Color Tools

Color Tools provides two powerful features in a unified interface: color-code elements in your active view based on various criteria, and run quality assurance checks that highlight issues in red for immediate visibility. Whether you need to visualize model organization for coordination meetings or identify modeling issues before submitting deliverables, Color Tools streamlines these common workflows.

Getting Started

Find Color Tools on the Amorphous ribbon tab in the Graphics panel.

The split button provides two options:

• Color Tools (main button): Opens the modeless dialog with Color by Filter and QA Checker tabs
• Quick Color (dropdown): Opens a radial marking menu for rapid color assignment

Features

• Multiple colorization modes - Color by Category, Type, Family, Workset, Phase Created/Demolished, Level, MEP System (Classification/Type/Name), or Connected Runs
• Category override modes - Choose between fast V/G category overrides or precise per-element overrides
• Adjustable transparency - Apply transparency (0-100%) with quick preset buttons
• Six QA quality checks - Identify unhosted elements, orphaned hosts, unconnected MEP, sloped/flat pipes, in-place families, and duplicates
• Visual issue highlighting - QA issues are highlighted in red; click the count to select flagged elements
• Keyboard shortcuts - Hotkey access to all colorization options when the dialog has focus
• Session memory - Dialog position, transparency settings, and selected options persist within your Revit session
• Modeless operation - The dialog stays open while you work, allowing multiple operations without reopening

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How to Use

Color by Filter Tab

1. Open the dialog - Click the Color Tools button on the ribbon
2. Select a colorization mode - Click one of the chip buttons:
   • Basic modes: Category, Type, Family, Workset, Phase
   • Spatial modes: Level
   • MEP modes: MEP System, Connected Run
3. Adjust settings (optional):
   • Use the transparency slider (0-100%) or quick presets (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%)
   • Click the gear icon for advanced settings
4. Click APPLY or press Enter
5. Elements in the active view are colored based on your selection

Clearing Color Overrides

Two clear options are available:

Button	Hotkey	Action
Clear Selected	S	Removes color overrides from currently selected elements
Clear All	R	Removes all color overrides in the active view

Tip

Switching between colorization modes automatically clears conflicting overrides. Category mode clears per-element overrides first, while per-element modes (Type, Family, Level, etc.) clear category overrides first.

QA Checker Tab

1. Switch to the QA Checker tab - Click the “QA Checker” tab header
2. Select scope:
   • Active View - Check all elements visible in the current view
   • Selection - Check only the currently selected elements
3. Select a check type:
   • Hosting: Unhosted Elements, Orphaned Hosts
   • MEP: Unconnected, Sloped/Flat
   • Geometry: In-Place Families, Duplicates
4. Click APPLY
5. Issues are highlighted in red and the count is displayed
6. Click the result count to select all flagged elements in Revit

Note

For best visibility of flagged elements, use “Clear All” to remove any existing color overrides before running QA checks.

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User Interface

Color by Filter Tab

Element	Description
Mode chips	Select the colorization criterion (one at a time)
Clear Selected	Remove overrides from selected elements only
Clear All	Remove all overrides in the active view
Transparency slider	Set override transparency (0-100%)
Quick presets	One-click transparency values (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%)
Settings button (gear icon)	Open advanced settings
APPLY button	Execute the colorization

Colorization Modes

Mode	Hotkey	Description
Category	C	Colors elements by their Revit category
Type	T	Colors elements by their element type
Family	F	Colors elements by their family
Workset	W	Colors elements by their workset assignment
Phase	P	Colors elements by Phase Created or Phase Demolished
Level	L	Colors elements by their associated level
MEP System	M	Colors elements by MEP system classification, type, or name
Connected Run	N	Colors connected MEP runs (ducts, pipes, conduits)

Phase Mode Dropdown

Click the Phase chip to reveal the dropdown with two options:

Option	Description
Phase Created	Match elements by their creation phase
Phase Demolished	Match elements by their demolition phase

MEP System Dropdown

Click the MEP System chip to reveal grouping options:

Option	Description
Classification	Group by system classification (e.g., Supply Air, Return Air)
Type	Group by system type definition
Name	Group by individual system name

Connected Run Dropdown

Click the Connected Run chip to filter by discipline:

Option	Description
All MEP	Color all connected MEP elements
Ducts Only	Color only duct runs
Pipes Only	Color only pipe runs
Conduits Only	Color only conduit runs

Settings Panel

Click the gear icon to access advanced settings:

Setting	Options	Description
Category Mode	V/G Category / Per Element	V/G is faster; Per Element is more precise
Slope Threshold	Numeric value	Minimum rise to count a pipe as sloped (QA Checker)
Duplicate Tolerance	Numeric value	Maximum distance to flag as duplicate (QA Checker)

QA Checker Tab

Element	Description
Scope chips	Choose Active View or Selection
Hosting checks	Unhosted Elements, Orphaned Hosts
MEP checks	Unconnected, Sloped/Flat
Geometry checks	In-Place Families, Duplicates
Result count	Displays number of flagged elements; click to select them
APPLY button	Run the selected check

QA Check Types

Check	Description
Unhosted Elements	Elements that should have a host but don’t (e.g., doors without walls)
Orphaned Hosts	Host elements whose hosted elements have been deleted
Unconnected MEP	MEP elements with open connectors
Sloped/Flat Pipes	Pipes that are sloped or flat based on the slope threshold
In-Place Families	In-place family instances that may need conversion
Duplicates	Elements in the same location within the duplicate tolerance

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Keyboard Shortcuts

When the dialog has focus, these shortcuts provide rapid access:

Colorization Modes

Key	Action
C	Select Category mode
T	Select Type mode
F	Select Family mode
W	Select Workset mode
P	Select Phase mode (opens dropdown)
L	Select Level mode
M	Select MEP System mode
N	Select Connected Run mode

Actions

Key	Action
S	Clear Selected
R	Clear All
Enter	Apply
Escape	Close dialog

Tip

Fast keyboard workflow: Open the dialog, press a hotkey letter to select the mode, then press Enter to apply. The whole operation takes just seconds.

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Options & Settings

Option	Description	Default
Category Mode	V/G Category (fast, applies at category level) or Per Element (precise, applies to individual elements)	V/G Category
Transparency	Override transparency level (0-100%)	0%
Slope Threshold	Minimum rise to count a pipe as sloped in QA Checker	0 (any slope)
Duplicate Tolerance	Maximum distance to flag elements as duplicates	0 (exact match)
Phase Mode	Phase Created or Phase Demolished	Created
MEP System Group By	Classification, Type, or Name	Name
Connected Run Scope	All MEP, Ducts Only, Pipes Only, or Conduits Only	All MEP

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Use Cases

Coordination Meetings

Color elements by Workset to visualize team ownership, or by Level to see floor assignments at a glance. This makes it easy to discuss scope boundaries and identify coordination issues.

MEP Design Review

Use Connected Run coloring to trace duct and pipe paths through the model. Use MEP System coloring to verify that elements are assigned to the correct systems.

Phase Documentation

Color by Phase Created or Phase Demolished to review phasing during design reviews or to prepare phasing diagrams.

Model Cleanup

Run QA checks to find and fix:

• Unhosted elements - Doors or windows without hosts
• Duplicates - Accidentally placed overlapping elements
• Orphaned hosts - Panels or Fixtures with removed hosts
• Unconnected MEP - Pipes or ducts with open ends

Quick Markup

Use Quick Color during design reviews to rapidly mark elements for discussion, flag elements with issues, or track QA/QC status.

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Tips & Best Practices

• V/G vs Per Element mode - Use V/G Category mode (default) for best performance. Switch to Per Element mode only when you need to color individual elements of the same category differently

• QA workflow - Run one check at a time, review the results, then clear before running another check. This keeps the visual feedback clear

• Combine with isolation - Color elements to identify groups, then use Isolate by Filter to focus on specific categories or types for detailed work

• Connected Run for conduits - MEP System coloring excludes conduits because they don’t have meaningful system types. Use Connected Run instead to trace conduit paths

• Keyboard shortcut - Assign a keyboard shortcut to Color Tools (Revit Options > Keyboard Shortcuts) for faster access

• Session memory - The dialog remembers its position and settings during your Revit session. Drag it to a convenient location and your preferences persist until you close Revit

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Limitations

Limitation	Details
Workset coloring	Only available for workshared (central file) models
Per-Element mode performance	Per-element override mode can be slower on large models with many elements
Duplicates check performance	Duplicate detection may be slow on very large models (10,000+ elements)
MEP System coloring	Conduits are excluded because they don’t have meaningful system types; use Connected Run instead
View scope	All colorization and QA checks operate on the active view only

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Troubleshooting

Colors don’t appear

Cause: Another view override (view template, filters) may be blocking the color override.

Solution: Check if the view has a view template applied that controls graphic overrides. You may need to unlock graphic overrides in the template or use a different view.

Workset option is grayed out

Cause: The project is not workshared.

Solution: Enable worksharing in your project to use workset-based coloring.

QA Checker finds no issues

Cause: The selected check type doesn’t apply to elements in the current scope, or there are no issues.

Solution: Try a different scope (Active View vs Selection) or verify that the element types you’re checking for exist in the view.

Performance is slow

Cause: Per-Element mode or Duplicates check on large models.

Solutions:

• Switch to V/G Category mode for colorization
• Reduce the scope by selecting specific elements before running QA checks
• For duplicate checking, limit the selection to specific areas

Connected Run shows unexpected colors

Cause: Elements that appear connected may not be physically connected in the Revit model.

Solution: Use Revit’s built-in “Show Disconnects” feature to verify actual connectivity.

Phase coloring shows all elements the same color

Cause: All elements in the view were created in the same phase.

Solution: Verify that your model uses multiple phases. Try switching between Phase Created and Phase Demolished modes.

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Related Tools

• Quick Color - Radial marking menu for rapid color assignment to selected elements
• Export VG - Save and share visibility/graphics settings
• Smart Selection - Select similar elements to prepare for coloring
• Isolate by Filter - Isolate elements by category, type, or other criteria