To Work With Drawings

To create a new drawing

1. Click New.
2. In the Select Template dialog box, select a template on which the drawing will be based, and click Open.

To open an existing drawing

1. Click Open.
2. In the Select File dialog box, browse to the folder containing the drawing, select the drawing, and click Open.

If more than one drawing is open, the name of the active drawing is displayed in boldface in the Prospector tree.

Note: You can change the active drawing by right-clicking a drawing name in the Prospector tree Master View and clicking Switch To.

Note: The ability to partially open a drawing is not supported in Civil 3D.

To access sample files

You can access sample files from the application menu.

• On the application menu, click Open Sample Files, and then select one of the following:
  • Installed Sample Files: Displays the Select File dialog box, which is open to the Sample Files folder.
  • Online Sample Files: Opens the online sample files web page for AutoCAD.

To start a new drawing or open a template from the Prospector tree

1. In the Toolspace Prospector, click Master View from the drop-down list.
   
2. Expand the Drawing Templates collection and right-click a template to:
   • Create a new drawing based on the template.
   • Open the template.

To create a drawing template file from an existing drawing

Create a new template from an existing drawing.

1. Click Open.
2. In the Select File dialog box, select the file you want to use as a template.
3. Click OK.
4. Click Save As.
5. In the Save Drawing As dialog box, under Files of Type, select the Drawing Template file type.

   DWT files must be saved in the current drawing file format. To create a DWT file in a previous format, save the file in the desired DWG format, and then rename the DWG file using a DWT extension.

6. In the File Name box, enter a name for the template.
7. Click Save.
8. Enter a description of the template.
9. Click OK.