exporting to dwg - load layers from standards

[jledgewood409]

I would like to export to dwg using my own layer standards. I see that you can load settings from file. it looks for a .txt file. how do I create a layer standard into a .txt file? is it something I need to do in CAD?

how do I create an "export layer file (*.txt)" based on my office standards layering system

[LisaDrago · Accepted solution]

Hello ledge - the best way would be to go into the Modify DWG/DXF Export Settings dialog box and create a new export settings, and modify the information in there. You can change the layer names and color.

Yes this is a lot to go through but you do it once and it is set.

LD

[miguelangelster]

Dear Lisa,

It's possible to save this configuration of Exports Settings and apply to another model of revit?? 

is a hard work to adapt this settings in each new model (if you have not created a previous template of course)

Thank you very much.

Regards!

[LisaDrago]

You can do a transfer project standards from the Manage Tab>Settings panel>Transfer Project Standards

Make sure you have 2 projects open - (or a project and a template)

Start the Transfer Project Standards, a dialog box will open. You can uncheck everything and then check only the DWG/DXF Export Setup Settings. (see attached image)

This certainly would be good to have set in your company template.

LD

[stuthill1106]

I know this is an old post, but I'm pulling my hair out trying to find a solution. I have created a layer in Revit with a name and color to match our standards. However, I cannot seem to set the line type of the layer. Anyone know how I can do this?

[LisaDrago]

Hi, are you looking in the object styles on the manage tab? Ink there you should be able to specify pen weight, color, and style.
LD

[stuthill1106]

Wouldn't that just change the line type in the Revit drawing? I'm looking to have the grid layer export as a centerline line type and though the line itself is exporting as a centerline, the grid layer is exporting as a continuous line.

[LisaDrago]

I understood... Yes doing what I said would change the Revit Linetype.
To change the export - you would need to go into the settings area , under application menu>export>dwg. That should open a dialog box. At the top you should see a box with 3 dots. Under there you can change the layer in question to how you want it to export. You should be able to change the layer name, color and line type.
Is this not working for you?
There is a specific Linotype tab you can check and force the Revit Linetype to export to a specific AutoCAD linetype.
I would check those and see how it works. Unless I have missed something else.
Let us know how it goes.
LD

[stuthill1106]

Thank you, I was able to change the layer name and color, and on the lines tab, I told it to export grids as a center line, but the result was just changing the line itself and not the grid layer. Without going into a long explanation, It is important for us to have the grid layer itself be a center line. I don't understand why it's not an option in the layers tab.

[David_W_Koch]

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@stuthill1106 wrote:
Thank you, I was able to change the layer name and color, and on the lines tab, I told it to export grids as a center line, but the result was just changing the line itself and not the grid layer. Without going into a long explanation, It is important for us to have the grid layer itself be a center line. I don't understand why it's not an option in the layers tab.

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Neither do I.  If you do not want the exported grid lines to have a linetype other than Continuous, you could change the Export layer options from "Export category properties BYLAYER and override BYENTITY" to "Export all properties BYLAYER, but do not export overrides" or "Export all properties BYLAYER, and create new layers for overrides".  Neither will give you exactly what you want, and either may have effects on other exported objects that are worse than having explicit linetypes on grid lines.

While getting a DWG/DXF Export Setup that matches your firm's AutoCAD standards as closely as possible makes life easier, to get a file that is as usable as a file created in AutoCAD requires post-Revit-export work,  even if you use color-dependent plot styles, which is how Revit does the export (we use named plot styles).  Our engineers and consultants also need to be able to control the way the exported file plots when attached to their files as an external reference via layer settings, so any hard-coded colors (for those using color-dependent plot styles) and lineweights cause problems.  We could probably do a better job of mapping linetypes, but it seems the Revit export does not play nicely when LTSCALE is set to the value for plotting 1:1 and PSLTSCALE and MSLTSCALE are set to 1, which is how we work in AutoCAD.

We have created AutoCAD customizations to help automate the process of turning Revit exports into more-usable AutoCAD files, based on the premise that the Layer Name is done correctly, and everything else may need to be changed to our standards.  Reworking the layers to get the right linetypes assigned is fairly easy; rooting out hard-coded colors and lineweights hiding in nested objects in block definitions not so much.

[shawnphillips]

Autodesk needs to re-establish the ability to save the settings out to a text file. Tranferring project standards only works if ALL the model elements with ALL the layers and ALL the patterns and ALL the linetypes are in the source model. I have been begging for this change for years and really don't feel like anyone over there is listening or cares. I know I'm not the only one who runs into this issue. If they're not going to improve the tool then they need to re-establish the ability to save out.