Change family thumbnail in properties box

[emmanuelbee]

when you create a family and load it into a project, revit gives a default thumbnail of the family in the properties box, is there a way to change which view of the family is being shown in the thumbnail?

[barthbradley]

Go to Save As and open Options

SAO.png

[emmanuelbee]

tried that it doesn't work

[emmanuelbee]

it changes the thumbnail but not in revit, the thumbnail will change if you place the file on your desktop etc, it will show the thumbnail that was saved, but in revit, in the properties area, it doesn't change the thumbnail there

[barthbradley]

You know, I go through this sometimes and it doesn't always refresh the thumbnail of a family already loaded in the Project.  Sometimes it does; sometimes it doesn't.  Try it in a fresh Project and I betcha it works like a charm.  

...What family category is it?

[emmanuelbee]

its just a generic model

[Corsten.Au]

Check " Regenerate view "

PreviewRegenerate

[emmanuelbee]

I've already tried that, it doesn't work

[XXalessio.amodioXX]

I am having the same issue.

Did you find any solution so far?

[emmanuelbee]

No there is no official solution to fix this problem, its a bug in revit.

[XXalessio.amodioXX]

For some families, like column with corbels, I have solved the issue Joining the exstrusion, thus the it will recognized as a unique volume. Try it and let me know

[JJRevitUser]

Has there been any update on this from anybody at Autodesk? Maybe somebody asked during AD answer day

[Anonymous]

Rename the old version in the project and load in the new one...  Select all the old versions in the project and change to the new one.

Or 

Do the above in your template and don't worry about existing projects if not too big of a deal.

[JJRevitUser]

Definitely, I am working in one of our templates right now building & adding schedulable families. But by my understanding of what @emmanuelbee seemed to be asking was that under the properties pallet when a family is selected & it shows the thumbnails for those types of families, the thumbnail for that family will be the same for every type of the same loaded family. 

I was just seeing if an autodesk member or somebody knew about any updates on this topic since the last post but thank you for the reply!

[JJRevitUser]

On second reading I apologize as he was asking about just the one thumbnail. Now then I have a question if anybody would know it.

Is there currently a way to change the thumbnail for each type of a single family?

If not, why bother with the code that enables thumbnails for the types of a family to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Nope, it is one thumbnail per family.

Keep in mind, some families are messed up where the Front and Back are reversed in the thumbnail (Casework) in the Properties window but look correct in File Explorer.

[JJRevitUser]

That's unfortunate, maybe they will add that sometime. I mean the thumbnails are already coded in (R17), they just keep showing the same one for every type. Maybe easy, maybe not, I am not a coder but it would be a cool thing to see happen possibly. Thanks for the tip & reply!

[dnenovMXKU9]

This is actually quite pervasive and difficult to get rid of. You can regenerate the Thumbnail all you want, save, resave, rename, push in new projects, change and create new Family Types, purge ... it's still there. The family remembers that initial image somehow. Really, really strange. 

Here is a bit of information that mentions the discrepancy between file thumbnail preview and Type selector preview:

https://graitec.co.uk/blog/entry/revit-thumbnail-orientation

It seems it's the View Cube that dictates the Properties Box View orientation but that's about it. The Type selector will always show an Isometric, Shaded view of your Family Type as set in the Family (instance parameters are taken into account). That's my understanding for the time being.

[randy_lmn]

I'm having the same issue.  Here is a great example of the thumbnail somehow reversing for furniture.  Revit 2018.3.  Doesn't matter what the thumbnail is.  Still does it for brand new families.

Backwards Chairs.pngWindows browser thumbnails.png

[rsahayEAPZD · Accepted solution]

The only thing that I have found that works - is to flip the geometry in the Family so that Front is Up instead. For longer lasting results - flip similarly in the Casework template, save as a family, then change the extension from RFA to RFT.