Copy objects and style information between drawings in AutoCAD Products

Autodesk Support

Jul 20, 2024

Products and versions covered

Issue:

This article talks about copying objects and style information from one drawing and pasting them on another drawing in AutoCAD Products. This applies to:
  • Any drawing object
  • Blocks
  • External references
  • Layers
  • Layouts
  • Linetypes
  • Dimension styles
  • Text styles

    Solution:

    Using DesignCenter

    You can copy objects and style information from one drawing to another in DesignCenter.
     
     
    Notes: 
    • Before you use DesignCenter to copy information from one drawing to another, be sure that the style names and blocks you want to copy are unique. If the destination drawing contains objects or styles with the same name, duplicate objects and styles are not copied. Objects with shared names will use the existing definition on the target drawing.
    • To Access Design Center:
      • From the Command prompt type: ADC or ADCENTER
      • From the Ribbon → View panel → Palettes tab, select DesignCenter
    Ribbon Access for DesignCenter
     

    Method 1: Copy and Paste

    In this method, you use the Copy and Paste commands.
    1. Locate the source drawing in the DesignCenter window.
    2. Select the Tree View toggle to display the tree, then click Open Drawings to see the tree view of the source and target drawing.
    3. Identify the items that you want copied, such as blocks, text styles, or any of the other listed database objects.
    4. Select the objects to copy.
    5. Right-click the object and click Copy.
      Important: To change the scale of blocks as they are inserted, click Insert Block on the shortcut menu.
    6. Select the target drawing from the tree view.
    7. On the Edit menu, click Paste, or press CTRL+V, to paste the objects.
    Note: For objects such as blocks and external references, you will be prompted on the command line for the insertion point and scale information.

    Method 2: Click and Drag

    In this method, you drag an object from one drawing to another.
    1. Open the target drawing.
    2. Locate the source drawing in DesignCenter.
    3. Select the Tree View toggle to display the tree, and then click Open Drawings button to see the tree view of the source and target drawing.
    4. Identify the items that you want copied, such as blocks, text styles, or any of the other listed database objects.
    5. Select the objects to copy.
    6. Click the selected object and drag the object from DesignCenter into the window area of the target drawing.

    Using the Windows clipboard

    Objects copied through the Windows clipboard will also bring along any style.
    1. On the source drawing, select the objects.
    2. Copy them to the Windows clipboard (Ctrl + C).
    3. On the target drawing, paste them (Ctrl + V).
    Note: Be sure that the style names and blocks that you want to copy are unique. If the destination drawing contains objects or styles with the same name, duplicate objects and styles are not copied. Objects with shared names will use the existing definition on the target drawing.

    Products:

    AutoCAD Products;

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