Revit - Do I use Line Styles or Line Patterns?

By Garry Stockton

At times you may need to create your own Lines in Revit, but do you use Line Styles or Line Patterns? Below I will take you through the differences which may help ensure you are BIM compliant.

Line Styles or Line Patterns

Below is clarification on the difference between Line Styles and Line Patterns and where they belong in your Revit Project.

On the Manage Tab (A) in Revit, select Additional Settings (B)

Line Patterns

Line Patterns (D) are the style of line (or Line Type if you are an AutoCAD user too) that you can assign to a Line Style (C).  You can create Line Patterns by selecting the Line Pattern icon as shown above.

Once selected pick New and create a New Pattern and give it a descriptive name.

Fill in the Pattern Properties chart using Dash, Dot and Spaces.  

Note: you need to end with a space and you need a space after each Dash or Dot segment.

Give descriptive names to your line styles, this will make it easier to identify. You can vary the length of each segment and use any combination of the three to create your Line Pattern. The Dot's do not require a value as they are all drawn at 1.5 points.

The value given to the Dashes and Spaces are the printed lengths regardless of the scale that your view is set to. Revit will manage your linetype scale for you.  Once you’re happy with your line, click OK, it will appear in your Line Patterns.

Line Styles

Now you have created your custom Line Pattern you can now assign this to a Line Style.  As before, go to the Manage Tab (A) and select Line Styles (C) and your custom line will be there.

Select the Line Style Icon under the Additional Settings drop-down and create a new Line Style. Then from the Line Pattern drop down you'll be able to find the new Line Pattern you just created.

Don't forget to also assign a line weight to your new Style.