Import Excel Into Revit

[Irich]

I am reasonably certain that you cannot directly import an Excel Spreadsheet into a Revit drawing so what could I do as a work around?

We used a spreadsheet similar to the screen shot below to show elevations of embeds. There is not a lot of intelligence built into it (maybe some simple formulas) but I not sure how to create this table or something similar inside of Revit.

 Beyond that, if I can find a way to make the table more intelligent and pull information from the model- floor elevations, form elevations, etc. then I would be golden!

Thanks for the help!

[ToanDN]

You can link the  Excel spreadsheet to an AutoCAD table using AutoCAD's datalink.  Then link the AutoCAD file to Revit.  When you update the Excel file, open AutoCAD and right click on the table to update it.  Save and reload the link in Revit and it will be updated.

It may sound convoluted but it can actually be done fairly quickly.

[Irich]

I know this may not make much sense but....what if I don't have AutoCAD and only have access to Draftsight? I think I can get AutoCAD but I am not 100% sure on that.

[ToanDN · Accepted solution]

If you don't have AutoCAD then you can't use that method.  And I wouldn't buy AutoCAD just to do such task.

Create a key schedule in Revit and enter the information manually.

[Irich]

Fantastic! I will start there. Thank you very much!

[Sahay_R · Accepted solution]

There are plug-ins that will do t his. For instance, we have Imaginit Utilities - 

[Anonymous]

donde encuentro ese Plug in.??

[Sahay_R]

Not sure @Anonymous. Here is the website - 

http://www.imaginit.com/software/imaginit-utilities-other-products/utilities-for-revit

[Irich]

That's great! Thanks for the info.

[madyb]

I have been working this problem myself. We have General Notes and Special Inspections in Excel. The do import fine into AutoCAD, but if you have a very long spreadsheet you have to break it up using viewports.  This is just fine for AutoCAD but inserting into REVIT in comes in as the whole long spreadsheet and I can not get the borders to not plot. 

[ToanDN]

@madyb

You can break the table in AutoCAD using the table break grip, arrange them to fit in the same sheet area as they would in Revit, and link the CAD file in Revit. 

[madyb]

@ToanDN

What about getting rid of the Excel borders? In AutoCAD not a problem but when I import to Revit all borders show. I have NO BORDERS set in the Excel spreadsheet.

[ToanDN]

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@madyb wrote:

What about getting rid of the Excel borders? In AutoCAD not a problem but when I import to Revit all borders show. I have NO BORDERS set in the Excel spreadsheet.

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You can't.

[Sahay_R]

My two cents. When you bring in the linked Excel spreadsheet from AutoCAD per @ToanDN's note, what you get is un-editable and un-formattable in Revit. to edit you will need to go back into Excel and reload all the links. Too fiddly, especially when I am creating content for someone else to use. You can scale it up and down, that's it. Not very helpful when you have company standards that dictate how sheetable items are supposed to look. Learned this the hard way!

[ccg]

I am entering this communication late, and am a new user of this forum, so apologies if this subject is covered elsewhere.

I have been using Revit and AutoCAD for a very long time, and granted, I still haven't really dug deep under the surface of these awesome packages, which have come a long way since when I started (AutoCAD R9!!).

I find it rather disappointing though when Revit, this world-leading BIM package, does not have the capabilities of simply importing a data sheet which has been produced in a fairly well known and relatively widely used spreadsheet program, called Excel?  Surely the developers can find a way to link this directly, instead of work-arounds (link into AutoCAD, link into Revit, update links manually etc etc), or copy & paste data to a graphics program (Paint!) and save it to JGP and then import a dead image, repeat process should the original data get updated.  I prefer the second option here - at least the appearance and format presented resembles the original spreadsheet.

I feel Revit already costs enough without having to support expensive add-on packages for such simple tasks, especially for occasional use.

Most appreciated,

Ray

[Irich]

I entirely agree with you Ray! It is absurd to not include such a highly useful functionality. 

[Basam.Yousif]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I know this may not make much sense but....what if I don't have AutoCAD and only have access to Draftsight? I think I can get AutoCAD but I am not 100% sure on that.

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Hello there!

Yes you can!

Draftsight does have a similar functionality of AutoCAD to link or import an excel file and embed it into a table. Here isthe article:

http://blog.draftsight.com/2017/08/04/linking-draftsight-excel/  

Once you create this, you can link into Revit. Not sure if you can save your files as DWG, but DXF is always an option!

It's also worth noting that neither Draftsight or AutoCAD need any special tools or add-ins to bring in excel data. Standard commands will do just fine.

[Anonymous]

Hello Guys, New to the Group.

Reading through all the posts, I think IMAGINIT (Suggested by SAHAY_R) looks a nice option. I was searching for the same as a method of linking clash reports to the projects progress directory. Linking Excel data to a project is very useful also, can add much value to information capturing if provided. And using AutoCad to convert your excel Data to a dead image doesn't sound very functional and helping. 

[Anonymous]

How do you handle the "Import templates"? I am a bit confused about those. I made a schedule in excel that I need to import.

[apadillami6]

It works ??and for what version 17, 18  ??