Needing to export Revit drawings to CAD comes up on almost every project: however the model was built, the set still has to reach people working in two-dimensional software.
The job is not difficult, but four setup tabs decide what the recipient sees. Skip them and the file arrives with the building a thousand times too small, with accented text stripped of its marks, or simply empty.
This article works through the whole process following Chapter 17 of the Institute's textbook Autodesk Revit 2027 for Architectural Documentation. Every step and screenshot comes from Revit 2027, English interface. To learn the documentation stage in full, see the Revit Architecture course.
Three ways a set leaves Revit
Before clicking anything, know which route you need, because each has its own dialog.
In practice a set issued outside usually needs both: PDF to view and approve, and a 2D file so the other side can keep working. The sections below take each route in turn, with the dialog you will see at every step.
The order matters: print settings are quick, but the 2D export has four setup tabs behind a button most people never open, and those four decide whether the file arrives usable.
Route 1: printing and PDF
Go to File › Print. The menu has five entries.
| Entry | What it does |
|---|---|
| Prints the current view or the selected sheets to a printer | |
| Batch Print | Prints in batches |
| Creates a PDF. The most used entry today | |
| Print Preview | Shows a preview |
| Print Setup | Opens the print settings |
Print Setup has two fields that need changing immediately.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paper | Size is the paper size, Source the paper tray |
| 2 | Orientation | Portrait or landscape |
| 3 | Zoom | Fit to page shrinks the drawing to fit; Zoom prints at a percentage |
| 4 | Saved setups | Save, Save As, Revert, Rename, Delete — name each setup to reuse it, such as A3-MONO |
The two fields to change sit in areas 1 and 3.
Paper Size defaults to Letter, a North American size not used in Vietnam. Leave it and an A1 sheet is squeezed onto Letter, throwing every scale out.
Leave Zoom on Fit to page for a test print, but for issue set Zoom to 100 per cent and pick the right paper size. A drawing printed at true scale can be measured with a ruler on paper; a shrunken one cannot.
The PDF entry opens a separate dialog, and that is the one to use when issuing electronically. It is the image at the top of this article, with four numbered areas.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Export Range | Current window exports the open view; Selected views/sheets picks several at once, with a built-in All Sheets set |
| 2 | File | The file name, the Combine checkbox that merges everything into one PDF, and the folder |
| 3 | Create Output Using | Vector Processing or Raster Processing |
| 4 | Options | Eight visibility checkboxes, plus Export in background so you can keep working while Revit writes the files |
Leaving Page Size as Use Sheet Size means every sheet keeps its own size — something a paper print cannot do.
File naming rules. Clear the Combine checkbox and each sheet becomes its own file, which activates the button beside File Name.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parameter Type | Three choices: Views, Sheets, Project Information. Choose Sheets when exporting sheets |
| 2 | Name Parameters | The parameters combined into the file name, each with a Prefix, Suffix and Separator |
| 3 | Preview of value | A live preview of the file name that will be produced |
Choose Sheets as the Parameter Type, then combine Sheet Number with Sheet Name using an underscore. The result is files like KT-01_MAT-BANG-TANG-1.pdf, which the recipient can sort straight away by sheet number.
Avoid accented characters in issued file names — not because Revit cannot handle them, but because the files travel through email, network drives and other people's software.
Route 2: exporting 2D drawings
Go to File › Export. The menu has several entries; the one you want is CAD Formats.
CAD Formats covers seven types: DWG, DXF, DGN, OBJ, SAT, STL and STEP. OBJ and STL are greyed out in a two-dimensional view because they are solid formats. The full list of formats Revit can export is in Autodesk's help.
Choosing DWG opens the DWG Export dialog — the route most people mean when they say they need to export Revit drawings to CAD.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Select Export Setup | The export setup. The three-dot button opens the detailed setup — the four tabs below |
| 2 | The Export field | Export the current view only, or a selected set of views and sheets |
Three buttons at the bottom: Next opens the folder chooser and starts the export; Save Set & Close saves the selection for reuse; Cancel abandons it.
Do not click Next yet. The three-dot button beside Select Export Setup opens the detailed setup, and that is what decides the quality of the file you send.
The four tabs to check before exporting
The Layers tab — layer mapping. This is the most important part. Revit organises by category, two-dimensional software organises by layer, and the mapping table decides which category becomes which layer.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Export layer options | The default exports category properties as layers, with per-element overrides. Keep this |
| 2 | Load layers from standards | The layer standard used as a base |
| 3 | The mapping table | One row per category, split into Projection and Cut, each with a layer name and colour code |
Area 2 offers five standards as a base.
| Standard | Notes |
|---|---|
| AIA — American Institute of Architects | The default. Names like A-WALL, A-DOOR, A-AREA, A-CLNG |
| ISO 13567 | The international standard |
| CP83 | The Singapore standard |
| BS 1192 | The British standard |
| Load settings from file | Loads a prepared settings file |
There is no Vietnamese layer standard in the list, and no single convention is used nationally. The practical route: take AIA as a base, rename the layers to your office convention, then save it as a named setup so every project shares it.
The Text & Fonts tab. The first field offers two options that trade off against each other: Preserve visual fidelity keeps the text looking exactly as it does in Revit but makes it hard to edit; Preserve editability lets the recipient retype it but the appearance may shift.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Text behavior when exported | Preserve visual fidelity keeps the exact appearance; Preserve editability keeps the text editable in the receiving software |
| 2 | The font mapping table | One row per Revit font, set to map automatically by default |
Area 2 is where legacy Vietnamese fonts are dealt with. The simplest answer is not to use legacy fonts at all, since Revit's default font already carries every Vietnamese diacritic.
The Units & Coordinates tab. This is the field that causes the most accidents when handing over a file.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One DWG unit is | What one drawing unit equals. The metric template presets Millimeter, matching Vietnamese practice |
| 2 | Coordinate Base | Internal Origin uses the file's own origin; Shared Coordinates uses shared coordinates, for when several files must line up |
Set One DWG unit is: Millimeter — the metric template already does, matching Vietnamese practice. A recipient who opens the file and sees a house twenty-five thousand units long is fine; one who sees twenty-five has a file exported in metres, and every dimension written in it will be wrong.
Leave Coordinate Base on Internal Origin for a standalone file, and choose Shared Coordinates when several files must line up.
The General tab — version and references.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Non-plottable layers | Layers whose name contains NPLT are marked as non-plotting. Used for helper layers |
| 2 | Default export options | The first field decides whether views on sheets become external references or merge into the file; the second picks the file version |
In area 2, Export views on sheets and links as external references is on by default. With it on, each view becomes its own file and the sheet only references them, so the whole set of files has to travel together. Turn it off and everything merges into one file: heavier, but one file is enough. For a set going outside the office, off is usually safer.
Four file versions are available: 2018, 2013, 2010 and 2007. The 2018 format opens in any software from 2018 onwards.
Three checks after exporting
Reopen the result in the software the recipient actually uses, not in your own.
Those three checks take five minutes and prevent most of the trouble that follows a set going out.
In detail, the first check is the one that catches the worst mistake. Measure a grid span you already know — say 4,200 between two grid lines. If the file reports 4,200 the units are right. If it reports 4.2, the export used metres and every dimension written into that file is a thousand times off.
The second check needs one line of accented text, ideally from a title block or a room tag. Marks showing correctly means the font mapping held. Empty boxes or missing accents means the font was mapped to one without the characters.
The third check is the quickest: switch a couple of layers off and on. Names matching your office convention mean the mapping table loaded; unfamiliar names such as the raw AIA defaults mean it did not.
Common problems when printing and exporting
- The print comes out the wrong size. Paper Size in Print Setup is still Letter.
- The print cannot be measured with a ruler. It is set to Fit to page. Use Zoom 100 per cent with the correct paper size.
- Every line prints the same thin weight. Thin Lines is switched on. Turn it off.
- The 2D file opens with a tiny building. Wrong units on export. Set One DWG unit is Millimeter.
- Accented text loses its marks after export. The font mapped to one without diacritics. Fix the mapping table, or use a standard font from the start.
- The recipient opens the file and it is empty. Views were exported as external references but only the sheet was sent. Turn that option off, or send the whole set of files.
- A view is missing from the selection dialog. It already sits on another sheet; a view can only be placed on one.
Frequently asked questions
The title block disappears when I export to CAD. Why?
The title block belongs to the sheet, so you must export sheets rather than views. In the DWG Export dialog, select Sheets instead of the current view. If sheets were exported and it is still missing, check the external references option on the General tab.
Should I export DWG or DXF?
DWG is the native format, keeps more and produces smaller files. Use DXF only when the recipient's software cannot read DWG.
Can I export the whole set at once?
Yes. In DWG Export, choose a selected set of views and sheets rather than the current view. For PDF, choose Selected views/sheets and use the built-in All Sheets set.
Why turn off the external references option?
Because with it on, the sheet only points at separate view files. Miss one and the recipient opens an empty drawing. Turning it off puts everything in one file.
Is CAD export still needed when there is a PDF?
Yes, if the recipient has to edit anything. PDF is for viewing and approval; the 2D file is for continuing the work.
Does the export keep the drawing scale?
Yes, if you export sheets and set the units correctly. Measuring a known grid span in the exported file is the quickest way to confirm it.