Rhino 8 - Assigning line weights in layout (Dynamic section)

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1

Hi,

I am trying to set up different printing widths. I am using clipping planes and dynamic sections. I was able to get a good control over the hatches using Section Styles, but I am struggling to assign line weights to the coundaries. This is what I tried:

  • Assigning a boundary width scale of 1, and a custom line type of 2mm. (Print display on, and I updated clipping drawings).

I am using a file from this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Haeb6eMJcmM

What am I missing? Is there a better way to assign line weights for dynamic sections?

Thanks

Sectioning-Exercise6-SectionsDrawings_duplicate_duplicate_duplicate.3dm (12.9 MB)

Screenshot 2026-01-12 at 10.09.20
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2

I also tried assigning lineweights by linetype and by Printing width.

Screenshot 2026-01-12 at 10.15.27
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3

Hi Elena -

Perhaps I’m misunderstanding something. From your images, it looks like you are changing the properties of the “Exterior” layer. The curves in the detail on the layout are all on layers under the “Floor Plan” layer.
-wim

4

Hi,

Ok. I tried changing the Layout print Width of the layer “Floor PlanCurve” to 2 mm and also could not see any lineweights (also tested printing and Updating clipping drawing).

Screenshot 2026-01-12 at 11.15.14
Screenshot 2026-01-12 at 11.15.142203Ă—1039 273 KB

But in any case, what I want to do is to change the line weights (by layers) of the different elements (interior, exterior walls, etc) The same way I am able to control the hatches in the 2D section drawing. Is that possible? Or am I only able to control the line weights of all the curves under the created 2D drawings?

5

Hi Elena -

When you unlock the layers for these curves and select one of them, you will see in the Properties panel that they have the “Continuous” linetype applied to them:

image
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When you change that to “By Layer” and set the layer’s linetype to your 5 mm linetype, you should get this:

image
image1202Ă—852 14 KB

I’m not sure what that means in detail.
I would recommend, though, to start using the WIP when creating clipping drawings. There has been a lot of work done to this workflow in the WIP and it works much better than what is available in Rhino 8. Also, we are now moving into the bug-fixing stage of that development for Rhino 9, so feedback on the current state is greatly appreciated. There won’t be any changes to the way it works in Rhino 8…
-wim

6

Thanks Wim,

Yes, that works for assigning a single, thick, line-weight to all curves from the section drawing under the curve layer.

What I meant is: Is it possible to control the thickness of the boundary hatches in the clipping drawing?

I am able to set/customize them here, in the 3D model:

(See thickness of exterior wall, these where defined using section style width scale factor, which is not the most intuitive way but that’s another discussion)

Screenshot 2026-01-12 at 13.50.51
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But not here (in the clipping drawing):

Screenshot 2026-01-12 at 13.50.58
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This is even after using the command “update clipping drawings”.

In other words, is it possible to create a clipping plane drawing with different line weights (defined by layer)?

I will start using WIP, I am just trying to find a workflow for Rhino 8 in the meanwhile…

Thanks!

7

Ok I found a solution, posting it here in case it is helpful for folks:

  1. Change Print width property to desired thickness to each layer.
  2. Create Section Drawing with the option Print Width: By input.

The result is that the created 2D drawings, in layout view (print view), will have as a property whatever was assigned to them. If making any changes to print width property, it is necessary to use the command “UpdateClippingDrawings” again.

Screenshot 2026-01-12 at 15.55.33
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8

Today I’ve encountered the same issued as you did. Thank you for sharing a solution

9

How can I set up section styles so that lineweights and colors can be controlled separately for boundary lines and hatch fills?

I am trying to achieve a setup like the one shown in my example image, but so far I have not been able to make it work in Rhino 8 or the WIP. What am I missing?

I would like to define this by layer, for example:

•	Concrete (load-bearing): boundary 0.30 mm black, hatch 0.13 mm green
•	Insulation (non-load-bearing): boundary 0.18 mm black, hatch 0.10 mm blue
•	Plaster: boundary 0.13 mm black or any other color, hatch 0.03 mm black

Is there a way to do this with clipping sections or section drawings, preferably by layer?

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10

I made a video that I think answers your question:

12

Thank you very much for the video. It was very helpful and clarified several points for me. At the same time, it also seems to reveal some of the current limitations in Rhino, unless I am still misunderstanding part of the logic.

I would be very grateful if you could help clarify the following questions.

In Rhino 8:

  • Is the layer linetype setting, together with its width setting in Properties (for example 0.30 mm), what controls the boundary width?
  • Is the layer print width what controls the hatch line width?
  • And how can I change the hatch color without also changing the boundary color? As far as I understand it, this does not seem possible in the way shown in my example image. Is that correct?

In the Rhino WIP:

  • Layer color = boundary color
  • Layer linetype = boundary width
  • Layer print width = hatch width
  • Print color = hatch color

However, when exporting to PDF, the boundary also appears in color. This is where I feel I am still missing part of the concept.

Also, the newly added section layers seem to act as a kind of overall master control. But they override all hatches, curves, and boundaries in the same way. From an architectural drawing point of view, that does not seem very useful, because it removes the possibility of differentiating materials properly.

@wim, if you have a moment, could you perhaps explain the intended concept here?

From an architectural perspective, one usually needs separate control over:

  • the boundary of a cut material, including lineweight, linetype, and color
  • and the material hatch, including pattern type, lineweight, and color

And by color I do not necessarily mean bright colors; often this simply means different greys. But in renovation drawings, for example, one may also need red, yellow, grey, or other distinctions depending on the graphic standard.

At the moment, I am trying to understand whether I am overlooking a setting, misunderstanding the workflow, or whether this level of control is simply not yet fully possible.

Thank you again for the helpful video and for any clarification.