How to Create and Use Type Catalogs in Revit
Seven steps in Revit, or one sentence in Mira.
Do it with MiraA type catalog is a .txt file with the same name and folder as the family's .rfa. Its first row declares parameters as Name##type##units; each row after it is a type. On load, Revit lists the types so you pick only the ones you need.
Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to add a type to a catalog.
How to do it in Revit
Step 1: Start from a family with its parameters
Open the family with File tab › Open › Family, or build one first. Give at least one type a value for every parameter the catalog will set: only parameters with values export.
Step 2: Export its types
Click File tab › Export › Family Types and save the .txt in the family's folder with the family's name, so Desk.rfa sits next to Desk.txt. Revit LT has no export, so LT users write the file by hand (Autodesk Help: Create a Type Catalog).
Step 3: Read the header row
Open the .txt in a text editor. The first line starts with a comma, so its first field is blank. Then each parameter is declared as Name##type##units, such as Width##length##inches. Text, Yes/No and Material parameters use ##other##.
Step 4: Add one row per type
Below the header, write one line per type: the type name, then each value in the header's order, separated by commas, such as 36x84,36,84. Yes/No values are 1 or 0.
Step 5: Write inch marks twice
To show 48" x 60" as a type name, type each inch mark twice: 48"" x 60"". A comma separates the fields, so keep commas out of type names.
Step 6: Load the family and pick types
Click Insert tab › Load from Library panel › Load Family and select the .rfa. Revit opens the type catalog instead of loading every type. Select types in the Type column (Ctrl-click for several), narrow the list with the drop-down at the top of each column, and confirm (Autodesk Help: Load a Family with a Type Catalog). The other ways to load a family are in how to load a family.
Step 7: Or build the types into the family
In the Family Editor, Insert tab › Import panel › Import Family Types reads a catalog into the .rfa itself. If the family already has types, choose whether to delete them, overwrite those with the same name, or keep them and add only new ones.
What to watch for
Six types or more. Autodesk suggests a type catalog for families with six or more types. Loading only the sizes a project uses keeps the file smaller and the Type Selector short. For a few sizes, add the types in the family instead.
Names have to match exactly. The .txt needs the .rfa's exact name and folder, or Revit loads the family without showing the catalog. Parameter names are case sensitive and must match the family's.
Catalogs from before Revit 2021 can break. Revit 2021 renamed the unit identifiers. An older catalog can fail with "Could not parse column header" or "Invalid column unit type" and load only one type, until you update the units in its header.
A renamed type comes in twice. Reloading never removes types, so a type renamed in the catalog arrives as a new type beside the old one. Settle type names before the family goes out.
The same door ends up with five catalogs. Families get copied into project folders, and their catalogs get edited there. A year later the firm has several versions of one door, each listing different sizes. Revit family management keeps the approved version of each family marked, so people load that one.
Or, just ask Mira to do it.
Mira is an AI thinking partner for Revit that automates the work you repeat and builds tools your team needs.
- Type this in Mira
Add a 42" x 96" type to this door family's type catalog.
Mira reads the catalog, shows you the new file and asks before overwriting it. A catalog is a file, so Ctrl+Z can't undo the change; reload the family to use the new type. With a project open, Mira asks where the family is.
What is a type catalog in Revit?
How do I create a type catalog in Revit?
Why isn't my type catalog showing when I load the family?
How do I put inch marks in a type catalog?
When should I use a type catalog instead of types in the family?
Related Revit how-tos
- How to Create a Family in RevitClick File tab › New › Family, pick a template such as Generic Model, and set Family Category and Parameters. Draw reference planes, label their dimensions as parameters, lock geometry to them, add sizes in Family Types, then save and Load into Project. Or, just describe a simple family and Mira builds it and places it in your model.
- How to Create and Change Wall Types in RevitSelect a wall, click Edit Type, then Duplicate, and name the new type. Click Edit next to Structure to set each layer's function, material and thickness. To change walls to the new type, select them and pick it in the Type Selector. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to swap every wall of one type to another on a level.
- How to Edit a Family in RevitSelect a placed instance and click Edit Family, or right-click the family in the Project Browser and choose Edit. Make the change, then click Load into Project and choose whether to overwrite the existing version. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to make a size change and say if it needs the Family Editor.
- How to Load a Family in RevitClick Insert tab › Load from Library panel › Load Family, browse to the .rfa file and click Open. Select several files to load them together. To update a family that's already in the project, right-click it in the Project Browser and choose Reload. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to load the families in a folder you pick.
- How to Create a Corner Mullion in RevitDelete the two mullions where the curtain walls meet, click Architecture tab › Build panel › Mullion and pick an L, V, Trapezoid or Quad corner type. Click the corner grid line to place it. For your own size, duplicate a type. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to list the curtain wall corners still missing one.
- How to Use Formulas in Revit Family ParametersIn the Family Editor, click Create tab › Properties panel › Family Types. In the Formula column next to a parameter, type an expression with exact parameter names, such as Width + 2". Click Apply to check. Formulas take arithmetic, if(), rounding and trig. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to set formulas on parameters the family already has.
Try it yourself.
Or bring it to the firm.
The download is free and takes a minute. The firm conversation is where your standards, your library, and your rollout get built. Start wherever makes sense.