Explorer.
  The user must have Administrative rights on the machine in order to change this setting.
• Folder Options: Opens the Folder Options dialog, which lets you select the default location to save new PDFs produced using the Bluebeam Stapler. The available options are:
  • Source Folder: The location of the original source file.
  • Last Saved Folder: The last folder that a new PDF was saved to.
  • Custom Projects Folder : This option lets you specify a different default location.

Image Resolutions

The Resolutions list shows the image resolutions that will appear in the Save As window for the Bluebeam PDF printer, Stapler, and Bluebeam Plug-ins.

Printer

In addition to displaying the printer name, driver, and printer port, the printer section allows you to select the default page size from the available list of pages sizes. You can also use the Manage Pages button to edit the page size list as described below.

In addition, you can uninstall and reinstall the Bluebeam PDF printer using the Reinstall Printer button when troubleshooting performance issues.

Manage Pages

Select Manage Pages to the Page Sizes dialog, where you can add, delete, or edit page sizes used by Revu, the PDF printer, Stapler, and plugins.

These are the same page size settings (PrtPageSizes.xml) that are copied from their default location (%ProgramData%\Bluebeam Software\Bluebeam Revu\21\Brewery\V45\Printer Support) when setting up a Managed Net Configuration.

Reinstall Printer

If a user runs into an issue with either the Bluebeam PDF printer or Stapler, such as the Save As dialog not appearing when creating a PDF, select Reinstall Printer to reinstall the PDF Printer.

If this doesn't work, you can also right-click the Reinstall Printer button and select Install Printer.

Once you install the Bluebeam PDF printer, go into the Devices and Printers section of the Windows Control Panel to make sure it's also installed there.

Port Monitor

The Port Monitor is based on the BBPrint.exe process, which runs on a per-user basis, and watches the user's printer folder (C:\ProgramData\Bluebeam Software\Print Jobs\) for files to process.

Restart the Port Monitor

If the Port Monitor Status shows as <n/a> or the Save As dialog is not being displayed while creating PDF, restart the Port Monitor. Once it's running again, the Status should display as Responding, and BBPrint.exe should be listed as a running process in the Windows Task Manager.

AutoCAD Page Sizes tab

This tab is available for Core, Complete, or Max subscribers on machines that also have a compatible AutoCAD product installed.

Select the page sizes (ANSI, ARCH, or ISO) that you want to make available on the Page Setup tab of the AutoCAD plugin.

ANSI, ARCH, and ISO checkboxes

As an alternative to selecting the individual sizes, you can use the ANSI, ARCH, and ISO checkbox to select or deselect whole groups of size types.

PDF Type

The PDF Type dropdown lets you decide which printer driver will be used when creating PDFs from AutoCAD. Your choices are either the default PDF driver or the Heidi (AutoCAD HDI) driver, which are explained below:

Printer

This option uses the Bluebeam PDF printer, which supports TrueType fonts for creating PDFs from AutoCAD with searchable text. In addition to offering better image quality, this driver also lets you add more Page Sizes and synchronize them across your network for use by all of your Core, Complete, and Max users.

Heidi

The Heidi option uses the AutoCAD HDI driver, which doesn't support TrueType fonts and "draws" non-searchable text as Vector data. However, you can create custom Page Sizes and synchronize them across your network for use by all of your Core, Complete, and Max users.

Synchronize page sizes across your network

To centralize your custom page sizes for all Core, Complete, and Max users, follow the steps listed below based on whether or not your organization used the Bluebeam PDF printer or the AutoCAD Heidi driver:

1. Select a computer to use as a staging machine, and create your custom Page Sizes on it.
2. Go to the Net Config tab, and select the ellipse located to the right of the default folder path for the Printer Driver.
3. Browse to an existing network folder you want to use as the centralized location or create a new network folder.
4. Select the folder and select Select Folder.
5. When the Copy all Printer Page Size Files dialog opens, select Copy All.

   This copies the prtPages.xml file from the default location on the local drive to the network location, and the new folder path for the Printer Driver will be listed on the Net Config tab.

6. Select OK.

Configure other machines to use the centralized page sizes for the PDF Printer

This setting can be distributed to other Core, Complete, and Max subscribers as part of an MSI deployment, or you can manually configure individual machines by following the steps listed below:

1. Open Bluebeam Administrator and go to the Net Config tab.
2. Select the ellipse located to the right of default folder path for the Printer Driver.
3. Locate and select the network folder which contains the prtPages.xml, and select Select Folder.
4. When the Copy all Printer Page Size Files dialog opens, select No Copy.
5. Select OK.

Synchronize page sizes for the Heidi driver

1. Select a computer to use as a staging machine, and create your custom page sizes on it.
2. Select the Net Config tab, then double-click the folder path for the Heidi Driver.
3. Browse to an existing network folder you want to use as the centralized location, or create a new network folder.
4. Select the folder and click Select Folder.
5. When the Copy all Bluebeam PC3 Files dialog opens, select Copy All. This copies the PC3 files from the default location on the local drive to the network location, and the new folder path for the Heidi Driver will be listed on the Net Config tab.
6. Select OK.

Configure other machines to use the centralized PC3 files

This setting can be distributed to your other Core, Complete, and Max clients as part of an MSI deployment as described in the Revu Enterprise Deployment Guide, or you can manually configure individual machines by following the steps listed below:

If this is distributed as part of an MSI deployment, the client machine must be restarted before it can be used.

1. Open Bluebeam Administrator and go to the Net Config tab.
2. Click the ellipse located to the right of default folder path for the Heidi Driver.
3. Locate and select the network folder which contains the PC3 files, and then click Select Folder.
4. When the Copy all Bluebeam PC3 Files dialog opens, select No Copy.
5. Select OK.

Affected registry keys

The following two registry keys are altered when the PDF Printer pages sizes and PC3 files are centralized:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Bluebeam Software\21\Brewery\V45]"PageSizeConfigFile"="U:\\netconfig\\PtrPageSizes\\"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Bluebeam Software\21\Plugins\AutoCAD]"PC3Path"="U:\\netconfig\\PC3"

Support logs

If you're experiencing issues with Revu or its plugins, there are multiple ways to access the log files, and if needed, email them to our Technical Support group.

To view log files, select Help > Explore Log Folder.

To email logs to Bluebeam Technical Support, select Help > Email Logs to Support.

Email Logs to Support creates new log entries that are specific to the issue, and creates a zip file (logs.zip) containing the complete set of log files for Revu.