Ever wanted to copy a parts list, door and window schedule, or some text from a spreadsheet, PDF, or Word document into AutoCAD? Or maybe you want to copy AutoCAD geometry and other objects between layouts and drawings. Using the clipboard can make it simple to copy text and tables from applications outside of AutoCAD, and geometry within AutoCAD.
For example, if you already have data in a spreadsheet, you can copy and paste it into AutoCAD as a table. This is a fast and efficient way to create a new table in AutoCAD with existing data.
Let's start with an example of copying data from a spreadsheet to an AutoCAD drawing.
You can also enter PASTECLIP at the Command prompt.
For this demo, we will use the defaults and click OK.
An OLE object of the table is pasted into the AutoCAD drawing. Because the table is an OLE object, you can't edit the text or make changes to the table. If you select the table, you'll see a frame with grips to resize it but that's about it, not very exciting.
This table is embedded in the AutoCAD drawing and is not linked to the original spreadsheet. Changes made to the spreadsheet will not be reflected in the embedded object in AutoCAD. See Data Link Manager to learn more about linking table data in AutoCAD.
Now let's try this again only this time we're going to use the Paste Special option.
You can also enter PASTESPEC at the Command prompt.
There are several options available for pasting information into AutoCAD. These options change depending on the source application. You might need to do a little testing to see what option works best for you.
The example above is just one of many ways to use Paste Special to copy information from other applications like text from a PDF or Word document, or images into AutoCAD. They all follow the same process. It might take a little experimenting using the different options in the Paste Special dialog box to achieve the result you are looking for.
Now let's copy AutoCAD objects between layouts or drawings.
The quickest way to copy AutoCAD objects between layouts or drawings is to select the objects you want to copy from one drawing and paste the objects into another drawing. For this demo, I'll copy the objects from this office to another drawing.
Follow along with your own drawing or choose one of the installed sample drawings.
You can also enter COPYCLIP at the Command prompt.
You can also enter PASTECLIP at the Command prompt.
That was simple, right? Objects copied between drawings retain all the layer, lineweight, color, and other properties of the original objects. All the objects were pasted into the new drawing as individual objects just like they were in the original drawing.
But what if you could create a copy of the objects and create a block when you paste them into a layout or drawing?
Now let's copy the same objects we did before and create a block.
You can also enter COPYCLIP at the Command prompt.
You can also enter PASTEBLOCK at the Command prompt or press Shift+Ctrl+V.
The selected objects are pasted as a block into the drawing.
The new block is available for insertion from the Blocks palette, as needed.
As a best practice you might want to use the RENAME command to give the block a meaningful name. You can also use the BEDIT command to adjust the basepoint and change other properties of the block.
Using Paste as Block is a real time-saver to quickly create blocks.
Now you know how to copy and paste objects in AutoCAD as blocks but what if you wanted to select a base point when you copy the objects and paste them with an insertion point?
You can also enter COPYBASE at the Command prompt.
You can also enter PASTECLIP at the Command prompt.
Now you know how to paste the selected objects using an insertion point into a drawing or layout.
The next paste option I want to show you is Paste to Original Coordinates. Let's say you have several floors of an office building you're working on. You want to copy the stairs from one floor to another and know they will line up perfectly from drawing to drawing. A way to complete this is to use the Paste to Original Coordinates option.
You can also enter COPYCLIP at the Command prompt.
This is in the same coordinate location as the original drawing.
You can also enter PASTEORIG at the Command prompt.
The stairs are pasted into the drawing using the original coordinates from the previous drawing. This is a great way to keep geometry lined up when copying objects from drawing to drawing.
The previous examples are a few ways to use the various copy and paste options provided in AutoCAD. Using the clipboard to copy and paste data and objects can save time over recreating information from other applications or redrawing geometry. Once you become proficient with copy and paste, I'm sure you'll find many other uses for it.
Here are some frequently used commands and system variables related to copy and paste.
Command | Description |
---|---|
COPYBASE | Copies selected objects to the Clipboard along with a specified base point. |
COPYCLIP | Copies selected objects to the Clipboard. |
CUTCLIP | Copies selected objects to the Clipboard and removes them from the drawing. |
PASTEBLOCK | Pastes objects from the Clipboard into the current drawing as a block. |
PASTECLIP | Pastes objects from the Clipboard into the current drawing. |
PASTEORIG | Pastes objects from the Clipboard into the current drawing using the original coordinates. |
PASTESPEC | Pastes objects from the Clipboard into the current drawing and controls the format of the data. |
TABLEEXPORT | Exports data from a table object in CSV file format. |