Copy & Paste item instead of the entire Canvas

[Peter Lucky]

I don't know if anything changed recently but what I used to do frequently no longer works the same. I open an image in the app. I then draw a shape, a line, on the image. I need many of identical lines so while the line is still selected after making it, I Copy and Paste. This used to copy only the selected line/shape and would paste it in the same spot but I could then drag it to where I want it to go.    

But now the entire image gets pasted, not just the line. The background is not selected, I never used create or use layers. So something must have changed I'm thinking.

[Rick Brewster]

Nothing has changed here, so I'm not sure what was happening before. PDN has never copied the line/shape as an object, it can only copy the pixels themselves.

[Tactilis]

2 hours ago, Peter Lucky said:

This used to copy only the selected line/shape and would paste it in the same spot but I could then drag it to where I want it to go.

As @Rick Brewster says, that has never happened.

The easiest way to create multiple copies of a line or shape is to:

1. Create a new layer and switch to it.

2. Draw your line/shape.

3. Press S to activate Rectangle Select and select the area surrounding the line/shape.
4. Ctrl+C to copy the selected pixels, which will be your line/shape and the transparent pixels around it.

5. Ctrl+V to paste in the same location

6. Press M to activate Move Selected Pixels and drag to where you want it to be.


There was a discussion a few months ago about the desirability of being able to copy & paste a line/shape that is being drawn as a simple way of creating multiple identical copies:
 

 

I don't know whether this was added to the Feature Request list at the time, but if it could be considered for a future release it would be a huge time saver.

 

 

[Ego Eram Reputo]

On 1/16/2024 at 9:09 AM, Tactilis said:

1. Create a new layer and switch to it.

2. Draw your line/shape.

3. Press S to activate Rectangle Select and select the area surrounding the line/shape.
4. Ctrl+C to copy the selected pixels, which will be your line/shape and the transparent pixels around it.

5. Ctrl+V to paste in the same location

6. Press M to activate Move Selected Pixels and drag to where you want it to be.

 

Or....

 

1. Create a new layer (Ctrl + Shift + N). By default the layer should be activated, if not - switch to it

2. Use O to activate the Line/Curve tool ("o", not zero)

3. Draw your line/shape

4. Duplicate the layer as many times as you need (Ctrl + Shift + D)

[Guest]

I just think that copying a simple shape should be added. It's simple, obvious and intuitive. While the shape is selected, let me click copy, and then paste, and have it create the exact same shape as if I just finished the first and then manually created the second exactly the same... this lets me QUICKLY create copies of an existing shape and adjust location and color simply and easily. There's no reason to force me to do a dozen steps, creating new layers, and switching to them, and then doing copying and pasting of the entire canvas (that is mostly transparent) and then merge everything down... that seems ridiculous and is completely unintuitive. When something is selected, and I press copy, I expect paste to work, and it just doesn't.

 

Can we PLEASE get this added as a requested feature enhancement? Because it seems like this is always the way it should have worked.

[Tactilis]

@pmbAustin you are simply repeating what was already covered in the topic Could copying a shape copy that shape instead of the image?  that was linked to just 2 posts above yours.

 

Yes, it would be ideal to have this capability. Many of us would find it useful.

 

Whether it gets implemented or not depends on @Rick Brewster's priorities. There are many things in the pipeline for a future major release.

 

1 hour ago, pmbAustin said:

...that seems ridiculous and is completely unintuitive. When something is selected, and I press copy, I expect paste to work, and it just doesn't.

Maybe so, but the way paint.net currently works is the way that most raster graphics editors work, in contrast to the operation of a vector graphics editor.
 

 

 

 

[Rick Brewster]

2 hours ago, pmbAustin said:

There's no reason to force me ...

 

Just because you don't know the reason doesn't mean there isn't a reason. And nobody's forcing you to do anything.

 

"There is no reason..." is a cheap debate tactic that attempts to shift the burden of proof to the other side, and I really recommend avoiding it.

 

Software is complicated and things take time. Just because something is missing doesn't mean it's an intentional/desired design choice.

[BoltBait]

5 hours ago, pmbAustin said:

that seems ridiculous

 

You know what seems ridiculous to me?  Taking an entitled attitude...

 

That's a quick way to get yourself banned around here.

 

[Rick Brewster]

1 hour ago, BoltBait said:

You know what seems ridiculous to me?  Taking an entitled attitude...

 

It's also just a bad strategy to use if you're lobbying for a feature. I'm never going to add something because someone was grouchy and argumentative at me. @Tactilis has successfully lobbied for several things and uses a straightforward evidence-and-logic-based discussion strategy.