Bluebeam Revu: A nice interface and a powerful PDF handler
January 17, 2019

Bluebeam Revu: A nice interface and a powerful PDF handler

Tim Corbett | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Bluebeam Revu

We use Revu across all departments, in all of our offices. We needed a PDF handler that allows ease in modifying/signing documents. While it is possible to simply use a generic PDF viewer to access documents, they don't provide any additional functions beyond just viewing/printing. Revu lets us create fillable forms, sign documents, add or subtract pages from a document, etc.
  • 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.
  • The textbox and the typewriter tools, while functional, could be easier to use. It can be fiddly to get the typewriter insert where you need it, sometimes it doesn't want to move just a little (it can be a tiny bit or a big move). This can make it tough to get an "x" to line up with a box on a form. The textbox tool allows for plenty of customization, but can still be cumbersome when the form lines are small.
  • On some documents it is necessary to "flatten" the document, or it comes across via email too large or with extraneous information. The process of flattening them seems a bit too laborious. Perhaps there is a default setting to make it do so automatically, but I haven't been able to locate it.
  • The "create stamp" process has a lot of steps and could be macro automated to speed things up. It is so time-consuming that we only have one or two people that have fully figured it out, and they are tasked with creating new stamps for everyone.
  • It has been a net positive. It costs roughly the same as the major competing software in the PDF handling realm. We purchase it via an Enterprise agreement, and believe the net is a positive.
  • None of these types of programs are exactly inexpensive, but they are necessary. The support from Bluebeam seems to be good.
  • We have had at least one client, in the Federal contracting world, who insisted that they couldn't open PDF's produced by Bluebeam. They forced us to buy one copy of Adobe Acrobat just to create their PDFs. This is ludicrous, as the output of one is identical to the other. The only caution I have is that to some people Adobe Acrobat is THE PDF handler and anything else is suspect.
  • Despite the issue above, we are happy with our decision to use Bluebeam Revu.
I have nothing negative to say about Adobe Acrobat, either. I think the feature set of both it and Bluebeam Revu stack up very well with each other. I would suggest running a demo of both, and pick the one that is easiest for you. Our employee's with Acrobat experience took a bit longer to learn Revu, whereas those without any previous picked up Revu very quickly. In either case, it works well.
As stated before, the mobile application is a great companion to the desktop version. Either one works great in viewing, editing and saving documents. While the measurement tool is handy to have, we have found the precision to be lacking when measuring scaled drawings (construction design drawings). While it is a good rough place to start for measurements, we wouldn't recommend relying on the precision of the measurements taken on something with a very large scale.

Bluebeam Feature Ratings

Plan distribution & viewing
8
Plan markups & sharing
7
Document sharing
7
Collaboration & approvals
7
As-built drawings
Not Rated
Mobile app
8
Takeoff tools
3