Problems with formatting when I copy and paste pages from one Pub2010 document to another - please help!

Question

Hi there,

When I copy and past a page from one publisher document to another I lose the formating - for example the text box shrinks when you paste it.

This never used to happen in Publisher 2007.

Here is what I have tried to rectify the problem:

1.  Having the clipboard open/ showing in both documents

2.  Emptying the clipboard before each copy and paste. (not something that needed to be done in previous versions)

I would love to be able to sort this out as it takes lots of time to re-format everything! Thank you so much for your help!

Answer 1

Thanks for doing the experiments and posting back. For some reason MS changed the default settings in text boxs for Pub 2010, but now at least you can copy and paste a page in two steps.

You have figured out how to copy and paste the text boxes and keep the source formatting. Let's make that the second step.

The first step is to copy and paste everything else on the page. To do this first make sure that you have the 'Home tab' selected in the menu and that you can see the 'Group' command under the 'Arrange' group. Then instead of using Ctrl + A or 'Select all' to select everything on the page, starting at the top of your page, hold down the Ctrl key and click/select each individual design element on the page, excluding the text boxes. Once you have clicked/selected all the other elements then 'group' those elements together. You can click the 'group' icon under 'arrange' or you can use the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + G.

Now you can copy and paste that group of elements onto the other page in one step. Then in step two, add the text boxes.

Granted this is not as easy as copying the entire page in one step but it will at least save you the time of copying and pasting each of the non-text box elements and it will help you maintain the layout of the page.

DavidF

Answer 2

I was having the same problem.  I was trying to cut and paste between two different brochures in MS Publisher 2007 and would loose the formatting (and even the font style) between cut and paste, BUT I FOUND A SOLUTION  Instead of cutting and pasting, select the object or group of ofjects and add them to the content library ((right click, choose "add to content library").  When you go to the second publication, choose insert>picture>from content library and you can choose your object/group to insert.  It kept everything the same.  Hope that helps you!

Elsie

I will give this a try but not holding my breath. 

This program just has way too many flaws in functionality to make it a cost productive tool in a commercial environment.

Better to use MS Word

Then you get the roll over of text from one page to another automatically, ability to define TOC or Index, page numbering and sections etc etc.

Answer 3

I was having the same problem.  I was trying to cut and paste between two different brochures in MS Publisher 2007 and would loose the formatting (and even the font style) between cut and paste, BUT I FOUND A SOLUTION  Instead of cutting and pasting, select the object or group of ofjects and add them to the content library ((right click, choose "add to content library").  When you go to the second publication, choose insert>picture>from content library and you can choose your object/group to insert.  It kept everything the same.  Hope that helps you!

Elsie

I will give this a try but not holding my breath. 

This program just has way too many flaws in functionality to make it a cost productive tool in a commercial environment.

Better to use MS Word

Then you get the roll over of text from one page to another automatically, ability to define TOC or Index, page numbering and sections etc etc.

 

That was quick!

NO right click choose "add to content library" in Publisher 2010

Can save a .png file but that is not what the task is.

The task is making another editable document, not creating a picture

Answer 4

Elsie,

I did copy to the Content Library. When I am in the other document and insert from what I saved in the Content Library I STILL CHANGES the formatting and font. There is no way for you to save the formatting like you can in word, etc. Weird. Thanks for your reply.

Answer 5

I JUST figured out how to do it!!  Go to the file that you pasting INTO on the home tab, click on STYLES, select Import Styles...  then select the file you are COPYing from.  Then select "no" to all the "warnings" and when you PASTE,  everything  is PERFECT!  No loss of hours worth of formatting!!

I first select everything i'm going to copy/paste and group everything into one object then copy and paste.  I make a book out of 50 - 60 different projects, I need them as individual projects and i need them in book format, so I essentially have two copies of each one. 

Each page has multiple pictures and text boxes with a different formatting/font/style in each text box.  So far setting the style to be the same from the incoming file has worked beautifully!

Hope this helps someone else.