Export Revit sheets to PDF from the command line

One command exports every sheet in the model to PDF. Filter by sheet number prefix, write to any output folder, and get Revit's native PDF engine — vector graphics, embedded element IDs, the same quality as File > Export > PDF — all without touching the Revit UI.

Export sheets

export-views drives Revit's built-in PDF engine from the terminal. Pass a filter to match sheet numbers; omit it to export every sheet in the model.

export all sheets matching a prefix
bim revit export-views --filter "A-" --output ./drawings/
{"ok":true,"sheets":12,"output":"C:\\drawings\\export-views.pdf"}
export every sheet in the model
bim revit export-views --output ./drawings/

The output is one PDF per sheet, named by sheet number. Revit stays open throughout — bim-cli connects to the running session over a local TCP bridge and drives the export without opening any dialogs.

Works on Revit 2024, 2025, and 2026. No admin rights required.

Install bim-cli ->

Inspect the export

bim pdf info reads the PDF header and reports page count, producer, and whether the file contains BIM element tags.

inspect a Revit-exported PDF
bim pdf info drawings.pdf
{"ok":true,"data":{"pages":12,"producer":"Adobe PDF Library 18.0.5","version":"1.6","size_bytes":4096000,"has_bim_tags":true}}

bim pdf pages lists each page with its sheet label and dimensions — useful for scripting downstream steps.

bim pdf pages drawings.pdf
{"page":1,"label":"A101","width_mm":841,"height_mm":594}
{"page":2,"label":"A102","width_mm":841,"height_mm":594}

Split into per-sheet files

Revit combines all sheets into one file when you export a set. page split writes one PDF per page into an output directory.

split a combined sheet set
bim pdf page split drawings.pdf --output ./sheets/

A 142-sheet combined export becomes 142 individual files, one per sheet.

Collect sheets by discipline

page collect assembles a new PDF from specific pages of an existing one. Pass a comma-separated list or a range.

collect structural sheets into a new file
bim pdf page collect drawings.pdf --pages 12-24 --output structural.pdf
collect specific pages by number
bim pdf page collect drawings.pdf --pages 1,3,7,12 --output selected.pdf

Extract BIM element tags

Every element in a Revit-exported PDF is wrapped in a tagged content block that encodes its ElementId. bim pdf marked extracts all ElementIds from the content streams. A typical floor plan contains 300–400 tagged elements.

extract element IDs from a Revit PDF
bim pdf marked drawings.pdf
{"page":1,"element_id":1234567,"bounds":[120.4,340.2,180.1,380.5]}
{"page":1,"element_id":1234568,"bounds":[200.0,340.2,260.0,380.5]}

Pair with bim revit exec to resolve ElementIds back to category, type, and parameter values from the live model.

Optimize for delivery

bim pdf optimize reduces file size without re-rendering. Useful before uploading large combined sheet sets.

optimize in-place
bim pdf optimize drawings.pdf --output drawings-optimized.pdf

Attach BIM data to the PDF

bim pdf package embeds a BIM element JSON file as a PDF/A-3 associated file attachment — drawing and structured BIM data in one self-contained file.

attach elements.json to the PDF
bim pdf package drawings.pdf --attach elements.json