If a printed structural drawing shows the cut outline of a beam as thin as a dimension line, nobody on site can tell concrete from reinforcement from annotation.
Line weights in Revit are not set through a colour-based pen table as in AutoCAD. Revit gives every category a line weight number, then looks up the width of that number for the view scale. This article walks fifteen steps in Revit 2027: read the weight table, build a line style, raise the cut weight of beams, compare the same sheet before and after, then export a PDF and measure the lines in the file. For the full path from model to printed set, the Institute runs a Revit Structure course.
Line weights in Revit are set in four places
A line on a drawing takes its width from the four places below, each one overriding the one before.
| Where | What it decides | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Line Weights | How many millimetres numbers 1 to 16 are at each scale | Whole project |
| Object Styles | Which number, colour and pattern each category uses | Whole project |
| Visibility/Graphics | Overrides for one view | One view |
| Filter | Overrides for a group of elements in a view | One view |
Line Patterns and Line Styles sit beside this chain: Line Patterns define the shape of dashed lines, Line Styles are the line types used when drafting with Detail Line.
Before you change line weights
You need a project with a few sheets that already carry views, ideally a beam detail sheet with 1:20 sections. Every change here is project-wide, so try it on a copy first and only then move it into your office template. Building the sheet set is covered in structural drawing sets in Revit, and overriding lines for a group of elements in filters in Revit.
This article is part of the Institute's Revit Structure series.
Line weight table: widths by scale
Step 1 — Open Manage › Additional Settings
On the Manage tab, Settings panel, click the arrow under Additional Settings.
The menu has eight items. The first three are the subject here: Line Styles, Line Weights, Line Patterns. The other five are Sheet Issues/Revisions, Fill Patterns, Annotations, Halftone / Underlay and Sun Settings.
Step 2 — Read the Model Line Weights table
Choose Line Weights. The dialog opens on the Model Line Weights tab.
The table has 16 numbers and six scale columns. Read a row across: number 5 is 1.0 mm at 1:10, 0.8 mm at 1:20 and 1:50, 0.5 mm at 1:100 and 0.35 mm at 1:200. The smaller the scale, the thinner the same number, so that a general plan does not turn black.
According to Autodesk's Specify Line Weights, each column applies to its own scale and larger scales up to the next column. A 1:40 view therefore reads the 1:50 column.
Step 3 — Look at the Perspective and Annotation tabs
These two tabs have a single column of 16 values from 0.10 mm to 10.0 mm. The Annotation Line Weights tab states that annotation such as section marks and dimensions is independent of view scale. Text and dimension arrows print the same whether the view is 1:20 or 1:100.
Step 4 — Edit the table only in your template
Click a cell to type a new width; Add… adds a scale column, Delete removes the selected one. Changing one cell changes every drawing in the project, so do it in the office template before a project starts. On a live project, click Cancel.
Line patterns and line style in Revit
Step 5 — Open Line Patterns
Back in Additional Settings, choose Line Patterns.
The sample model splits the list in two. The @BS- group, with Center, Dash, Demolished, Hidden and Rebar Cover Lines, is the office's own set. The AEC_ group is the shared set. With a prefix of your own you can tell your patterns apart in any foreign file.
Step 6 — Read the Dash, Dot and Space sequence
Select @BS-Rebar Cover Lines and click Edit….
Line Pattern Properties defines a sequence of Dash, Dot and Space repeated along the line. The rebar cover pattern has two rows: a 1.6002 mm dash and a 1.6002 mm space. The dialog also notes that a dot is drawn as a 1.5 pt dash. A pattern defines shape only, never width.
Step 7 — Open Line Styles and expand Lines
Close the dialog, go to Additional Settings › Line Styles and click the plus sign in front of Lines.
Each line style combines three things: a weight number in the Projection column, a colour and a pattern. The root Lines row uses number 1, colour RGB 000-166-000 and Solid. The sample model already has its own styles, such as CỐT THÉP with number 3 in red and NÉT TRỤC with number 1 and a Center pattern.
Step 8 — Create a new line style
Click New under Modify Subcategories.
New Subcategory asks only for a name and a parent. Type KC-Tim coc for pile centre lines, keep Subcategory of at Lines, and click OK.
Step 9 — Assign a weight and a pattern
The new row appears with the defaults: number 1, Black, Solid.
Click the Line Weight cell and pick 3, click the Line Pattern cell and pick @BS-Center, then OK. Any Detail Line drawn with this style now prints as a centre line at weight 3 at every scale. Note that Line Styles control drafted lines only; beams, columns and foundations come next.
Object Styles for beams, columns and foundations
Step 10 — Filter the structural categories
Go to Manage › Object Styles. On the Model Objects tab, type Structural in Category name search.
Unlike Line Styles, Object Styles has two weight columns. Projection is for what you see beyond, Cut for what the cut plane passes through. In the sample model Structural Columns, Structural Foundations and Structural Framing all use Projection 2 and Cut 3. Foundations also carry subcategories such as @TN-Net truc in blue with the @BS-Center pattern.
Step 11 — Raise the beam cut weight
Type Structural Framing in the search box so only that group remains. Click the Cut cell of the Structural Framing row, pick 6, then OK.
At 1:20, number 3 is 0.35 mm and number 6 is 1.0 mm. That is the difference between a concrete outline that reads like annotation and one that reads as a section at a glance.
Check the sheet and export PDF from Revit
Step 12 — Turn off Thin Lines
Open the sheet to check, here KC-03.1. On the View tab, Graphics panel, look at Thin Lines; the shortcut is TL.
While the button is on, Revit draws every line one pixel wide for easier modelling, and no weight change shows on screen. Turn it off and the screen draws real widths.
Step 13 — Compare the same sheet before and after
The beam outline thickens at once, while rebar, dimensions and tags stay the same because they belong to other categories. The slab on either side keeps its old weight because it is in the Floors category.
Step 14 — Export PDF at 100 % zoom
Go to File › Export › PDF.
Choose Current window to export the open sheet, set Location, choose Zoom 100 instead of Fit to Page so the printed widths match the table, and keep Vector Processing. Click Export and Revit asks Save Settings; answer No if you do not want the settings stored in the project. Export in background is ticked, so Revit shows Background Task Initiating… and exports on a background process. When it finishes, a notice PDF Export for 'zz_K2' complete with a View Files link appears at the lower right.
Step 15 — Open the PDF and measure the lines
The file is one 420 × 300 mm page. Counting stroke widths in the file gives six values: mostly 0.10 mm with close to seven thousand lines, then 0.18 mm, 0.35 mm, and 39 lines at 1.0 mm. Those 39 lines are cut beam outlines, matching number 6 in the 1:20 and 1:50 columns. The 1:40 beam elevation also comes out at 1.0 mm because it reads the 1:50 column, as in step 2.
From CAD pen tables to Revit
AutoCAD users often look for a pen table to load. In CAD the width follows the colour through a plot style table, as described in plot line weights in CAD. Revit has no such table: colour is only for display, and width follows the number of each category and changes with scale. One rule makes the switch easier: to thicken one kind of element, change its number in Object Styles; to thicken the whole system, change the Line Weights table. When you must deliver DWG, the line mapping sits in the export dialog, see exporting Revit drawings to CAD.
When it does not work
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Weight changes do not show on screen | Thin Lines is on | Turn it off with View › Thin Lines or type TL |
| One view ignores an Object Styles change | The view overrides lines in Visibility/Graphics or a filter | Open that view's Visibility/Graphics and remove the override |
| A line style change does not thicken beams | Line Styles apply to drafted lines only | Change Cut or Projection in Object Styles |
| The PDF lines are thinner than the table | Fit to Page shrank the sheet | Use Zoom 100 % |
| Object Styles shows odd values right after typing a search | The list has not finished filtering | Wait a few seconds for the table to redraw before clicking a cell |
Five common misconceptions about line weights
| What people say | What Revit 2027 actually does |
|---|---|
| Revit prints by colour like a CAD pen table | Width follows the weight number; colour does not set width |
| A weight number always has one fixed width | Model weight numbers change width by scale column |
| Line Styles control beam and column lines | They control Detail Line and Model Line only; elements use Object Styles |
| A 1:40 view takes the 1:20 width because it is closer | Revit uses the 1:50 column; each column covers larger scales up to the next |
| What you see on screen is what prints | Not with Thin Lines on; turn it off or check the PDF |
In short, line weights in Revit are a table of numbers by scale plus a table assigning numbers to categories; get those two right and the PDF prints correctly without touching sheets one by one.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I set print line weights in Revit?
In Manage › Additional Settings › Line Weights for the width of each number, and in Manage › Object Styles for the number each category uses.
How many line weights does Revit have?
Sixteen, on all three tabs: Model, Perspective and Annotation. The Model tab adds scale columns; the sample model uses six, from 1:10 to 1:500.
Why is the beam cut line heavier than the projection line?
Because Object Styles has separate Cut and Projection columns. The sample model uses Cut 3 and Projection 2, so the cut part prints darker.
Does PDF export from Revit keep true line widths?
Yes, with Vector Processing and 100 % zoom. The test file in this article measured beam outlines at exactly 1.0 mm, as in the table.
Do I need a virtual PDF printer?
No. Revit 2027 exports directly with File › Export › PDF.