Send Arch Link to Background

[dzuff]

When I create pdf's the architecture link is on top of my ducts/pipes, etc. Right now the arch background is half tone, but it does not clear up this problem. Is there any way to send the arch link to the back??

[cporter.207875]

Is it a Revit link? You can't really send a 3-dimensional building into the background, or "behind." It exists in virtual space along with your ducts/pipes, etc. Visibility control that you are talking about is managed by view range, as well as by placing objects in the correct locations in relation to the arch model.
You may also need to make sure you are using a view template for your plans. The ootb templates are decent, and should allow you to print so that your work "pops" on the arch "background."

[AaronC]

Is it a Revit link? You can't really send a 3-dimensional building into the background, or "behind." It exists in virtual space along with your ducts/pipes, etc. Visibility control that you are talking about is managed by view range, as well as by placing objects in the correct locations in relation to the arch model.
You may also need to make sure you are using a view template for your plans. The ootb templates are decent, and should allow you to print so that your work "pops" on the arch "background."

I've also run into this problem. Everything looks fine on screen and when printing, it's only when I create pdf's that the architectural link appears "on top" of everything else.

[cporter.207875]

ok, this might be an issue with your pdf drivers. what PDF engine are you using? I have found that PDF Creator and a couple others work well.

[AaronC]

ok, this might be an issue with your pdf drivers. what PDF engine are you using? I have found that PDF Creator and a couple others work well.

We have Cute PDF and PDF Creator, it happens with both programs. I'm wondering if there's a setting I'm overlooking.

[james.klatt]

I have raised this issue with Autodesk. It is a glitch in the software and they are "working" on a fix, or that is at least what they told me. The issue is with line merge for some odd reason Autodesk decided that Revit doesn't need line merge like what Acad uses (BIG MISTAKE). You can use the raster setting or download 3rd party pdf writers which basically just rasterize it anyway. Rasterizing results in a huge file with substandard quality. After getting the run around from Autodesk saying it's the pdf driver I showed them that it doesn't work on DWF's either. That kinda forced them to say okay it is a problem. I got them to post a comment on autodesk.com see here

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...linkID=9243099

It is the politically correct answer that basically says it doesn't work.

Policy here is we print from Revit for all our deliverables and pdf afterwards. This does mean that if someone needs to reprint later on the prints may look slightly different, but we would rather have the set that is looked at by plan check to be the highest quality possible.

[cwade.109269]

We make DWFs first, then use Design Review to make the PDFs, this seems to take care of this issue and allows for smaller file sizes than scanning in plots.

[james.klatt]

Are you sure you don't use a "rasterize" setting in your export to DWF's? If you can post a DWF that would be great. You can tell by looking at it if it was created using raster or vector.

[cwade.109269]

I know the difference and I definitely don't rasterize the DWF, it causes nothing but headaches. They are definitely vector based. This process has worked for us using PDF995 and PDF Creator. Please note that we have Web Update 3 Service Pack installed and that prior to this there were numerous issues with plotting (although as I recall ours was usually that Revit Crashed when trying to plot, but maybe related somehow?) and we were told at the time to update, this was about a day after the Update 3 came out so we didn't know about it yet. Just a thought. Unfortunately, due to what I have DWFs of, I don't think I can post any at the moment, if I come up with one that is ok to post, I will.

[cwade.109269]

Honestly, I can't post what we have, but I have found the following:

On one project we are working on, we actually have nothing going overa ny portion of the Architectural project and as a result wouldn't have seen this issue, I intentionally put something over the Architectural Background and this problem occurred.

On another project we do have items going over portions of the Architectural Plan, but this problem does not occur, except at the grid lines and where there is text in the Architectural Plans.

I tried creating a dummy project with very rapidly created walls, grids and room names and this, then referenced it into a new project and this problem occurs there.

All three projects were setup the same way, so there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why it occurs, but it definitely is a major problem.