Matchline Revit – Everything you need to know

The Matchline in Autodesk Revit is a less-known feature but is a great way to show where a view is split. As Revit users, we often encounter situations where we are unable to fit an entire building on a single sheet. The Matchline function provides a solution to this by indicating where we split large projects into smaller sections while maintaining a common scale.

Adding a Matchline to a primary view will show where the new view splits off. Additionally, it is possible to add some View References next to the Matchline which will indicate on what other sheet the split-off view is placed. With this method, we can create professional-looking construction documents.

In this article, we are going to take a look at what a Matchline is, how to create a Matchline, and add some View References to it.

What is a Matchline in Revit?

A Matchline in Revit is an annotative line that we can use to indicate where a building is split. On large buildings that cannot fit entirely on a sheet, splitting them into multiple views and sheets is mostly necessary if you do not want to change the scale. To ensure that these sheets and views look professional and well organized, we can add Matchlines with View References.

The Matchline can be visually changed with the Object Styles settings in Revit and the Visibility/Graphic Overrides or View Template Settings. You can read more about it here.

Note

Did you also know that you can use a Revit Break line to truncate or break specific parts in a detail drawing? For more details, please refer to this article: How to Add a Revit Break Line.

Before we continue on how to set up a Matchline in Revit, let’s talk about the different properties these Matchline have. The properties only exist of Instance Properties which are explained in the table below.

Instance Properties Matchline Revit

Note

Matchline Instance Properties are unavaible in any elevation or section view. This is because the top and bottom level constraints do not apply to these view types.

Setting up views with a Matchline

Before we can add a Matchline we have to prepare the views to split for the sheets. The primary view (total view) is mainly used as an overall view to input all information, tags, measurements, etc. Afterward, we can split it by duplicating it into several required dependent views, which will look at the primary view.

Please note that you don’t always have to duplicate your views as Dependent, but it can definitely save you a lot of work afterward.

Preparing Views

To prepare your views to split follow the steps below:

1. Right-click on the view in the Project Browser you wish to split
2. Hover over Duplicate View
3. Select Duplicate as a Dependent > Repeat this step as many times as needed
4. Rename the dependent views to keep them organized (for example, Level 1_left, Level 1_right)

5. Open each of the dependent views > Make Crop Region Visible (if not visible) > Crop the views to your requirements by dragging the blue dots of the boundaries
6. When finished you can optionally turn off the Crop Region Visible again.

Tip

You can convert a dependent view into a independent view whenever needed, by right-clicking the view in the Project Browser.

Add a Matchline in Revit

Now that you have prepared the views in Revit, you can continue to add a Matchline to the primary view. You can add this Matchline at the location where you just have split the views. Note that you have the flexibility to draw the Matchline in any form that you prefer, ensuring that it clearly indicates where and how the view is split.

To draw a Matchline follow the steps below:

1. Open the primary view from which you created dependent views
2. Open the View tab > Sheet Composition panel
3. Click on Matchline
4. Draw a Matchline to show where you split the view

5. Set a Bottom and Top Constraint with an optional Offset
6. Click on Finish Edit Mode

Note

To make the crop regions visible, click the Show Crop Region option on the View Control Bar or Properties Browser. Once enabled, the crop view for the primary and dependent views is visible.

Visually Change Matchline

To change the look of the Matchline, there are several ways to do this. The most common method to change the appearance of the Matchline will be through the Object Style settings. This method will override the project-wide settings.

Because a Matchline is an Annotation Object we can change the appearance with only three different options, which are:

• Line Weight
• Line Color
• Line Pattern

Object Style

1. Open the Manage tab
2. Click on Object Styles in the Settings panel > Object Styles window will open

3. In the Object Styles window click on the Annotation Objects tab
4. In the Category column search for Matchline
5. Change the appearance settings in the Line Weight, Color, and Pattern columns
6. Click OK when finished

Tip

To learn more about Line Weight and Patterns, you can check this article.

Visibility/Graphic Overrides

Additionally, if you like to change the Matchline individually for a specific view it is possible to change the appearance through the Visibility/Graphic Overrides setting (shortcut VV/VG).

1. Open the View tab
2. Click on Visibility/Graphic Overrides in the Graphics panel > Visibility/Graphic Overrides window will open

3. In the Visibility/Graphic Overrides window click on the Annotation Categories tab
4. In the Visibility column search for Matchline > Click on Override… in the Projection/Surface Lines column > Line Graphics window will open
5. Change the appearance settings in the Line Graphics window for the Line Weight, Color, and Pattern
6. Click OK when finished

Add View Reference

After placing the Matchline we can add some View Reference to the views. The View Reference can show two different built-in parameters, which are: Detail Number and Sheet Number. The values will only show when the views are placed on a sheet.

View Reference Family

By default, the Revit Templates have a family for the View Reference which is called: M_View Reference.rfa and can be found in the Annotation Symbols category of the Project Browser. If this is not the case, you can load in the default family by following the next steps.

1. Open the Insert tab > Load from Library panel
2. Click on Load Autodesk Family > Search for View Reference > Click on load

Optional: You can also create your own View Reference tag by creating a new family: Metric Generic Tag.rft, don’t forget to change the Category to View Reference before placing the labels.

Place View Reference on View

With the tag family prepared you can place the View Reference on View and link them to each other by following the next steps.

1. Activate the Viewport
2. Open the View tab > Sheet Composition panel
3. Click on View Reference

4. Choose a type from the View Reference tag in the Properties Browser
5. In the Modify | View Reference tab, choose View Type and Target View for linking to its reference
6. Place the View Reference inside the view

To change the Detail Number (A) parameter click on the viewport > Properties Browser > Detail Number > Change to anything you like.

After placing the View References, you can interact by double-clicking on them. Notice that it will open the view that you have linked to.

Wrapping Up

Matchline in Revit is a useful but less-known feature in Revit, which you can use to indicate where you split large projects into smaller sections. The Matchline can be visually changed to any Color, Line Pattern, and Line Weight. You can also include some View Reference next to the Matchline to show where the split-off view is located on other sheets. This method allows you to create professional-looking documents.

I hope this article helped you to understand the Matchline feature in Autodesk Revit. If you have any questions, just drop a comment below.