Unattended Printing and License Agreement

[evgeny.kurbatov]

We have an idea to generate PDF weekly in unattended mode.

Let's say we have a dedicated computer where Revit is running. It has a valid Network license. On a specific event Revit opens a required project and automatically creates PDF.  Then it waits for another event.

Does it violate EULA?

Thank you.

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @evgeny.kurbatov

What pdf printer/ program are you suggesting for the automated PDF printing?

Regards,

[evgeny.kurbatov]

I prefer PDFCreator. 

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @evgeny.kurbatov

We do have a bunch of third-party plugins for automating PDF printing.

To better understand your issue, are you trying to run a scheduled task on a recurring schedule to either

A) Open Revit and print to pdf or

B) convert files in a folder to PDF. 

Also, do you mean that Revit doesn't prompt for filename with each file, or where you could tell Revit to print and it would print a pre-defined job?

Looking forward to your reply update.

[evgeny.kurbatov]

Hi Viveka,

Here is my vision for the scheduled PDF creation from Revit models.

1. There is a client's module on user's machines. With the module:
   1. A user can define print settings: a list of drawings and printer settings (i.e. paper size, color/black, etc.).
   2. The print settings are stored in the shared DB.
2. There is a server module running on a dedicated machine. Each Friday night it starts its job:
1. Read a line from the shared DB and understand the job print settings.
2. Start Revit.
3. Open Revit project.
4. Generate a separate PDF file for each view.
5. Give proper name for the PDF files.
6. Place the PDF files to a subfolder of the Revit project, or elsewhere.
7. Close the project.
8. Close Revit
9. Process another print job.

I am wondering if similar functionality already exists in Forge?

Thank you.

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @evgeny.kurbatov

Great vision. Thanks for sharing! You can also post the Revit ideas forum

Did you mean PDF forge?

• We also have an option of creating a watch folder  in Bluebeam which basically configures watched folders to automate source-file-to-PDF conversion and manipulation
• Another option to check out would be creating Unattended scheduled tasks and batch processing in Autodesk Revit through a plugin called RTV tools

If you find posts have solved your problem, please click on 'Accept as solution' to help others with similar questions.

Thank you,

[evgeny.kurbatov]

Hi @Viveka_CD,

Thank you for sharing some PDF tools.

Yes, I meant of using PDFCreator, a part of PDF forge, but not the Server piece. The Bluebeam application watches for the folder, I don't think it is a suitable solution. For now any PDF output is not a priority for us. First we want to make Revit working; running an automatic script. It seems the RTV Tools provide the exact functionality we need. Thank you for the link!

Now let's get back to the issue subject. The question was: does Revit running on unattended computer violates the License Agreement? Viveka, do you have an answer?

Thank you.

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @evgeny.kurbatov

Glad you found the links helpful!

The installation forum specialists may have more feedback on the license agreement etc.

If you find posts have solved your problem, please click on 'Accept as solution' to help others with similar questions.

Thank you,

[rosskirby · Accepted solution]

I don't belive it violates the EULA, you just need to make sure you have a license for it.  Whether someone is sitting at the computer or not, it will need a valid license.  You don't get a "free" seat even if you're just using it for printing, if I understand what you're asking.

[evgeny.kurbatov]

Thank you, @rosskirby. It exactly answers my question.