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 recommended method which leverages the power of dynamic sheet lists via Ideate BIMLink to export one or multiple sheet lists from a specified Revit file.

  1. Launch Ideate Automation and select Create
  2. In the Library Folders, Ideate Software Scripts folder, select 01 Publishing — Dynamic, then pick the script at the right called IBL-Export_PDF_Combined_Dynamic.
  3. Review the description under Task Name: below
  4. Note the requirements to run the script are listed, the current version of BIMLink being one of them. Pick Next to continue

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.

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 Revit model(s) with all worksets closed

This option is not recommended because the resultant PDF output would be blank. It can be used in testing to expedite the process.

Close Only These Worksets (Optional)

Use this option to prevent certain worksets from displaying unwanted information on the PDF output. In the example, any workset that contains the word “sample workset” will be closed by Ideate Automation. Learn more: Exclude Worksets on File Open

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. 

Export Sub Folder (Optional): 

Hidden. In Additional Options there is option to include a sub folder. This is useful when exporting multiple PDFs per project. You can use variables as shown on the Basic Scripting page to create the folder name from Revit model properties or just use the file name  ${revit_file:RevitFilenameNoExtension}. 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 ${Script.Folder}\Sheets.link which is the name of a BIMLink definition that is stored on your computer in the same place as the script, which is this path by default: C:\Program Files\Ideate\Ideate Automation\en-US\Samples\Ideate Software Scripts\01 Publishing - Dynamic. 

Export multiple sheet sets to PDF from within the same Revit file, saving time. The existing scripts IBL-Export_PDF_Combined_Dynamic and IBL-Export_PDF_Individual_Dynamic now support the selection of multiple sheet lists. Each sheet list is defined via an Ideate BIMLink Link definition. Sample link definitions are included with Ideate Automation. In the example below three link definitions are listed, which will results in three separate combined PDF files being created for each selected Revit file.

NOTE: Sheets_M1 and Sheets_S1 are also included in the content, which is located at the location noted in the image.

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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