How-to guide
Bluebeam Compare Documents vs Overlay Pages
Revu has two ways to see what changed between drawing revisions. Compare Documents marks the differences with clouds; Overlay Pages stacks the sheets in colour. Here's how each works and when to use which.
Updated · 2 min read · Sources
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How to compare two drawing revisions in Revu
- 1
Open Compare Documents
Go to Document > Compare Documents.
- 2
Choose the documents
Set Document A to the original drawing and Document B to the revision, and pick the page range for each.
- 3
Choose the alignment
Page Align for same-scale revisions, Auto Align if size or scale differ, or Manual Align with three matching points.
- 4
Review the differences
Revu opens a new PDF ending in _Diff with orange clouds on the changes; work through them in the Markups List.
What Compare Documents gives you
A new PDF ending in _Diff, with the differences between Document A (the original) and Document B (the revision) marked as orange cloud markups. Because they are markups, they also appear in the Markups List, so you can review, filter and export them like any other markup. The original and revised files are not changed.
What Overlay Pages gives you
A new file named Overlay that merges the content of two or more files and shows edited content in a separate colour. Revu assigns each layer a colour automatically, and Bluebeam recommends keeping the defaults. You can limit the overlay to part of the sheet with Select Region.
Getting the alignment right
Both tools offer three alignment options. Page Align stacks the PDFs directly on top of each other, which suits minor revisions at the same scale and position. Auto Align finds matching points itself, which suits drawings that differ in size or scale. Manual Align asks you to pick the same three points, in the same order, on every drawing; use it when Auto Align fails. Compare Documents also has Select Window to compare one region only. Bluebeam notes that scanned PDFs won't give the desired result in a Compare + Overlay.
Using both together
Run Compare Documents, export its markups from the Markups List (Markups > Export Markups) and save the comparison. Then run Overlay Pages on the same two files and import those markups into the overlay. You get the colour overlay with the clouded changes on top. This needs a Core, Complete or Max plan.
Reviewing revisions in ContractorCounter
ContractorCounter doesn't generate a diff file. Its Compare Drawings view opens the base revision and the new one side by side with zoom and pan linked, so the same spot stays under your cursor on both sheets while you mark the changes yourself. It runs in the browser on any device, from US$1 a week, billed US$4 every 4 weeks.
Questions about How-to guide
Which Bluebeam plan includes Compare Documents?
Compare Documents needs a Core, Complete or Max plan, according to Bluebeam's documentation. Prices are in [Bluebeam Revu price](/bluebeam-revu-price).
Does Bluebeam compare change my original drawings?
No. Both Compare Documents and Overlay Pages create a new PDF and leave the original and revised drawings untouched.
Can I compare more than two drawings at once in Bluebeam?
Overlay Pages merges two or more files in one pass. Compare Documents works on a pair: an original (Document A) and a revision (Document B).
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Sources
Every step, menu path, option name and plan requirement was read from Bluebeam's own support documentation on the date shown. The ContractorCounter section matches our support articles.
- Reviewed
- Checked by
- Tylar E., founder
Menu wording differs slightly between Revu 20 and Revu 21, and Bluebeam updates its documentation without notice. Check the linked pages for your version.