Release notes · Version 1.1.3
What's new in Project Blueprint 1.1.3
1.1.3 fixes the problems customers reported, adds roof and ramp slope, assembly estimating and spell check. It's a free update for every 1.x licence.
Project Blueprint 1.1.3 is a free update for every 1.x licence. It fixes the main problems customers reported, including waste % in formulas, blurry A0 sheets at high zoom and Export Pages ignoring the page range. It adds roof and ramp slope, assembly estimating and spell check. To update, choose Help ▸ Check for Updates in Blueprint.
How to update
1.1.3 is free for every 1.x licence, Founder or regular.
- On 1.1.3 or earlier: download the latest version from the release notes page, then drag it into your Applications folder, replacing the old app. (On 1.1.2 and 1.1.3, Check for Updates downloads an update macOS won't open; 1.1.4 fixes this.)
- On 1.1.4 or later: open Blueprint and choose Help ▸ Check for Updates.
Fixes from customer reports
Thanks to everyone who emailed in. These came straight from your reports.
- Waste % in formulas now works. 10% waste on 100 m² gives 110 m².
- A0 drawings stay sharp when you zoom right in.
- Export Pages (Extract Pages) now sticks to the page range you pick.
- Flattened PDFs now include the note text, not just the note icon.
- Sets stored in iCloud or OneDrive: opening a Set file that hasn't downloaded yet now downloads it first instead of failing.
- Settings has a clearer section list, with no more overlapping or unreliable controls.
- Opening PDFs from Mail or the Dock icon has extra safeguards. If a PDF still won't open this way, email support@blueprintformac.com with what happened.
Your work is safer
- Making a new drawing set from Command Search (⌘K) no longer risks replacing your saved sets.
- Calibrating or setting a scale on a drawing in its own window now scales that drawing, not the one in the main window.
- Batch ▸ Slip Sheet carries over markups made in other PDF apps, not just Blueprint's own.
- When a colleague edits one of your measurements in another PDF app, Blueprint keeps its cut-outs, deductions, depth, layer and status, and your totals stay the same.
- If Extract Pages fails, the drawing you extracted from keeps all its markups.
- After an unexpected shutdown, Blueprint reopens your recovered work on the original drawing more reliably, and recovered page changes save normally.
- Links and file shortcuts on markups in a PDF someone sends you now ask before they open anything, and only web and email links are allowed.
Takeoff and measuring
Roof pitch and ramp slope
Length and Area measurements can now take a slope, entered as a roof pitch, in degrees or as a % grade.
Assembly estimating
Build reusable assemblies from components, attach cost formulas, save your estimates and export them to CSV.
More control over scale
- Separate horizontal and vertical scales, for drawings that were stretched when scanned or printed.
- An architectural calibration input.
- Apply one scale to a list of pages in one go.
Other takeoff improvements
- Turn a cutout into its own Area or Volume measurement.
- Convert to Count turns matching stamps or symbols into a single count.
- Rotated counts can now be merged.
- Selected totals now start with how many markups you have selected.
Tool sets, styles and curves
- Blueprint reads markups made in Bluebeam Revu, and imports Revu line styles (.blx) and hatch patterns (.bhx).
- Revu tool sets with non-English tool names keep their names when imported.
- Symbols from a scaled tool set resize their line widths, cloud size, hatch and arrowheads to match.
- Curves can have two Bézier handles per point. Make a point smooth or a corner, or use Convert to Arc.
- New Insert Text and Replace Text comments for marking text changes.
- Five new line ends.
- New tool keys: I for Image, S for Stamp, U for Underline, D for Strikethrough and Shift+U for Squiggly. If you already use one of these keys for something else, yours is kept.
Markups and tools
- Hide measurement labels: View ▸ Show Measurement Labels (⌥⇧⌘M) hides every measurement label on screen so only the lines show. Exports are unchanged.
- Markups list: drag a column edge to resize it, or double-click it to fit. Widths are remembered.
- Text boxes: a text box you just placed can be dragged straight away, even with the Text Box tool still on. Selection handles are bigger and easier to grab.
- Highlight, underline and strikethrough follow the words as you drag, like selecting text.
- Thumbnails: ⌘A selects every page, and Delete, Rotate and right-click actions work on all the selected pages.
- Toolbar: Rotate Page buttons and a Redact button.
- Snapping to drawing lines works on very dense sheets and no longer pauses the first time you snap on a page.
- Properties ▸ Layout: type an exact position, size, rotation or line length. It works on several markups at once, and sums like 120+15 work.
- Arrange: Bring to Front, Bring Forward, Send to Back and Send Backward.
- Apply to other pages: copy selected markups to all pages, a range, odd or even pages, or pages with the same orientation.
- Legends: group by subject, type, status, layer or appearance, and show this page, all pages or the pages you choose.
- Stamps: each stamp can have its own opacity and rotation. Stamps understand date, time, user and file tokens such as &[Date] and &[User], and can pull values from the PDF's document properties, such as &[Project].
- Copy and paste: copied markups now also go to other apps as a PDF and a PNG.
- Save as Default now needs exactly one unlocked markup selected, so it's clear which style you're saving.
Documents and exports
- Spell check: Markup ▸ Check Spelling… lists mistakes across your markups, and the text editor underlines them as you type.
- Page Labels has a redesigned window, with clearer fields, a live example, a bigger preview and warnings.
- CSV Summary options: units in their own columns, totals per page, Excel format, and a choice of pages and columns.
- The window title now shows the name of the open PDF.
Other fixes
Found while working on this update:
- Clouds drawn as a box now save into the PDF, so other apps see them.
- Markup transparency is kept when you save.
- Legend text is readable again in Dark Mode.
- Markups on hidden, no-print or no-export layers stay out of exports and prints.
- Aligning or distributing a group keeps it together, and flipping a group no longer moves it sideways.
- Groups can no longer span pages or include locked markups.
- The eraser now works when a stroke passes over locked ink.
- Snapping ignores lines hidden outside a viewport or a title-block clip.
- Offset no longer shrinks a shape it should grow, whichever way the shape was drawn.
- Batch CSV puts custom column values under the right headings when files have different custom columns.
- Page labels can be undone, and pressing Return while typing in the label table no longer closes the window.
- Undo now undoes a change you typed into Properties and confirmed with Return.
- Copy and Cut respect PDF permissions and locked groups.
- The autosave error status clears once everything is saved.
- VoiceOver now reads the tab close button properly.
Not in 1.1.3
Editing the text that's already in a PDF isn't in this update. It's a bigger job and is planned for a later one. If there's something else you'd like to see, email support@blueprintformac.com. I read every message.
Looking for the previous update? See the 1.1.2 release notes.
Frequently asked questions
Is Project Blueprint 1.1.3 a free update?
Yes. Every Project Blueprint licence, Founder or regular, includes all 1.x updates, so 1.1.3 costs nothing extra. Trial users get it too.
How do I update Project Blueprint to 1.1.3?
Download the latest version from the release notes page and replace the old app in your Applications folder. From 1.1.4 on, Help ▸ Check for Updates does this for you.
Can Project Blueprint measure roof pitch?
Yes, from 1.1.3. Length and Area measurements can take a roof or ramp slope, entered as a pitch, in degrees or as a % grade.
How does waste % work in a Project Blueprint takeoff?
Add the waste percentage in the measurement's formula. From 1.1.3 it is applied correctly: 10% waste on 100 m² of flooring gives 110 m².
Does Project Blueprint 1.1.3 work with Bluebeam Revu markups?
Yes. Blueprint opens PDFs marked up in Revu and shows their markups, and it imports Revu line styles and hatch patterns. Blueprint is independent software and is not affiliated with Bluebeam, Inc.
Can Project Blueprint edit existing text in a PDF?
Not yet. Editing the text that's already in a PDF is a bigger job and is planned for a later update. You can add text boxes, callouts and Insert Text or Replace Text comments.