Civil 3D Tip - Surface Annotation Labels

By David Lewis

Surface labels are used to annotate the surface by pulling and displaying information from the object. The benefit to using labels in Civil 3D is their dynamic functionality enabling them to automatically update if the surface changes.

Surface labels can be used to label contour elevations, slope values, spot elevations and watershed delineations. They can be accessed through the Annotate tab or by leveraging the contextual ribbon.

Surface Labels are grouped into 3 main categories; Slopes, Spot Levels and Contours.

Slope Labels:

• Slope (1 point): Displays the dominant slope.
• Slope (2 point): Displays the slope between the 2 points, ignores what’s happening in between.

Spot Level Labels:

• Spot Levels: Displays the Z value at a given point.
• Spot Levels on Grid: Creates an interpolated grid of spot levels.

Contour Labels:

• Contour – Single: Will add a single label showing the contour value to the contour line. The label uses object snaps to snap to the contour line.
• Contour – Multiple: The line will add a level to every contour it crosses. No need to snap to contours.
• Contour – Multiple at Interval: The line will add a level to every contour it crosses at specified intervals along the contour. No need to snap to contours.

Note: Annotation Labels are controlled by annotative scaling and therefore the size can be controlled by the drawing scale.