Align View to Edge

Align View to Edge lets you quickly reorient views to match the direction of any linear edge in your model. This is especially useful when working with angled or rotated geometry that does not align with the project’s cardinal directions, such as skewed buildings, rotated equipment, or bridge alignments.

Getting Started

Find Align View to Edge on the Amorphous ribbon tab in the View Tools panel.

The button is enabled when your active view is one of:

Floor Plan, Ceiling Plan, Area Plan, or Engineering Plan (not a view template)
Section view (not an elevation or view template)
3D view (not a view template)

Features

Multi-view type support - Works with plan views, section views, and 3D views
Two alignment modes for plans - Choose to duplicate the view or modify it in place
Automatic view cleanup - Keeps only the 3 most recent edge-aligned views to prevent clutter
Smart crop box handling - Automatically expands crop boxes to include the selected element
View template handling - Automatically detaches view templates when necessary to enable rotation
Visual guidance - Shows an instruction bar during edge selection

How to Use

Plan Views

Open a plan view - Floor, ceiling, area, or engineering plan
Click “Align View to Edge” on the ribbon
Select an edge - Click on any edge in the model you want to align to
Choose alignment mode in the dialog that appears:
- Duplicate View (default): Creates a new view aligned to the edge, keeping the original unchanged
- Modify Active: Rotates the current view in place
Click “Align View” - The view rotates so the selected edge becomes horizontal

Section Views

Open a section view - Must be a section, not an elevation
Click “Align View to Edge” on the ribbon
Select an edge - Click on any edge visible in the section
A new section view is created with the selected edge aligned horizontally

3D Views

Open a 3D view - Any non-template 3D view
Click “Align View to Edge” on the ribbon
Select an edge - Click on any linear edge in the model
The view reorients to a top-down perspective with the selected edge pointing right, then zooms to fit the element

User Interface

Alignment Mode Dialog (Plan Views)

When aligning a plan view, this dialog lets you choose how the alignment is applied.

Element	Description
Duplicate View	Creates a new view aligned to the edge, preserving the original
Modify Active	Rotates the current view in place
ALIGN VIEW	Applies the selected mode and aligns the view

Keyboard shortcuts:

D - Select Duplicate View mode
M - Select Modify Active mode
Enter - Apply the selected mode
ESC - Cancel

Instruction Bar

When the command is active, an instruction bar appears at the top of the Revit window prompting you to select an edge. Press ESC to cancel the operation.

Use Cases

Scenario	Description
Angled buildings	When a building is rotated relative to project north, align views to the building’s actual orientation
Skewed elements	Visualize elements placed at angles (angled walls, rotated equipment, etc.)
Bridge/Infrastructure	View bridge decks or infrastructure elements along their alignment
Sloped sections	Create section views aligned to sloped or angled elements
Drafting	Create views that match a specific edge direction for modeling or documentation

Tips & Best Practices

Preserving original views - Use “Duplicate View” mode for plan views if you need to keep the original view unchanged. This is especially important when the view is already placed on a sheet, as modifying it in place would affect your sheet layout.
Finding edge-aligned views - Edge-aligned views are named with timestamps (e.g., Level 1_EdgeAlignedPlan_20240115_143022) for easy identification in the Project Browser
Keyboard shortcut - Assign a shortcut to Align View to Edge for faster access (Revit Options > Keyboard Shortcuts)

Limitations

Limitation	Details
Elevation views not supported	Only section views work with this tool, not elevations
Section views always create new views	Unlike plan views, section alignment cannot modify in place
3D orientation is top-down only	The 3D alignment always orients to a top-down perspective
Parallel edges	If the selected edge is parallel to the view direction (e.g., a vertical edge in a plan view), the alignment will fail
View templates block rotation	Templates are automatically detached for plan views

Troubleshooting

”The selected edge is parallel to the view direction”

This error occurs when you select an edge that cannot be projected onto the view plane (e.g., selecting a purely vertical edge in a plan view). Select a different edge that has a horizontal component.

View template was detached

Plan views with view templates cannot be rotated while the template is applied. The tool automatically detaches the template to allow rotation. You can reapply a template manually after alignment if needed.

Old edge-aligned views are being deleted

The add-in automatically cleans up old edge-aligned views, keeping only the 3 most recent. Views that are placed on sheets cannot be auto-deleted and will generate a warning instead.

Crop box is larger than expected

The tool automatically expands the crop box to include the element whose edge you selected, plus padding. For section views, only width and height are expanded; the depth (far clip) is preserved.

Button is disabled

The button is only enabled for plan views, section views (not elevations), and 3D views. View templates are also excluded. Ensure your active view is a supported type.

Smart Section Box - Create section boxes that align to element geometry
Section Box by Edge - Create section boxes aligned to a picked edge
View from Section Box - Create 2D views from section box extents
Rotate Active View - Manually rotate the active view by any angle