Halftone / Underlay

Halftone / Underlay settings in Revit are a fairly useful tool in getting a model to appear properly.  These settings (found at Manage>Additional Settings>Halftone/Underlay) allow you to set new line weight, line style, or adjust the brightness of objects set as an Underlay.

Revit will automatically apply these settings to items outside of the current view's "Discipline".  For example, if the discipline is set to "Mechanical" then the architectural background automatically utilizes any overrides set in the Halftone/Underlay settings.

Another way to set this (New to Revit 2012) is to go to VV > Revit Links tab and click the box for "Underlay" for each background you would like to use the settings used in Halftone/Underlay. 

A couple of notes:

• If an item is set to halftone, and no underlay overrides are used, the line weights will still be applied.  Good, or bad, this will allow Object Styles, Visibility Graphics settings, and filters to determine the line weight.
• If you want a linked model to show up with the same line weight or pattern throughout, override the weight in pattern in the Underlay settings.
• Regardless of if you check the box in the Revit Links tab of VV.  Items outside of the view discipline will utilize the Halftone/Underlay settings. 
• If you have set model categories (in VV) to halftone, the tone can be adjusted using the Halftone/Underlay settings.