Wiley Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 978-0-470-37315-6 Manuale Utente

Just as with any piece of software, understanding Civil 3D’s controls and operation is critical to 
mastering it. With its dizzying array of options and settings, just getting Civil 3D to look and feel 
comfortable can take some effort. Learning how to use its numerous dialogs and tool palettes 
is critical to driving Civil 3D and getting feedback about your design. This chapter explores the 
makeup of Civil 3D as a CAD program, the unique components that make up the Civil 3D inter-
face, and how you can create a working environment that matches the way you design.

By the end of this chapter, you’ll be able to

Find any Civil 3D object with just a few clicks

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Modify the drawing scale and default object layers

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Modify the display of Civil 3D tooltips

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Add a new tool to the Toolbox

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Create a basic label style

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Create a new object style

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If you’re familiar with AutoCAD, opening Civil 3D won’t bring any major surprises—until you 
look a little further. Civil 3D is a design package for the civil engineer, so special tools are needed.

The most obvious change to the interface is the addition of two new palette sets that you 

won’t find in any other Autodesk product: Toolspace and Panorama. These two palette sets offer 
Civil 3D users a way to interact with their data and watch their design change unlike anything 
previously offered. Both of these palette sets can be docked and resized like typical AutoCAD 
palettes and toolbars, making their use on screen as flexible as you like. Most users find that 
they constantly refer to information displayed in these palette sets, so Toolspace and Panorama 
remain open nearly all the time. Figure 1.1 shows both of these palette sets along with the Auto-
CAD Tool Palettes displayed in a typical environment. 

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