How to Add 3D Text in Revit: Model Text

Updated October 2026: 3D text in Revit is made with the Model Text tool. It creates real geometry that sits on a work plane, so it shows in 3D views, elevations and renderings, and it can take a material. The steps below are checked against Autodesk’s Revit 2027 help, with a note wherever an older release looks different.

In this guide I add a sign to a brick wall, change its size, font, depth and material, then render it so the letters glow. After that come the parts most tutorials skip: text inside families, curved walls, engraved text, and what to check when the text does not show.

What Model Text Is in Revit

Autodesk describes model text as a work plane-based 3D element for signs or lettering on a building or wall. You can add it in project views, and in the Family Editor for families that can be shown in 3D, such as walls, doors, windows and furniture. It is not available in 2D-only families such as annotations and detail components.

That is the difference from a normal text note. A text note is a 2D annotation that belongs to the view you place it in. Model text is part of the model, so it appears in every view that shows that part of the building, and it can be rendered.

Its settings are split between the instance and the type, and that split causes most of the confusion. This table shows where each one is.

Tip: Annotation text, keynotes, and room tags are other ways to describe your spaces in 2D views.

How to Create 3D Text in Revit

First, open a new project and add a brick wall, so the text has a face to sit on:

1. Open an architectural template in Revit.
2. Go to the Architecture tab > Build panel and click Wall.
3. Select a brick wall type from the Type Selector.
4. Draw a wall in the plan view.
5. Open the North elevation view.

Steps

1. Go to Architecture tab > Model panel > Model Text. The same button is on the Structure tab.
2. In the Work Plane dialog, choose Pick a plane and click OK.
3. Click the wall face.
4. In the Edit Text dialog, type your text and click OK.
5. Move the cursor over the wall. Revit shows a preview of the text.
6. Left-click to place the text on the wall.

If Revit does not ask for a work plane, it is using the one that is already active in the view. In a plan view that is the level, so the text lies flat on the floor. The next section shows how to choose the plane yourself.

Looking for ways to decorate your walls? Learn how to create Revit wall art.

Set the Work Plane for Model Text

Model text is work plane-based. It lies on whichever plane is active when you place it. Pick the wrong plane and the text ends up somewhere you did not expect, most often flat on the floor when you wanted it standing on a wall.

Set the plane before you place the text

1. Go to Architecture tab > Work Plane panel > Set. The Structure and Systems tabs have the same panel.
2. In the Work Plane dialog, choose how to specify the plane. Name lists levels, grids and named reference planes. Pick a plane lets you click a wall face, a face in a linked model, an extrusion face, a level, a grid or a reference plane. Pick a line and use the work plane it was sketched in uses the plane of a line you click.
3. Click OK, then click the plane or line in the drawing area.
4. Start Model Text and place the text.

From Revit 2023, the Set button also has a drop-down with Pick a Plane, and the default shortcut PK does the same thing without opening the dialog.

If the plane you pick is perpendicular to the current view, Revit opens the Go To View dialog and asks you to open another view. That is expected. Choose one of the listed views and carry on.

Need text where there is no face to pick? Draw a reference plane, give it a name, and choose it under Name.

Move text that is already placed

• On the same plane: select the text and drag it.
• To a different face or host: select the text, then click Modify | Generic Models tab > Work Plane panel > Pick New.
• To a parallel plane: select the text, then click Modify | Generic Models tab > Work Plane panel > Edit Work Plane. The new plane must be parallel to the current one. If it is not, use Pick New.
• To turn it: use Rotate on the Modify tab.

Change the Text, Size and Font

Edit the words

1. Select the model text.
2. Click Modify | Generic Models tab > Text panel > Edit Text. You can also click Edit next to Text in the Properties palette.
3. Change the text in the Edit Text dialog and click OK.

Change the text size

1. Select the model text that you want to resize.
2. On the Properties palette, click Edit Type.
3. Under Text, change the value of Text Size.
4. Click OK.

Text Size is a type property, so every model text that uses the same type changes with it. If you need a second size, click Duplicate in the Type Properties dialog, name the new type, and change the size there.

Change the font

In the same dialog, open the Text Font drop-down to change the font, and use Bold and Italic for the typeface. These are type properties too.

Revit lists the fonts installed in Windows, but only TrueType fonts and OpenType fonts that use TrueType outlines. An OpenType font with PostScript outlines does not appear in the list even when Windows shows it.

If the text has more than one line, Horizontal Align in the Properties palette sets how the lines justify to each other.

Learn how to use the View Control bar to customize your views while you check the result.

Change the Depth (Thickness)

Depth is the thickness of the letters. It is an instance property, so each piece of text can have its own value.

1. Select the model text.
2. In the Properties palette, under Dimensions, change the Depth value.
3. Click Apply.

Keep the depth to what the design needs. Autodesk notes that model text has many faces and edges, so using a lot of it can increase the file size. If you do not need the 3D effect, set Depth to 0.

Change the Color and Material

Model text has no color setting of its own. Add a material to the text to change its color and personalize its look.

1. Select the model text in the 3D view.
2. On the Properties palette, click the small button at the right of the Material field.
3. Search for the material you want and select it. For the glowing sign in this tutorial, I search for high luminance glass.
4. Adjust the material properties as needed.
5. Click OK.

A material carries two looks. The Graphics tab sets the color you see in shaded views. The Appearance tab sets what you see in realistic views and renderings.

The glow comes from the Appearance tab. Autodesk calls the setting Emissivity on current appearance assets and Self Illumination on older generic ones. Select its check box, then set Luminance, which is the brightness in cd/m², and Filter Color, which tints the light.

Now you can see the model text with the applied material and thickness in the 3D view. But to see the glow, the scene needs to be rendered.

Render the Model Text

Use the Render tool to see how the model text looks with realistic lighting. I use Revit’s own rendering engine here. For more advanced renders, learn how to use Enscape in Revit.

Steps

1. Go to the View tab > Presentation panel and click Render.
2. In the Rendering dialog, under Lighting, set Scheme to Interior: Artificial only. This scheme leaves the sun out of the render.
3. Click Render.
4. When the render finishes, click Adjust Exposure under Image.
5. In the Exposure Control dialog, change the Exposure Value to increase or decrease the glow effect.
6. Click Apply to see the change, then click OK to finish. Reset returns to the default exposure.

Your glowing text rendering is complete. Export it by clicking Export under Image in the Rendering dialog. Learn more about Revit renderings.

If your render does not match mine, compare the settings side by side: the Revit project from this tutorial is available as a practice file on Patreon.

Model Text in Families

Model text also works inside a family, which is how you build a reusable sign or put lettering on a door or a piece of furniture. In the Family Editor the tool is on the Create tab > Model panel > Model Text. It is there for families that can be shown in 3D. In an annotation or detail component family it is not available.

There is one catch. Autodesk states that model text saved with a family and loaded into a project cannot be edited in the project view. If the words need to change from one instance to the next, link the text to a family parameter.

Make the text editable from the project

1. In the Family Editor, click Create tab > Model panel > Model Text, type a placeholder in the Edit Text dialog, and place the text.
2. Click Create tab > Properties panel > Family Types and add a family parameter of type Text.
3. Enter something in the Value field for the new parameter. Do not leave it empty, or Revit shows a warning. Click OK.
4. Select the model text. On the Properties palette, click the small button next to Text.
5. In the Associate Family Parameter dialog, select the parameter you created and click OK.
6. Save the family, load it into the project and place it.
7. Select the family in the project and change the text in the Properties palette if you made an instance parameter, or in Edit Type if you made a type parameter.

Depth works the same way. Create a family parameter of type Length and associate it with the Depth of the model text.

For 2D text that reads from a parameter, such as a tag or a symbol, use a label in an annotation symbol family instead.

Curved Walls and Engraved Text

These are the two requests Model Text does not cover directly. Both have workarounds that Revit users share on the Autodesk forums and blogs. I list them here so you know what is possible before you spend time on it.

Model text on a curved wall

Model text is flat. It sits on one plane, so it cannot wrap around a curved wall. The usual workaround is one letter at a time:

1. Draw a reference plane tangent to the wall where each letter should go, and name each plane.
2. Set the first reference plane as the work plane.
3. Place a model text that contains only that letter.
4. Repeat for the next plane and the next letter, then nudge the letters until the spacing looks right.

It is slow, so it suits a short sign and not a long sentence.

Engraved or recessed text

Model Text has no void option, so it cannot cut into a wall by itself. The community workaround uses Join Geometry: place the model text so that it overlaps the wall, go to Modify tab > Geometry panel > Join > Join Geometry, select the text and then the wall, and then hide the text or give it a fully transparent material so only the recess is left. Results depend on the wall and the release, so test it on a copy of your model first.

For a clean, permanent cut, model the letters as a void form in a family or an in-place component. In the Family Editor the tool is Create tab > Forms panel > Void Forms, and you sketch the letter outlines yourself. Related: Cut Geometry in Revit.

Model Text Troubleshooting

Why is my model text not showing in the view?

Model text belongs to the Generic Models category. Open Visibility/Graphics for the view and check that Generic Models is turned on, together with any subcategory you assigned to the text. Then check the usual causes: the text is hidden in the view, it was created in a phase the view does not show, or it is outside the view range of a plan.

Why does the text lie flat on the floor?

It was placed on a level. Model text lies on the active work plane, and in a plan view that is the level. Select the text and use Work Plane panel > Pick New to move it to a wall face, or delete it and place it again after choosing Pick a plane.

Why did Revit open the Go To View dialog?

The plane you picked is perpendicular to the current view. Choose one of the views in the list and continue placing the text there.

Why does the text look cut in a plan view?

Autodesk’s help explains that model text is shown as cut in a plan view when it crosses the cut plane of that view. Model text inside a cuttable family is also shown as cut when the family is cut. Check the text in an elevation or 3D view.

Why can’t I edit the text in my project?

The text is inside a family. Model text saved with a family cannot be edited in the project view. Edit the family, or associate the Text property with a family parameter as shown in Model Text in Families.

Why did all my signs change size or font?

Text Size, Text Font, Bold and Italic are type properties. Changing them changes every model text of that type. Duplicate the type before you edit it.

Why is my font missing from the Text Font list?

Revit shows TrueType fonts and OpenType fonts that use TrueType outlines. OpenType fonts with PostScript outlines do not appear, even when they are installed in Windows.

Why is the text not glowing?

The glow only appears in a rendering, not in the normal 3D view. Check that the material’s appearance has Emissivity or Self Illumination turned on with a Luminance value, render the view, then change the Exposure Value with Adjust Exposure.

Why did my file get heavier after adding a lot of text?

Model text has many faces and edges. Autodesk recommends adjusting the Depth property to keep performance up, and setting Depth to 0 where the 3D effect is not needed.

Where is the Options Bar in Revit 2027?

It was removed. Its controls are on the ribbon and the Properties palette. The Model Text steps in this guide do not use it.

That is Model Text from the first click to the final render. Pick the right work plane, set the size and font in the type, set the depth and material on the text itself, and render the view to see the glow.

FAQs

How do I add 3D text in Revit?

Use the Model Text tool. Go to Architecture tab > Model panel > Model Text, set the work plane with Pick a plane and click the wall face, type the text in the Edit Text dialog, click OK, then click to place it.

What is the difference between Model Text and Text in Revit?

A text note is a 2D annotation that belongs to the view you place it in. Model Text is 3D geometry on a work plane. It appears in 3D views and renderings, and it has a depth and a material.

How do I change the size of model text in Revit?

Select the model text, click Edit Type in the Properties palette, and change Text Size. It is a type property, so every model text of that type changes. Duplicate the type first if you need a second size.

How do I change the color of model text in Revit?

Select the model text and change its Material in the Properties palette. Model text has no separate color setting. The color comes from the material.

Can model text follow a curved wall in Revit?

No. Model text is flat and sits on a single work plane. The usual workaround is to place one letter at a time, each on its own reference plane tangent to the wall.

Why can’t I edit model text that is inside a family?

Autodesk states that model text saved with a family and loaded into a project cannot be edited in the project view. Edit the family, or associate the Text property with a text family parameter so you can change it from the Properties palette.

Why is my model text not showing in Revit?

Model text belongs to the Generic Models category. Check that Generic Models is turned on in Visibility/Graphics for the view, that the text is not hidden, and that the phase and view range of the view include it.

Is there a Revit practice file for this tutorial?

Yes. The Revit project file for this lesson is available to Mashyo members on Patreon for $5.5/month, together with the practice files for the other Mashyo tutorials. You can cancel at any time. Open the 3D text practice file on Patreon.