The Global Archicad Community

[lukegolesh]

Hi Mac Users,

I'm wondering what you all think the best measure/ review/ comment pdf software is for Mac. I've used Bluebeam for a long time (mostly on PCs), but am looking for a good alternative that works well on Macs (since it is being discontinued for Mac based systems). Adobe Acrobat is very slow/ difficult to use and I find the tools slow and difficult to manage (the measuring tool comes to mind). Please let me know what you all think.

Thanks,
Luke

[schagemann]

Apple Preview is a good starting point and has reasonably robust markup / annotation tools.

However, we have recently started to enjoy PDF EXPERT > https://pdfexpert.com

Pretty much the same features Adobe Acrobat, wrapped into a much more intuitive & reliable interface.

Btw. the iOS version, best used with the Apple Pencil, has even better annotation tools > https://pdfexpert.com/ios

And if you are considering leaving Adobe behind altogether - have a look here:

https://macinteract.com/office-and-adobe-alternatives/

We will be updating this post soon, as we have also started using and quite like the Affinity apps > https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/

Hope this helps.

[lukegolesh]

Thanks for the great info, it is appreciated! I have been reading about Pdf Expert and haven't seen whether or not it had some essential features that Bluebeam has. Might you be able to shed light on whether or not it has:
-Dimension annotations
-Counts
-Revision cloud
-Annotations with multiple leader options
-Line drawing and editing

Thank you so much- I would download and test a trial, but it seems the trial is only available on phones.

[lukegolesh]

Unfortunately, it seems the answer is "no" to these features. Dimensions would be a bare minimum, and I can't find anything that says that dimensioning is available. (Please let me know if anyone knows otherwise).

Does anyone else have a suggestion? Are there no legitimate alternatives to Bluebeam Revu? Are Macs not up to the job of professional practice? I'm sure no one wants to switch to windows via Boot Camp every time they have to review a pdf. Has anyone used the cloud based Bluebeam Revu from a Mac?

Thanks in advance to any suggestions.


-Luke

[Gerald Hoffman]

Hi, have you considered using Parallels? I have a Bluebeam that still works on Mac as I bought it years ago and it still works on Catalina. I have used Parallels in the past and I'm sure it would run Bluebeam PC version without have to reboot.

Cheers,

[Brad Elliott]

For dimensioning and anything complicated I just use ArchiCAD. I did an entire permit submittal using PDF scans of 40 year old hand drawn construction documents.