Viewports faded when printing

[Anonymous]

Hi

When I put more than 1 viewport on a sheet the first one gets faded and the last one is correct. If I add 4 viewports to one sheet the first one is most faded and the last one is correct while the second and third ones become more faded. Please see attachments. 

Can anyone help me fix why it is print previewing correctly but not actually printing to PDF correctly?

I am using Revit 2015

Thank you

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Anonymous

I see that you are visiting as a new member. Welcome to the Autodesk Community! 

Which PDF creator are you for your prints? (Adobe PDF, Blue-beam etc?

Please try the following options:

• Try setting to "Main Model" in design options when printing
• Are your active views are deactivated when printing the sheet?
• Check if  your print settings have"black lines" instead of grayscale. 
• If you have used surface patterns, In the Print Setup dialog, under Hidden Line Views, select Vector Processing.

Let us know if you were able to resolve your issue.

Please mark this response as "Accept as Solution" if it answers your question to benefit other users seeking similar soltuions. Kudos gladly accepted.

[Anonymous]

Hi Viveka

Thank you for your help, i checked these settings and i have done those things besides 1, "Check if  your print settings have"black lines" instead of grayscale." - Is this for print setup under appearance? if i did this it just went black and white but 1 image is still faded. 

I am printing to Adobe PDF.

Sorry forgot to mention these are not rendered images, when I put 2 renderings on 1 sheet it prints correctly, these are realistic views so I can keep the keynotes...

Anything else you or anyone else can suggest that I try?

Much appreciated!

Sarah

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Anonymous

Try converting the revit model into a dwf format and then print.

Check HERE on more information on how to export to dwf and best practices for printing.

• What are your graphic settings (resolution)?
• Can you try printing to raster instead? 
• Replace the halftones with thin lines.
• Revit 2015 software updates and fixes may need to be installed. Click HERE for information.
• Look at the Adobe website to update the drivers for the application.

Look at a similar discussion HERE.

Blue-beam add-in, cute pdf and bullzip are other PDF platforms you can try.

Let me know if any of the above works or send me a screenshot of your print settings and the model if possible.

Please mark this response as "Accept as Solution" if it answers your question to benefit other users looking for similar solutions. Kudos gladly accepted.

[Anonymous]

Hi Viveka

Thank you again for your help.

I have tried printing it to CutePDF, changed it to raster, changed to thin lines and nothing has changed.

I will update Revit at the end of the day and see if that changes anything.

I think it may be a Revit setting and not a print setting because if I put just 1 view on the sheet it prints fine but the more views I add the previous view gets lighter and lighter. Attached you will see a sheet with 4 views and they all have different amounts of fading. 

PS not sure how to check my graphic settings....

Side note - is there a way to render a view and keep keynotes in the view? If so I can just do that instead.

Thank you

Sarah

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Anonymous

I recommend you check the following settings for graphics issues.

• Right click your viewports, select properties and check if your display mode is set to normal.
• Check if your hardware acceleration is enabled. See screen-cast HERE to locate your hardware acceleration in your graphics tab.
• Additional information HERE
• You can check the Visibility graphics of your viewport (right click hit VV or VG) and check your object styles for discrepancy in line styles.
• Do you have view templates setup? If so apply the same settings for the viewport that prints well to the other viewports.
• Do you have halftones in your drawing? If so, I suggest that you look HERE for more information.
• Yes you can add keynotes to a view to provide details.click on the link for information.

Let me know if any of the above options fixes your issue, If possible attach the file to test.

Please mark this response as "Accept as Solution" if it answers your question. Kudos gladly accepted.

[Anonymous]

Hi Viveka

I have tried everything and still no change...

• Right click your viewports, select properties and check if your display mode is set to normal. - In Revit 2015 there is no display mode, do you mean graphic display options?
• Check if your hardware acceleration is enabled. See screen-cast HERE to locate your hardware acceleration in your graphics tab.
• Additional information HERE - Hardware acceleration is enabled 
• You can check the Visibility graphics of your viewport (right click hit VV or VG) and check your object styles for discrepancy in line styles. - there are no discrepancies 
• Do you have view templates setup? If so apply the same settings for the viewport that prints well to the other viewports. - I do not have a template - all my other views print well because i am not trying to print a view in realistic views. It is only when I put multiple views that have realistic style does this happen. 
• Do you have halftones in your drawing? If so, I suggest that you look HERE for more information. - no I do not
• Yes you can add keynotes to a view to provide details.click on the link for information. - i know how to add keynotes, I was asking if there was a way to add keynotes to a rendered view? 

Thank you for all your patience, i know this must be frustrating for you as it is for me. I feel like there is a button somewhere that says lighten views as more are added but cant seem to find it 😞

Any way i can send you the file privately?

Thank you

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Anonymous

Sorry to hear that you are still facing issues with the printing.

OK let's see:

1) We do have a display mode in Revit 2015, see image below

2) Good to hear that hardware acceleration and other VG settings are in place.

3)For information on adding keynotes to 3D views please see HERE

4) Do you have phases in your model? If so, what are the phase filters applied to that particular view? You can find phase filters if you scroll down in your properties.

5) Since the realistic views are the ones failing to print, can you try to print them separately as a raster and let me know how they print.

6) What graphics card do you have?

7) Try changing the settings in you graphics display options as shown in the image below:

Let me know if any of the above works,or else we will be happy to test your file and I have sent instructions on how to attach your file.

 We are happy to help and deal with similar issues on a daily basis, so please shoot your questions!

[Anonymous]

HI Viveka

I have sent you a separate email with the file attached, please let me know if you do / do not receive it.

My display model is set to normal, this option only comes up on plan views and elevations, not renderings or sheet views.

When I printed 1 view it printed the same as the most bold view on the sheet with 4 views, whether raster or vector, it printed the same way.

This is the video card I have nvidia quadro k600, which would you recommend? 

Much appreciated

Sarah

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Anonymous

Thanks for sending over the file. We will test your model and troubleshoot for errors.

For a Windows 8.1 64-bit Operating System, Nvidia Quadro K600 is fine. However if you have a Windows 10 operating system, the configuration requirement varies for the video card.

• Check HERE for more information on Nvidia Quadro K600 for Revit 2015
• Check HERE for system requirements and graphics hardware.
• It is good to look at the minimum entry level configuration for Revit 2015.Click HERE for more information.

I recommend that you have latest update for the Revit 2015 product line.See HERE for information.

Please check the Autodesk Revit 2015 Update Release 7

Please confirm that you have the recent fixes and updates as we want to rule out all the errors which Revit 2015 may encounter if these fixes are not up to date.

[Viveka_CD · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous

I tested your file and the PDF prints fine.

You have to modify settings in your graphic options for best results, especially lighting (change from multi-day to in session)- see screen-cast link HERE for more information.

Another option is to export to dwf and print from there, this works even without modifying graphic settings.See screen-cast HERE

Let me know if are able to resolve your issue. 

Please mark this response as "Accept as Solution" if it answers your question. 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi Viveka

Thank you for testing my file. 

Finally i got it to print correctly but i had to change another setting. It did not print correctly the way you were able to, and i did notice the colored elevations that you printed you printed in grey-scale and not color.

I will back track a little in case someone else has this problem too...

Exporting to dwf did not print correctly either...

The RAM on my computer was upgraded and now just waiting for my graphics card to be upgraded, even though that doesn't seem like the reason it is not printing correctly.

I was unable to update Revit with Release 7 as that is out of date so I did Release 14. 

Graphic display options:

Model display - Style: Realistic, show edges is checked and nothing else. 

the lighting to in session lighting, sun - 30, ambient light 40, and shadows 

Photographic exposure - I unchecked this! - This is what made it print correctly!!!!

Background - Gradient

The only problem i have now, is that when i un-check the photographic exposure, my walls are pretty dark, any tips on making them lighter?

Much appreciated!

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Anonymous

I am glad to hear that you got your file to print correctly after a lot of effort. KUDOS!

The settings in the printer settings can be changed to raster processing (set to presentation quality) and color option can be chosen instead of gray-scale for color prints.

I also wanted to share more information with regard to settings. Hope you find them useful for your projects.

• See HERE for information on raster and vector printing.
• To avoid the need to provide individual file names for PDFs, you can change your system’s default PDF settings. Please see HERE for a procedure describes how to change this setting for Adobe® PDF. The steps may vary for other PDF drivers.

Virtual memory

Upgrading your virtual memory will definitely pay off in the long run and improve the speed and performance of your computer. However, running out of memory using an application like Revit will result in performance degradation, and the best bet for optimum performance for complex models is to add additional physical RAM to the system. You can consider SSD or HDD depending on your budget and requirements.

Graphics card

Which graphic card are you upgrading to? Graphics cards should support DirectX 11 and Shader Model 3 and see information on the recommended hardware page. Any graphics card that does not meet these requirements will not properly display Revit graphics. In order to display materials using the Realistic visual style, the Use Hardware Acceleration option is turned on by default. If Hardware Acceleration is turned off, the Realistic visual style will look the same as the Shaded visual style. Click OptionsGraphics tabUse Hardware Acceleration (Direct3D®) to access the hardware acceleration setting. Again this setting depends on you graphics card, if the computer's video card and driver have not been tested with Revit, or if they do not meet minimum requirements, a warning displays that describes the issue. I recommend you update the drivers for your graphic card and run any recent hot fixes directly from the manufacturer's website. Nvidia driver update information HERE

Update for Revit 2015

Please confirm if you have R2 Release 14 which s the latest update available for Revit 2015, based on your subscription type.For specific questions on upgrading software, subscription and installation questions you have, please post to the I&L forum. 

Graphic display options:

• For the lighting setting, I recommend that you decrease the shadow setting.Try a value of 10 or less.
• Photographic exposure can remain checked, you can try to modify the color correction settings for a lighter tone.See image below. These settings are available only in views that use the Realistic visual style.
• In the color correction settings,modify the shadows settings to reflect Light levels for the darkest areas of the image. Enter a value between 0 (lighter shadows) and 1 (darker shadows). The default is 0.2

Do you get an error message while exporting to dwf? Can you share a screenshot of the same? More information on exporting to Dwf format HERE

Please mark this response as "Accept as Solution" if it answers your question to help other members seeking similar solutions. Kudos gladly accepted. Happy to help if you have additional questions!

Best Regards,

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Anonymous

I just wanted to follow up here, any progress on this issue?

I tested your model in another machine with minimum configurations and the error is close to what you have been experiencing - Elevation Views slow when zooming or panning, especially the realistic view elevation sheets. Wall lines appear faded.

Probable Causes:

• Graphic Cards not up to date or certified (This is ruled out, since we checked your graphics card)
• Check the number of reflective objects in the view
• Check Lights whether grouped

• Machine doesn't meet the minimum requirements (N/A since we checked and you have minimum requirements)
• Project Browser or Properties Pallete undocked from the main Revit Window
• Project is to big to be handled by the memory (159 MB in your case so we will filter out this recommendation too)

• Multiple Monitors (can you try the printing process in juts one machine and disable the other monitors)
• Large Monitor set to a high resolution (As we discussed can you try reducing the resolution) 
• Set the resolution of the monitor to 100%DPI

• Software updates not installed (As suggested-  re-installation/repair of the software and running the update from Autodesk desktop app after sign in)
• Views could be corrupted. Try duplicating the views and placing on new sheet.
• View depth is set to be very deep with could cause many unnecessary elements to be processed.
• Linked views to be set to "by host view".

• If 3D model text is being used for notes and messages in the model, delete and use regular 2D text.
• I noticed some signage and logo on your elevation. Please check the Model text if it is being used incorrectly for notes (not for signage).
• You can also try to change the view depth and the visibility of the linked files to be "by linked view".
• Try our downloading the software from Autodesk virtual agent - download links

Let me know if any of the above recommendations resolves your issue. Looking forward to your reply update.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

Best Regards,