May 2, 2011

Controlling Graphics Display In Revit

There are a number of methods for adjusting the lineweights in your drawings. It really depends upon the level of control that you want.

The first level of lineweight control can be found in the Object Styles dialog box. Object Styles control the lineweights of elements globally throughout the entire project. This can be accessed by going to the Manage tab>>Settings panel>>Object Styles. In the Object Styles dialog box, assign a Lineweight to the Projection and the Cut columns for each element. You have a total of 16 possible lineweight pens that can be assigned, with pen 1 being the smallest lineweight increasing in size to pen 16.

If you are wanting to know what the lineweights are for each pen then go to the Manage tab>>Settings panel>>Additional Settings drop-down>>Line Weights tool. Lineweights are assigned to the 16 pens based upon the different possible scales used by a view.

The second level of lineweight control is controlled by the Visibility Graphics dialog box. Visibility Graphics controls how elements appear specifically in a view. Making changes to Projection or Cut Lines for each element in Visibility Graphics affects the display of the elements in just the view you adjust the Visibility Graphics in.

The third level of lineweight control is controlled by assigning object overrides to individual elements within a view. This can be accomplished by selecting the desired element to be adjusted, right-clicking and selecting Override Graphics in View>>By Element… This displays the View-Specific Element Graphics dialog box where you can assign lineweights to the Projection and Cut lines of the individual element. Similar to Visibility Graphics, the changes you make to the individual element are only applied in the view in which you adjusted the settings.


Ron Palma
AEC Solutions Application Specialist

Ron has 23+ years of experience in the AEC industry as a designer, lead project designer, trainer and CAD manager. His instructional background includes Autodesk Certified Instructor, trainer, support technician, educator at Portland Community College and Clackamas Community College, and a U.S. Army certified instructor. Follow Ron @RonPalmaAEC.

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