How to create a master legend that is linked to multiple projects

[dboltonEV2YU]

Is there a way to create a master legend that is linked to multiple projects. Whereby you can then update the master legend and it will update all projects?

Thanks

[RobDraw]

There are a couple ways.

What kind of legends are you referring to?

[dboltonEV2YU]

Hey Rob, it was a generic question, but say you have a legend of symbols.

If you can maybe tell me your 'couple of ways' I can see what will work for us.

Thanks

[dboltonEV2YU]

Hi Rob,

Can you maybe tell me what the 'couple of ways' are that you are referring to. I will see if we can use any of them.

Thanks heaps

[RLY_15]

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@dboltonEV2YU wrote:

say you have a legend of symbols

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So this is a bit of a yellow flag to me.

If you are referring to annotation symbols (like the kind you get by tagging or using the symbol command), those are generally families that are saved somewhere in the company files, and either preloaded into the template file or added to the project file afterwards. Project file families are not live-linked to any master template, but enough people have created tools or methods to replicate live links if that's the sort of thing you want.

If your legend view is detail lines and filled regions to emulate the look of the symbol (I see this with MEP content to get around differences in equipment scale), that's not a live connection. Changing the legend won't change the symbol on plan and detail views.

If your legend view uses the symbol family, it IS a live connection but only to the project. Updating from a master list would still entail reloading the project family files with the corrected versions. There are ways to do this.

Knowing your specific needs is going to make the solution process a lot easier than throwing the sum of all options at a wall and seeing which one looks nicest. Many of them simply aren't nice, but they're functional or implemented in such a way that you aren't intended to work on them again. Some of them cost money =).

[dboltonEV2YU · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your response Rob,

It is much appreciated, but I do think you are over thinking the problem a bit. I was not looking for something that can fit into our current families or processes or what will be live and what will not. I was looking for the best way to create a master legend, irrespective of the method used, that we could load into multiple projects and we would only have to update the master legend once, and not in each individual project.

With the help of ToanDN I found the best solution is to create a 'Master Legend' Revit model and then create the legend in a regular floor plan view (because none of the 2D views will work for this process) using whatever you have in your library, 3D families, 2D families, 2D lines, 3D lines and fill regions, set this view up to fit into your main projects sheet size so that you don't have to worry about setting scale afterwards. This model can then be linked into other projects. Inside those projects, you should create a separate level called "Legend Level" and link the 'Master Legend' model to this level (this will keep it separate from the rest of your model). Then create a view for this level and set the visibility graphics for the view to use 'By Linked View' and set it to the Legend view that you created in the Master Legend file.

Hope that makes sense to everyone.

Thanks

[RobDraw]

Linking a master legend to multiple projects seems like a good idea on the surface but I think that in practice, you may find that's not the case.

Your mileage may vary.