Using Basic Functionality

In this tutorial, you will learn how to navigate around AutoCAD Civil 3D and
how to use some common features of the interface.
Panning and Zooming
You can use the zoom and pan commands to change the viewing scale of the
drawing or move to a different area of the open drawing. Use either of the
following two methods to pan and zoom:
Right-Click (Shortcut) Menus
1 In the AutoCAD Civil 3D window, click File menu ➤ Open. Navigate
to the tutorial drawings folder (page 615). Open the drawing called
Intro-1.dwg.
2 Right-click the XGND surface name in the Prospector tree. Click Zoom
To.
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3 In the drawing, right-click and click Zoom. Click and drag upwards to
zoom in closer to the surface.
4 To stop zooming and use the normal pointer, right-click and click Exit.
5 With no objects selected in the drawing, right-click in the drawing and
click Pan.
6 Click and drag in any direction to move around the drawing.
7 To stop panning and use the normal pointer, right-click and click Exit.
Standard Toolbar
1 On the Civil 3D Standard toolbar, click
2 Click and drag upwards to zoom in closer to the surface.
3 To stop zooming and use the normal pointer, right-click and click Exit.
4 On the Civil 3D Standard toolbar, click
5 Click and drag in any direction to move around the drawing.
6 To stop panning and use the normal pointer, right-click and click Exit.
The standard toolbar includes additional zoom controls. All pan and zoom
controls are also accessible on the View menu. For more information, open
AutoCAD Help ➤ Command Reference ➤ Commands. See the entries for
Pan in P Commands and Zoom in Z commands.
Selecting and Deselecting
There are several ways to select objects in AutoCAD Civil 3D:
■ To select an object, click it in the drawing window.
■ To select an individual object that is part of a group of objects, press and
hold Ctrl while clicking the object.
■ To select several objects by enclosing them within a rectangular area, drag
your cursor from left to right. A rectangle with a solid line appears. Only
objects that are enclosed in the rectangular area are selected.
Tutorial: Using Basic Functionality | 13
■ To select several objects by crossing over them with a rectangular area,
drag your cursor from right to left. A rectangle with a dashed line appears.
Any objects that the dashed line crosses over are selected.
If you select the wrong object, press Esc to deselect it.
Experiment with the selection methods using the objects in drawing
Intro-1.dwg.
Object Snapping
This standard AutoCAD feature is useful for precision drafting, when you want
the line you are drawing to snap to entity edges or specific points. In these
tutorials, you may prefer to use a freehand mode for drawing and editing
objects, such as horizontal alignments and layout profiles.
Object snaps, also known as OSNAPs, can be used in either of two ways:
■ Individual, or single-point OSNAPs— To snap to a specific type of point,
hold the Shift key down and right-click. Select an object snap from the
shortcut menu. The object snap stays in effect only for the next point that
you click.
■ Multiple, or running OSNAPs—You can toggle Object Snap on and off by
clicking on the status bar at the bottom of the main application
window, or by pressing F3 or Ctrl+F. Object Snap is off when the button
is in a raised position.
For more information about using Object Snap, do the following:
1 Press F1 to open AutoCAD Civil 3D Help.
2 In the left pane, click Search.
3 In the Type In The Word(s) To Search For field, enter Osnap.
4 In the Select A Section To Search list, select All Documentation.
5 Click Search. Select from the topics that are displayed.
In most cases, it is recommended that you also turn off other cursor controls
on the status bar, such as Snap, Grid, and Ortho. The Model button, however,
should remain on.
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Object Selection Preview
By default, the AutoCAD object selection feature gives you a preview whenever
you place your cursor on an object you can select. This option creates a
flickering effect as you pass your cursor over the features of large objects, such
as contours on a surface. In some cases, you may prefer to see the selected
effect for objects only after you have selected them. To change the selection
preview settings:
1 On the command line, enter Options.
2 In the Options dialog box, on the Selection tab, clear When A Command
Is Active and When No Command Is Active.
3 Click OK.
For more information about customizing object selection, see AutoCAD Help.
Dynamic Input
Dynamic input is an AutoCAD feature that displays prompts from the
command line beside the cursor. Dynamic input provides a place for you to
enter values when a command is active. For these tutorials, you may want to
toggle off the dynamic input feature. To turn dynamic input off, click
on the status bar at the bottom of the main application window, or press F12.
For more information about dynamic input, see AutoCAD Help.
To continue to the next tutorial, go to Viewing AutoCAD Civil 3D Objects
(page 15).