Looking for easier way to copy item from a group and extract the copied element from that group

[Ken Hjulstrom]

I'm currently working on a document that contains a number of spreadsheet screenshots with rectangular highlights around some of the cells.  The highlights are constructed as rectangles with a red stroke and no fill.  In order to bind the highlights to the screenshot, I've grouped them.  When I'm setting up the next screenshot, I typically click on the "highlight rectangle" in the previous screenshot to select it, and then do command-c to copy it, followed by command-v to create a copy.  When I do this, the second copy is still a member of the same group that the original belongs to, which poses a problem if I just drag the copy to its new location, as it will be bound to the incorrect screenshot.  I know that I can use the "Layers" panel to drag it out of its original group, but I'm wondering if there might be an easier way to do this, such as using a modifier key during the "paste" or "drag" operation, which would "pull" it out of its group without my explicitly having to use the "Layers" panel to do this.

Thanks,

Ken

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Ken Hjulstrom
Added tags

[lepr]

By default, a pasted object will be stacked immediately above the currently selected object, so make sure the second screenshot (not its containing Group) is selected before pasting the rectangle.

To directly select an object that's in a Group, cmd-click the object (I guess that would be ctrl-click for Windows). Alternatively, make use of the new Auto-select feature found in context toolbar of Move Tool.

 

[thomaso]

… in addition to @lepr: Also the two existing menu options for paste / place / insert may help:

… and this application preference (-> "General") that affects not only deleted but also cut objects: If deactivated your cut layer copy gets pasted on top of the entire layer hierarchy – unless you selected another layer before pasting, with/without one of the options shown above.