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Collaboration with other software
About model and data exchange with 3rd party solutions: Revit, Solibri, dRofus, Bluebeam, structural analysis solutions, and IFC, BCF and DXF/DWG-based exchange, etc.

PDF app..

Llian
Advocate
Hi,
Not sure if this is the best place, but will give a try.
Bluebeam ditched Mac and now there is Bluebeam for iPad.
Then there is PDF Expert for Mac.
I need an app to do punch list on my plans on site.
Any recommendation?

Thanks in advance,
Lilian Seow
LEED AP | cSBA | CAPM | PMP
Interior-Architecture and BIM Management
AC20 USA | 27- macOS 10.14.6| 4 GHz Intel Core i7| 32 GB RAM | Archicad-user since 1994!
11 REPLIES 11
Eduardo Rolon
Moderator
Check out Goodnotes.
Eduardo Rolón AIA NCARB
AC27 US/INT -> AC08

Macbook Pro M1 Max 64GB ram, OS X 10.XX latest
another Moderator

Anonymous
Not applicable
Llian wrote:
Hi,
Not sure if this is the best place, but will give a try.
Bluebeam ditched Mac and now there is Bluebeam for iPad.
Then there is PDF Expert for Mac.
I need an app to do punch list on my plans on site.
Any recommendation?

Thanks in advance,
I think you should check planRadar app which you can easily find on app stores.
Anonymous
Not applicable
We have been using PlanGrid for the last few years, and I personally haven't had any complaints.
Llian wrote:
Hi,
Not sure if this is the best place, but will give a try.
Bluebeam ditched Mac and now there is Bluebeam for iPad.
Then there is PDF Expert for Mac.
I need an app to do punch list on my plans on site.
Any recommendation?

Thanks in advance,
I am still using a .pdf program that does everything I need it to do - and then some. And there is no Subscription Fee! This is why I am still using Adobe Acrobat Pro 10.
9 Pro Extended had some really great features but was for use with Windows XP or I would still be using that.

These are the programs that were the inspiration for Bluebeam. Now it is on par or may have surpassed them in some ways that may or may not matter to me. I don't know. I just try to avoid Subscriptions whenever possible.
I have not found any way to generate a .pdf faster than the ArchiCAD Publisher, so I use it to generate the .pdf's and then open it in the Acrobat Pro for adding all the other important content any hyperlinks.

It seems to me that nothing ever gets any better - it's just different -- and more expensive to use.

ArchiCAD 25 7000 USA - Windows 10 Pro 64x - Dell 7720 64 GB 2400MHz ECC - Xeon E3 1535M v6 4.20GHz - (2) 1TB M.2 PCIe Class 50 SSD's - 17.3" UHD IPS (3840x2160) - Nvidia Quadro P5000 16GB GDDR5 - Maxwell Studio/Render 5.2.1.49- Multilight 2 - Adobe Acrobat Pro - ArchiCAD 6 -25

Lingwisyer
Guru
Steve wrote:
This is why I am still using Adobe Acrobat Pro 10
Great program, but it is no longer supported (2015) and I do not believe there is anywhere that you can still purchase a legit copy of it. We were using it until we updated to Win10, at which point it became extremely buggy to the extent of being unusable... If it still works without issue on OSx then maybe it is worth going out of your way to find a reputable seller or...



Ling.

AC22-23 AUS 7000Help Those Help You - Add a Signature
Self-taught, bend it till it breaksCreating a Thread
Win11 | i9 10850K | 64GB | RX6600 Win10 | R5 2600 | 16GB | GTX1660
Aaron Bourgoin
Virtuoso
We looked very seriously at a product called PDF Expert as it had all the tools for reading and marking up drawings without Adobe's subscription.

All but one. Archicad PDFs are fat and publishing a large set of drawings typically requires running them through an optimize routine in Acrobat Pro, which will shrink them by up to 60% without screwing up the vectors. There is no Vector Graphics preset In Acrobat Pro and the parameters for creating a custom preset are not altogether clear. It is possible to tweak the settings to the point. that the graphics are compromised and wanted lines and fills are removed from the final optimized file.

We contacted the PDF Expert developers who confirmed that their optimize routines have nothing for dealing with vector graphics. Until we find one, w're stuck with the bloated code and the memory leaking "Industry Standard".
Think Like a Spec Writer
AC4.55 through 27 / USA AC27-6000 USA
Rhino 8 Mac
MacOS 14.6.1
Eduardo Rolon
Moderator
Aaron, to compress PDFs I use Affinity Designer which usually it is discounted to $30 but regular price is $50 which is not bad for a perpetual license. Conceptually is like using Illustrator to compress instead of Acrobat.
Eduardo Rolón AIA NCARB
AC27 US/INT -> AC08

Macbook Pro M1 Max 64GB ram, OS X 10.XX latest
another Moderator

Aaron Bourgoin
Virtuoso
Eduardo! Thanks for the tip. I have the whole Affinity Suite and think our office should as well. I will pursue this as a strategy.
Think Like a Spec Writer
AC4.55 through 27 / USA AC27-6000 USA
Rhino 8 Mac
MacOS 14.6.1
Aaron Bourgoin
Virtuoso
Eduardo,

I have the whole Affinity Suite as well. Is there a specific command or sequence of steps you follow to compress PDFs? I will try this this week.
Think Like a Spec Writer
AC4.55 through 27 / USA AC27-6000 USA
Rhino 8 Mac
MacOS 14.6.1