By Dennis Collin
Generally plotting from Revit is a very straightforward process. The program uses a standard Windows print driver and has fairly intuitive options to get the desired result, unlike AutoCAD which gives a whole range of controls which can be very disconcerting to an untrained user!
However, even with Autodesk's flagship product some plotting problems can occur with certain projects and views. The occasional problem has been reported with missing information from plots and or the print driver not respecting transparency settings within views.
The first thing I always check is; whether the software is up to date using the 'Autodesk Desktop App', looking for any service packs and hot fixes. Failing that then its down to checking a few settings and device driver versions.
With regards plotting there isn't much to set, but I have found that many plotting issues especially with regards data handling and transparency can be dealt with by setting the Plotting option to deal with the data with 'Raster Processing' as opposed to vector. The plot may process more slowly but it does usually result in a more reliable plot than the speedier vector processor.
This can be easily changed and checked here;
Activate the Print dialogue (Ctrl+P) and choose setup
If this doesn't work try plotting to a different device or update your printer driver.
If problems still persist then it may be your graphics card or driver. We can check this under options. Located under the 'R application' or 'jewel' menu.
Under Options select 'Graphics' from the menu..
Note the untested message with regards driver version of the graphics card..
A few things to try;
Switch OFF hardware acceleration (also try disabling anti-aliasing as well!)
and/or
Update your driver to a newer version OR roll back to a Certified Driver referring to the Autodesk approved driver list here at, http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/syscert?id=18844534&siteID=123112
Hopefully this will resolve your plotting issues, if problems still persist check the plotter controls , (Should be set to software) and perhaps try printing with a smaller? Newly created file.
Generally speaking though I have found most Revit printing problems can be resolved by working through the processes mentioned.