Ideate AutomationHow to...
  • Export to PDF

    • Export to PDF using Dynamic Sheet/View Lists

    Ideate Automation can be used with Revit 2022+ to Export to PDF. Multiple Revit models can be processed in a single task and there are significant options for the Revit Sheet/View input and the .pdf output.

    The preferred method uses a Dynamic Sheet/View List, adding the power of Ideate BIMLink to provide more support for complex tasks across a number of Revit project environments. This is one of the Top BIMLink Workflows for Ideate Automation.

    Topics in this Section

    Sample Scripts  ▲   ▼

    There are four sample scripts that are supplied with the Sample Content. The following table displays the differences.

    Script Name Input Output Location
    AUT-Export_PDF_Combined Revit file settings Per Model AUT-03 Publishing
    AUT-Export_PDF_Individual Revit file settings Each Sheet AUT-03 Publishing
    IBL-Export_PDF_Combined_Dynamic Dynamic Sheet/View List Per Model ISW-01 Publishing - Dynamic
    IBL-Export_PDF_Individual_Dynamic Dynamic Sheet/View List Each Sheet ISW-01 Publishing - Dynamic

    All methods are using the Export to PDF function in Revit, NOT the PRINT function. At this time, saved Print setups cannot be used and will cause a task to fail.

    Prior to running a task, review the PDF Export Settings in Revit. File → Export → PDF.

    Managing Export Settings in Revit  ▲   ▼

    The PDF Export Settings can be established in the Revit model prior to using Ideate Automation to export to PDF. If they are not, the default or last selected setting in Revit will be used. The following image shows what settings are defined in Revit and where Ideate Automation can control certain settings in a saved task. (Click on image to enlarge)

    Double-click to Enlarge

    Export Range

    The Export Range defines what sheets (or views) are to be included in the export. Print Sets are stored here under ž Selected views/sheets. If there are no Print Sets defined, the default <in-session> value will be used. Print Sets should not be confused with Print Setups which are specifically designed for Revit printers.

    Ideate Software Scripts that use Dynamic Sheet/View Lists will ignore this setting completely.

    Export Setup

    This controls page setup details for size, orientation, and other print basics, shown in the large purple box in the example image.

    File Name:

    The file name setting is ignored unless you are using a script that saves each sheet to an individual .pdf file. In that case, you will need to configure the PDF Export Settings in the Revit model(s) correctly to get the desired filename output.

    See the red boxed area in the example image, showing the box is not checked to combine into a single file..

    The default values for this setting are often View based rather than Sheet based. Ignoring these settings can result in multiple .pdf files being created and then overwritten in the same session. The following image shows how to make a modification to the Setup Naming Rules in Revit. Read more in this blog: Exporting PDFs from Revit

    Publish to PDF using a Dynamic Sheet/View List  ▲   ▼

    Follow these steps to publish to .pdf using the Ideate preferred method: How To: Use Dynamic Sheet/View Lists.

    Note the requirements to run the script are listed, the current version of BIMLink being one of them.

    A screenshot of a computer programDescription automatically generated

    Task Script Variables

    Now that you’ve loaded the script to create a Task, it’s time to set the Task Script Variables. Please note that in our example image, Show Additional Options has been enabled by the + in the upper-right corner of the dialog. They are hidden by default. Read more about Display or Hide Variables. 

    Revit Files:

    Click Browse… to add the same sample file that was used in Use Dynamic Sheet/View Lists, rst_basic_sample_project.rvt.

    Open Worksets:

    Hidden. The default setting of All should remain unchanged to allow the visible option of Close Worksets: to be used if filtering of worksets is desired.

    Close Worksets:

    The inverse of the Open Worksets: option that is hidden. In the example, any workset that contains the word “link” will be closed by Ideate Automation.

    Export Folder: 

    Set the location for the .pdf export here. This can be any location that you can browse to on your computer, including BIM360/ACC files via Autodesk Desktop Connector. In this example, a mapped network drive is shown.

    Export Sub Folder (Optional): 

    Hidden. An additional level deep folder can be named here and will be created automatically if the folder does not yet exist. You can use variables as shown on the Basic Scripting page to create the folder name from Revit model properties. In this example, if we want the subfolder to be composed of the current date, and the Revit release year, separated by a space dash space. We would enter the text as shown

    ${today.yyyy-MM-dd} — ${revit_file:Revit.Version}
    The result is a folder named
    2024-01-10 — 2023

    BIMLink Sheet List 

    This script contains the default value Sheets which is the name of a BIMLink definition that is stored on your computer at the Link Library Path: C:\ProgramData\Ideate\Ideate BIMLink\en-US\Samples\

    Just below this variable are some hidden options that relate to this setting

    R Always use external link.def to define sheet/view list

    In our example, with the option checked, a custom link.def that is stored in the Revit file (not in a folder) with the same exact name: Sheets would be ignored. If you would like the link.def information in the Revit file to be the source of truth, uncheck this option.

    R Create Single PDF

    This option should not be modified, as it is defined in the name of the script IBL-Export_PDF_Combined_Dynamic

    Link Library Path:

    Also mentioned above in BIMLink Sheet List, the default Sample Content location of C:\ProgramData\Ideate\Ideate BIMLink\en-US\Samples\ is shown here. This value can be changed to a custom location of your choice if you would like to maintain a different standard.

    Combined PDF File Name:

    Variables similar to the default of ${revit_file:RevitFilenameNoExtension} can be used here to create unique, rule-based names. Optionally you can type in the name of your choice for the resultant .pdf.

    PDF Export Setup (Optional):

    This option provides the ability to reference a named Export Setup in the Revit model where you may have unique output requirements defined for sheet layouts like a half-size, black&white set for example. If this is left blank, the last saved settings in the Revit model are used.

    Confirm Task Selections

    On the Confirm Tasks Selection page, review all variables and note that the Task name is editable.

    Publish to PDF using Revit Sheet Sets  ▲

    If you prefer to publish to PDF by using a pre-defined Revit sheet set with version 2022 or later, you can learn how to do this by following the detailed instructions in our Getting Started Guide.

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