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Preparing Documents for a QC Session
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Preparing Documents for a QC Session
In addition to automating a manual workflow, the purpose of this post is to prevent you from relying on individual BB user profile customization as much as possible.
The following is what I wrote to prepare documents for a Quality Control Bluebeam Session. The explanation below should be helpful. BB has a limited set of scripting options, but I encourage you to check out the manual to see what workflows you can automate. See my September 2024 post on Tool Chest customization. See Links at the bottom.
Step 1: Create the custom Bluebeam script on your desktop.
In Bluebeam (with a test document open): Batch > Script > [Script Manager window pops up] > in the Scripts area at the bottom, click the “+” (highlighted in blue below)
Next, in the Script Editor popup, enter a script name (QC Prep), then an icon (pick the third one on the list), leave the Commit Changes… box checked.
In the Script edit box, paste the following four lines <update the file locations for your network of course>, then click OK.
Flatten(true, 8191)
InsertPages(0, “X:\Bluebeam QC Tools\Custom Statuses.pdf”, false, false, true, true, false)
PageDelete(1)
ColumnsImport(“X:\Bluebeam QC Tools\Custom Columns.xml”)
Step 2: Implement the script.
Make sure you have access to the X-drive <or your network location>, then open the document you want to prep.
Batch > Script > [Script Manager window pops up] > in the Scripts area at the bottom, scroll down to WW QC Prep (select it) > Run.
After the script successfully runs, save the document and post it to the BB Session.
Explanation:
The Flatten() command (with Unflatten allowed [the “true” option]) is added since several CAD drawing PDFs (mostly Civil) have objects you end up grabbing when you try to pan around, which is annoying.
The InsertPages(0) and PageDelete(1) inserts the indicated PDF which includes the custom statuses used during QC. This means you don’t need the custom statuses set up in your Bluebeam settings at all. Custom statuses in a document override any local settings. After the 8.5×11 blank PDF “statuses” sheet is inserted as the first sheet in the document, it is immediately deleted.
The ColumnsImport() sets the custom columns used during QC session automatically.
The script runs fast, so you might not notice anything except the asterisk in the file name indicating something has changed in the file.
Since layers can’t be added to a PDF during a BB Session, the Custom Statuses PDF also includes layer names I use so each discipline’s QC Tool Chest edits automatically show up on the correct layer. One could argue this is what Custom Columns are for, but I found those inconsistently used at my firm, so I include both in case one group uses them consistently.
The Custom Statuses are Technical (Blue), Drafting (Light Violet), Question (Magenta), Backcheck (40% Gray), and Not-Applicable (20% Gray). The markup will change to this color when the status is changed. Open the Custom Statuses file and customize them to match your corporate standards.
https://]bigisp.us[/Custom%20Statuses.pdf
https://]bigisp.us[/Custom%20Columns.xml
https://]bigisp.us[/QC%20Electrial.btx
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1 Reply
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Points: 28,577Rank: UC2 Brainery Advanced Brown Belt I
Great post. @jtoddowen There is a lot of value here. I do the same for customers when I build custom columns and tools. I also created custom buttons so they don’t have to go into the script dialog. I appreciate the time you put into this. If you ever want to do a presentation for our bi-weekly webinars or write a guest blog post, just let me know.
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