INSTALL PDF PRINTER FOR REVIT

When printing multiple PDF drawings from Revit it is convenient for Revit to have its own printer so preferences can be set that suite Revit.

As printing to PDF is used by other programs the easiest way is to duplicate an existing PDF printer.

The methods to do this vary, depending on the type of PDF printer installed on your computer.

NOTE: YOU MAY NEED ADMINISTRATOR PERMISSIONS TO INSTALL PRINTERS.

If you are unable to install a printer talk to your IT support.

ADOBE

If you have any paid Adobe products installed (Acrobat, Photoshop etc, but NOT Adobe Reader) you will have an Adobe printer.

We want to create a second Adobe printer to use with Revit.

• 1. Open Devices & Printers explorer from Windows Start (bottom left of screen).

  2. Right click on the printer icon you want to duplicate and select Printer properties.

  3. Select the Ports tab. What you want to see is the port name that is checked. This will be something like "Adobe PDF Port ".

  4. Note down the port name and Cancel.

  5. Start the Add Printer wizard.

  6. Select the local option.

  7. On the port drop down, find the port you saw on step 3.

  8. On the driver page, select the appropriate driver for your device.

  9. It will ask you if you want to replace or use the installed driver. I'd use the installed one, but this shouldn't make a big difference either way.

  10. Rename the printer so it is different from the original one.

  11. Back in Devices & Printers explorer right click on the new printer.

  12. Select Printing Preferences.

  13. Change the PDF output folder, make sure View PDF results is unticked, and Ask to replace existing files is unticked. Click OK.

  14. If your printer is Adobe, select Printer Properties. Under Advanced tab make sure Print directly to printer is enabled.

  15. Test by printing from Revit.

BLUEBEAM

Bluebeam is a PDF viewer with markup, compare and other utilities. There is a CAD version designed for use with large format sheets. It comes with a PDF printer and printing add-in for Revit.

You can use Bluebeam as a PDF printer from the normal Revit print dialog, or use the Bluebeam Add-in to print.

The Revit add-in allows limited control over PDF file naming, but unfortunately can not include revision in the PDF file name.

See GUIDELINES > PRINTING > PRINT USING BLUEBEAM for instructions on how to do this.

The alternative is to set up the Bluebeam printer (as found in Window's Devices and Printers) to send PDFs to a fixed folder without asking for a filename or opening every PDF.

You can only do this from within Bluebeam.

Open Bluebeam, click on File tab.

At top right corner click on settings triangle and select Administrator

Go to the Printer tab,

1. Untick Prompt for File Name

2. Untick Open in Viewer

3. Click on Folder Options button

4. Change to Custom Projects Folder, browse to C:\_plots

5. Hit Apply

Note that these settings will be used whenever the Bluebeam printer is used in other software - that is PDFs will be sent to the C:\plots folder without warning.

PDF-XCHANGE

PDF-Xchange is a PDF printer available from Tracker Software. It is significantly cheaper than Adobe and is optimized for printing large format sheets.

To set up multiple unique PDF-XChange Printers do the following:

• 1. Go to your 'Printers List'

  2. (in Windows 7 Start --> Control Panel --> Devices and Printers)

  3. Rename the printer. Right click your printer PDF-XChange and select "Printer Properties"

  4. Under the General tab rename the printer - add "Revit" at the beginning so it reads: "Revit PDF-XChange".

  5. Make the preferences changes to this printer, right click on "Printer Preferences". Refer to PDF-XCHANGE SETTINGS FOR REVIT below.

  6. Run the PDF-XChange installer again and it will create a new Printer with default settings and name.

  7. You now have 2 PDF-XChange Printers that you can see in the printers list. Simply select the appropriate printer for your job at print time.

PDF-XCHANGE SETTINGS FOR REVIT

Match as shown below

FREEWARE

There are some free PDF printers available, cutePDF and PDFcreator are 2 common ones.

You have to be careful when you install them to avoid unwanted extra "enhancements".

ALWAYS UNTICK INSTALLATION OF BROWSER ADD ONS

e.g. Yahoo, Google menu bars.

PDFcreator

PDFcreator is a free open source program that can create multiple printers with different settings.

Installation Instructions for PDFcreator.

CutePDF

If you install cutePDF you will need to use it for other than Revit printing as you can not set it to print to particular folder. In this case use Adobe for Revit printing.