Bluebeam vs. Kami

The program is great for editing construction drawings, stamping/approving official documents and overlaying revised documents to see design changes. You can use it as an estimating takeoff tool, estimating database, document control, cloud document storage, the list goes on! Bluebeam poses many applications for the user to utilize for the desired needs. There may be some other software that has one specific function that can perform the specific task better, but Bluebeam is a holistic program with many tools for use.

Incentivized

When dealing with absent students, and giving them classroom material, Kami is great. I never make extra copies of worksheets anymore. If a student needs/wants a second one, they can get it digitally from me. Additionally, being able to track the feedback that I give to students is a real plus.

Incentivized

• Once you set Bluebeam Revu as your default PDF handler, it launches immediately when clicking a PDF to open. The speed with which it opens documents is impressive.
• Creating PDF's out of other documents, such as Word, Excel, JPG's, etc. is simple.
• Digitally signing documents is a simple, secure process. You can keep your signature password-protected, yet still access it quickly.
• The Bluebeam Revu mobile application ( I use the iOS version on an iPad Pro), is awesome. Not only does it handle PDF's like you would expect it to, it allows for effortless digital signing of documents on the fly. Nice to be able to quickly sign a document and email right back out from the tablet no matter where I am.

Incentivized

• Kami does a great job at helping you reshape pdfs and share documents from different formats.
• I like being able to give all of my students a copy of a document, and having Kami organize each student's work product in real-time.
• I like being able to annotate directly on a student's work so that they can receive feedback in real-time.
• I like being able to merge, cut, and edit documents quickly.

Incentivized

• If you have several tabs open and you try to drag one out for a side by side view then you do not have all the modification options and you have to combine them back together.
• There is a lag time when hitting the print option.
• There is also a lag time when opening files, sometimes I think the window is frozen.
• I wish the basic version also had basic file editing, as in editing a document as Adobe does.

Incentivized

• When I am multitasking on multiple screens, there are times when I am trying to scroll with my stylus and I end up writing on the document.
• When Kami creates folders and organization, there seems to be almost too much redundancy. The same file seems to be in multiple places. I don't know if that is a Kami problem or a me problem, but I'll probably start trying to clean things up a little soon.
• I think that the tool restriction for students method could be improved.

Incentivized

Bluebeam is a powerful PDF viewer and mark-up tool. We are more familiar with it than Adobe Acrobat Pro or other viewers, and it has more features geared towards construction document managers than Acrobat Pro does.

Incentivized

I'm constantly finding that Bluebeam Revu does more than I knew it could. And when I find something that it can't do, I've found that Bluebeam truly listens to its user base and will work to incorporate any good suggestion when feasible.

Incentivized

There is a small learning curve with some of the annotation tools. There is also a learning curve for embracing exactly what you can accomplish with Kami. However, with just a little practice, you can master just about all of the Kami features.

Incentivized

Its hard for me to give a rating on this one as we rarely have to use the support feature for Bluebeam. However, when we have used it, they have been ultra supportive in helping us get exactly what we needed. I know another engineer was trying to figure out a feature and the rep gave a detailed tutorial on how to complete the task

Incentivized

We feel there is not another program out there that would compare to Bluebeam at this current time. Some of the other programs out there do not include studio or the overlaying process which is one of our main uses. The ease of hyperlinking makes this product stand out the most.

Incentivized

I like Miro better for teacher directed lessons, and group discussions. I like Nearpod more if I have to include a number of different interactive aspects to lessons. I find Google Slides and Adobe to be more clunky and less user friendly than Kami generally. However, if I want to just make a document better, or I want to give my students independent work, or if I want them to complete homework than Kami is my go-to tool

Incentivized

• A major positive aspect is being able to take your computer home without taking the entire set of paper drawings. They have made it so easy to navigate a set of drawings that I can work at home using only the digital drawings.
• Collaboration with owners and architects has been a great feature. Setting up a Bluebeam studio and having everyone get in and mark things up, then having the architect be able to go in and see what markups have been added, has made the constructability review process much much better.
• Even when not working on drawings, Bluebeam is a very good tool for working with standard PDF documents. The markup tools are very easy to use.
• The negative aspect is the takeoff function because some people would like estimators to use the Bluebeam takeoff because it would make their job easier down the road; however, the actual act of doing a full scale takeoff in Bluebeam would require much more time.

Incentivized

• My desk has about 10% of the paperwork sitting on it than it used to have.
• I never have any arguments about whether a student turned something in or not.
• A student doesn't have to physically see me for me to help them with work. I can write and they can see what I write.
• Sharing documents with colleagues is now a breeze.

Incentivized