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ADR General Improvements Needed - Suggestions

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Message 1 of 2
BryGuy-AK
482 Views, 1 Reply

ADR General Improvements Needed - Suggestions

ADR in general works quite well.  However . . .

 

I’m trying to push the use of DWF’s and ADR instead of PDF’s companywide, but I’m running into some concerns.  For DWF’s & ADR to become mainstream and the universal markup/viewing tool, I think a number of changes to the tools and interface need some rework, andwith a focus on more efficiency built in, ASAP.

  

  1. Move Undo/Redo to the Markup tab.  Why make folks bounce back and forth, or remember CTRL-Z.
  2. Workspaces need to be saved.  We keep losing our workspace configuration.
  3. Automatic Save-As with time-stamp appended to file name. We still can edit the name, but this would provide a chronological ordering of the files.  Add the user login name to file as an option as well.
  4. Preset/Predefined user ‘Markup Pens’.  4 buttons the user can configure as they like.  Saving them from having to pick pick pick buttons to make different kinds of markups.  (Just like a pencil jar on your desk)
  5. View/Zoom settings of markups. Let us change.  Seems the zoom level at creation of the markup get hardcoded into it, so when you click the markup tag in panel, view changes.  Not always good.
  6. Single Markup palette.  Combine ‘Markups’ and ‘Markup Properties’.
  7. Add Save as PDF.  Simply need the option in some cases.
  8. Import (PDF’s, Images, DOC’s, etc), and Export to other formats.
  9. Markup Grouping.  Seriously, every single tiny markup line gets its own list entry.  No.  Some drawn lines are part of a single markup.  Consider an cluster of lines showing a change to a symbol.
  10. Symbols?  This tools seems a bit odd.  Symbols for what when generating or completing markups?
  11. Right-Click menu.  Streamline this.  When right-clicking a markup, add Done, Review, Question buttons at top of list.  Make it easier to manipulate the actual markup.
  12. Snapshot seems like it could be useful, but allow us to adjust scaling and such when created.

 

I could go on and on actually, and I haven’t even touched the 3D modeling aspect yet.  This tool has GREAT potential, but right now, and still, falls pretty short.  I would not think most enhancements and rework would take that much effort to improve. 

 

Also, there is a difference in interfaces when a use opens a DWF file into Internet Explorer depending if they have ADR installed on their system or not.  If they do NOT have ADR installed, then the interface is VERY bleak and could use some serious attention.  Heck a button permitting them to download and install ADR would be VERY helpful.  (Keep in mind, Govt. users can not easily install ADR to their systems on the fly.)

 

Also, resolve the DWF (XPS) vs. DWFx into internet explorer.  The plug-in/add-on needs to handle both versions without hiccup.  The interface within Internet Explorer when viewed by a system without ADR installed is way to simplistic.  The interface needs a toolbar, and some very basic commenting capability, as well as an index of the sheets.

 

I really like where ADR is going, but I think less clicking and efficiency needs to be worked on.  Again, I think there is room for ADR to become the main markup and viewing application for the industry, but it needs to get a move on it when it comes to updating.

 

Autodesk, if you have any questions in regards to my suggestions, please feel free to contact me any time.

 

Thank You

------------------------------
"When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." (Futurama)

Brian Lewis
CAD Manager, Civil Designer
www.uskh.com

AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, Civil 3D, AutoCAD MEP
Revit Architecture, Revit Structural, Revit MEP
(versions 2008-2011)
1 REPLY 1
Message 2 of 2
lundbea
in reply to: BryGuy-AK

Great suggestions.  Thanks for posting these, and we'll consider these to the next release.  Some of these we have already taken into consideration (like being able to save workspaces and then import/export these) and if you're in our beta you'll be able to see what I mean by that.

 

Thanks again and let us know if you have further suggestions please.

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