Best PDF creator for Revit?

[octavio2]

Revisiting a previous questions that I made sometime ago about PDF creation from Revit, in which some correspondents recommended either PDF 995 and others Cute PDF, I wonder which one has been found to work better with the current version of Revit 2012.  Some time has passed, so I wonder if there is a preference now.

Has a better PDF creator been created for Revit since then? 

Also, how come that Revit being a marketing tool most of all, Autodesk has left out a native PDF creator from the program up to this point? Any chances that it might be included in the next version?

Thanks in advance.

[diego.santos]

Recommend two: Primo PDF and PDF Creator. Both free and very fast to generate the files and not usually present errors with dashed lines.

[konetarchitecture]

I've been using "PDF Architect 5" with good results.

[cprice · Accepted solution]

There are plenty of PDF Printer options available, and just about all of them you can tweak the settings to achieve the same results.  There really is very little difference between most of them, other than the default settings which can of course be changed...

Our Revit Addin, Xrev Transmit includes a commercial license of BioPDF, and it also supports:

• PDFCreator (approx. $13 USD per user for commercial use if you don't want ads, if you can put up with the ads its free)
• **Adobe Acrobat (approx. $156 USD per year)
• **Bluebeam Revu CAD (approx. $379 USD per seat)
• *Xrev Transmit with BioPDF (approx. $39 USD for the first year, $28 USD each following year)

*Includes a PDF Printer, but as a Revit plugin, and Transmittal tool, it does a lot more than just PDF's.

**These are PDF Viewers, Editors, Markup tools, that include a Printer hence they are more expensive.

The advantage of using Xrev Transmit with any of these PDF Printers is you don't get any file name pop-up messages after each page, and the naming is fully configurable using any of your Revit parameters.

[datingD228G]

Kudo is not offering thumbs down? Worthless American company: only poisitive feedback counts, otherwise they cry all week and bonusses are lost?

Oh, wait Kudos offers it at other fora, Autodesk support members and staff are crying when negative feedback is posted.

What is solved? Still no printer installed with Revit that supports extra page setups (custom).

[bhenze]

Have to agree that for the price paid for software that creates drawings Revit default printers are pathetic.  IMHO, Autodesk does not make money from printing paper so is purposely being non accommodating and pushing everyone to cloud services that can generate income.  Sadly, as so often before they ignore practical, daily workflow and don't accommodate until enough user complain enough.

Full size hardcopy will be a necessary for good quality control and back checking of drawings until such a time monitors\screens are full sheet size. Consider this a complaint and a request to add functionality that accommodates typical production methods for engineered designs.

[ToanDN]

Revit does print to full-sized hardcopy, does it not?

[datingD228G]

Oh, yes 36" is the only page format everyone uses. Lets don't use any different page format.

[ToanDN]

I can plot 22 x 34 and 30 x 42.  Sorry you cannot.

[datingD228G]

Looks like 36", where are the A3, A2, A1, A0-formats, etcetera? The 22x34" is rotated to 36". The 42"-format is almost never used: no desk is that large, let's build a wall for it.

[datingD228G]

Server too slow, double post.

[ToanDN]

[m.kleinmann]

We use Bluebeam and it works really well.

[JM_K]

As an update of sorts, the Revit Roadmap shows that integrating PDF printing into Revit is now "accepted" so it will be incorporated into the software at some point in the future: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-roadmaps/revit-roadmap-update-april-2017/ba-p/7013972

[sarsenault2CCSS]

@JM_KAutodesk has changed the PDF creator to "Under Review" since 2016.... They did not really do anything for architects with the release of 2018.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/2d-pdf-printing-support/idi-p/6325091

60% of the top 10 most voted idea have been acknowledged and ignored since 2016. Autodesk does not actually listen to customers, but they want to give the impression that they do to soothe us.

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For reference, the following PDF printers that are being recommended in this forum have malware:

• CutePDF
• PDF Architect
• PDF Creator

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It's pretty pathetic that we still cannot print consistently with Adobe or that Autodesk does not yet have a built in PDF printer like AutoCAD. I hope Autodesk listens to its disgruntled customers and gives us a solution instead of ignoring the problem for another 8-10 years.

The current solution to point users to malware infected software is less than satisfactory and now autodesk is pointing us towards malware infected "solutions"

[bimscape]

I've been using DoPDF for a few years now. It's always given me good results.

It was free but (as I seem to recall) you have to be VERY careful with the Downloader/Installer to ensure that it doesn't install "extras" at the same time.

[sarsenault2CCSS]

Great, another option with malware. Maybe if Autodesk would properly support Adobe or have its own PDF printing, we would not need to install all this malware infested software on our computers?

[Alfredo_Medina]

I don´t see the point of criticizing Autodesk for not providing a driver that is the property of another company. Nobody forces you to download free drivers with malware. You can buy your own software.

If you have Adobe products installed in your computer, they come with an Adobe PDF driver. 

If you don´t have the Adobe driver, I can recommend Foxit Phantom; that´s the one I use in my computer an it works well. Not free, and no malware.

For a more advanced usage, I recommend Bluebeam. Good and more expensive.

[sarsenault2CCSS]

You've always defended Autodesk, even when they were wrong, so I'm not surprised here.

I'm criticizing Autodesk because they are not making it easy for users to prints PDFs, one of the core reason why we use the software in the industry.

Also, the PDF writer you are using does have malware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxit_Reader

http://forums.foxitsoftware.com/forum/portable-document-format-pdf-tools/foxit-reader/18349-does-fox...

With version 6.1.4, the Foxit installer was bundled with potentially unwanted programs like OpenCandy which installed the browser-hijacking malware Conduit.[12][13] Following complaints from users, it was removed after version 6.2.1.[14]

In July 2014, the Internet Storm Center reported that the mobile version for iPhone was transmitting unencrypted telemetry and other data to remote servers located in China despite users attempting to opt out of such data collection.[15]

[Alfredo_Medina]

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@sarsenault2CCSS wrote:

You've always defended Autodesk, even when they were wrong, so I'm not surprised here.

I'm criticizing Autodesk because they are not making it easy for users to prints PDFs, one of the core reason why we use the software in the industry.

Also, the PDF writer you are using does have malware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxit_Reader

http://forums.foxitsoftware.com/forum/portable-document-format-pdf-tools/foxit-reader/18349-does-fox...

With version 6.1.4, the Foxit installer was bundled with potentially unwanted programs like OpenCandy which installed the browser-hijacking malware Conduit.[12][13] Following complaints from users, it was removed after version 6.2.1.[14]

In July 2014, the Internet Storm Center reported that the mobile version for iPhone was transmitting unencrypted telemetry and other data to remote servers located in China despite users attempting to opt out of such data collection.[15]

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You´re wrong saying that I´ve always defended Autodesk even when they are wrong. Many times here I have criticized Autodesk when I see something that is not right. I have no reason to be not objective. I don't work for Autodesk.

About you critizicing Autodesk for not providing a way to print to PDF, I still don´t see that as a reason for complaining 

You´re wrong again saying that the product that I use, Foxit Phantom, contains malware just because you found that paragraph in Wikipedia about a version of "Foxit reader" contained a potentially harmful element that was removed in version 6. 2.1, years ago. I use Foxit Phantom PDF, version Version:  Version:  9.0.1.1049 which of course is different

[datingD228G]

Actually Revit is criple ware:

- no (PDF-)printing to the right size

- no import function for documentation (like Microstation can import Pdf-files)

- still external tools for calculation like Intelec, Vabi (electrotechnical currents and mechanical flows)

- no option to fill in how much hours you worked on a project (as engineer, operator, builder, etcetra).

Only Revit needed for all:BIM, right: no other programs needed.