Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Sticky?

A Schedule Sticky is a Revit Schedule header element. The benefit of using the schedule header is that, unlike Lines and Text elements, it is extremely lightweight and will not slow down your Revit file performance. An Image Sticky is a Revit Image Element or a Revit Linked PDF (for Revit 2021 PDF Stickies).

Does Sticky read Excel Files from One Drive?

A better question is: If I create a Sticky from my One Drive, can my team read that file when they use Sticky? The answer is no. One Drive, unlike Dropbox or other cloud storage solutions, requires a relative [username] path and therefore it is not a great option for teams using Sticky. Ideate Sticky will work with a network path (on your company domain) or with Dropbox (all users must use the same path to storage folders, e.g. C:/Dropbox).

Does Sticky work with BIM360?

In November of 2018 we added support for BIM360 (not BIM 360 Teams) via the BIM 360 Desktop Connector. If you are using Revit 2019 and forward you can create Stickies from source files that are located within a BIM360 project as long as the Desktop Connector displays the folder on your local drive. If you are using Revit 2018 or earlier it is recommended that you save your Excel files on a shared network drive and use the relative path option instead of using BIM360 Teams. The local BIM 360 file status will impact the ability to automatically update the Sticky. Learn more about this under Known Issues.

TIP: folder permissions must be the same for all team members to ensure the file pathing is the same for BIM360 projects. This has been flagged as an idea that you can vote on: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/bim-360-ideas/docs-decrease-permission-levels-at-a-sub-folder-with-inherited/idi-p/7496734

When does Ideate Sticky pull a network license?

Ideate Sticky needs to run in the background in order to manage the auto-update functionality. Therefore, Ideate Sticky retains a network license during a Revit session whenever a file is opened that contains a Sticky that has been set to Auto-update.  The license remains held until there are no open projects that contain any auto-update Stickies. If the auto-update feature is not being used, then the license is held only while the Ideate Sticky dialog is open.

What happens to my Sticky if I do not have Ideate Sticky installed or a license is unavailable?

The Sticky within the Revit project will remain in the project, unchanged until it is deleted from the Project Browser or updated via Ideate Sticky.  If Ideate Sticky is not present, because it is not installed or because a license cannot be obtained from the network, the Sticky will remain unchanged. In this situation, where the auto-update cannot run, a warning will display during the file open process and the Sticky Properties will reflect this condition.

Does Ideate Sticky also work with Microsoft Word?

Starting with the May 2020 release, Ideate Sticky can import Word, PDF and Excel files as Sticky Images. Learn more about the difference here: Sticky Schedules versus Sticky Images

How do I change the column widths?

While the Sticky can be edited within Revit, for ease of use and in particular for column and row sizing tasks, we recommend editing the native Excel file. Learn more about how to edit the size of a Sticky Read: Manage the Size of a Sticky with Ideate Sticky for Revit.

How can I control the font and font size?

Image Stickies will display the fonts used in the source file as 1:1.

For Schedule Stickies, we strive for the highest level of visual fidelity between your Excel file and the resultant Sticky. The font and font size are controlled by the choices made within the Excel file. This gives the ability to use multiple fonts and font sizes. Using Arial Narrow, with a 12pt font, for example will return a 1/8" high text within Revit.  Related Topic: Use Font Size Mapping Chart in Ideate Sticky for Revit

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