Pasting an Object in Place

Ever copy something from one page and want to paste it on another page in the exact same spot it came from? Or how about copying objects from one document and pasting them in the exact place in a new document? Well these tips describes how to do it very easily. Although it takes a few steps to complete, it's very effective.

There are two ways to do this depending on how you want to paste in place. The first one works for both pasting between pages in the same document and for pasting between documents, the second is only for pasting between documents. You'll understand below.

Maybe soon, there will be a Paste In Place command introduced into FreeHand much like the feature in Macromedia's Flash.

Version: depending on method, version listed with type

Pasting in place on different pages within the same document
Version: Any

In this example, I want to copy the selected elements (the triangle and circle shapes) and paste them on a new page in the same document in the exact same places. This is important because of the bleed created on the triangle shape.

Unfortunately, when pasted on a new page, the pasted objects are centered relative to your view. Meaning that they will always paste centered in the screen area regardless of zoom magnification. Notice in the above example how the triangle is not hanging off the left edge anymore.

Going back to my original page or document, I make sure Snap to Guides is turned on in the View menu. Next I draw a rectangle that is the exact same size as my page. Using the cursor as my guide, I can tell when it's snapping to the edges of the page like above. I select the shapes I want to copy and the new rectangle then group them together. Next I copy the group.

On the new page or document, I paste the group in. You'll notice that the objects are still misplaced like above. To fix this, find an edge of your group that doesn't have a trailing shape and align the rectangle to the edge of your new page using the Align palette. As you can see I used the Align bottom and Align right options because there are no trailing shapes there. Make sure to turn on the Align to page option (v8-9 only). If you don't have any trailing shapes, then you can use Align center for both horizontal and vertical alignment. For users of older versions of FreeHand, you'll need align the group by hand and it helps to zoom in and work in Keyline mode.

Once I've finished aligning the rectangle to the page, I just ungroup and delete the rectangle. There, now all my objects should be perfectly pasted in place and I can start working again.

Pasting in place between different documents
Version: 8 and above

This method is a bit different and only works between documents, not multiple pages in one document.... and it works fantastically! Above is a letterhead example that I wish to work with, but creating new comps in a new document.

Since I just want to work with the masthead and e-mail address on the bottom, I select those and Copy them to the clipboard.

Then I create a new document. I choose the Bezigon or Pen tool, then click once on the pasteboard to create one anchor point like shown above.

While this point is still active, I go in the Edit menu and choose Paste in Front. As you see above, all of the objects paste exactly where you copied them from in the previous document. How handy is that? And it's extremely accurate.

You don't need to use an anchor point on the paste board for this to work. You can use any shape, or even use already existing art in the document. Also, you can use Paste Behind as well, either one will get you the same results.

If you use this technique in a multiple page document and try to paste to another page, the objects will simply paste over the top of the original copied objects. That is why the first technique is better suited for multiple page documents.

The placement of the objects are relative to the bottom left corner of the page, so if you have a larger page to paste to, it will actually appear to be lower than you expect. This can be remedied by using similar methods explained in the first technique.

Also note, that even if you've moved the page rulers, the objects will paste in the same place regardless.

These methods is not totally perfect but it does help. Plus the extra steps to ensure that everything is pasting in place is a bit cumbersome.
But once perfected, it goes very quickly.