Civil 3D Style Names

I think we can agree, out of the box, they make sense. It’s relatively easy to visualize what a surface using the “Border & Contours” style will look like. But what happens when you share your drawings with others? What happens when you use pieces of Civil 3D drawings created by outside consultants? You can guarantee your idea of “Border & Contours” will vary greatly from theirs. Their obviously isn’t a National CAD Standard (don’t get me started) for style names, so how do keep them straight?

Try this: I’ve had good luck preceeding style names with the name of the firm and the submittal agency (and/or locale), and then including a brief description that might include my initials.

For example: Your template might include a surface style “CPYI DFW NG Contours Only.”

CPYI = Chiang Patel & Yerby, Inc.
DFW = Dallas – Fort Worth
NG = Natural Ground
Contours Only = well – this may be obvious

The description reads as follows:
“Surface style representing natural ground as 1’ contours, greyscale. Intended for submittals meeting City of Dallas standards. SM”

Don’t blindly name your styles. Think big, think “outside the box.” If your style names are meaningful outside of your 4 walls, they’ll definitely make sense to your teammates.

Cheers!