Modeling
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Archicad file size?

Anonymous
Not applicable
How do you minimize file size for archicad? I would be very grateful if you could explain the settings with pictures.
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
Solution
Barry Kelly
Moderator
Basically just delete what you are not using.

If you have created a lot of views from your model and you are not going to use them - delete the.
If you have layout pages you are not going to publish - delete them.
If you have publisher sets you are not using then delete them.
If you have extra storeys you are not using - delete them.
If you have a lot of objects in you embedded library that you are not using - delete them.

You can also delete surfaces, fills, layers and other attributes that you are not using but that means you will not have them in future for that job if you do want them later.

Of course make sure your model is clean.
If you copy and paste bits off to the side or to different storeys then you can delete those as well.
Or if you have a lot of pre-drawn details in your template - delete what is not relevant to that job.
Check for duplicates (i.e. you may have two or more walls exactly the same in exactly the same location) - there is an add-on (goodie) you can download to check for duplicates - can be found in the HELP menu if you do not have it installed already.

And when you 'save as' for the first time there is an 'Options' button.
In there you can choose to compress the file - this should be on already by default.

Of course there is a fine line when it comes to deleting things from your file.
You may actually want them back at a later stage of the job.

Teamwork files will also be much larger than a stand-alone PLN file.

Sorry no pictures but I hope it helps.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11

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4 REPLIES 4
Solution
Barry Kelly
Moderator
Basically just delete what you are not using.

If you have created a lot of views from your model and you are not going to use them - delete the.
If you have layout pages you are not going to publish - delete them.
If you have publisher sets you are not using then delete them.
If you have extra storeys you are not using - delete them.
If you have a lot of objects in you embedded library that you are not using - delete them.

You can also delete surfaces, fills, layers and other attributes that you are not using but that means you will not have them in future for that job if you do want them later.

Of course make sure your model is clean.
If you copy and paste bits off to the side or to different storeys then you can delete those as well.
Or if you have a lot of pre-drawn details in your template - delete what is not relevant to that job.
Check for duplicates (i.e. you may have two or more walls exactly the same in exactly the same location) - there is an add-on (goodie) you can download to check for duplicates - can be found in the HELP menu if you do not have it installed already.

And when you 'save as' for the first time there is an 'Options' button.
In there you can choose to compress the file - this should be on already by default.

Of course there is a fine line when it comes to deleting things from your file.
You may actually want them back at a later stage of the job.

Teamwork files will also be much larger than a stand-alone PLN file.

Sorry no pictures but I hope it helps.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
There is an article about this in the Help Center:

https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/troubleshooting/performance/file-size/

It was written a few years ago but I think it is still relevant.
As a general rule, it is a good idea to search for answers on the Help Center, as well as here on ARCHICAD-Talk.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac27
Link
Graphisoft Partner
Graphisoft Partner
I was recently asked this question by a client. I took the latest updated BIM6x Power Template 21 and started to strip it down, noting the file size as I progressed. Results are below. Obviously you're not expected to perform all these steps, but it gives an idea of what makes up the size of a(n empty) project.

Cheers,
Link.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Thank you very much for all your answers.