How to export Revit sheets to pdf
Delivering AEC documentation using PDFs is very popular all over the world. That allows for portability and readability in computers and other devices. It is also an important file format for exchanging revisions and comments by different stakeholders. Employing a process to publish PDFs from your Revit sheets is therefore crucial and should be based on professional software. We at Archi take that task exceptionally seriously and have been helping many professionals deliver their drawings error-free and right the first time.
How to quickly find and select Revit sheets to publish to PDF?
We assume you are already using or trying Docuflow. If you are not, you can download it here. The first step in exporting the sheets into PDF is to select them and add them to the queue. There are a few ways of doing that, including:
- Using Revit sheet sets
- Searching for a sheet name
- Sorting sheets by name or by revision number
Let's have a look at these different methods of selecting the sheets.
Use Revit sheet sets.
Revit sheet sets are a way to group sheets and make them available for batch publishing. If you are using them, you know how handy it is to have sets for architectural drawings separately from engineering drawings. Or you may want to save all the plans in a set.
You can create a set directly from the Docuflow dialog if you have not yet created a sheet collection. And a Docuflow sheet set remembers its sorting sequence, so your multi-page PDFs are in the correct order.
Search for a Revit sheet name.
If you want to restrict the sheets collection so that it only shows the word "Plan" one can use the search function. That will remove all the other sheets that do not include that word and make our selection much faster. One can also search for a revision number this way.
Sort sheets by name or by revision number
Sorting is a great way of grouping relevant information. And in Docuflow, it is super easy to click on the column header and sort by sheet name or project revision number. When one sorts by project revision number, the program brings the last revised sheets to the top of the list. Selecting and publishing the latest revised drawings in this way can be done in a matter of seconds.
How to configure the PDF settings in Revit?
Every Revit project is different. And so can the PDF export settings become. Sometimes the drawings are simple, without shadows and gradients, but others are rich with color and effects. You may set the raster quality to presentation, for instance. Docuflow allows configuring both Revit print settings and PDF drivers from the same dialog tab.
How to set filename rules for exporting sheets to PDF?
Pre-set rules for filenames are fundamental. It enforces filename consistency on project documentation and avoids big misunderstandings. However, some projects may require that the PDFs have a name after the sheet number. On the other hand, other tasks may require that the sheet name comes in addition to the sheet number. One crosses the checkboxes inside the PDF configuration tab for simple filename rules. For more advanced filename rules that include project or sheet parameters, one can use the advanced filename rules we cover separately in this article.
Can Docuflow publish Revit metadata into the PDF?
Yes, metadata can be exported from Revit projects and sheets into PDFs by enabling that option in the PDF configuration tab. We have a separate article that explains in detail the metadata structure and content in this article.
Understanding PDF paper sizes and Revit sheets
When Docuflow publishes a sheet into a PDF, it dynamically retrieves the sheet size from Revit and prints it at 100% of its size. The result is a PDF of the same size as the sheet.
The Revit sheet size is the outermost element related to the title block family. If, for instance, a text field rectangle placed in the title block family goes beyond the title block, you may end up with a Revit sheet larger than you intended. Always check that the size in the Docuflows dialog is according to your expectations and investigate your title block family should it not match.
