Free Autodesk Subassembly Composer Comprehensive Course (2025 Update)

By Lembit Aruvee

Part 5.0 – No More re-Imports with Custom Civil 3D Subassemblies

Civil 3D users, especially those working with custom subassemblies know how clunky it used to be to make small tweaks during a project. In Civil 3D 2023 and earlier, any changes to a .ptk file required a cycle of manual updating, exporting, and re-importing. Not exactly efficient, especially mid-project.

But now, with Civil 3D 2024 and newer, Autodesk has introduced a game-changer: Direct Linking to PTK files. This means your subassemblies can now act like live references, similar to XREFs in AutoCAD, dramatically improving your workflow.