Cut & Paste With Precision

AutoCAD is Multiple Document Interface (MDI) which makes it is easy to re-use objects in other drawings.

One approach is to drag & drop object copies from one (open)drawing file into another (open) drawing file.

you can Tile drawings in their own individual windows so you can see both drawings of interest at the same time.
select source objects when no command is running.
press & hold your right mouse button and drag the selected objects to the window of the desired destination file.
select an option from the shortcut when you drop the objects.

Copy Here pastes individual objects at an approximate location (by eye) when you release the mouse button.
Paste as Block pastes a single block insert with an arbitrary name (you can use Rename to change this name later on).
Paste to Orig Coords pastes individual objects in the same location as they were in the source drawing file.

When you drag & drop objects into other drawings you have limited control over where the copied objects are inserted.

the only precise option is Paste to Orig Coords but this is not always where you want to paste the copied objects.

Cut & Paste Process

Cut & paste also lets you copy objects from other drawings but you can be more precise when this is required.
select the source objects when no command is running.
right-click in the drawing area to invoke a shortcut then select an option for copying.

See also Basic Tools Review

press <Esc> twice to clear the grips of selected objects.
make the destination drawing the active drawing.
right-click in the drawing area to invoke a shortcut then select an option for pasting.

Cut/Copy Options

Cut removes the selected objects from the source drawing and places a copy of these objects in the Windows clipboard.
Copy leaves the selected objects from the source drawing intact and places a copy of these objects in the Windows clipboard.
Copy with Base Point is the same as Copy except you are prompted to select the precise base point used for insertion.

Paste Options

Paste inserts copies of the selected object in the destination drawing and the insertion point is precise if you copied with a base point.
Paste as Block is similar to Paste but the objects are inserted as a block insert with an arbitrary name (you can Rename it later).
Paste to Original Coordinates pastes individual objects in the destination file at the same coordinates as the source drawing.

You can Paste as Block in the same (source) drawing file to create a new block definition (and a block insert) in that file.

this may be faster than using the Block command to define a new block but you will probably want to Rename this block.

See also How to manage Xref Paths

PRACTICE USING PRECISE CUT & PASTE TECHNIQUES

»1) Close the drawing from the previous exercise.

»2) Open the T209_2.dwg drawing in your personal folder.

3) With no command running, select all objects in the drawing using an implied Window. Right-click in the drawing area to invoke a shortcut and select Copy with Base Point.

»4) Move your crosshairs to the grip near P1 and left-click on this grip to supply it as the base point. Then press <Esc> twice to clear the grips.

5) Close the current drawing without saving changes then Open the T209_3.dwg drawing in your personal folder.

6) Right-click to invoke a shortcut & pick Paste. Use an Endpoint osnap shown as the insertion point.

7) Save the changes to the current drawing then Close the file.