Free metal and glass hatch patterns
Steel and aluminium in section, bar grating, perforated metal, checker plate, expanded mesh and glass in elevation.
- patterns
- 7
- works in
- AutoCAD · Revit · Bluebeam
- units
- mm + inch
Before you hatch Model or drafting
A model pattern is a material at its real size; a drafting pattern is a symbol at a fixed size on paper. Every card says which one it is.
Model
Bricks, tiles, planks, ceiling grids
Drawn in real millimetres or inches. Hatch at scale 1 in a drawing in the same units; in Revit it scales with the view like the wall it sits on.
Drafting
Concrete, earth, insulation, section lines
Drawn for paper, ⅛ in between section lines as in ANSI31. In AutoCAD set the hatch scale to the drawing scale; in Revit it stays the same size on every sheet.
Load them in AutoCAD, Revit or Bluebeam
AutoCAD & LT
- 1Put the .pat files in a folder, for example C:\CAD\Hatch.
- 2OPTIONS, Files tab, Support File Search Path, Add, browse to the folder, OK.
- 3Type HATCH. The patterns are in the pattern gallery under their names; restart AutoCAD if they are not.
- 4Model patterns: scale 1. Drafting patterns: scale = drawing scale (50 for 1:50, 48 for ¼ in = 1 ft).
Revit & LT
- 1Manage, Additional Settings, Fill Patterns.
- 2Pick Drafting or Model to match the pattern's type, then New, Custom, Import.
- 3Choose the file (all-metric.pat from the ZIP lists every pattern at once) and the pattern.
- 4Import scale 1, OK. Use it in a material's surface or cut pattern, or a filled region.
Bluebeam Revu
- 1Draw any rectangle markup, then Properties toolbar, Hatch, Manage.
- 2Select a hatch pattern set and click Modify.
- 3Click Import AutoCAD Pattern and open the .pat file.
- 4OK to close the dialogs. The pattern is now in the Hatch list.
One file with every pattern: all-metric.pat · all-imperial.pat. Good for Revit's import dialog and for pasting into acad.pat; AutoCAD's Support File Search Path wants one pattern per file, which is how the ZIP and the buttons above give them.
Questions About metal & glass hatches
How is steel drawn in section?
The US convention is pairs of close 45° lines, as STEEL-SECTION. Light metals such as aluminium alternate solid and dashed lines. They are drafting patterns, drawn for paper like ANSI31: set the hatch scale to the drawing scale (50 at 1:50, 48 at 1/4 in = 1 ft-0 in) in AutoCAD. In Revit a drafting pattern follows the view scale on its own.
Are the grating and perforated metal real size?
Yes. They are model patterns: 30 × 100 mm grating and 5 mm holes on an 8 mm staggered pitch, so a hatched panel shows the real number of bars and holes.
Do the same files work in AutoCAD and Revit?
Yes. Each file is a standard .pat with Revit's ;%UNITS line at the top and a ;%TYPE line under the pattern name. AutoCAD reads both as comments, Revit reads them as settings, so one file serves both. There is a metric and an imperial copy of every pattern.
Should I take the metric or the imperial file?
The one in your drawing's units. A model pattern is drawn at real size: in a drawing in millimetres, the metric brick hatched at scale 1 shows real 215 × 65 mm bricks; in a drawing in inches the imperial file does the same. Revit reads the units from the file, so either works there.
More free hatch patterns: brick & block · concrete · stone · wood · tile · insulation · earth · roof & ceiling · all 69 patterns · free Revit families
Hatching is the last step Generate the building first
Describe the building and AIBIMTool drafts the program, floor plans and an IFC4 model for Revit or Archicad.
Start free now
AutoCAD and Revit are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc.; Bluebeam and Revu of Bluebeam, Inc. AIBIMTool is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.