Learn · Dimensioning in Revit
How to dimension in Revit 2027
Step-by-step guide to creating a dimension chain on a floor plan, from opening the tool to the finished dimension.
What you'll do
By the end of this tutorial you'll have a permanent dimension on your plan, measuring the references you pick: the distance between two walls, for example. Dimensions in Revit belong to the view they were created in, so a dimension made on one plan doesn't show up on another by itself.
Before you start
Open the plan view with the elements you want to dimension, and zoom into the working area. This makes it easier to pick the right reference, especially near walls with multiple layers, where the exterior face, interior face and centerline sit close together.
Step by step
- Open the dimension tool On the Annotate tab, in the Dimension panel, click Aligned. It's the tool used for most plan dimensions, because it follows the direction of the references you select instead of forcing a horizontal or vertical line.
- Choose how you'll select references In the options bar, the Pick field shows two choices: Individual References, to pick each one by hand, and Entire Walls, which lets Revit build the chain on its own from a single wall (that's the subject of another tutorial). For manual dimensioning, keep Individual References.
- Select the first reference Hover over the element. Revit highlights the reference it will use: a wall face, a centerline, a door opening. If it's not the one you want, press Tab. Each press cycles to the next available reference at that point. Click once the right one is highlighted.
- Select the second reference Repeat on the second element. Check again which reference is highlighted before clicking. It's the most common mistake with this tool: dimensioning the wrong face of a composite wall.
- Add more references to the same chain (optional) Without placing the dimension yet, keep clicking on other references to add more segments: wall, door, wall, window, wall, for example. That avoids creating a separate dimension for every distance.
- Place and finish the dimension Move the cursor away from the references you selected. Revit shows a preview of the dimension line; click to place it. The dimension is created as a permanent view element. Press Esc to exit the tool, or keep dimensioning another chain without exiting.
After it's created
Click the dimension to select it. You can drag the text when it's too close to another element, and use the Edit Witness Lines command (available on the ribbon with the dimension selected) to add or remove a reference from the chain without recreating the whole dimension. Ctrl+Z undoes the last action, including creating the dimension.
Common problems
The dimension doesn't show up in another view. That's expected, not a bug: dimensions are specific to the view where they were created. To document the same measurement in two views, create the dimension in each one.
The dimension measured the wrong spot. Check which reference was used: select the dimension, or redo the selection by hovering over the element and pressing Tab until you find the right reference before clicking. This is common on walls with multiple layers.
I can't select the reference I want. Zoom in. On small or overlapping elements, Revit sometimes only offers the right reference once the cursor is very close to it.
