Sending documents from iPhone to Buzzsaw

The method detailed below shows how to use your iPhone for scanning documents for upload to Buzzsaw. There’s more than one way to accomplish this. I prefer this method because JotNot Scanner (an iPhone app) has proven to be stable and very useful.

Download and install the JotNot App for your iPhone from the App Store (currently $4.99US)

Run JotNot from your iPhone

1. The JotNot icon

Prepare to photograph your document

1. Select the Camera Icon to launch the scanner function

Snap your photo

Get as close to your subject as possible. Your photo does not need to be perfectly aligned. In the next step, we can address any skewing and cropping. JotNot has settings to adjust contrast Image Stabilization, Contrast, Resolution, etc.

Perform alignment and crop procedure

In this step, you can adjust any imperfections in the scan

Process the image

Processing takes a few seconds

Your finished “Scan”

1. Select this button to select your next action

Several options to upload your scan. WebDAV will be our option for accessing Buzzsaw.

1. Choose to upload to WebDAV, our link to Buzzsaw

Select WebDav/iDisk to access Buzzsaw

1. Select WebDav/iDisk. IN the next step we’ll configure to send to Buzzsaw

Entering your Buzzsaw login credentials

1. Enter your Buzzsaw login credentials
2. Enter your Buzzsaw site using this format. http://webdav.buzzsaw.com/yoursitename

Select your Buzzsaw folder to upload your document to

After selecting your Buzzsaw upload location, you’re done! The upload takes place.

Using Groups as email Distribution Lists in Buzzsaw

Groups in Buzzsaw are a great way to manage permissions.  Another good use of groups is for emailing from Buzzsaw.  In this example, we are creating a group named “Email – All” for blasting email messages from Buzzsaw to everyone on the Buzzsaw Site.

1.  From the Groups Tab in the Site Administration Panel, create a new Group.

2.  Now that you have given the new group a name, populate the group with existing members.

3.  Don’t add this group to any projects.  We are creating the group for email purposes only.

4.  Send your email to the group.  In this case, we’re sending an important message intended for all site members.  Instead of picking several individual members as recipients, we are selection one group (which happens to contain all members of the Buzzsaw Site)

1.  Be sure to add new members in the future to the ”Email – All” group

2.  Permissions are unaffected.  Members maintain all permissions they had prior to being added to this email group

3.  In this example, we’ve used a “Private” group.  If privacy isn’t an issue, you can make it an “Open” group

4.  Your action of sending the email to this group will be preserved in the Buzzsaw Activity Log

5.  If you send a link to an existing Buzzsaw File in this email, the activity log will reveal the members that viewed the linked file

6.  Like any email in Buzzsaw, you can add an attachment.  However, there will be no record of the recipients actually viewing the attachment.  See #5 above for the preferred method for tracking those who have viewed the linked file.

Update to the previous Compare Function Post

When comparing 2 DWF files, what happens when the entire plan has been moved from it’s original location?  Everything will show up in green, meaning everything has changed. Jason Pratt has posted a pretty cool trick to identify changes between 2 DWF Files.

http://connected.typepad.com/connected/2009/03/a-trick-for-comparing-two-dwf-files.html

Using the Compare Feature in Buzzsaw and Autodesk Design Review

Comparing DWFs can be accomplished in Buzzsaw or by using Autodesk Design Review.

1.  You’ll need and original DWF and another version of the DWF.  In this case, we’re using a site plan.  We have the original and an updated version of it.
2.  In Buzzsaw or Design Review view the original file.
3.  Right Click on the plan, and choose “Compare Sheets” from the flyout menu.

4.  Browse to the 2nd DWF to populate the “File 2″ field

5.  Your resulting view will indicate in Red any objects that have been deleted form the original and will indicate in Green what has been added to the original.

Creating Stamps for PDFs using Bluebeam

http://tinyurl.com/madphx

Performing PDF takeoffs on curved objects with Bluebeam

http://tinyurl.com/olqll6

Bluebeam University Lessons

http://bluebeam.com/web07/us/bluebeam_university/

Autodesk QTO training scheduled for July 30th (web 10am-12pm PST)

Enrollment information here

Autodesk QTO training scheduled for July 24th (web 10am-12pm PST)

Details and enrollment info here

Buzzsaw 2009.1 brings new features

With the recently released Buzzsaw 2009.1 comes a host of new features. A few however, hit home for us at Orange Blade Consultants.

1. Mathematical calculations in custom forms authored in Microsoft Infopath. Until now, we’ve been using a cumbersome workaround.
2. A feature that we haven’t seen in the release notes……..conditional formatting in custom forms from Infopath. We’ve incorporated a few color-based conditional formatting options in some of our test forms for Buzzsaw, and they work! Not sure why we don’t see it in the release notes. Perhaps the ability is there, but not supported? Time will tell.
3. Internet Explorer 8 and Buzzsaw 2009.1 now play well together.

	Get Buzzsaw 2009.1 Here Release Notes Here