Today's post shares a workflow to quickly sign a document or markup a draft architectural detail using a tablet and a newer feature in Microsoft Edge. Plus I share some details about the Lake|Flato technology topography.
Technology Topography
Before I get to the topic at hand, I wanted to share a little about why this workflow is so helpful at Lake|Flato. As I mentioned in a recent interview with Chris Ramirez, in this Dell blog post interview; Designing From the Home Office, the firm bought everyone a home computer package during the pandemic. This will continue to be part of our new technology topology going forward (more about that in the linked Dell interview).
Here is an example of one home setup (click to enlarge)... this belongs to project designer John Taylor Schaffhauser. You have to love the walls, in his home office, with 100 year old reclaimed sinker cypress from a river in the Florida panhandle! Oh, and the computer setup is amazing as well... stellar cable management!
This is a Dell Latitude 2-in-1 with detachable keyboard. Plus, two 24" monitos, a docking station, and wireless keyboard & mouse.
PDF Inking
For most PDF editing, we use Bluebeam Revu. However, this software is device specific and can only be installed on a single computer. Thus, the tablets do not have any specific PDF editing software. In fact, they don't have much of any software as they are essentially a thin-client that has stylus support.
Enter Microsoft Edge... it has some nice ink tools built-in. You can use your mouse or a stylus if you have one. Notice, for the Draw tool, there are several color and line thickness options! Plus, a Highlight and Erase tool. When done editing, simply click the Save icon.
The PDF can be opened, later, in Bluebeam Revu or Adobe Acrobat to review the marked up document!
Here is a short (2 minute) video I created highlighting the workflow...
Finally, as I show in the video... this is a great way to quickly sign contracts and proposals.
Fun stuff!
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