Add “Hide Element” Option to Graphic Overrides

[nonpertutti]

Graphic Overrides in Archicad allow users to change appearance attributes such as color, line style, fills, and surfaces based on criteria. However, there is no built-in option to completely hide selected elements by visual override alone.

It would be highly beneficial to introduce a “Hide Element” checkbox or toggle within Graphic Override Rules. This option would allow users to selectively hide specific elements (or groups of elements) in a view without needing layer tricks or renovation status workarounds.

Example use case:

In a multi-apartment building model, attributes can already distinguish each apartment unit. With this new option, a Graphic Override could instantly hide all apartments except one, making it much easier to prepare sales or marketing booklets without creating multiple layer combinations or duplicating elements.

Why this is useful:

• Enables precise, view-level visibility control.
• Simplifies workflows for selective presentation and coordination.
• Avoids clunky workarounds involving layers, filters, or renovation workflows.
• Improves flexibility in creating clean, tailored drawings and marketing materials.

[hevi]

It's not a good idea to mix control of how elements are drawn (GO) and what elements are drawn (hide elements). Perhaps an invisible linetype could work for GO but for properly hiding elements we need better Element Visibility Control. 

[Sedak]

I think it is a great idea. Graphic Overrides are almost the same as Filters in Revit — the key difference is that Filters in Revit have an option to hide or show an element together with its visual representation, based on a set rule.

This would eliminate the need for many “duplicate” layers. Yes, it is currently possible using a combination of layers, design options, or renovation status, but it’s not an elegant solution.

Simple example:

Let’s say I want to show only the exterior walls of the house on my floor plan. I have already set the position of all exterior walls as “exterior” and interior walls as “interior” in their properties. At the moment, I would need to create a new layer just for exterior walls (which becomes complicated if I already have several wall types separated by layers — concrete, wood, etc. so I would need to make duplicate layers for all of them) and then place those walls on that layer so I could isolate them.

Alternatively, I could use the design option/renovation status “hack.” But if we simply had a show/hide option in the Graphic Override rules, I could just create a rule stating that all walls that are not exterior are hidden — and the job would be done.

[SimSmi1]

This is one of the few things that Revit does better than ArchiCAD - the ability to hide/override elements

[EmmanuelF]

Wouldn't the design options work for that purpose?

Option 1 with all the walls, option 2 without internal ones.

[Sedak]

Sure - the design options work - but are limited in many ways. For example - I already have a "property" in all the walls that are external/internal - they are already classified as such. If I use design option the classification doesn't give me anything flexible - I have to again seperate all the external walls to one option, internal to other. And what if something changes in the project - I have to change it in design option and in the properties of the wall - in 2 places and that is a recepe for an error. And it gets messy when you go and do more "filters" using design option - this internal/external is just one part that would be in a real project.

It is really useful to try other competitor softwares to get a feel for some other options - on how they solved the problem. As I said - Revits filters and Archicads graphic override are all the same - they differ in only that one aspect - Revit has "hide element" option. And with that one checkbox they eliminated the need for any layers (mostly - they have other methods of seperating elements). Revit does not have layers - in an conventional sense.