Learning how to create a section in Revit means learning to take a drawing out of the model rather than draw it again. Place one section line in a plan and Revit builds a new view, and that view updates every time the model changes.
This article follows the order you actually work in, with screenshots of the English interface. To learn modelling and documentation end to end, see the Revit Architecture course.
Sections, elevations and callouts: what differs
The tools that create views all sit on one panel.
| Tool | What it creates |
|---|---|
| Section | A section. A horizontal look through a cut plane that you place |
| Elevation | An elevation. A look from outside, or at one wall inside a room |
| Callout | An enlarged view of part of another view |
| 3D View | A three-dimensional view, orthographic or perspective |
| Plan Views | Floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, structural plans |
| Drafting View | A standalone drawing view that does not look at the model |
Start the Section tool, open the Type Selector and three types appear. Building Section cuts the whole building, Wall Section cuts one stretch of wall, and Detail View is for details. The first two land in the Sections branch of the Project Browser, the third in Detail Views.
Step 1 — create a section in Revit with the Section tool
The heart of how to create a section in Revit is five steps, and they work from a plan, an elevation, another section or a callout.
- Open the view where the section line belongs.
- Click View › Create › Section and pick a type in the Type Selector.
- Click the start point, drag across the building, click the end point. The section line and its crop region appear, already selected.
- Drag the blue controls until the crop region holds exactly what you want to show.
- Click Modify or press Esc to leave the tool.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section head | The bubble with the view number. Double-click it to open the section |
| 2 | Cycle control | Cycles through the head and tail symbols loaded in the project |
| 3 | Section tail | The other end of the line |
| 4 | Flip control | Two arrows. One click turns the section to look the other way |
| 5 | Break control | Breaks the middle of the line so the drawing reads better. The section itself does not change |
| 6 | Width control | Decides how much of the building falls inside the section |
| 7 | Depth control | The far edge of the crop region, that is the far clip plane |
The direction you draw in is the direction the section looks. Autodesk sets out the same steps on Create a Section View.
Step 2 — open the section and set the view depth
Three ways to open a section: double-click the head, double-click the name in the Project Browser, or right-click the head and choose Go to View.
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Go to View | Opens that section |
| Flip Section | Turns the view direction without redrawing |
| Find Referring Views | Lists the views that refer to it |
| Open Sheet | Opens the sheet holding the section. Greyed out while it is on no sheet |
| Hide in View | Hides the tag in the current view only |
Once inside the section, the Properties palette holds everything else.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crop Region Visible, Annotation Crop | Show or hide the crop boundaries. Leave one on and a stray rectangle prints |
| 2 | Far Clipping, Far Clip Offset | The depth clipping mode, and the distance from the line to the far clip plane |
| 3 | View Name | The name in the Project Browser |
| 4 | Title on Sheet | The caption printed under the view once it is on a sheet |
Click the Far Clipping value and a small dialog offers three options.
| No. | Option | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | No clip | No clipping. Everything behind shows, the neighbouring building included |
| 2 | Clip without line | Clips at the Far Clip Offset and draws no line there |
| 3 | Clip with line | Clips and draws a line right at the far clip plane |
A new section that comes out empty is almost always these two settings, as Autodesk's Cut by the Far Clip Plane page explains.
Create a jogged section in Revit
Select the section line and the ribbon changes to a contextual tab with three buttons worth knowing.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reference Other View | Places a tag that points at an existing view instead of creating one |
| Size Crop | Types exact sizes for the crop region instead of dragging |
| Split Segment | Jogs the section line into several segments |
Every segment of a jogged line shares one far clip plane, so the depth stays a single number. Drag the segments back in line and they merge into a straight line again. The same tool works on elevations.
Name section views in Revit and read the tag
View names decide whether the Project Browser can be read at all. The table below is a convention that works straight away on housing projects.
| View type | Naming |
|---|---|
| Sections | MC-A-A, MC-B-B |
| Elevations | MD-TRUC-1-4, MD-TRUC-A-C, named by grid rather than by compass point |
| Callouts | CT-THANG-01, CT-VS-01 |
Do not give a view the same name as its caption on the sheet. View Name is the name in the browser, Title on Sheet is the text printed under the view. Split the two and the browser stays short while the sheet still carries a full caption.
Detail Number and Sheet Number cannot be typed. Revit fills them in when the section lands on a sheet, so the head itself tells you which sheet the section is on. Revit draws heads to the American convention; reshaping them to a local standard is covered in hatch and 2D detailing in Revit.
The last two causes belong to the view display system, covered in how to hide elements in Revit.
Create elevation views in Revit and callouts
The template ships with four exterior elevations. To add more, interior elevations included, follow four steps.
- Open a plan and click View › Create › Elevation.
- Move the cursor near the wall you want to see and click. The tag snaps square to the wall.
- Click the body of the tag and tick the extra directions you need.
- Click an arrowhead to show the clip plane, then drag its ends to the width you want to draw.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrowhead | Each arrow is one elevation view. Double-click it to open the view |
| 2 | Four check boxes | Tick a box and Revit creates another elevation looking that way |
| 3 | Tag body | Select it to move the whole tag |
| 4 | Rotation control | Turns the tag to line up with an angled wall |
The Callout tool draws a rectangle on the current view and enlarges what is inside it. Drag two opposite corners and double-click the head to open the new view.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Callout boundary | Drag the blue controls to resize it after it exists |
| 2 | Callout head | Double-click to open the enlarged view |
| 3 | Leader | Drag it to move the head into clear space |
The Type Selector of the Callout tool offers two families of types. Pick Detail View and the new view lands in Detail Views and accepts 2D detailing. Pick the type of the parent view and a callout of a plan stays a plan. The Far Clip Settings of a callout reads Same as parent view by default, so it inherits the depth of its parent.
Create a 3D section in Revit with a section box
A three-dimensional section does not use the Section tool. It is a 3D view trimmed by a box.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section Box | The check box that turns the box on. A box then encloses the model |
| 2 | Camera group | Projection Mode picks orthographic or perspective, with eye and target elevations |
- Open a 3D view, tick Section Box, then click Apply.
- Click an edge of the box to select it. Each face shows a pair of arrows.
- Drag the arrow of the face you want to cut inwards, then orbit to look into the cut.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Front face arrow | Drag it and the whole face moves inwards |
| 2 | Top face arrow | Drag it down to cut through roof and walls |
| 3 | Box edge | Click an edge to select the box. The status bar reads Section Boxes |
Pull too far and the building vanishes; pull back and it returns. A section box only hides, it never deletes, and it belongs to one view.
To make the box match an existing section, right-click the ViewCube, choose Orient to a View and pick the section by name. Switch Projection Mode to Perspective and the result is a section perspective.
Try it: a set of sections and elevations for a house
A view set for the drawing package. Work on the house model you have already built.
- Open the ground floor plan. Click View › Create › Section and choose Building Section.
- Place a line across the whole house. Click the flip control if it looks the wrong way.
- Drag the depth control until the crop region holds the building and no garden.
- Place a second line the long way, through the stair.
- If that line runs into the bathroom, click Split Segment and offset one part of it.
- In the Project Browser, right-click each section, choose Rename, and use MC-A-A and MC-B-B.
- Fill Title on Sheet with MẶT CẮT A-A and MẶT CẮT B-B.
- Rename the four default elevations by grid, for example MD-TRUC-1-4 for the one along the numbered grids.
- Open MC-A-A, set the scale to 1:50 and the detail level to Fine. Layer build-ups appear at this point.
- On MC-B-B click Callout, drag a box around the stair, rename it CT-THANG-01 and save.
Check your work by opening all four new views. If something is missing, look at the view depth first and only then at hidden elements.
Frequently asked questions
How do I export a Revit section to CAD?
Open the section, then File, Export, CAD Formats. The steps and the four tabs to check are in exporting Revit drawings to CAD.
My new section is blank, with no walls at all?
The crop region is too narrow or the depth too short. Drag the width and depth controls again, or set Far Clipping to No clip to test.
Does the Section tool have a default keyboard shortcut?
No. Assign one to it the way the Revit keyboard shortcuts article describes.
My section shows no layers inside walls and floors?
The detail level is Coarse or Medium. Switch it to Fine, and see how to create floors in Revit.
Related articles
- Hatch and 2D detailing in Revit — section tags to a local drawing standard
- Dimensions in Revit — dimensions and spot levels on a section
- Exporting Revit drawings to CAD — sending a section out as DWG
- Revit keyboard shortcuts — giving the Section and Callout tools a key
- How to hide elements in Revit — Visibility/Graphics, view range and view templates