Filled Region Patterns in Revit: Drafting vs Model, Without a .pat File

A filled region and a material both draw a fill pattern, and Revit keeps two kinds of it: drafting and model. A pattern belongs to one kind; the same layout in the other kind is a second element. In a 2019 Autodesk forum thread a user wrote: “I’m a little shocked that it seems almost impossible to find the same patterns in both drafting and model formats.” Below: what each kind does, why a hatch may not draw, and three ways to get one layout into a project in both kinds.

Drafting or model: what changes in a filled region

Autodesk’s help says a region contains a fill pattern of one of two types: drafting patterns are based on the scale of the view, model patterns on the actual dimensions in the building model (About Filled Regions). It lists both types and restricts the region to neither.

The difference is what a distance means. A drafting pattern is symbolic, sand drawn as a stipple for example, and its density is fixed with respect to the sheet. A model pattern shows actual appearance such as brick coursing or tile, scales with the view, and its lines are in measurable units on the model (About Drafting Patterns and Model Patterns). By arithmetic, a spacing of 200 mm covers 10 m of building at 1:50 as a drafting pattern, and stays a 200 mm tile at every scale as a model pattern.

Rotating and aligning a model pattern

Autodesk’s steps: hover the pattern, press TAB until the status bar shows a shape handle, click it, then use Rotate on the Modify panel (Rotate a Model Pattern); or use the Align tool to bring a pattern line to the edge of a wall or window (Align Model Pattern Lines to Elements). Both pages speak of floors, ceilings and walls, not regions, and note that some elements, ramps for one, do not allow rotation, so test it on your own region first. The same user saw the practical side: the model version followed the roof, while “that same pattern in a drafting pattern stayed horizontal no matter how I turned the model.” (forum thread)

When the pattern does not show

A region that fills solid or blank is common: one forum thread on it holds 24 messages and 44,537 views (Filled Region PATTERN not showing). The causes named there and in Autodesk’s help:

• Visual style. A reply says that in a realistic style Revit “won’t show surface patterns”; a 2025 reply says neither kind appears there.
• Detail level. “Change the view to Medium or Fine detail level. It is currently Coarse.” One user answered “It works!”
• View filters. One reply asks whether a filter has the surface pattern box unchecked.
• Density. Zooming out makes a pattern denser until it reads as a solid fill, which Autodesk calls pattern overscaling; a 2024 reply adds that at 1:1 a hatch can look solid when it is not.

More on scale: why a pattern shows or does not.

One layout in both kinds: why a file is clumsy

Revit lists the two kinds separately, under Pattern Type in the Fill Patterns dialog, and a model and a drafting pattern can share a name in one project (measured by the Motif team in Revit 2023), so the pair is two elements. A pattern file states its kind with ;%TYPE=MODEL or ;%TYPE=DRAFTING. Our team read in Autodesk’s own revit.pat that a file with neither is taken as drafting, and in Revit 2023’s resource strings that the import keeps only patterns matching the chosen Pattern Type, otherwise answering No "Model" type patterns found. Nothing is converted.

So the usual fix is to edit the directive in a text editor, as the 2019 poster did, calling it “clunky, not to mention that there are scaling issues”. For stone patterns, he added, “there are a million values in the .pat file” and the edit was “hit and miss”. The file layout and import steps are in how Revit stores and imports fill patterns.

Three ways to put a layout into the project

1. Revit’s own dialog. Manage > Additional Settings > Fill Patterns, choose Drafting or Model, New, Basic. It makes a series of parallel or orthogonal lines (Autodesk), enough for stripes and grids, not for a herringbone.
2. A .pat file written for the kind, then New > Custom > Browse (Autodesk). Hatchy saves a library pattern as a .pat and has separate Revit model and Revit drafting entries that write the matching directive, so both kinds are two downloads. Three .pat downloads a day are free; more downloads need Hatchy Pro.
3. No file at all: the Motif add-in, below. To put the lines on a material you already have, see adding a hatch to an existing material.

Motif: both kinds straight into the project

Motif is our own Revit add-in. Under Add to Revit as, choose Fill patterns only, pick a library pattern and a Fill pattern type (Drafting, Model or Both, the default), then press Add fill patterns. No material is made; lines are drawn from the tile edges. Both gives a drafting and a model element, same name and layout. A pattern of yours is never changed: a name clash gets a numbered name and a warning. Limits: the drafting copy is drawn at paper size for the 1:N set in Settings (default 1:100), so enter the scale of the views that use it, 1:100 for a 1:100 plan, and it matches the tile at that one scale only, while the model copy keeps real size at every scale; verified on the operation level in Revit 2023 (built for Revit 2021 to 2026, tested on Revit 2023; Revit LT not tested). 3 free uses per UTC day. Details.

FAQ

Can a Revit filled region use a model pattern?
Yes. Autodesk describes a region as holding a pattern of either type and restricts it to neither. A model pattern keeps its real size as the view scale changes; a drafting pattern keeps its size on the sheet.

Why is my filled region pattern not showing?
The causes named in Autodesk Community threads are a realistic visual style, a Coarse detail level, a view filter with the surface pattern unchecked, and a pattern so dense at the view scale that it reads as solid (Autodesk calls this pattern overscaling). Check them in that order.

How do I rotate or align a model pattern?
Press TAB over the pattern until the status bar shows a shape handle, click it, then use Rotate or Align. Autodesk documents these steps for floors, ceilings and walls, and says some elements, ramps for one, do not allow rotation.

How do I convert a drafting pattern to a model pattern?
Revit does not convert it on import: the Fill Patterns dialog keeps only the patterns whose type directive matches the Pattern Type you chose. The usual route is to edit the type line of the .pat file in a text editor, or to make the pattern again in the other kind.

Does Motif make a .pat file?
No. Motif writes the fill patterns into the open Revit project. The .pat download belongs to Hatchy, which saves a library pattern as a Revit model or Revit drafting file.

Is Motif free?
3 uses per UTC day with a free 3dshouse account, asked for at the first use. One use is one press that delivers a result into the project.

Sources (opened 2026-11-07)

• Autodesk help: About Filled Regions
• Autodesk help: About Drafting Patterns and Model Patterns
• Autodesk help: Create a Basic Fill Pattern
• Autodesk help: Create a Custom Fill Pattern
• Autodesk help: Rotate a Model Pattern
• Autodesk help: Align Model Pattern Lines to Elements
• Autodesk Community: Model Patterns (2019)
• Autodesk Community: Filled Region PATTERN not showing