Fill the filled regen with an image?

[Maximillian]

Is that possible ? What I am going for is a 2d tree with a watercolor fill (elevation)......

can a mask be applied to an image and then turned into a family?

I can hear the NO's already....?

[The Sweg]

If you have the image you want already, say, as a .jpg, you could insert the image in an elevation - just make sure to bring it to the front with the display tools in the options bar.

I'm not sure why you would use a filled region, unless I'm not understanding your intent.

HTH

[Maximillian]

I dont think I can put an image behind an elevation. But what i want to do is fill circle with an image and have it be transparent or invisible outside the circle.

[Chirag Mistry]

Someone in Revitcity has done something similar...check it out,

http://www.revitcity.com/families.php?action=view&family_id=2767

[Maximillian]

looks promising.. i will check it out

Thanks!

[dbaldacchino]

I wonder if Revit can recognize the boundary of a png file, now that it supports that format. Might be worth a try....like a cut-out rather than a rectangular boundary. If so, then you could do it in photoshop.

[dbaldacchino]

Had to try it....and it works! I'll be using this feature for presentations for sure. This is a quick Photoshop png (single color) with no background, placed as a foreground image (bring to front) over a filled region.

[Maximillian]

I am chomping at the bit...but I have 8.1

Maybe you can tell me more on how you did it?

What I am trying to achieve is basically a mask, to mask out the image around the tree to that it is transparent. Is that what you did?

Does 9.1 have the ability to send images to back or front?

I tried changing to transparent but it didn't work on a solid fill.

[beegee]

RB 9.0 introduced the ability to control the draw order of Raster images in the same manner as detail elements.

RB 9.1 introduced the import / export of png files ( as dbaldacchino illustrates )

RB 9.0 would therefore allow you to place raster images, move them in relation to each other and also place filled regions that could be used to mask the raster images.

Doing this in Photoshop would still be my first choice though.

In RB 8.1, the images will overlay each other depending on the order they are placed. There is no ability to adjust the draw order in that release.

[dbaldacchino]

Perfectly explained by Beegee....

I just got 9.1 installed and tried the png import. Png files are similar to gif files, in that you can have cutouts or empty spots (I have yet to try transparencies). So basically I did a quick "mouse" sketch of a tree in Photoshop with no background. Imagine you had this on paper and you cut around it with scissors. Then I just imported it into my view, placed it in the foreground and adjusted the draworder (9.0 feature....png import is a 9.1 feature). This does not require any editing in Revit as the background is already 100% transparent in the png. I'll try transparency later and edit this post with an attachment.

EDIT: Nope, the PNG import function in Revit does not support transparencies....bummer :( Anything with less than 100% opacity is imported as 100% transparent.

[SCShell]

Hey there,
That sounds really interesting David. Could you post a jpg or pdf image of something so that I can see what you are describing.
Thanks in advance
Steve

[dbaldacchino]

Here you go....I'm noticing though that there's considerable degredation of the imported image. Another thing I'm finding out is that when you print (either to a printer or to a pdf), the transparent background prints black. Is anyone else experiencing this? It might be a bug of some sort. I've set my printing to Raster processing, high quality/Presentation and Color.

EDIT: I think I figured out the problem and I'll file an SR on this.....if the png is placed directly on the sheet instead of within a view, the transparent background prints black.

[Maximillian]

Does it anti-alias the edges or are they rough? Wondering if you can use a channel in the png image to control transparency? Like a gradient? or it is either ON or OFF transparency...

can you use a higher rez image ...300 dpi?

[dbaldacchino]

Revit automatically brings in an image at 72dpi. It''s not anti-aliasing the image...it's really jagged upon import. And that's probably due to the low import resolution. We definately need this to work better. I didn't use channels....I just had a layer with only parts of the image filled in (with green). Gradients won't import right....anything with less 100% opacity imports as 100% transparent. My image is 150dpi, but as I said, it imports at 72dpi. If you do a 300 dpi image, it'll import at 72dpi, approximately 4 times the size of the original.

[dbaldacchino]

UPDATE: This has been confirmed as a bug.


This is an update to your Support Request. Our development team has tentatively scheduled to deliver a fix in:

The next major release of Revit. The specific release date is unknown, so please use the timing of previous release cycles as a guideline.

Please note: Our quality assurance teams may need to reschedule some fixes. Please rely on the above timeline information as a guideline only and not a guarantee. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.