Edit a line style

Build a line style row by row from dashes, gaps, dots, text, symbols and lettering, add parallel lines, and draw your own symbols.

A line style is a pattern that repeats along the line you draw in Revu. You build it as a list of rows, in order: a dash, a gap, a label, a gap, and so on.

Select a style in the Set tab to edit it. See Your library and sets.

The preview #

The top of the pane draws the style as it will look:

The main line, drawn at the Line width you set with the slider.
The same style at 1 pt and 2 pt, underneath.
A bracket showing one repeat of the pattern, with its length.

Click a piece of the preview to select its row.

The line width here is only for previewing. Colors and line weights aren't part of a line style: Revu sets them on each markup.

Name, scaling and description #

The name: what Revu shows for the style. Click it and type.
Pattern grows with line width: when on, every length is a multiple of the line's width, so a thicker line draws a longer pattern. When off, lengths stay the same at any width.
Description: optional. Revu keeps it with the style.

Add rows #

Click + Add row ▾ under the pattern and pick a type:

Dash: a drawn segment.
Space: a gap.
Dot: a single dot.
Text: a font label that stays readable, like GAS.
Symbol: a small drawn shape.
Lettering: typed text drawn as shapes.

A line with no rows draws solid.

Edit and arrange rows #

Length: type it right in the row for a dash or a space. Other types work out their own length.
More settings: click the row, then use the Inspector on the right. Its Type menu changes the row's type.
Move a row: drag its grip, or press Alt with the up or down arrow.
Duplicate, move or delete: click ⋯ at the end of the row.

With a row selected, the up and down arrows select the row above or below, Delete removes it, and Esc clears the selection.

Text rows #

In the Inspector: Text, Font, Size, Bold, Italic and Keep text upright (so the text stays readable instead of turning with the line).

Revu draws text with a real font, so it needs that font installed. Helvetica is the safe choice. Because the font decides the width, a text row's length here is approximate.

Symbol rows #

In the Inspector:

Shape: click Edit shape… to draw it. See Draw a symbol.
Space before and Space after: how much of the line the symbol takes up on each side of its center.
Symbol size: multiplies the shape; 1 is as drawn.
Filled
Flip ↔ and Flip ↕: mirror it.

Lettering rows #

Lettering is text drawn as shapes. Unlike a text row, it turns with the line and doesn't depend on a font.

In the Inspector: Letters, Letter height, Letter spacing, Space before and Space after. Letters are capitals, numbers and a few marks.

Revu has no lettering type, so lettering downloads as a symbol. To edit the letter shapes yourself, use Bake into symbols ▾:

A symbol per letter: edit each letter's shape separately.
One combined symbol: exactly what downloads.

Draw a symbol #

Edit shape… opens the symbol editor.

Start from a shape: pick from Ready-made shape…, like Circle, Diamond or X cross, or click a letter or number in the row of letters.
Add points: click the grid. Points snap to a quarter unit.
Move a point: drag it.
Edit a point: click it, then set its type and its X and Y. Lift pen starts a new stroke instead of joining the last point. Curve point comes in threes: two handles, then the end. Delete point removes it.
+ Curve segment and + Lift pen add those after the last point.
Flip ↔, Flip ↕ and Clear work on the whole shape.

The strip at the bottom shows the symbol on a line. Click Apply to keep it, or Cancel.

Parallel lines #

A style can have more than one line running side by side, like a double line or a track.

Click + Add parallel line under the pattern.
Set Shift from centerline for each line, in line widths. Use plus and minus for the two sides.

Each line repeats its own rows. Click Remove line to delete one.

Check before Revu #

With no row selected, the Inspector lists anything to fix under To check before Revu: an empty text or lettering row, a symbol with no points, curve points that don't come in threes, or a pattern with no length. Click an item to select its row.