Does Acrobat XI paste-in-place?

[Bill_Lomax]

It's been a long standing gripe that when you cut and paste elements from one PDF into another that the precise position is lost. Illustrator and InDesign both support this feature. Has this been addressed in the XI version?

[Dave Merchant]

The new Edit Content and Images tool will paste in place by default. The legacy "select object" tool for working with links, buttons, form fields etc does not.

[Andrej_Balaz]

The Edit Text and Images does not paste in place either. I am sorry but it definitely moves the content, too. Just try it with a custom text box created in Acrobat XI.

[Dave Merchant]

As of the current version the ETI tool uses "paste in place offset" - it respects the original position of the copied item but offsets the pasted object by a major nudge step in X and Y. This was necessary because if the pasted item is exactly on top of the original, the ETI tool cannot choose which to select.

[DNKrupinski]

Is this only a Mac OS problem or does it also apply to the Windows version?

(I'm using Acrobat X Pro on a Windows system and Acrobat XI Pro with OS X; the "object tool" of Acrobat X Pro on Windows does a paste-in-place.)

[Andrej_Balaz]

This is an Acrobat problem and thus occurs on all platforms. I have a windows.

[Rick Meikle]

Hi, Dave. I'm using 11.0.03. How do you execute a "major nudge"? I've tried the usual modifier keys with the arrows to no effect. (And, oddly, it's not turning up in a search.) Personally, I would rather default to paste in place with NO offset. If it lands on top of something else, it can be major nudged at that point, then major nudged back. Oh well.

[sd_garrett]

Can confirm that the Content Editing > "Edit Text & Images" can copy paste to the offset position.

However this tool does not allow you to select a form element to allow you to copy it.

The Interactive Object > "Select Object" tool copy pastes to the center of the page.

So as far as I can see paste in place for form elements is still broken.

The only way we have got around this is create a text field as big as the page covering everything else.

select all and copy. then paste. The result is centered then deselect all and then select the big 'placer' field and delete it.

A cludge of a work around but so far the only way in Acrobat X1 and below. on both Mac and windows.

Roll on acrobat X2

[Dave Merchant]

If you're trying to create a copy of a form field in the same place on several pages you don't use the copy/paste tools - there's a special tool just for that

Forms > Tasks> Other Tasks > Edit Fields > Duplicate

[sd_garrett]

Hi Dave

thanks for the responce .

The Duplicate feature is great, and saves time within the same document.

It's copying and pasting between documents that is the issue. We have a 26 page contract form that has unique details for each user of a system. We generate the form manually for each user from indesign. Then copy the fields from an existing pdf template. all the fields need to be in arial so we can not use indesigns form creation plugin because it defaults to the Times font. Also there are calculations between many on the fields so this also makes it hard from Indesign.

cheers

[IMpastoAnimationStudios]

Found a creative solution that works for paste-in-place with buttons:

1. Make a giant invisible button the size of the page, and have it do nothing. I called my button "Positioning."

2. Copy-paste it over to the other document or the other page along with any other buttons or objects

3. Delete the big original button, or leave it there to save time.

It's ugly, but it seems to work.

- ian

[ssusoyev]

Friends,

It turns out that Acrobat Pro X and XI do have a "paste-in-place" function, but it's not straightforward. (Other Adobe applications have a similar function, as noted below, much more readily accessible).

Acrobat:  Hold down SHIFT, then Mouse-Click on Edit, then continue to hold SHIFT and  Mouse-Click on Paste.

(This was driving me nuts, because I had dozens of tiny, coded check-boxes on one page of a form and needed to copy them to a separate, similar form. When I used the simple "Paste" command, the little boxes got strewn all over the page. I thought I was going to have to copy-and-paste each checkbox individually and align each one in just the right spot--a task that would have consumed the better part of an hour. But this keyboard-plus-mouse solution worked perfectly.)

In other Adobe applications:

InDesign:   The Edit menu has a choice called Paste in Place

Illustrator:  The Edit menu has a choice called Paste in Place

Photoshop:  The Edit menu has a choice called Paste Special, which in turn has the option to Paste in Place

Hope other uses find this helpful!

Steve in San Francisco

[ssusoyev · Accepted solution]

Acrobat Pro XI does have a "paste-in-place" function for copying form elements from one PDF to another, but it's not straightforward.

• In the source PDF, Copy the elements to the clipboard
• In the target PDF, hold down SHIFT, then Mouse-Click on Edit, then continue to hold SHIFT and  Mouse-Click on Paste.

Whew!

Steve in San Francisco

[rohanball]

In Acrobat DC I've tried everything to get a Paste In Place working but with no luck. The best I've found is to use the regular select tool, then hit Copy, move to the new document/page and then click Paste. The object will appear right and down from the original location. However if you use CMD + Arrow Up and then CMD + Arrow left you'll find you're back in the same place again.

You need to then recopy the item if you want to do another paste as the next time it'll past two jumps to the right and down.

What a stupid way to run things...

Come on Adobe, get it sorted!

James

[Dana Investment Advisors]

I have tried the same thing and you are correct, there is no paste in place.  Also, there is no longer replace.  used to be able to select item(s) and paste to replace the old with the new item in the same spot now it pastes it in a different spot and the old and new are there.  This is bad for people who do presentations daily and need to continually swap items out.

[cherelynd]

Ssusoyev has the answer tried it and it works perfectly. Thanks ssusoyev    

[rohanball]

Doesn't work on the Mac using Acrobat DC 2017, the pasted item still moved down and right

[Daniel_a_Köenig]

Hello, all!

I am excited to inform you that we may be close to having an actual fix implemented in Acrobat! While not actually a "paste-in-place" option, once you have pasted, you could—IF the following feature request is implemented—tell Acrobat EXACTLY where you want the resulting pasted objects to "go."

If you haven't already, please vote for this idea at the following Feature Request page:

http://tinyurl.com/PrecisePlacementOfObjects.

The more votes, the more likely Adobe is to spend the time and money necessary on this.

Something I think a lot of users don't realize is that Acrobat is a *huge, complex* program, and making ANY change is a *mammoth* undertaking. It's not like you can just change a few lines of code and say "Voila!" When you make a change in even one line of code, you probably will have to make many changes in other lines of code so you don't "break" anything else in the program/application.

We, as users, must really make the case, through our votes and our comments—at the linked feature request page, in addition to all the other forum threads—for the need for these features, or they will NOT be implemented.

So please, cast your vote, and direct all interested parties to this page via this link:

http://tinyurl.com/PrecisePlacementOfObjects

Thanks so much!