Revit Material Plugins Compared: Textures, Fill Patterns or Both

A Revit material does two separate jobs. The texture on its Appearance tab decides how it looks in renders and realistic views. The Surface and Cut patterns on its Graphics tab decide how it is drawn in plans, elevations and sections, and Autodesk’s help says they “do not affect the material’s appearance in rendered images” (Autodesk help). Most plugins that touch materials do one of the two. This page sorts them by which job they do, with the price and the Revit versions exactly as each vendor’s own page prints them. Every page was opened on 2026-10-28; where I could not open one, the line says so.

Disclosure: I make Motif, one of the tools below, and the Hatchy and Texturic pages linked from it. Motif gets the same fields as every other tool, limits included.

Which job do you need done?

• Texture only. You need the render look: a brick, wood or tile image on the material. A library (Architextures, Blocks, BIMcontent) or Revit’s own Material Browser covers it.
• Pattern only. You need hatch lines in plans, sections or elevations: a fill pattern editor, a generator or a ready-made .PAT file.
• Both, lined up. You want the joints in the render to sit on the joint lines of the elevation. Autodesk says Texture Alignment needs a model fill pattern on the surface pattern and “you cannot align a drafting fill pattern” (Autodesk help). So the pattern has to be a model pattern, and its size has to match the size you give the texture in the Texture Editor.

The tools side by side

Prices and versions are quoted from the pages linked in the first column, opened 2026-10-28. “Not stated on the page” means that page does not say, not that the tool lacks support.

Tool	What it makes	Price as printed	Revit versions as printed
Revit Material Browser (built in)	A material you build yourself: texture, Surface and Cut pattern	Included with Revit	Your Revit
Architextures add-in	Browse and import library materials; pattern fill hatches and bump maps for Pro accounts	Pro page: NZ$119.99 a year (add-in plan not stated)	2020 to 2027
Blocks plugin	Families and materials with render-ready textures	Free plan; paid plans exist, no amounts on the page	not stated on the page
BIMcontent.com plug-in	Manufacturer content, with material images handled	“100% FREE to use”	“version-aware”, no years
Toolbelt Material Creator	New material from a simplified interface: colour, transparency, scale, rotation	US$5.00	2019 to 2025 per a search result; not in the page text I opened (unverified)
ModPlus Material Manager	Batch-edit material properties; presets; the material display for Shading, Surface Pattern and Cut Pattern	Free	not stated on the page
ModPlus Fill patterns	Create, edit, import and export fill patterns (from drafting views, a graphical editor, .pat files)	US$7.20, licence per Revit version	2019 to 2027
pyRevit Make Pattern	Pattern from lines drawn in a drafting view, as Detail or Model	Free (open source)	not stated on the page
CADhatch Revit generator	Excel workbook that makes custom hatch patterns of any size, staggered joints included	Free	not stated on the page
learnarchitecture.net generator	Browser tool: a Revit model or drafting fill pattern, or an AutoCAD .pat	Free, no account	not stated on the page
HatchKit 4	Visual editor for CAD fill pattern files, Revit and Revit LT listed	From US$99	not stated on the page
Pattycake	Web editor for .PAT hatch patterns	Unverified	Unverified
The Student Architect packs	Ready-made model .PAT files: 171 in the library, 21 in the brick-paver pack	US$47 (library), US$9 (brick pavers)	“any version of Revit”
Draftsperson.net and Stone Curators	Free .PAT files: 300+ (Draftsperson.net), stone and paving (Stone Curators)	Free (Stone Curators: free account)	not stated on the page
Motif (ours)	One material from one library pattern: texture, Surface pattern and Cut pattern	3 free uses a day, then a one-time Pro licence	Windows; built for Revit 2021 to 2026, tested on Revit 2023

Textures and material libraries

Revit’s own Material Browser. Included with Revit. You set the image on the Appearance tab and its real size in the Texture Editor (Width and Height under Scale), and pick patterns on the Graphics tab. To share materials you send an .adsklib file; Autodesk’s sharing page (Share Materials and Material Libraries) does not mention graphics or patterns, so open a shared library on a second machine and check that the Surface and Cut patterns came with it before you rely on it.

Blocks. A Revit plugin with a library of parametric families. Its home page says it adds “realistic materials to Revit projects with one click”, with textures and physical properties. It needs an account; the plans page lists Free, Professional and Student plans, each marked “Materials with render-ready textures”, with no amounts. A Blocks post dated 2025-09-12 says “over 80 textures” (post). The pages I opened name no Revit versions and say nothing about hatches or fill patterns.

BIMcontent.com plug-in. Places manufacturer content, and handles material images: “relevant images are downloaded as content is used”, and a Get Material Images button finds the ones a teammate is missing. The page says “100% FREE to use. Development is funded by featured Product Manufacturers.” It calls the plug-in “version-aware” and lists no years.

Editing material settings

Toolbelt Material Creator. US$5.00 on the Autodesk Marketplace. The listing: “Creating new Autodesk Revit materials made simple with a custom interface that exposes the most commonly used parameters from the native Revit Material Manager”, giving access to colour, transparency, scale and rotation. The listing text I opened does not mention patterns, hatch or fill and lists no Revit versions; a search result showed version 1.25.1, updated May 22 2024, Revit 2019 to 2025, which I could not confirm on the page.

ModPlus Material Manager. Free (“It’s a free plugin!”), version 2.0.4.0 dated 24.09.2026. It batch-changes properties and parameters of several materials, duplicates materials and highlights the elements that use them, and the page says you can “configure the material display for the Shading, Surface Pattern, and Cut Pattern modes” and save presets. The page mentions no texture maps and no Revit years.

Fill pattern editors and generators

ModPlus Fill patterns. US$7.20, and the page warns the plugin “is purchased for the specified version” of Revit. Create, duplicate, edit, import and export patterns, from drafting views, a graphical editor or .pat files. Version 1.8.1.0, 22.09.2026, Revit 2019 to 2027. The page mentions no textures or materials.

pyRevit Make Pattern. pyRevit is free and open source (GPL-3.0 on its GitHub page). A 2020-01-07 walkthrough shows the tool: draw lines in a drafting view, choose Detail or Model when you name the pattern, click the origin and the top-right corner. The whole pattern has to fit inside a rectangle.

CADhatch. A free Excel workbook: “Create your own Revit custom hatch patterns of any size”, staggered joints such as brickwork included. The page does not say model or drafting and names no Revit versions.

learnarchitecture.net generator. Free, no account, and the page says the files are built in your browser with nothing uploaded. You download “an AutoCAD .pat file, as a Revit model or drafting fill pattern”. The page suggests model patterns for brick, block and tile at 50 to 500 mm, and drafting patterns for symbolic hatches. The page text read fine but the generator itself did not load in my fetch, so I did not run it.

HatchKit 4. From US$99. “Create and EDIT hatch patterns quickly, visually”, and it manages fill pattern files for CAD programs; Revit and Revit LT are on its list. The page says “Updated 5th April 2024” and gives no Revit versions.

Pattycake. A web hatch pattern editor. The page text I could read was only its title, so its price, plans and Revit statements are unverified here. Autodesk forum threads in search results mention a paid tier; I did not open them.

Ready-made .PAT files

The Student Architect. A library of 171 .PAT files (Brick 23, Brick Paver 21, Stone 12, Stone Paver 12, Siding 75, Wood 28) at US$47, and a pack of 21 brick-paver patterns at US$9 that includes 13 basketweave and 2 herringbone variants (pack page). Both pages say the files are model patterns, “not draft patterns”, and usable “with any version of Revit”.

Draftsperson.net and Stone Curators. Draftsperson.net: 300+ .PAT files, free, last updated July 28, 2026, “These work in Revit too”; the page does not say model or drafting. Stone Curators: stone and paving patterns as Drafting or Model with a free account, and a warning that “PAT. files have some line-spacing quirks”.

If you want a library pattern as a file rather than a drawing tool, Hatchy saves a pattern as a hatch pattern (.pat) file that you load yourself.

Texture and pattern from one source

Architextures add-in. The add-in page (published 1 October 2025) says it “lets you browse and import materials at the click of a button”, with installers for Revit 2020 to 2027; imported materials can be edited from an In Model tab. Pattern fill hatches and bump maps are imported “for users with Pro accounts”, the seamless texture for everyone. The Pro page shows NZ$119.99 a year, billed yearly, and lists “CAD & Revit hatches” as a Pro feature; the currency may depend on where you open it, which I could not check. Its Create tool offers Revit model pattern and Revit drafting pattern as separate downloads, with licence choices “Personal or educational use” and “Commercial use”. What the pages I opened do not say is how an imported hatch maps to a material’s Surface versus Cut pattern, or whether the add-in itself needs Pro. Its updates page dates hatches and bump maps to 10/06/2020 and Collections in the plugins to 04/07/2024, as printed.

Motif (ours). A Revit add-in: pick one of the library’s patterns, press Create Revit material, and it makes one material in the open project with a seamless texture (the size set from the pattern’s repeat), a Surface pattern and a Cut pattern, all drawn from that pattern. Read the limits before you try it:

• Windows only, and it needs the Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime.
• It needs internet: the Motif window and the pattern library load from 3dshouse servers.
• It is not digitally signed yet, so Revit shows a “Security – Unsigned Add-In” dialog (Always Load, Load Once, Don’t Load); you choose Always Load to keep it.
• 3 free uses per UTC day with a free 3dshouse account, asked for at the first use. One use is one material created or replaced; browsing and previewing are not counted.
• Motif is built for Revit 2021 to 2026, tested on Revit 2023; only the version that was tested is claimed. The Surface pattern it makes is a model pattern and the Cut pattern a drafting pattern (tested in Revit 2023: the Cut pattern takes a drafting pattern only).
• It does not deliver .pat files (that is Hatchy), library files or manufacturer content. It was not distributed through the Autodesk App Store when this was written.

More on what the material holds: Motif for Revit. For a seamless texture as image files rather than a Revit material, see Texturic.

How to choose

• Render look only, free: Revit’s Material Browser plus a texture source whose licence covers your use. Architextures shows a Personal or educational versus Commercial choice at download; check what any image you import allows.
• A brick bond or tile layout you can draw: a fill pattern editor (ModPlus US$7.20, pyRevit free, CADhatch free). A standard bond: a .PAT pack, and check model versus drafting before you load it.
• Texture and hatch that must match: pick a model pattern, set the Texture Editor size to the pattern repeat, then use Texture Alignment. Do it by hand, with Architextures if its Pro hatches fit, or with Motif.
• Many materials to tidy: ModPlus Material Manager edits them in batch.

What I could not check

AUGI, Revit Forum and Reddit answer search tools with a block page, so none of their threads is used. Autodesk’s Ideas thread on .adsklib libraries and patterns answered 403 today, so it is not quoted. Prices change: ModPlus updated both plugins in September 2026, and Architextures’ currency may depend on your location. Render add-ins (Enscape, V-Ray, Lumion, D5) appear in the search results for these phrases; I did not open their pages, so they are not compared.

FAQ

What is the best plugin for Revit materials?
It depends on which of the two jobs you need. For a texture on the Appearance tab, look at a library (Architextures, Blocks, BIMcontent) or build it in Revit’s own Material Browser. For hatch lines on the Graphics tab, use a fill pattern editor, a generator or a ready-made .PAT file. For both from one source, the two on this page are Architextures (hatches for Pro accounts) and Motif. This page does not rank them.

How do I add a texture to a Revit material?
On the material’s Appearance tab, click the image or use its drop-down menu to select Edit Image. That opens the Texture Editor, where you “specify the size that the image represents” with Width and Height under Scale and can rotate the image from 0 to 360 degrees (Autodesk, Texture Editor).

What is the difference between a Surface pattern and a Cut pattern in Revit?
Both sit on the material’s Graphics tab. A surface pattern is shown on the element’s surface; a cut pattern is shown where a view’s cut plane slices the element (CAD-Notes, 2023-10-25). Autodesk adds that neither one “affects the material’s appearance in rendered images” (Autodesk help). Tested by the Motif team in Revit 2023: the Surface pattern accepts a model or a drafting fill pattern, the Cut pattern a drafting one only, and Revit refused a model pattern there with the message “The FillPattern target must be a drafting pattern” (CAD-Notes says the same).

Why is Texture Alignment greyed out on my material?
Autodesk: “If the Texture Alignment button is not active, specify a model fill pattern for the material’s surface pattern.” and “You cannot align a drafting fill pattern.” (Autodesk help).

What is the difference between a model and a drafting fill pattern?
Autodesk: drafting patterns “represent materials in symbolic form” and are “typically used to represent the cut surfaces of elements”; model patterns “represent actual element appearance on a building, such as brick coursing or ceramic tile on a wall” (Autodesk help). In a material, tested by the Motif team in Revit 2023, the Surface pattern accepts either kind and the Cut pattern a drafting pattern only.

How do I load a .PAT file into Revit?
Manage tab, Settings panel, Additional Settings drop-down, Fill Patterns. Under Pattern Type pick Drafting or Model, click New fill pattern, set Type to Custom, click Browse, choose the file and, if needed, set an Import scale (Autodesk, Create a Custom Fill Pattern).

Where can I get free Revit hatch patterns?
Draftsperson.net offers 300+ .PAT files “provided for free with no warranty” and says they work in Revit too; Stone Curators offers stone and paving patterns with a free account and warns that .PAT files have line-spacing quirks. CADhatch (Excel) and the learnarchitecture.net generator make your own for free. Check whether a file is a model or a drafting pattern before you load it.

Is there a plugin that makes a Revit material from a pattern?
Two on this page. Architextures imports library materials and, for Pro accounts, pattern fill hatches and bump maps; its pages do not say how a hatch lands in the Surface or the Cut pattern. Motif makes one material with a texture, a Surface pattern and a Cut pattern from one library pattern.

Do these plugins work in Revit LT?
Only HatchKit’s page names Revit LT. The other pages I opened do not say, and Motif is not tested on it.