# Understanding Your Revit Screen

## Overview

Before designing your first Artcraft kitchen, it's important to become familiar with the Revit interface. Although Revit may look overwhelming at first, you'll quickly find that you'll use the same few tools throughout most of your projects.

This document introduces the key areas of the Revit workspace and explains how they support the Artcraft Design-to-Order workflow.

## The Properties Palette

The **Properties** palette displays information about the object or view you currently have selected.

For example:

- Selecting a cabinet displays its parameters and configuration options.
- Selecting a wall displays wall-specific properties.
- Selecting a view displays settings related to that particular view.

Many of the modifications you'll make to Artcraft cabinets—including dimensions, hinging, and custom options—will be completed through the Properties palette.

If the Properties palette is accidentally closed, you can reopen it by navigating to:

**View → User Interface → Properties**

## The Project Browser

The **Project Browser** organizes everything contained within your Revit project.

Rather than managing multiple drawing files, Revit stores all project information in a single intelligent model.

The Project Browser allows you to quickly navigate between different types of project information.

Common sections include:

- Floor Plans
- Elevations
- Sections
- 3D Views
- Sheets
- Schedules
- Families

If the Project Browser is accidentally closed, it can be reopened by navigating to:

**View → User Interface → Project Browser**

## Understanding Views

One of the most important concepts in Revit is that you are not creating separate drawings.

Instead, you are building a single 3D model that can be viewed in many different ways.

Common views include:

- **Floor Plans** – Top-down views used to design cabinet layouts.
- **Elevations** – Side views used to review cabinet heights and alignment.
- **Sections** – Cut-through views that show construction details and vertical relationships.
- **3D Views** – Perspective or orthographic views used to visualize the complete design.

Because every view is generated from the same model, any design change automatically appears throughout the entire project.

## Sheets

Sheets are the pages used to organize your final drawing package.

A sheet can contain multiple views, including floor plans, elevations, sections, schedules, notes, and details.

The Artcraft Template includes pre-configured sheets and title blocks to help standardize documentation and reduce setup time.

Designers can also replace the Artcraft logo with their own company logo while maintaining a consistent drawing layout.

## Schedules

Schedules are organized tables of information extracted directly from your Revit model.

Rather than manually creating cabinet lists, Revit automatically reads information stored within your Artcraft cabinet families and generates a schedule.

In the Artcraft workflow, cabinet schedules play a critical role because they provide the information that will later be exported from Revit and imported into Accolades for pricing and ordering.

This eliminates manual counting, improves accuracy, and significantly reduces repetitive data entry.

## Families

Families are the building blocks of every Revit project.

Each Artcraft cabinet family contains not only the cabinet geometry, but also the product information, parameters, shell codes, master codes, and scheduling data required throughout the Design-to-Order process.

Because Artcraft families are built specifically around the Artcraft catalog, the options available within Revit closely mirror the same options available within Accolades.

This consistency helps create a seamless workflow between design, pricing, and manufacturing.

## Working in a Single Model

One of Revit's greatest advantages is that every view is connected to the same model.

If you:

- Move a cabinet
- Resize a cabinet
- Modify a wall
- Add or remove cabinetry

those changes automatically appear in:

- Floor Plans
- Elevations
- Sections
- 3D Views
- Schedules

This coordinated workflow reduces drafting time, improves accuracy, and helps ensure every drawing remains synchronized throughout the project.

## Navigation Tips

As you work in Revit, you'll frequently use these navigation controls:

- Hold the **scroll wheel** to pan around the drawing.
- Use the **scroll wheel** to zoom in and out.
- Use the **View Cube** to quickly change between standard views.
- Press **ZA** on your keyboard to zoom to fit and re-center the active view.

These shortcuts quickly become second nature and will significantly improve your efficiency as you begin designing Artcraft projects.

## Key Takeaways

The Revit interface is designed around a single intelligent model.

Instead of managing separate drawings, Revit automatically generates coordinated plans, elevations, sections, schedules, sheets, and 3D views from one source of information.

Understanding how the Properties palette, Project Browser, views, sheets, schedules, and families work together will provide the foundation for every Artcraft project you create.