• Civil 3D

How to set up Civil 3D for AEC projects

This course teaches users how to set up and efficiently manage a project in Civil 3D. You can enhance your drawing performance, ensure a dynamic, single-source design, and maximize team collaboration by using external references and data shortcuts in your Civil 3D project. Templates and styles can be used to standardize object display, layers, and drawing settings across a project. Once established, templates and styles can be imported or referenced across drawings. Civil 3D object catalogs can also be shared with other team members to ensure the same assets are available project-wide.


Course overview

This course teaches users how to set up and efficiently manage a project in Civil 3D. You can enhance your drawing performance, ensure a dynamic, single-source design, and maximize team collaboration by using external references and data shortcuts in your Civil 3D project. Templates and styles can be used to standardize object display, layers, and drawing settings across a project. Once established, templates and styles can be imported or referenced across drawings. Civil 3D object catalogs can also be shared with other team members to ensure the same assets are available project-wide.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • Manage data in a Civil 3D project using external references (XREFs) and data shortcuts (DREFs).
  • Use drawing templates to standardize layers, styles, labels, and object catalogs.
  • Reference or import styles across drawings and share Civil 3D object catalogs.

Course outline

45 min.

Data Management Practices in Civil 3D

Using XREFs allows you to reference AutoCAD drawings into your working drawings for sharing graphics information. With XREFs, you can also add Civil 3D labels without the need to reference the Civil 3D data. Data shortcuts are used in a similar way to reference Civil 3D data within a project. This enables you to split your design data so multiple team members are able to work on different parts of the project at the same time. 

Using XREFs allows you to reference AutoCAD drawings into your working drawings for sharing graphics information. With XREFs, you can also add Civil 3D labels without the need to reference the Civil 3D data. Data shortcuts are used in a similar way to reference Civil 3D data within a project. This enables you to split your design data so multiple team members are able to work on different parts of the project at the same time. 

This module takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. By the end of the module, you should be able to:  

  • Manage Civil 3D data inside Civil 3D 
  • Use external references (XREFs) in Civil 3D 
  • Use data shortcuts (DREFs) in Civil 3D 
  • Use the Reference Manager and Data Shortcuts Manager tools 
  • Understand the available data management applications that work with Civil 3D 

 Module pre-requisites

This module requires user-level knowledge of Civil 3D and is focused on best practices and its industry applications. If you don't have experiences with this product, we recommend you to take foundational training using one of the resources below:

 About the author 

This module was created by Raphael Kuntz, Designated Support Specialist. The Try Its, Read Me files, and Knowledge Checks were created by ASCENT. 

Before you start

  • Please make sure you have the Civil 3D software loaded.
  • If you have technical difficulties, please reach out to product support


30 min.

Drawing templates and styles in Civil 3D​

Welcome to the Drawing Templates and Styles in Civil 3D module. When we design, we want our drawing to display a certain way for different phases of a project. These styles can come from Autodesk templates, be developed to use your company standards, or come from country kits. When using a template, it can include layers, display styles for Civil 3D objects, drawing settings, etc. In this module, you will learn how different styles affect the appearance of your model. 

Welcome to the Drawing Templates and Styles in Civil 3D module. When we design, we want our drawing to display a certain way for different phases of a project. These styles can come from Autodesk templates, be developed to use your company standards, or come from country kits. When using a template, it can include layers, display styles for Civil 3D objects, drawing settings, etc. In this module, you will learn how different styles affect the appearance of your model. 

You can import styles from other drawings or templates, or reference styles across drawings. There are also special templates available for plan production. 

This module takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. By the end of the module, you should be able to:  

  • Understand the nature of Civil 3D templates 
  • Understand why Civil 3D projects may use more than one template 
  • Adjust Civil 3D object styles and label styles for intent and purpose 
  • Share styles across projects and team members 
  • Use special templates for plan production 
  • Understand how to use reference templates 

 Module pre-requisites 

This module requires user-level knowledge of Civil 3D and is focused on best practices and its industry applications. If you don't have experiences with this product, we recommend you take foundational training using one of the resources below: 

  • Built-in tutorials, available via in-product Help 
  • eLearning Partners 
  • Authorized Training Centers 

About the author 

This module was created by Raphael Kuntz, Designated Support Specialist. The Try Its, Read Me files, and Knowledge Checks were created by ASCENT. 

 Before you start 

  • Please make sure you have the Civil 3D software loaded. 
  • If you have technical difficulties, please reach out to product support 


20 min.

Sharing AutoCAD Entities and Civil 3D Objects​

Civil 3D is built on the AutoCAD software, so you can use the Tool Palettes to share AutoCAD entities, such as blocks, hatches, etc. These elements can be inserted into the Tool Palette in multiple ways, including using the Design Center. In this module, you will learn how to share AutoCAD entities using the Design Center to create new content within your Tool Palette. You will also learn how to share Civil 3D object catalogs and share the drawing associated with the catalog to share styles and rules. 

Civil 3D is built on the AutoCAD software, so you can use the Tool Palettes to share AutoCAD entities, such as blocks, hatches, etc. These elements can be inserted into the Tool Palette in multiple ways, including using the Design Center. In this module, you will learn how to share AutoCAD entities using the Design Center to create new content within your Tool Palette. You will also learn how to share Civil 3D object catalogs and share the drawing associated with the catalog to share styles and rules. 

This module takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. By the end of the module, you should be able to:  

  • Share AutoCAD objects 
  • Add AutoCAD objects to the Tool Palette using the Design Center 
  • Share Civil 3D object catalogs with your team members 
  • Add your own subassemblies to the Tool Palette and/or access additional subassemblies using country kits 

Module pre-requisites 

This module requires user-level knowledge of Civil 3D and is focused on best practices and its industry applications. If you don't have experiences with this product, we recommend you take foundational training using one of the resources below: 

  • Built-in tutorials, available via in-product Help 
  • eLearning Partners 
  • Authorized Training Centers 

About the author 

This module was created by Raphael Kuntz, Designated Support Specialist. The Try Its, Read Me files, and Knowledge Checks were created by ASCENT. 

Before you start 

  • Please make sure you have the Civil 3D software loaded. 
  • If you have technical difficulties, please reach out to product support.