Help! My .dwg Is Too Large For Email

I was on tech support when a client called in with a question about making a .dwg file smaller. The client had used Revit to export a floor plan to a .dwg to hand off to a consultant, but once exported, the file size was too big to send via email.

In response, I shared some things to consider when exporting a Revit view to a CAD file:

• Although exporting a view creates a .dwg, it doesn't create an optimized .dwg. Here are a couple of ways to try to optimize it:

1. After exporting the view to a CAD file, open the .dwg in AutoCAD, use the PURGE or the -PURGE commands to purge the model and clean up the file. 
2. Save the file.
3. Check the file size. Is it smaller? If not, go to the next bullet point.

• After the .dwg has been exported, open the file.

1. Use the WBLOCK command to create a new .dwg using the Entire drawing option. See the image below.
2. Specify a location and name for the new .dwg.
3. Specify the Insert units for the .dwg.
4. Press [OK]. This will create a new “native” .dwg from the exported Revit view .dwg. This .dwg should be optimized and be the absolutely smallest the CAD file can get without deleting geometry.
5. Check the file size. The file should be smaller and optimized for working with AutoCAD consultants.

Use this process to optimize and reduce the size of your exported .dwg files prior to sending to consultants. 

Until next time, 
Ron

For more information on the software solutions, training and consulting Ideate provides, please visit the Ideate Inc. website.

---

Ron Palma
AEC Application Specialist
Ron has 25+ years of experience in the architectural industry as a drafter, designer, lead project designer, trainer, and a CAD manager implementing Autodesk Architectural Solutions for residential design firms. His instructional accomplishments include: Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI), trainer, support technician, educator at Portland and Clackamas Community Colleges, as well as a U.S. Army certified instructor. Ron holds a BA in Instructional Design suma cum laude, is a member of the Oregon Army National Guard, where he is a First Sergeant of an Infantry Company, specializing in training and mentoring soldiers in their careers, and has been deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Resolute Support. Ron is a published author and continues to write professional technical training manuals and shorts for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, and Revit. As an Autodesk Certified Instructor and Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Professional, Ron continues to provide Revit Architecture and AutoCAD training and support for various AEC firms. @RonPalmaAEC

Performance Degradation

Recently, while doing some research for a technical support case at Ideate, I came across this article on the Autodesk Knowledge Network (AKN), “Civil 3D Performance Degradation.” Posted back in October, this article provides a fix for performance-based issues occurring across multiple users in an organization.

Per the article, some of the issues addressed are long wait times when opening files, long lags during the PURGE and AUDIT commands, and additional lags with dialog boxes appearing and plotting. The issue affects both AutoCAD and AutoCAD Civil 3D, from the 2014-2017 releases. If you’re encountering any of these issues, I strongly encourage you to check the article out.

The solution is straight forward and involves replacing the existing AECCNETWORK.dbx file with the new one provided by Autodesk.

Here are some additional things to note:

1. You will need Administrative rights for the system to complete the process.
2. Applications must be closed before applying the update.
3. The update needs to be implemented on each user’s machine, at once.
4. The performance problem will recur if an unpatched version of Civil 3D is used to open a file.
5. The performance problem is fixed at the time a drawing file is saved in the updated version of Civil 3D, not when the .dbx file is replaced.
6. The first time a user opens a file, the update will not be evident.
7. Performance will greatly improve after the first save.
8. External references need to be resaved to see the benefit of the update.

Items 3-5 are very important to remember. If the fix is not applied to each user’s machine and an unpatched version of Civil 3D opens the file, the performance problem will recur. With that in mind, I want to reiterate, the fix should be applied to each machine at once, rather than as needed. All files, including XREFs, will also need to be opened and saved before there is a noticeable change in performance.

If you have been running into company-wide performance issues, this very well could be the solution you need.

Thank you for reading. For more information on the software solutions, training, and consulting Ideate provides, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.

---

Matt Miyamoto

ENI Manager & Senior Application Specialist

Matt is an ENI Manager and Senior Application Specialist in Ideate, Inc.’s Seattle office. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and is a licensed Civil Engineer. Prior to joining Ideate, Matt worked as a civil engineer, using Civil 3D on a variety of projects including site development, roadway improvements and infrastructure design. With over 10 years of experience in the civil engineering industry, Matt now provides training, consulting, technical support, and implementation strategies for organizations transitioning to Civil 3D. Matt is an Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI), as well as an Autodesk Certified BIM Specialist: Roads and Highway Solutions. Additionally, Matt is and Autodesk Certified Professional for AutoCAD, and AutoCAD Civil 3D. He can be found on twitter as @MattM_PE

AutoCAD Advanced Online Training from Ideate, Inc.

Are you a CAD drafter or designer going beyond the fundamental commands in AutoCAD? Are you a CAD manager or power user in charge of creating custom styles and blocks or sheet sets to improve your organizations production efficiency? If so, our new AutoCAD Advanced online course is right for you.

Here at Ideate, we’ve been working hard to develop new training offerings that make it easier and more convenient for our customers to get the training they need. Our first new class to be released for AutoCAD users will be the AutoCAD Advanced online course.

The AutoCAD Advanced online course will be presented in two (4-hour) virtual sessions focusing on advanced CAD user and CAD manager commands and functionality. Although this class will be presented online, it will still be a live, instructor-led course with handouts and exercises. Sessions will be scheduled on back to back days so attendees can participate in training without having to travel or be out of the office for multiple days in a row.

Day 1 of the AutoCAD Advanced online course will cover styles, text, tables, layer tools, eTransmit and hyperlinks. Day 2 will cover dynamic blocks, sheet sets, output and publishing. For a more detailed outline and to register for AutoCAD Advanced online training, visit the Ideate website.

Our first course is coming up soon on November 3rd and 4th. If you have any questions or need more information on Ideate’s training options, feel free to contact education@ideateinc.com

Hope to see you in November!

---

Matt Miyamoto

ENI Manager & Senior Application Specialist

Matt is an ENI Manager and Senior Application Specialist in Ideate, Inc.’s Seattle office. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and is a licensed Civil Engineer. Prior to joining Ideate, Matt worked as a civil engineer, using Civil 3D on a variety of projects including site development, roadway improvements and infrastructure design. With over 10 years of experience in the civil engineering industry, Matt now provides training, consulting, technical support, and implementation strategies for organizations transitioning to Civil 3D. Matt is an Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI), as well as an Autodesk Certified BIM Specialist: Roads and Highway Solutions. Additionally, Matt is and Autodesk Certified Professional for AutoCAD, and AutoCAD Civil 3D. You can also find Matt on Twitter.

AutoCAD 2017: How PDF Creation Impacts Importing

The ability to import PDF data into your AutoCAD drawings is a time saving new feature in AutoCAD 2017, which I have explored in two previous posts, AutoCAD 2017: PDF Data Import by Choosing a File (Part 1) and AutoCAD 2017: PDF Data Import by Choosing an Underlay (Part 2). While testing this new feature, I have come across potential confusion around PDF files and how they relate to the import function.

In order to properly import a PDF it is important to understand how the PDF was originally created. PDFs are created in a variety of different software, from specific PDF editing software, like Bluebeam Revu or Adobe Acrobat, to design software such as AutoCAD, Microstation, or a myriad others.

If the PDF was created from a design software such as AutoCAD or Microstation, it was created with vector geometry. When importing PDF data into a drawing from a PDF created with vector data, AutoCAD uses inference to draw the data. Inference is the process of estimating the location of objects to reconstruct them with appropriate associations, object types, and locations.

However, if the PDF was created in a PDF editing software, it may simply not be importable, or, it's possible it will import, but not with all of the data. It depends on the editing software, and the PDF. As an example, if you have added markups to a PDF in Bluebeam Revu, the markups will not be imported when you use the PDF import function, unless the PDF has been flattened. So, be sure to flatten the PDF in your PDF editor, first.

Lastly, if the PDF was created from a scanned image, it will be imported as an image, and you will not obtain any linework from it.

To summarize, knowing how your PDF was created will help you take the right steps to import into AutoCAD successfully.

Thank you for reading. For more information on the software solutions, training and consulting Ideate provides, please visit the Ideate Inc. website.

---

Kate Ming
AEC Application Specialist 
Kate is a California licensed civil engineer with a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. Prior to Ideate, she worked at a multinational company for four years doing general civil design on large infrastructure projects. She is versed in roadway, rail, utility design and site development. She also has experience with utility demand analysis and Low Impact Development plans. As a Civil 3D Autodesk Certified Professional Kate provides training and support for Civil 3D, AutoCAD, and InfraWorks.

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Revit 2017: Improved Text Export to DWG

I am back with more on text improvements in Revit 2017! 

For this post, I'll be focusing-in on the export setup settings for DWG files. Enhancements in the export of text include improved fidelity of character size, location, font, spacing, numbering, tabs and other text related properties. These improvements allow for more consistency in text style and format when working across the Revit and AutoCad platforms.

To get started, you can find the export setup settings for DWG files in the Application Menu > Export > Options > Export Setups.

In the export setup dialog, the settings found in the ‘Text treatment during export’ section specify the degree of visual fidelity you want to maintain upon export. From the drop-down list, you may select one of the following options:  

The first option is Preserve Visual Fidelity, previously referred to as the ‘Exact’ option. 

When using this option: 

• Exported text looks like it does in Revit.
• Paragraphs are broken up. 
• Paragraph functionality of bulleted or numbered lists is lost upon export. 
• Pressing within a formatted paragraph does not restore the formatting. 

The second option is Preserve Editability, previously referred to as the ‘Approximate’ option. 

When using this option:

• Text formatting, including paragraph breaks and text wrapping, is preserved.
• Paragraph functionality of bulleted or numbered lists is maintained.
• Multilevel lists, new to Revit 2017, maintain paragraph functionality but may need to be manually adjusted. (see my previous post on the subject!)
• Pressing Enter within a formatted paragraph will restore the formatting. 

Enjoy these time saving enhancements to the Revit text editor when exporting from RVT to DWG. Who doesn't want to simplify their workflow and reduce manual editing time?  

To learn more, check out my corresponding video to this post, Revit 2017: Improved Text Export to DWG.

And, if you're eager to learn even more about new text features in Revit 2017 be sure to read Revit 2017: Text Size Changes from my colleague and Ideate Senior Software Developer, Ben Bishoff.

Thank you for reading. For more information on the software solutions, training and consulting Ideate provides, please visit the Ideate Inc. website.

---

Katrina Rodriguez
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Katrina is an AEC application specialist at the Ideate, Inc. San Francisco office. She is a California–licensed architect with a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from the University of the Philippines. Katrina has over 18 years of experience in the AEC industry with a focus on both commercial and hospitality projects. She is also a Revit Certified Professional with over 8 years of experience utilizing the software on both small and large scale projects, from programming to project close out.

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