PDFing using Bluebeam exported add-in

[wienholdb]

When using the bluebeam exporter I am having an issue getting ceilings to plot with the correct settings. Specificaly when printing an HVAC ceiling plan the ceiling grid is showing in full black instead of a lighter gray tone that is shown when using the revit exporter. There are a number of reasons we are trying to use the bluebeam exporter and need to solve this issue. the issue may seem small but when looking at larger sheets it really seems to make a difference. Thanks for any help!

Bluebeam

revit PDF

[wienholdb]

if not would you be able to export your settings?

[curtisridenour]

No, i can print gray ceilings regardless of phase. Did you try setting the printer to color?

[curtisridenour]

The Autodesk forum will not let me share a .BVL file extension.

[curtisridenour]

there is also a check box to replace halftone with Thin Lines. is that setting checked?

[wienholdb]

they are both checked. Thats intresting

[iainsavage]

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@wienholdb wrote:

I need to find a setting or publisher that allows vector processing but will switch to raster processing to plot existing PDF's that exist in the file without blowing up the file size. Using the revit default PDF has resulted in PDF's that are upwards of 212Mb 

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For an alternative publisher I used DiRoots Prosheets for some years without any problems.

As for file sizes, are you comparing the same resolution settings (DPI and whether Draft, High Quality, Presentation mode etc)?

As far as I understand it a raster print is basically a bitmap which contains data for each individual dot whereas a vector print uses formulas to define lines, arcs etc so needs much fewer data points.

The Adobe website says:

[ToanDN]

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@wienholdb wrote:

Great points. It appears to switch back and forth between raster and vector as neccessary and I don't believe this is causing the apperance issue. I have found inside of bluebeam that it is not capable to plotting phases inside of a model. The ceiling in this case is in the same phase as ductwork which is displayed as new work. If this is completly true and there is no work around. I need to find a setting or publisher that allows vector processing but will switch to raster processing to plot existing PDF's that exist in the file without blowing up the file size. Using the revit default PDF has resulted in PDF's that are upwards of 212Mb and doesn't plot the PDF's correctly. Printing with the bluebeam add in has brought this same 66 page file down to 12 Mb. Has anyone had sucess with a specific add-in related to using raster images?

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You can set PDF Export to vector even if you have PDF image, transparencies etc... It still only exports those raster elements to raster and the rest are still vector even they are on the same sheet.

[wienholdb]

That is what I thought was supposed to happen. However this is not true for our drawings. When we PDF using vector it leaves the sheets with PDF's blank. Perhaps this is where the true problem exists. We create these pdf's from old raster images using Bluebeam. Could this be the root of the issue? If so does anyone have a work around

[iainsavage]

Reading that last post and re-reading one of your earlier posts what you seem to be saying is that you have imported PDF backgrounds in your views and that is what is causing the vector to raster switching?

An imported PDF might have been created by printing from CAD or similar in which case it might contain vector data, however if it has been created by scanning it will be raster (unless special conversion software was used during scanning).

Either way I don't know how Revit handles imported PDFs, whether it sees vector data contained in them or it just sees them as images in which case they would be processed as raster files.

Again, regarding raster file sizes and comparisons between different printers/exporters you need to be sure that you are comparing like-for-like regarding resolution and/or print quality settings.

[ToanDN · Accepted solution]

Revit always treats imported PDF as raster.