Copy stuff from sheet to sheet

[captjim]

Is there any rational reason (other than to cost my company a lot of wasted time and really p### me off) why I shouldn't be able to just copy text (or any other annotation type stuff) from a sheet in one project and paste it to a sheet in another project?

Or, did I just not get the secrete decoder ring that allows me to do that?

[Dimitri Harvalias]

From a sheet to a sheet or from a project view to a sheet?
You can copy from sheet to sheet in the same Revit session but you can't copy from view to sheet.
To get aroud this you can copy the text (not the text object) to the clipboard and then paste it into another text object.

[Scott D Davis]

Text and annotations should be in a view, not on the sheet. With that said, many annotations rely on an object. Dims rely on the exact geometry to exist. Doog Tags need the same door in the same place...same goes for all tags and their geometry. So you can't just copy the annotations, you must take their "host" with them in the copy/paste as well.

[Andre Carvalho]

Text and annotations should be in a view, not on the sheet.

I second that. I have seen people trying to annotate directly into the sheet view, just to write review warnings outside the sheet (like they did back on CAD days). Things like "Don't forget to correct the door at room 125!"... Well, then they are ready to print and that specific sheet doesn't print centered because there was a text note outside the titleblock limits and no one remembered that...

Andre Carvalho

[djn]

The only thing that we put in our sheets is sheet notes. Everything else comes for the views.

[Scott D Davis]

Even Sheet Notes should be placed in a drafting view and then that view placed on a sheet.

[m20roxxers]

Scott

Whats your reasoning for this?
Is there any issues or problems from placing information directly on a sheet?
Would you also recommend this for Revision Clouds?

[benmay]

I completely agree that you should only be placing views on sheets.

For general notes I go for legend views, as they can be placed on multiple sheets (drafting views cant) I have used groups before for controlling my schedules over multiple sheets on projects which may cover 5 sheets per level. That way I can control how a group of schedules look over multiple sheets. You can then also copy and paste to multiple sheets.

It would be great if you could copy & paste legend views as well, that way you could paste legends and schedules at the same time over multiple sheets.

I suppose you could just annotate your notes in the sheet view and group with the schedules, I dont think there is a solid reason as why you shouldnt annotate in the sheet view but one good reason is with legend views you can load from a template as a standard

[captjim]

Thanks all for the insight and advice. I was talking (mostly) about the general notes sheets. So far I have put them directly on the sheet without the seemingly unnecessary step of putting them in a view which creates more seemingly unnecessary steps of activating and deactivating the view each time it needs a tweak. Works great until you need to copy from project to project.

What's the word on revision clouds, should they go in a view or directly on the sheet?

[aimo]

Groups can do the job?
Made a group from text on a sheet, and saved the group to a file
(File->Save to Library->Save Group…)

In another project I used File->Load from Library->Load File as Group

After that I dragged the Detail group from the Project Browser into a sheet.
After that you can Copy it to the other sheets in the project.

A good thing with Group it that it’s easy to edit it, and Duplicate it if you need a new one that is somewhat like one you got.

[aaronrumple]

Scott

Whats your reasoning for this?
Is there any issues or problems from placing information directly on a sheet?
Would you also recommend this for Revision Clouds?

If the information is in a view (legend or drafting) it can use a Revit view title. It is then also eligible for transfer from project to project (drafting view). If it is on the sheet - you must transfer the sheet, which might not work if there are any 3D views on the sheet.

Revision clouds should also be in the view they are related to. Having them on the sheet makes it more difficult to know something has a revision while working in the view. Graphics can get messy.

[Jshaver]

I agree that text should not reside on the sheet but rather in their seperate views. Using this method however is a pita. You can not copy legend views from one sheet to another. I miss the glory days when you could produce an accurately aligned set of sheets rather than this nudging around of views. It looks really sloppy when you are fanning through a printed set and the schedules shift all around the page. Typically we use detail lines to align the views/elements on a sheet or nest reference points in the titleblock itself but this is extremely inefficient.

[jmctamney]

Thanks all for the insight and advice. I was talking (mostly) about the general notes sheets. So far I have put them directly on the sheet without the seemingly unnecessary step of putting them in a view which creates more seemingly unnecessary steps of activating and deactivating the view each time it needs a tweak. Works great until you need to copy from project to project.


Have you looked into the "Insert from file/2D elements" option?

[bwooten]

I second the use of groups and text notes. Seems to be the best workflow for me, in conjunction with past aligned.

For revisoins, I beleive all of these notes and clouds should be dumb only text and go on the sheet, not the view. Revision note tables are on the sheet, (usually edited at the same time as the revision cloud and triangles.) when it is time to start rolling the old revisions off, they are easier to find and delete.

[m20roxxers]

If the information is in a view (legend or drafting) it can use a Revit view title. It is then also eligible for transfer from project to project (drafting view). If it is on the sheet - you must transfer the sheet, which might not work if there are any 3D views on the sheet.

Revision clouds should also be in the view they are related to. Having them on the sheet makes it more difficult to know something has a revision while working in the view. Graphics can get messy.

But If I want my notes to be the same set of notes but with different information (ie concrete grades, reinforcement types) If I put these in a Legend I need to make multiple legends, I prefer to use symbols with shared instance parameters or dumb generic annotation labels on sheets to solve these issues.

Also with Revision Clouds I find it faster and quicker to change and add when I am working on a sheet rather then activation a sheet adding the cloud, deactivating the sheet then moving on the next view in the sheet.

I was more thinking if there is a more important reason rather then just personal choice.

[aaronrumple]

But If I want my notes to be the same set of notes but with different information (ie concrete grades, reinforcement types) If I put these in a Legend I need to make multiple legends, I prefer to use symbols with shared instance parameters or dumb generic annotation labels on sheets to solve these issues.

Also with Revision Clouds I find it faster and quicker to change and add when I am working on a sheet rather then activation a sheet adding the cloud, deactivating the sheet then moving on the next view in the sheet.

I was more thinking if there is a more important reason rather then just personal choice.

If you are already using symbols (for a keynote I assume) - then you should be createing a note block. The note block can then generate your notes. The note block is a form of schedule and can be copy/pasted from view to view. As a step up from that - use the Revit keynote system.
(...and there is nothing wrong with several legends. These are still easily loaded into new projects en mass without opening the project.)

The problem with revision clouds in sheets is when someone removes a view from a sheet without looking at the sheet. Or if a revision is turned off and someone moves views around on the sheet.

[m20roxxers]

Aaron

I do use Legends, but what if I have a concrete text/symbol Legend where the only thing that changes for this one plan is the concrete grade, then on another the typical reinforcement, I would have alot of Legend views for something as simple as a text change here and there. While note blocks work they do not help me with the symbols and Legends I need. As they are more then a couple of notes and pretty typical notes it's just the different notes apply to the different plans.

Also the adding and taking away of additional notes I do with visibility/label options so my legend General Arrangement symbol is quite complex. with notes being able to be shifted and renumber based on the changes I make.

Hence this changes pretty much on every floor for the General Arrangement.
I see your Argument, but I cannot see the benefit in creating alot of legend views or drafting views for something like this when it can be placed on the sheet. I was more wondering if Scott had a Revit reason for this rather then a workflow one.

I can see your argument regarding revisions remaining behind with the plan, we've never really used the existing revision clouds option and before 2009 we didn't use the Revision System so I will take that into account, as I guess we haven't encountered it yet.

Thanks

[djn]

We put our revisions clouds for the most part in the sheet. One reason is if you delete a detail off the sheet, you will need to cloud that revision, but how do you cloud it if the detail is no longer there. Also if that detail and clouds associated with that detail disappear, this could wreak havoc on your revision numbers if you are tracking them by sheet.