Ideate BIMLink: Creating Placeholder Sheets in Revit

Did you know that you can save a lot of time by using Ideate BIMLink to create new placeholder sheets in Revit using data from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet? These placeholder sheets display in the sheet index but not the project browser, which is ideal for use in representing consultants’ sheets.

If you plan to use the placeholder sheets in the current project, you will need to create them as new sheets. This method is useful in creating cartoon sheet sets from Excel.

Both processes are easy. Here are the steps:

Create Placeholder Sheets

1. In Ideate BIMLink, use the sample link called Sheets, or create a sheet link and export to Excel. See Creating Links with Ideate BIMLink and Export Revit Elements to Excel
2. Create new rows in the spreadsheet and type NEW in the Id column
3. Edit other properties as needed
4. Delete rows representing any existing sheets; this won’t impact the existing elements when the spreadsheet is imported
5. Import the Excel spreadsheet back to Revit

 
 
There are two sample links delivered with Ideate BIMLink regarding sheets:

1. Sheets (Has Placeholder Sheets filtered out)
2. QC-Sheets-Placeholders (Has only a list of Placeholder Sheets)

You may use either for this exercise of creating sheets. However, step #4 above would not be needed if you are using the QC-Sheets-Placeholders link, since no existing sheets from the project would be exported.

Create New Sheets from Placeholder Sheets

1. Locate the Sheet button in Revit from the View Tab > Sheet Composition panel
2. Select the desired Titleblock
3. Select one or more placeholder sheets from the list at the bottom
4. Click OK

If you are using IdeateApps, you can also create Placeholder sheets directly from the Ideate SheetManager dialog, which will access the Revit Sheet Composition panel.

If you want to copy an existing sheet, including viewport locations, try Ideate Clone.

For implementation services, or to learn more about how Ideate BIMLink can help your business, contact [email protected].

About the Author

Glynnis Patterson, NCARB – Director of Software Development
Glynnis is a registered architect and has worked within the building information modeling (BIM) industry since 1998. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, she has worked as an architect, educator and construction site manager. Glynnis is the Director of Software Development Services and continues to work with AECO clients worldwide, developing, and consulting on solutions to BIM challenges. In her spare time, Glynnis volunteers for the local high school and with growitgreenmorristown.org. Find Glynnis on LinkedIn.