Revit Line Weights: How to Set, Change and Fix Them
Revit line weights are controlled in three separate places: the numbered pen widths (Manage > Additional Settings > Line Weights), the pen number each category uses (Manage > Object Styles), and view-level overrides (Visibility/Graphics). Change the wrong one and nothing seems to happen. This guide shows what each control does, the order to work in, and how to find out why a change is not showing on your sheet.
TL;DR
Revit has 16 numbered line weights. You define what each number prints as, then assign numbers to categories.
Use Object Styles for project-wide changes and Visibility/Graphics for a single view only.
Most “it didn’t change” problems come from Thin Lines, a view override, a filter, a phase override, or cut vs projection classification.
Set your hierarchy once, save it in the template, and test it as a PDF at the real print scale.
Table of Contents
What line weights are in Revit
In architecture, line weight is the thickness of a line on the printed drawing. It tells the reader what matters: cut walls are heavy, elements beyond the cut are lighter, hatching and dimensions are fine. A drawing where everything has the same weight reads as a grey tangle.
Revit handles this with numbers. Instead of giving each object a millimetre width, you give it a pen number from 1 to 16, and a separate table says what each number prints as. Change the table and every object using that number changes with it. That indirection is what lets one office standard produce consistent drawings across dozens of projects.
Autodesk also treats weight as only one part of a line style, alongside colour and pattern. A readable set depends on all three working together, not on making important things thicker.
The three controls people confuse
Before changing anything, be clear about which job each dialog does:
Control | Where | What it does |
Line Weights | Manage > Additional Settings > Line Weights | Defines the printed width of each pen number 1 to 16 |
Object Styles | Manage > Object Styles | Assigns pen numbers (and colour and pattern) to each category, project-wide |
Line Styles | Manage > Additional Settings > Line Styles | Combines weight, colour and pattern for line-based elements |
This separation is the practitioner’s view of how Autodesk’s line style documentation fits together. Editing a single category’s pen number does nothing useful if the pen table itself prints every number at nearly the same width.
Step 1: Define what each pen number prints as
Open Manage > Additional Settings > Line Weights. You will see three tabs: model, perspective and annotation lines. Per Autodesk’s documentation, each uses its own table.
The model tab is scale-dependent, which surprises many people. Autodesk’s example gives model line weight 5 a width of 0.5 mm at 1:100 and 0.7 mm at 1:50, with the 0.5 mm value covering scales from 1:100 through 1:51. So a pen number prints differently at different view scales, which is useful: a 1:50 detail can carry slightly heavier lines than a 1:200 plan from the same numbers. The perspective and annotation tables are not scale-dependent.
A practical pen ladder
There is no single correct set of widths. Offices follow their own standard, so check yours first. If you are building from scratch, a ladder like this keeps the steps visible on paper:
Pens 1 to 2: fine lines for hatching, tiles and furniture detail.
Pens 3 to 4: general projected geometry, doors, windows, fixtures.
Pens 5 to 6: medium lines for important edges.
Pens 7 and above: cut elements such as walls and floors in section.
The exact millimetre values are your call. What matters is that neighbouring numbers are distinguishable when printed, not just on screen. Test them: print a PDF at A1 or A3 and look at it at arm’s length.
Because the table has scale rows, adjust each scale you actually print at. In Ireland that typically means 1:100 and 1:50 for plans, and 1:20, 1:10 or 1:5 for details, but your office practice decides.
Step 2: Assign pen numbers to categories with Object Styles
This is the project-wide step. As Autodesk describes it, go to Manage > Object Styles, choose Model Objects, Annotation Objects or Imported Objects, then edit the projection line weight and, where the category has one, the cut line weight. Colour, pattern and, in some categories, material are controlled here too.
A sensible starting hierarchy for an architectural plan:
Walls, cut: heaviest pen in the plan.
Floors and structure, cut: heavy, one step below walls if you want walls to dominate.
Doors and windows, projection: medium.
Furniture, casework, fixtures: light.
Hatching and patterns: lightest.
Dimensions and text: annotation table, usually fine to medium.
Expand a category with the small arrow to reach subcategories. A door has separate subcategories for frame, panel and swing, so you can lighten the swing arc without touching the leaf.
Cut vs projection: why one category needs two weights
Most inconsistent plans come from here, not from broken settings. Autodesk explains that an element which intersects the cut plane uses its cut weight, and one that does not uses projection weight.
In plan views, the view range decides which is which. Per Autodesk’s view range documentation, elements crossing the cut plane generally use cut weight, elements below it use projection weight, and elements in view depth can use a line style. The same page notes an exception: unconnected walls shorter than 2 metres may display as projection even when they intersect the cut plane.
So if one wall in a plan looks thin while its neighbours are heavy, check three things before touching a pen number:
Is the wall actually crossing the cut plane? Open View Range and check the cut plane height.
Is it a short, unconnected wall segment (under 2 metres)?
Does the view have an override applied to that element?
Step 3: Override a single view with Visibility/Graphics
Object Styles changes everything in the project. When one view needs a different hierarchy, use view overrides instead. Open View > Graphics > Visibility/Graphics (or type VG), pick the category, and edit its projection/surface or cut line overrides, as Autodesk documents.
Good reasons for a view override:
A presentation plan where walls need to be bolder than on your working drawings.
A coordination view where one discipline is greyed back.
A ceiling plan where you want the structure lighter.
Filters go further, overriding selected elements rather than a whole category. Imported and annotation categories have different override controls from model categories, so do not expect identical options everywhere. If you use overrides heavily, audit them periodically; our 5-step graphic overrides audit shows how to find the ones quietly fighting your standards.
Step 4: Make custom line styles
Some lines are not categories: detail lines, area boundaries, linework you draw by hand. For those, use line styles. Go to Manage > Additional Settings > Line Styles > New, name it, then assign a line weight, colour and pattern, as Autodesk explains.
Two details worth knowing:
Default system styles in angle brackets, such as <Hidden>, cannot be deleted or renamed, though you can edit how they look.
Custom styles can be applied to individual edges with the Linework tool.
A naming habit that saves time: put the pen number in the style name, for example “Detail 3 - Dashed”. Anyone opening your file can see the intent without opening dialogs.
The same discipline of a clear line hierarchy matters whenever drawings go beyond the design team. On fabrication-ready shop drawings, for instance, readers rely on weight and pattern to tell edges, hidden parts and dimensions apart at a glance.
Why your line weight change is not showing
When a change appears to do nothing, work through this order. Autodesk’s support article on modifying line weights points to the same suspects.
Thin Lines is on. It displays every line at hairline width regardless of settings. Turn it off to see true thickness.
View overrides. Open VG and check the category, including any filter tab. Overrides specific to the view beat Object Styles.
Filters. A filter can override the elements you are editing, and filters sit above category settings in the VG dialog.
Phase graphic overrides. Existing, demolished and new elements can each have their own graphics settings.
Cut or projection. You may have edited the wrong one. Check which applies using the view range.
Scale. Model line weights depend on the view scale, so a pen that looks right at 1:50 may look thin at 1:100.
Wrong pen table. You edited the annotation tab when the element uses the model tab.
If the screen looks right but the PDF does not, check the print settings. Test output at the intended scale before issuing, which Autodesk University’s guidance also treats as a necessary check, not an optional one.
Put your line weights in the template
Setting all this up per project is wasted effort. Autodesk University recommends treating line settings as project-wide standards saved in the Revit template, and its 2023 guidance names Transfer Project Standards as a way to copy line settings between existing projects. It is a workflow recommendation, not a Revit rule, but it works: define the hierarchy once, then reserve view overrides for deliberate exceptions.
If you are building or tidying a template, see our Revit template setup governance checklist. Dimension styling belongs in the same standard, and our guide to Revit dimension types covers it.
What we do on our own projects
We teach line weights as a hierarchy problem before a settings problem. Students often open Object Styles and start making things thicker until the drawing looks “strong”. Then the sheet comes out flat, because everything is heavy.
Our approach, from running project-based Revit training with Autodesk Certified Trainer experience:
Decide the three or four tiers on paper first: cut, major projection, minor projection, fine detail.
Map those tiers to pen numbers, then set the widths in the Line Weights dialog.
Only then touch categories in Object Styles.
Print a test sheet before any real deadline. Screen zoom lies about line weight.
Treat every view override as a small debt. If you find yourself overriding the same category on every sheet, the fix belongs in Object Styles or the template.
The habit that separates tidy offices from messy ones is not clever settings. It is having one agreed standard and keeping it in the template, so nobody invents a new one on a Friday afternoon.
— Steve
Line weights in AutoCAD, briefly
Many Irish practices run Revit alongside AutoCAD, and the logic differs. In AutoCAD you change a layer’s lineweight through Home > Layers > Layer Properties Manager, then select the layer’s Lineweight value and choose a fixed width. Objects set to ByLayer inherit it, while an object-level property can override the layer. The default lineweight plots at 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) according to Autodesk’s documentation.
For plotted output, a plot style can take over. Autodesk states that plot-style lineweight overrides the object’s lineweight at plot time. In colour-dependent plot style drawings you cannot assign a named plot style per layer, so layer colour becomes the plotting control.
If you work this way, our AutoCAD layer standards guide and the guide to AutoCAD drawing standards show how to organise layers so lineweights stay consistent.
Learn it on a real project
Reading about pen tables only gets you so far. Line weights make sense once you set them up on a live set of drawings and print them. Our Revit Course Only is €79 one-off and takes you from beginner to advanced through project-based lessons, with trainer support, lifetime access to materials, and certificates included. If you are new to the software, the Revit Introduction is €20 one-off. Our positioning includes a money-back guarantee, so you can start without much risk.
FAQ
How do I change line thickness in Revit?
For the whole project, go to Manage > Object Styles and edit the projection or cut line weight of the category. For one view only, use Visibility/Graphics and override the category there. If you need to change what a pen number prints as, edit Manage > Additional Settings > Line Weights.
How many line weights does Revit have?
Revit supports 16 numbered line weights. Each number has a printed width you define, and model lines use scale-dependent values while perspective and annotation lines do not.
Why do my Revit lines all look the same thickness?
The usual cause is Thin Lines being switched on, which shows everything at hairline width. If it is off, check that your pen numbers are set to clearly different widths and that no view override or filter is flattening them.
How do I make a custom line type in Revit?
Open Manage > Additional Settings > Line Styles and choose New. Name the style, then set its line weight, colour and pattern. You can apply it to individual edges with the Linework tool.
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