Have you ever been working in Revit when – Surprise! – your work area background turns black? And all of the lines turn white?
By default, the work area of Revit has a white background, with mostly black linework. Personally, I’ve always used the Revit standard white background color; it worked well for me, and I saw no reason to change.
Just for context, I use both AutoCAD and Revit in my daily work, depending on the client and the project.
But lately I’ve been surprised and puzzled when, for no apparent reason, and usually when I’m working to meet a pressing deadline, the Revit background changes from white to black.
What happened here??
This may not sound like a big deal to some folks, but when it happens to me, it completely knocks me off of my rhythm. I needed a fix for this “issue,” and a reason why it kept happening. I went on a mission.
I’m a (mostly) keyboard command guy, not just to be old-school, but because keying commands is so much faster than mousing them. In Revit, to initiate a hotkey command, you type exactly two letters, making sure that you do NOT hit the Enter or spacebar keys, and then sit back and let Revit run the command.
The trouble arises when my hands get tired and the keys get pressed not-quite-accurately. There is no time to ask yourself, “Did I type that correctly?” It’s done, in the blink of an eye.
What if I like my background black?
I should mention here that some Revit users actually prefer a black, or dark gray, Revit background. Perhaps they are fond of, or accustomed to, the standard AutoCAD background.
I say, if that works for you, go for it! I think, however, that you will likely need (and want) to customize all of the Revit linetypes to work well with the non-typical background color. If you are in this group, please share your experiences!
Love to read your comments
Actually, I’d love for everyone to leave their comment as to whether this issue has affected you and how.
Here is the video (above); I hope you find it useful.
And remember, no matter what . . . keep on CADDing!
Mark