Why Hebrew from AutoCAD breaks in Revit
The main reason: Revit does not display AutoCAD's drawing fonts (SHX), and in many Israeli files the Hebrew was stored in a way that assumes that font exists. The result is reversed letters, Latin letters or boxes. Swapping the font alone does not solve it.
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- L-03
- Title
- Why Hebrew from AutoCAD breaks in Revit
Revit does not display SHX fonts
L-03.1SHX fonts are AutoCAD's drawing fonts. Revit does not support them and picks another font in their place. In a file that looks right in AutoCAD, the text was stored on the assumption that the SHX font would display it, and without that font the display changes.
Hebrew typed on an English keyboard mapping
L-03.2When the Hebrew was typed on a Hebrew keyboard while the system was set to English, the file stored Latin letters, and only the SHX font showed them as Hebrew. Without the font, Revit shows the Latin letters as they are. That is how, for example, c,herv appears where a Hebrew word should be.
Visual order versus logical order
L-03.3In many Israeli files the Hebrew was stored in visual order, meaning the letters are arranged as they look on screen from left to right. Revit draws the characters left to right, so the word comes out reversed: "ןולס" instead of "סלון". In logical text, by contrast, the order is the reading order, and such text displays correctly.
There is also an old convention in which the text is marked so that AutoCAD shows it mirrored and it ends up reading correctly. Revit ignores that marking, and the text's anchor shifts by its full width.
GPUTEXT2D in AutoCAD 2025 and later
L-03.4AutoCAD 2025 and later has a system variable called GPUTEXT2D, which relates to how 2D text is drawn. Our research notes record that its default in version 2025 is 2, and that setting it to 0 prevents TrueType text from flipping. This has not been verified against the Autodesk AutoCAD documentation, so check it in your own version before relying on it.
Why swapping the font alone does not fix it
L-03.5Swapping a font changes the shape of the letters, not their order and not the characters stored in the file. If the order is reversed, or the file stored Latin letters, another font only shows the same error in a different shape.
Sequences like %%U are AutoCAD formatting codes, or an old Hebrew encoding that was converted wrongly along the way. A different font does not fix those either. The full table of symptoms is in the symptom glossary.
Frequently asked questions
L-03.6Why does Hebrew look right in AutoCAD and broken in Revit?
Because AutoCAD has the SHX font the file assumes exists, and Revit does not display SHX fonts. The file stored the text in a form that suits that font, so in Revit the label appears reversed, as Latin letters or as boxes. The file itself is not damaged.
What is c,herv and why does it appear?
It is Hebrew typed on a Hebrew keyboard while the system was set to English, so the file stored Latin letters. In AutoCAD the SHX font shows them as Hebrew. Revit does not have that font, and the Latin letters appear as they are. A Hebrew word turns into a run of English letters.
Why does a word appear reversed, "ןולס" instead of "סלון"?
In many Israeli files the Hebrew was stored in visual order, so that AutoCAD's SHX fonts would show it correctly. Revit draws those same characters left to right, and the word comes out reversed. The order is set in the file, not in Revit's display settings.
Will changing the font in Revit solve it?
No. Changing a font changes the shape of the letters, not their order and not the characters stored in the file. If the Hebrew is reversed or was stored as Latin letters, another font shows the same problem in a different form. So swapping the font alone is not enough.
Can print settings solve the problem?
No. The problem is already on the sheet itself, before printing, so what the sheet shows is also what comes out in print and in the PDF. Print settings do not change the order of the characters or the text stored in the DWG file.