How to Create a New Line Pattern in Revit?

Creating a new line pattern in Revit allows you to define custom visual representations for various drawing elements, enhancing clarity and communication in your architectural, structural, or MEP designs. This process involves accessing Revit's settings and defining the sequence of dashes, dots, and spaces that form your unique pattern.

Step-by-Step Guide to Custom Line Pattern Creation

To create a new line pattern, you'll navigate through Revit's interface to its line pattern settings. This systematic approach ensures your custom patterns are correctly defined and available for use throughout your project.

1. Accessing Line Pattern Settings

The journey begins in the Revit ribbon, where all project management tools are located.

• Navigate to the Manage Tab: Begin by clicking on the Manage tab in the Revit ribbon. This tab houses various settings and configuration tools for your project.
• Locate Additional Settings: Within the Settings panel on the Manage tab, look for the Additional Settings drop-down menu. Click on it to reveal more options.
• Select Line Patterns: From the Additional Settings drop-down, choose Line Patterns. This action opens the Line Patterns dialog box, which lists all existing line patterns in your project.

2. Initiating a New Pattern

Once the Line Patterns dialog is open, you can begin defining your custom pattern.

• Click "New": In the Line Patterns dialog, click the New button. This will open the Line Pattern Properties dialog, where you will define the specifics of your new pattern.

3. Defining Line Pattern Properties

The Line Pattern Properties dialog is where you give your pattern a name and define its visual components.

• Name Your Pattern: In the Name field, enter a descriptive name for your new line pattern. Good naming conventions (e.g., "DEMO - Dashed," "UTILITY - Water Line") make patterns easy to identify and use later.
• Add Pattern Segments: This is where you build the pattern itself. Each pattern is a sequence of Type (Dash or Dot) and Value (length).
  • Click in the Type column and select either Dash or Dot.
  • Enter a numerical Value for the length of that dash or dot. This value is typically in inches or millimeters, depending on your project units.
  • Crucially, after a Dash or Dot, you must add a Space segment. Select Space as the Type and enter a Value for its length. This creates the visible gaps in your line pattern.
  • Continue adding Dash, Dot, and Space segments until your desired pattern is complete.
  • You can use the Up and Down buttons to reorder segments or the Delete button to remove them.

Example: To create a simple dashed line pattern:

1. Add Dash with a Value of 0'-0 1/4" (or 6mm).
2. Add Space with a Value of 0'-0 1/8" (or 3mm).

This sequence will repeat to form your line pattern.

Common Line Pattern Components

The following table illustrates the basic components you'll use to construct your line patterns:

Component Type	Description	Value (Example)	Purpose
Dash	A solid line segment of a specified length.	0'-0 1/4" (6mm)	Forms the visible parts of the line.
Dot	A very short, predefined mark. Length is automatically scaled.	(No value needed)	Often used for specific symbols or breaks.
Space	An invisible segment of a specified length.	0'-0 1/8" (3mm)	Creates gaps between dashes and dots.

Practical Insights and Best Practices

• Consistent Units: Ensure you are consistent with your unit entry (e.g., always use inches or always use millimeters) for accurate pattern scaling.
• Visibility at Scale: Always consider how your line pattern will appear at different drawing scales. A very small dash or space might disappear at a coarse scale, while a very large one might look awkward at a fine scale.
• Application: Once created, these line patterns can be applied to various Revit elements, including:
  • Line Styles: Assign custom patterns to specific line styles (e.g., overhead lines, demolition lines).
  • Detail Lines: Directly draw detail lines using your new pattern.
  • Visibility/Graphics Overrides: Use filters to override the line patterns of specific categories or elements.
  • Generic Annotations: In some cases, custom line patterns can be used within families for annotation purposes.
• Sharing Patterns: Line patterns are project-specific. To use them in other projects, you can transfer project standards using the Transfer Project Standards tool (Manage tab > Settings panel).
• Resource for Line Styles: For more in-depth information on managing line styles and their applications within Revit, refer to official Autodesk resources, such as the Revit Help documentation on Line Styles.

By mastering the creation of custom line patterns, you gain greater control over the visual representation of your designs, leading to clearer, more professional, and standardized documentation.