What is easiest way to Edit and comment large MEP drawings

Report · Dec 19, 2018

Hey I am having issues with adobe acrobat.

I need Acrobat so i can Comment and Mark-Up Large MEP Drawings that are given to us and show corrections and cross out sections that are wrong. It is extremely difficult to work with. I need to wait 30 seconds after clicking the line tool before being able to click to use and sometimes the line just disappears after i draw it. Acrobat feels very clunky, and takes time whenever i scroll, to reload the PDF. My Tools keep deselecting. My drawings keep exiting the edit drawing. Then when i go back to reenter the edit drawing then the program freezes on me.

I have tried

If these drawings were in AutoCAD i would be able to fix the drawings and edit in 1/4 the time it takes for me to comment with adobe... It feels like I'm using Microsoft paint and I'm just trying to make the drawing look presentable but its a nightmare.

Is there any way to make these easier to work with?

Report · Dec 19, 2018

Yes, Acrobat is desperate editor of last resort, only really meant for fixing typos. If you have to do a lot of this you need to collaborate in the original app.

Report · Dec 26, 2018

thanks for the response,

but then what would be the best way to go about it if I receive Shop Drawings in .PDF format? I think it was originally done in DWG but client will not send the DWG's for security reasons.

Report · Dec 26, 2018

The security reasons are probably that they don't want you to edit them. If you DO want to edit their AutoCAD drawings, negotiate that with them. It is the only viable option, PDF doesn't solve the issues of not having the same app.

Report · Dec 26, 2018

thank you again.

Yes, part of reason is that they cannot be edited. It seems like an industry standard to send only PDF's with a Transmittal, cut sheets/specs of equipment, and shop drawings, for us (the engineers) to approve of and stamp, which is why I use Acrobat, for the stamps. Sometimes i need to cross things out and write comments throughout. They expect us to review and comment the PDF's and send back to them. Is this not the right way to go about it?

Thanks for the continued attention, it's helping me understand a bunch.

Report · Dec 28, 2018

THIS IS how I need to edit these documents, it looks like a child crossed things out. This is my ONLY option right now. I don't know a better way.

Report · Jan 07, 2019

PC Im using has 8 gigs of ram which should be decent.

Another piece of information i noticed I noticed, when I switch to commenting mode, a toolbar shows up on right side with a list of every comment on the drawing.

It takes long to load and for example this drawing says 3398 Comments and its continuously indexing them.

Maybe this is cause but I don't know where to begin to toggle that list off.

Report · Dec 31, 2018

In addition to the good information above, you might see better performance in Acrobat if you first save as an optimized PDF to reduce the size and complexity of the file. Since your PDF will only be used as a reference indicating needed changes, you probably don't need to worry too much about simplifying your PDF. Go ahead and check everything except the fonts for discard and clean-up.

Report · Jan 07, 2019

Thanks for the input @Luke Jennings. I have tried resaving it as a smaller size pdf and still ran into same clunky issues.

Will try messing with the settings as you suggested in screenshot and report back. Thanks again

Report · Jan 07, 2019

When doing comment/review with Acrobat, I saw really terrible performance at times.

A fast machine with lots of RAM may help.

But the versions of Acrobat I've used is not fast at this, and slows down even more with lots of comments or when you filter comments.

Report · Jan 07, 2019

It's terrible and borderline unworkable. PC Im using has 8 gigs of ram which should be decent.

I noticed, when I switch to commenting mode, a toolbar shows up on right side with a list of every comment on the drawing.

It takes long to load and for example this drawing says 3398 Comments and its continuously indexing them. Maybe this is cause but I don't know where to begin to toggle that list off.

Report · Jan 07, 2019

ah - with so many comments, I can imagine how painful it must be.

I think there's a forum or place to report issues and request features.

You should report this as a problem.

I don't deal with many PDF review/comments nowadays, but I should have complained a couple of years ago when I encountered it!