How to manage long RFI questions, answers, and status updates without losing track of your drawing markups.
If you use Bluebeam Revu to manage project questions directly on PDF drawings, you've probably discovered how useful custom callouts and Legends can be.
You can place a question on a drawing, assign it a number, add custom fields, and track whether it has been answered.
But what happens when your question is longer than a few words?
One frustrating limitation is that Bluebeam Legends don't provide the same automatic text wrapping behavior available in the Markups List.
This becomes particularly inconvenient when you want to use a Legend as an RFI (Request for Information) register directly on a drawing.
Let's look at why this happens and four practical approaches you can use.
1. Why Bluebeam Legends Struggle With Long RFI Text
Imagine working on a construction drawing with several questions:
- Q-001: Can the access control reader be relocated to the opposite side of the entrance?
- Q-002: Please confirm the mounting height of the CCTV camera.
- Q-003: Is additional cable containment required above the suspended ceiling?
You create custom callouts with fields such as:
RFI Number | Question | Answer | Status
You then add those markups to a Bluebeam Legend.
The Legend is useful because it can automatically update when markups are added or removed.
However, when the questions or answers become longer, the text may not display as neatly as expected.
Increasing the Legend's width can help with some layouts, but it doesn't provide the flexible, multi-line presentation needed for detailed questions and responses.
This is where the workflow becomes inefficient.
You want to keep the automatic updating of the Legend without sacrificing readability.
2. Workaround #1: Enable Multiline in Custom Columns
The first thing to check is your custom-column configuration.
Bluebeam Revu supports a Multiline setting for text-based custom columns in the Markups List.
To configure it:
- Open the Markups List.
- Open the Columns menu and select Manage Columns.
- Select the Custom Columns tab.
- Create or edit a text column.
- Enable the Multiline option.
- Save your changes.
You can use this for fields such as RFI Question and Answer.
Important limitation: Multiline controls how text displays in the Markups List. It does not automatically solve the text-wrapping limitation inside a Legend.
This option is useful when your main goal is to review detailed information in the Markups List rather than directly on the drawing.
3. Workaround #2: Keep the Legend Short and Use the Markups List for Details
Another approach is to separate the information into two levels.
Use the Legend to display only essential fields:
RFIDescriptionStatusQ-001Access reader locationOpenQ-002CCTV mounting heightClosedQ-003Cable containmentOpen
Keep the complete questions and answers in the custom columns associated with the original markups.
This reduces the amount of text you need to display on the drawing.
Advantages:
- The Legend remains compact.
- Questions remain connected to the original drawing locations.
- You avoid repeating long paragraphs on the plan.
- Your team can review the full details in the Markups List.
Disadvantage: Someone reviewing only the drawing may still need to open the Markups List to read the complete question or answer.
For projects with short RFIs, this may be sufficient. For more detailed discussions, a separate report could be better.
4. Workaround #3: Create a Hyperlinked PDF Summary
Bluebeam Revu includes a useful feature called PDF Summary.
Instead of displaying every question inside a Legend, you can generate a dedicated RFI report containing the relevant markup information.
Depending on your settings, the report can include:
- Markup thumbnails
- Question numbers
- Custom question and answer fields
- Status information
- Links back to the original markups
You can append the summary to the current PDF, allowing reviewers to navigate between the report and drawing.
To create a summary:
- Open the Markups List.
- Select Summary and choose PDF.
- Choose the columns you want included.
- Configure the filtering and sorting options.
- Enable the option to append and hyperlink the summary to the current PDF.
- Generate the report.
This is particularly useful for larger projects containing many questions.
The drawback: When you add, delete, or edit questions, you may need to generate an updated summary.
Unlike a native Legend, an exported PDF Summary isn't a continuously updating table.
Still, it's one of the most practical built-in options when detailed reporting and navigation are more important than keeping everything on one sheet.
5. Workaround #4: Export Markups to Excel and Create a Formatted RFI Table
If your project requires a more customizable layout, you can export your markup data to CSV or XML and format it using a spreadsheet.
A possible workflow is:
- Create your RFI callouts in Bluebeam.
- Store questions, answers, and statuses in custom columns.
- Export the Markups List data.
- Open the export in Excel.
- Create a formatted RFI table with wrapped text.
- Export the table as a PDF.
- Place the formatted table on your drawing or append it to your document.
The advantage is formatting control.
You can adjust column widths, automatically wrap long text, color-code statuses, and create a more readable register.
The disadvantage is the extra work involved in exporting and regenerating the table after changes.
Also, the original Bluebeam markup hyperlinks will not necessarily be preserved by a basic Excel-to-PDF workflow.
For teams that update their RFI registers frequently, those repetitive steps can become frustrating.
Note: CSV/XML summary availability depends on your Revu subscription. Revu 21 Basics supports PDF Summary output, while other export options require an eligible plan.
6. What Would an Ideal RFI Workflow Look Like?
An efficient RFI workflow should require you to enter information only once.
You should be able to:
- Create a question using a custom Bluebeam callout.
- Store the question, answer, and status in the markup.
- Generate a readable table with automatic text wrapping.
- Keep references to the original markup locations.
- Update the table quickly whenever the questions change.
Ideally, all of this would happen without manually copying data between multiple applications.
The biggest challenge is combining the flexibility of a formatted report with the automatic updating behavior of a native Legend.
That's an interesting workflow problem, especially for contractors, estimators, architects, and project managers who rely heavily on Bluebeam.
7. Could a Small External Tool Help?
One possible approach is to use a lightweight PDF-processing tool that reads the existing markup information and generates a formatted RFI register.
The benefit would be that you could keep working with your existing Bluebeam callouts rather than changing how you record questions.
A tool like this could potentially provide:
- Automatic extraction of custom RFI fields
- Multi-line question and answer formatting
- Open/Closed status tracking
- A compact table placed directly on a PDF drawing
- A quick way to regenerate the report after changes
At NEXORA, we're exploring this type of workflow improvement.
It's important to distinguish a regenerated table from a native Bluebeam Legend that updates instantly. They are not the same thing, and seamless real-time updating would require additional integration and testing.
Final Thoughts
Bluebeam Revu is a powerful tool for organizing information directly on construction drawings.
But even useful features can become inefficient when a project requires more detailed information than the standard layout comfortably supports.
For RFI management, there is no single best approach.
A native Legend works well for short, frequently updated information. A PDF Summary works well for detailed reports. Spreadsheet exports provide greater formatting flexibility.
The most useful solution depends on how often your questions change, how many RFIs you manage, and whether the information must appear directly on the drawing.
What's your biggest frustration when managing RFIs or markups in Bluebeam Revu?
Do you struggle with formatting, exporting, organizing information, or keeping reports updated?
We'd be interested to hear what would make your workflow easier.
NEXORA Digital Tools
We develop independent tools and resources for Bluebeam users, low-voltage contractors, and technical professionals.
If you also spend time turning Bluebeam markups into cost estimates and client quotations, explore our NEXORA Takeoff & Quote Studio.
Bluebeam and Revu are trademarks of Bluebeam, Inc. NEXORA is an independent developer and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bluebeam.