You will learn two ways to add levels in Revit. The first method creates too many additional levels evenly spaced based on one level. The second method explains how you can control the appearance of the levels.

Levels are mainly used to create floors, ceilings and roofs.

Method 1 – Add Multiple Levels

With this method, you can copy, offset, and array levels to get multiple active views.

If you copy a level and can’t find it in the project browser, the following steps explain how to show it as a view.

Steps

  1. Select a level.
  2. Go to the Modify | Levels tab > Modify panel > click Array (shortcut: AR).
add level
  1. In the options bar, enter a value for the number of duplications.
  2. Click a level and drag the mouse pointer to the first copy location.
  3. Click once more to apply the arrangement.
copy levels via the array tool

To show levels that are not visible:

  1. Go to the View tab > Create panel > drop-down Plan Views menu.
  2. Click Floor Plan.
  3. In the “New Floor Plan” window, select your levels.
  4. Click OK.
Add floor plan level in Revit

You should now see them in the browser, as well as any other missing floor plans you have included in the selection.

Method 2 – Create New Level

This is the typical way to create additional levels. Read on to learn how to edit multiple levels and control the placement of symbols.

Steps

  1. Go to the Architecture tab > Datum panel > click Level (shortcut: LL).
  2. In the Draw panel, select the Line tool.
  3. Left-click to add a starting point and then move the mouse pointer to the opposite end.
  4. Click to add a new level.
How to add levels in Revit

✨ Tip: Select a level, and then press “CS” on the keyboard to create a new, similar level.

Edit

Change the properties and the appearance of level symbols.

To change the name or the elevation:

  1. Double-click the text.
  2. Enter a new value or name.
  3. Press Enter.

To remove the constraints and control an annotation individually:

  1. Select the level.
  2. Click the lock icon close to the bubble.
  3. Click and drag the white circle at the end of the line to change the position.
Lock and unlock to control level

To change the placement of the bubble:

  1. Click the elbow sign near the bubble.
  2. Click and drag the blue circles at the end of the line.
Add elbow to change the bubble placement

How do I add a level head symbol at both ends? Select the level and then click the checkbox near the bubble.

To change the properties of multiple levels at once:

  1. Select the level.
  2. Go to the Properties palette > click Edit Type.
  3. In the Graphics panel, click the checkbox of Symbol at End 1 Default.
  4. Click OK.
Level head symbol at both ends of a level

Propagate Extents

After you edit the levels, you notice that this only affects the current view. Use the Propagate Extents tool to apply the changes to all views.

  1. Select one or more levels (CTRL + left mouse click to select multiple).
  2. Go to the Modify | Levels tab > Datum panel > click Propagate Extents.
  3. Select the views to match the appearance of their elements.
  4. Click OK.
Propagate extents when Revit levels are not showing

✨ Tip: The appearance of datum elements in different views is not linked. After each new edit or move, you must use the Propagate Extents tool again.

If the Propagate Datum feature does not work for some views, disable view crops and scopes, and then try again.

Black VS Blue

The difference between black and blue is that blue headers are linked to a view, while black headers are not.

Double-clicking on a blue header will take you to this plan view. The black color indicates that it is only a datum marking an elevation without any floor plan associated with it.

You can change the color of the black header symbol, but once a plan view is created for that level, the symbol turns blue. This is how Revit distinguishes the levels that are associated with plan views.

To change the color of all black bubbles:

  1. In the Project Browser, expand Families > expand Annotation.
  2. Right-click on “M_Level Head – Circle” > click Edit.
  3. In the family editor, click the hatch pattern.
  4. In the Properties palette, click Edit Type.
  5. Change the colors for the foreground and background.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Go to the Modify | Filled Region tab > Family Editor panel > click Load to Project.

To change the header color, follow the instructions in our previous post about changing cloud tag colors.