Drove myself crazy with manual takeoffs for 8 years before a coworker showed me a 15 minute shortcut

I used to print out every set of blueprints and do all my quantity takeoffs by hand with a scale ruler and highlighters. Spent at least 6 hours per project on a midsize commercial job. Then last spring a new guy came in from a bigger outfit and asked why I wasn't using Bluebeam. I had heard of it but figured it was just for PDF markup. He sat down and showed me how to set up custom tools for counting doors, windows, and linear feet of drywall in under 20 minutes. I felt like an absolute dinosaur. Now I can knock out a full takeoff in about 90 minutes and the error rate is way lower. Anyone else have that moment where you realized you were working way harder than you needed to?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_martin1mo ago

Hated Bluebeam until someone showed me the right way to use it.

brooke47529d ago

Yeah once you figure out the tool sets and what buttons to actually push it changes everything. The default setup is just terrible for how most people actually work. Took me months of frustration before someone showed me how to customize the toolbars and it was like a completely different program after that. Now I actually prefer it over Adobe for most stuff. The measurement tools alone make it worth the headache of learning.