Office standard line styles all start with a non alphanumeric character. This is to easily distinguish them from Revit standard line styles and line styles from imports.
Description vs Used For
There are two ways of naming Line Styles. A name that:
describes the line pattern literally (e.g. Solid-Pen 4)
describes what the line pattern is used for (e.g. Below)
Both uses are valid.
If the Line style is always used for a particular purpose, and you may want to globally change it later, then using a Line Style based on use is best. Otherwise it is helpful to everyone if the name describes what it is.
Line Styles Named by Use
Line Styles whose names are based on what they are used for just use ordinary words.
Line Style named on what they are used for always begin with an asterisk (*). This ensures they list together and are distinguishable from rubbish brought in by families.
The names should generally follow these rules:
Must have an asterisk as prefix.
Put most important information to the left, with importance diminishing towards the right.
(e.g. use Sewer-main, NOT Main Sewer)
Don't make the name too long. It is not helpful if the names is wider than the dialog box it appears in.
Be literal – the name should be understandable by anyone.
For example:
Line Styles Named by Description
Where:
For example:
Line patterns are similar to AutoCAD linestyles, but are restricted to only dash and dot type patterns. Line Patterns only exist within a Revit file (i.e. not as a shared separate file like AutoCAD). Additional Line Patterns can be created within Revit, or imported from another Revit file using Transfer Project Standards.
Description vs Used For
There are two ways of naming Line Patterns. A name that:
describes the line pattern literally (e.g. Dash)
describes what the line pattern is used for (e.g. Below)
Both uses are valid.
If the patterns is always used for a particular purpose, and you may want to globally change it later, then using a Line Pattern based on use is best. Otherwise it is helpful to everyone if the name describes what it is.
Line Patterns Named by Use
These are Line Patterns whose names are based on what they are used for just use ordinary words.
Line Patterns named on what they are used for always begin with an asterisk (*). This ensures they list together and are distinguishable from rubbish brought in by families.
The names should generally follow these rules:
Must have an asterisk as prefix.
Put most important information to the left, with importance diminishing towards the right.
(e.g. use Sewer-main, not Main Sewer)
Don't make the name too long. It is not helpful if the names is wider than the dialog box it appears in.
Be literal – the name should be understandable by anyone.
For example:
Line Patterns named by Description
Line Patterns named on what they are always begin with an dash (-). This ensures above rubbish that comes in with families.
The names should generally follow these rules:
Must have a full stop (.) as prefix.
Put most important information to the left, with importance diminishing towards the right.
(e.g. use .Dash-long, not .Long Dash)
Make sure all of the same type of object are named the same, (e.g. use .Border or .DashDashDot, but not both.)
Be literal – the name should be understandable by anyone.
Unusual patterns can be given literal descriptions. e.g. .DashDotDotDot
Name Format
.type
description
size
Where:
For example:
Fill Patterns are similar to AutoCAD hatches. In fact you can turn AutoCAD hatch patterns into Revit Fill Patterns with some simple editing in notepad. Simple fill patterns can be made within a Revit file, or patterns can be imported from an edited AutoCAD hatch file (.pat). Fill Patterns can also be imported from another Revit file using Transfer Project Standards.
There are two types of Fill patterns; Model and Drafting.
Model Fill Patterns are used to apply a surface pattern that appears in all views, including 3D. Their size is in real world units. So a 300mm model fill pattern will scale to depending on the scale of the view it appears in (3mm at 1:100, 6mm at 1:50).
Drafting Fill Patterns are used for 2D patterns, typically where materials are cut. Drafting patterns are sized according the scale of the view they appear in. So a 3mm drafting fill pattern will always be 3mm no matter what scale the view is.
The same pattern (e.g. Concrete) can exist as both a Model and Drafting pattern, but need to be imported twice, once as a Model pattern, then as a Drafting pattern.
Description vs Used For
There are two ways of naming Fill Patterns. A name that:
describes the fill pattern literally (e.g. Horizontal 3.0)
describes what the fill pattern is used for (e.g. Foyer Floor)
Both uses are valid.
If the patterns is always used for a particular purpose, and you may want to globally change it later, then using a Fill Pattern based on use is best. Otherwise it is helpful to everyone if the name describes what it is.
Fill Patterns Named by Use
Fill Patterns whose names are based on what they are used for just use ordinary words.
Fill Patterns named on what they are used for always begin with an asterisk (*). This ensures they list together and are distinguishable from rubbish brought in by families.
The names should generally follow these rules:
Must have an asterisk as prefix.
Put most important information to the left, with importance diminishing towards the right.
(e.g. use Ceramic Tiles, wall, not Wall ceramic tiles)
Don't make the name too long. It is not helpful if the names is wider than the dialog box it appears in.
Be literal – the name should be understandable by anyone.
For example:
Fill Patterns named by Description
Fill Patterns named on what they are used for always begin with a full stop (.). This ensures they list together and are distinguishable from rubbish brought in by families.
Fill Pattern names should generally follow these rules:
Must have a full stop (.) as prefix.
Put most important information to the left, with importance diminishing towards the right.
(e.g. use Square 150, not 150 Square)
Make sure all of the same type of object are named the same, (e.g. use Brick, not Brickwork or Masonry Brick.)
Be literal – the name should be understandable by anyone.
It is not necessary to include units (mm) with numbers.
When describing sizes, always do it in the order of HEIGHT then WIDTH.
Name Format
Where:
For example:
Drafting Patterns:
Model Patterns: