Introduction to Revit Add-ins: What are they, and how do they work?

Ideate Software
5 min readMay 24, 2023

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What are Revit Add-ins

What are Revit Add-ins

Revit® add-ins, which are also called Revit plugins and Revit add-ons, add functionality not available in Autodesk® Revit software. Some of them are provided to Autodesk subscribers, and others are available from third-party software developers either free or charge, for a one-time cost, or on a subscription basis.

How Revit Add-ins Work

Revit add-ins integrate with Autodesk® Revit® software. They can be accessed through the Autodesk App Store, a marketplace and a web service provided by Autodesk that makes it easy to find and acquire third-party plugins. You can install them from the Autodesk App Store or your Autodesk Account Page:

Install from the Autodesk App Store

1. Close Revit

2. Go to Autodesk App Store > Revit

3. Click “Please Sign in First”

4. Select the add-in you want

5. Click the blue “Download” button to download the installation file

6. When the download is done, click the file to start the installation process

7. Follow the prompts

Install from your Autodesk Account Page

1. Go to manage.autodesk.com.

2. Sign in

3. Click “All Products and Services” under “Products and Services”

4. Select the desired Revit add-in and click “Download”

5. When the download is done, click the file to start the installation process

6. Follow the prompts

Add-ins Developed by Ideate Software

Many companies develop Revit add-ins. Here at Ideate Software, we are an Autodesk® Authorized Developer and member of the Autodesk Developer Network, and we develop addins Revit users want. We have been developing Revit add-ins since 2008; we would not have survived this long and been so successful if we weren’t bringing our customers valuable products that are easy to install, learn, and use. We ensure they meet this strict criterion by:

1. Addressing challenges expressed by Revit users in online Revit forums and through conversations with users at internal and external events

2. Empowering our top-notch team of software developers to reach beyond traditional thinking to develop software that solves problems

3. Putting all our products and upgrades through a rigorous beta testing process with hundreds of software users before releasing them in the marketplace.

Here are overviews of the Ideate Software addins for Revit that companies in the architecture, engineering, construction, and owner-operator communities across the world trust to help them streamline data management processes, increase the accuracy of the data in their models, and improve the health of their models.

Ideate BIMLink

Revit was not designed for easy editing of massive amounts of data. This add-in solves that problem. With Ideate BIMLink, users can export data from a Revit file into a Microsoft Excel file where they can use the easy and powerful editing tools within Excel. When done, they can then push volumes of precise, consequential BIM data back into their Revit model with speed, ease and accuracy. Processes that once took hours can now be performed in just seconds.

Ideate Explorer

Revit comes with a project browser, not a model browser. Ideate Explorer is a model browser that Revit professionals use to quickly find any element, even those that are hard to find. This tool helps them keep their models clean and accurate, decrease the time they spend on model management, increase the accuracy of their models, and reduce file space.

Ideate Sticky

Although Revit schedules are good for representing data behind your Revit elements, the lack of a robust text editor in Revit makes organizing and formatting other essential non-BIM data frustrating and time consuming. Ideate Sticky elegantly connects non-BIM data from an Excel, Word or PDF file to Revit projects. It enhances cross-team workflows by combining the ease and flexibility of Excel, Word or PDF with the convenience of a sticky note.

Ideate StyleManager

Incorrect styles can clog up models and lead to messy production documents. Ideate StyleManager addresses this challenge, which often arises when Revit users import content into the model and the corresponding styles automatically come it. With this powerful tool, users can easily analyze, merge, and delete unused styles.

IdeateApps

When designing in Revit, many tasks are repetitive and time consuming. IdeateApps is a set of 10 tools that addresses the most tedious tasks as identified by people who use Revit software every day. This Revit add-in solution will decrease the time spent on common tasks and increase the accuracy of data in a Revit model, helping to keep projects of all sizes and complexities on time and on budget.

Ideate Automation

This scripting solution runs time-intensive BIM tasks in the background, giving staff time to do more interesting and meaningful work. By automating tasks such as opening large Revit files for data extraction, exporting key model health data, creating document issue reports, and preparing COBie data drops, Ideate Automation will help you increase productivity; eliminate the need to train staff on repetitive tasks; and ensure task outcomes are highly predictable, free of user errors, and standardized.

Stay Connected

Check us out on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. We regularly post tips and tricks as well as links to important resources on our website. Also check out our Events page for information on both virtual and live events where you can hear from our team, learn about our products, see demonstrations of workflows, and discuss your feature requests.

If you have any questions, reach out to our Support team. We are here to help you understand and use our Revit plug-in solutions.

Autodesk is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.

Microsoft Excel is a registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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Ideate Software
Ideate Software

Written by Ideate Software

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Ideate Software is an Autodesk® Authorized Developer and is a member of the Autodesk Developer Network.

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