Schema is a Revit add-in designed to streamline BIM project setup by automating the reuse of standard sheet and viewport arrangements. It addresses a common source of repetitive work for BIM managers, template administrators, and project teams: rebuilding the same drawing set structure on every new model. Instead of manually laying out sheets, viewports, and schedules project after project, teams can define a standard arrangement once and apply it consistently across future Revit models.
Core Purpose
In many BIM environments, drawing set organization is standardized across projects, but the setup process still requires substantial manual effort. Sheet names, viewport placements, schedule locations, and drawing arrangements are often recreated from scratch even when a proven layout already exists. Schema captures the structure of an established drawing set and converts it into a portable schema file that can be reused without transferring model geometry, project-specific content, or full template files.
Two-Step Workflow
Schema works through a two-step process: first capturing a layout from a source model, then assembling that layout in a target model. This approach separates drawing set standards from project-specific data, allowing teams to maintain reusable documentation layouts that can be safely shared, versioned, and applied across different projects.
Edit Schema: Capture the Source Layout
The workflow begins in a Revit model that already contains the desired sheet and viewport arrangement. Using the Edit Schema command, Schema scans all sheets, viewports, and schedule instances and displays the complete drawing set on an interactive canvas. Viewports appear as gold rectangles, while schedule instances appear in blue, giving users a visual representation of the exact geometric arrangement of their documentation set.
Within the Schema Editor, users can review the detected layout and make adjustments to viewport or schedule positions if needed. Once the layout is approved, it is saved as a portable .schema.json file. This file stores sheet names, viewport positions, viewport sizes, view types, and schedule placement data, but it does not include model geometry or sensitive project-specific information. As a result, the schema can be safely shared across teams, archived for future use, or managed in version-control systems.
Assemble Schema: Apply the Layout to a Target Model
In the target Revit model, users load a saved schema with the Assemble Schema command. Schema scans the available views in the model and attempts to match them to the layout slots defined in the schema. The auto-matching process uses a weighted scoring system that prioritizes view name similarity at 60% and size compatibility at 40%, making naming conventions the primary driver while still accounting for view dimensions.
After scanning, users review the proposed assignments in the candidate panel. Confident matches appear in gold, while lower-confidence suggestions appear in blue for manual review. Users can accept the automatic assignments, override them manually, or use Duplicate & Assign to create a resized copy of a view when no existing view fits the required slot. Once every slot is assigned, Schema places the views and schedules on the correct sheets at the specified positions and sizes.
Schedule Support
Schema includes schedule instances as part of the layout capture and placement process. Schedules are matched to schema slots by name, using exact matches first and partial matches as a fallback. When placing schedules, Schema uses Revit’s ScheduleSheetInstance functionality and performs precise coordinate conversion from center-based positioning to top-left placement, helping maintain accurate and repeatable schedule locations on each sheet.
Key Features
- Captures complete drawing set layouts, including sheets, viewports, and schedule positions.
- Saves layouts as portable .schema.json files that are human-readable, shareable, and version-controllable.
- Provides a visual canvas editor for inspecting and adjusting viewport and schedule positions.
- Uses smart auto-matching based on view name similarity and size compatibility.
- Highlights confident and lower-confidence assignments to support efficient review.
- Allows manual override so users can assign or reassign any view to any slot.
- Includes Duplicate & Assign functionality to create resized view copies when needed.
- Supports schedule placement as part of the standard layout assembly process.
- Includes a schema library for browsing and managing saved layout standards from a selected folder.
Ideal Users and Use Cases
Schema is well suited for BIM managers, template administrators, Revit consultants, and project teams responsible for producing consistent drawing sets across multiple projects. It is especially valuable for project types with repetitive documentation requirements, such as timber, steel, precast, modular, or standardized building systems. Consultants can also use Schema to deliver drawing layout standards to clients without sharing full Revit template files.
Important Limitation
Schema requires the necessary views to already exist in the target Revit model. It places and arranges existing views and schedules according to the saved schema, but it does not create new view types, generate view templates, or build project views from scratch. This makes it best suited for teams that already have view naming conventions and project setup standards in place.
Practical Value
By separating sheet layout standards from model content, Schema helps teams reduce setup time, improve documentation consistency, and standardize deliverables across projects. It turns a repetitive manual setup task into a repeatable, reviewable, and portable workflow. For BIM teams managing multiple models or recurring project types, Schema provides a practical way to preserve drawing set logic and apply it quickly wherever the same layout standards are needed.
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