How to Make ANYTHING Transparent in Revit

We can change the transparency level of almost anything in Revit. This allows us to see through surfaces and manipulate their appearance.

For example, increasing the transparency of a wall material reveals the interior view behind it, and increasing the opacity of an exterior surface reveals the structure inside.

In this tutorial, I’ll go over the different elements and show you how I make them transparent.

Image

There is no option that lets you toggle the transparency of imported images. However, we can manipulate 3D and 2D views by increasing the transparency of surfaces on which we place a decal or image.

Steps

1. Click on the image in the viewport.
2. Properties palette > set Draw Layer to Background.
3. Select the surface in front of the image (wall, floor, roof, etc.).
4. Right click > Override Graphics in View > click By element.
5. Increase the surface transparency to 80.
6. Click OK.

✨ Tip: See how to trace images in Revit without importing image files.

Decal

Change the transparency of images on surfaces of the 3D model.

Steps

1. Go to the Insert tab > Link panel > drop-down Decal menu.
2. Click Place Decal.
3. Click where you want to add the image and resize it.
4. In the Properties palette, click Edit Type.
5. Under Decal Attributes, click Edit.
6. Set the transparency to 2.
7. Click OK.

Learn how to add decals.

Material (Plastic and Fabric)

Change the transparency of materials.

Steps

1. Click on the family in the view to select it.
2. In the Properties palette, click Edit Type.
3. Construction panel > Structure > click Edit.
4. Layers Above Wrap panel > Click the first material on the outside.
5. Click the pop-up button with the 3 dots.
6. In the Material Browser, select the first material “Air”.
7. Under the Appearance panel, check Transparency.
8. Increase the transparency to 90%.
9. Click OK.

✨ Tip: we assign Materials properties to the entire project. Duplicate the material before changing its properties for a certain element.

By Category

Change transparency for groups of elements using categories or filters. Each element belongs to a category (glass panels, mullions, topography, etc.).

Steps

1. Right-click an object > Override Graphics in View > click By Category.
2. Increase Surface Transparency to 80.
3. Click OK.

✨ Tip: Set the view style to wireframe to see through every single model element.

By Filter

Assign a group of elements to a filter and then change all their visibility properties in the view at once.

Steps

1. Go to the View tab > Graphics panel > click Visibility/Graphics (Shortcut: VV).
2. Go to the Filter tab > click Add.
3. Click “Edit/New”.
4. Click New (orange splash folder icon).
5. Assign a name for the filter > click OK.
6. Go to the Categories tab > Select multiple categories.
7. Click OK > click OK.
8. Under Projection/Surfaces, below the Transparency panel > click “Override”.
9. Increase the transparency > click OK.
10. Click OK to apply the filter to the view.

Glass in Elevation

Change the appearance of glass elements in elevations and sections.

Steps

1. Open the elevation view.
2. Press on the Visual Style cube at the lower toolbar > Select Realistic.
3. Change the colors and light of the view in the Properties palette > Graphical Display > Click Edit.
4. Click OK.

✨ Tip: the Enhanced Realistic View is a feature in Revit 2021.

Conceptual Mass

In-place masses are transparent by default. We need to change the default material of the masses to change their degree of transparency.

Steps

1. Go to the Manage tab > Settings panel > click Materials.
2. Drop-down Project Materials menu > click Miscellaneous.
3. Click Default Mass Wall Material in the browser menu.
4. Go to the Graphics tab > Shading panel > click Transparency.
5. Increase the transparency of the default mass material.
6. Click OK.

✨ Tip: Go to the Modify | Mass tab > Geometry panel > click Paint (Shortcut: PT) as a magic wand tool to solidify mass faces with a certain material color.

Learn how to cut geometry.

Background

Change the transparency of the render background of a 3D view.

Steps

1. Go to the View tab > Presentation panel > click Render.
2. Under Background, set the Style to Transparent.
3. Click Render.
4. In the Rendering window, click “Export…”.
5. Select a destination for the transparent PNG > click Save.

Annotation Symbols

It is not possible to make annotation families transparent. There are workarounds such as halftoning, changing font type and rescaling element type.

Steps

1. Right-click the annotation > drop-down Override Graphics in View menu.
2. Click By Element.
3. Check Halftone.
4. Click OK.

Learn more about annotation symbols.

Filled Region

Change the transparency of Revit filled regions in views.

Steps

1. Right-click on the filled region.
2. Click Override Graphics in View > click By Element.
3. Increase the Surface Transparency to 80.
4. Click OK.

Learn how to create filled regions.

Semi Transparent Filled Region

Disable masking for filled regions to make them lighter in color.

Steps

1. Select the filled region.
2. In the Properties palette, click Edit Type.
3. Under the Graphics panel > Uncheck Masking.
4. Click OK.

Text

Change the text type settings to remove the default opaque/white background of all text elements in a project.

Steps

1. Click on the text.
2. In the Properties palette, click Edit Type.
3. In the Graphics panel, drop-down Background menu.
4. Change Opaque to Transparent.
5. Click OK.

✨ Tip: Text types can become halftones. Right-click the text > click Override Graphics in View > click By Element…. > check Halftone > click OK.

Learn how to create 3D text.

Mohamed Fakhry

Mohamed Fakhry has helped thousands of architects and designers find their next project with step-by-step guidance on his blog, mashyo.com. About Mohamed

His journey began during his university years when he recognized the need for information-rich 3D models to accelerate learning and improve production processes. Now, Mohamed shares his expertise through Revit tutorials that are accessible to all.