Save As for reducing family size

[ws]

Andekan's blog has an interesting tip.

I knew about 'Save As' to reduce Revit project file size but they point out that it can make a big difference to family file size:
http://www.andekan.com/blog/

[dbaldacchino]

Actually a save as from the File/Application menu doesn't do much. The best way to reduce file size is to right click on the family in the Families tree (in the project browser) and save from there.

[ws]

thanks David, didn't know you could do that.

So much to learn, so little....

[DoTheBIM]

minimum file sizes I've been able to achieve have been through File>Save As... giving it a different name and then clicking on options and checking off compact file (which erases the internal file history)... this is in effect the same as saving from the family tree as no file history is retained with that method either. The method I use saves from having to load the family into a project just to reduce file size. And these tips are good for projects as well... although some firms may not want to erase the file history log in a project.

[d.stairmand]

The only issue with saving from the Project Tree is that it only Writes the Materials & Object Styles etc that the Family has in it out to the Family File.
If your Detail Component has only Medium Lines - That's all it will write out to the File. When further editing is required you may need to add in more Object Categories.

[Steven Campbell]

Originally Posted by dbaldacchino

Actually a save as from the File/Application menu doesn't do much. The best way to reduce file size is to right click on the family in the Families tree (in the project browser) and save from there.

I have had issues in the past with losing the default workplane settings in a family using this method. Just a heads up...
Steve

[phyllisr]

Originally Posted by d.stairmand

...only writes the Materials & Object Styles...to the Family File...

This is not the only caveat. Not only does the family you edit from the project only bring selected object styles and materials, it also adds a whole bunch of default materials that the factory thinks you should have and resets all the object styles to factory defaults.

This is not necessarily a problem since the settings in a project take priority - just an irritation. Transferring standards will fix your original problem and also corrects any object styles that you may have changed. Like blue lines for glass. I also delete all the materials I think are wasted in a family. Like Poche.

Another caveat is future editing. For some reason, whenever I use the SAVEAS trick, every subsequent edit closed with a simple save can double the family size. This means that I must execute a SAVEAS to some random name and SAVEAS again to the original name with every edit. I have tested this over and over, even in an empty family. No clue why but be aware it happens.

I like Mr. Baldchinno's tip and I use it a great deal, particularly when I want to strip everything possible from a component I plan to nest into a family for an array or something. Just know the limitations....

[dbaldacchino]

Thanks for posting the limitations you've encountered. I had never noticed, probably because I hadn't assigned materials within the family and just left the material parameters as By Category. For the record I learned about this technique through Autodesk support. I had a window family that would not get under 1MB in size, even with all geometry deleted, purged and "saveased" (hehe I know, it's not a word). They explained it had something to do with internal history and suggested I try saving from the project browser. It worked like a charm and compressed the family back to like 100kb.

Steven, what do you mean by losing the default workplane? You mean that objects become not associated with a workplane? That would be very bad!