Cut and Paste issue within Affinity Pub

[Ken King]

When I cut text/paragraph from an existing page in my Affinity Publisher project and paste it to another page in same project the text changes. How do I keep the text exactly the same throughout the project? I'm working in Windows. *I have read and watched numerous articles and videos but cannot figure this out. Thanks in advance! 

Edited November 21, 2023 by Ken King

[thomaso]

Do you cut a text/paragraph selected with the Text Tool? If yes, what text do you get if you paste?

Or do you cut a text frame layer selected with the Move Tool which is part of a text flow across several frames/pages? If yes, this doesn't work in Affinity yet, instead currently a cut or copied text frame of a text flow chain always contains the entire story and a cut/pasted or copied frame displays the start of the story.

[Ken King]

Thanks for replying thomaso!

I highlight the text/paragraph by left clicking (mouse) and dragging on the text I want to copy. Then I right click and choose "copy" from the drop down menu. Then I go to the page I want to paste the copied info on and right click "paste" from the drop down menu..

 

[thomaso]

Okay. What text gets pasted then if it is not the one you just copied? Where does it come from? Does the pasted text also differ if you paste in another app, e.g. a text editor or a forum's post? Do you have a separate pasteboard application in use?

[Ken King]

thomaso   The box says it's the correct font, but the words may be spaced further apart, or the text is thinner than the rest... (like if you had bold but it pasted normal...) I have not pasted into another app.  No other pasteboard in use. 

[thomaso]

So, not "the text changes" … but its style only? … while the style after pasting has not been set / used / assigned / defined in your workflow before?

Does it make a difference if you paste into an existing text frame versus no text frame? (i.e. paste on an empty page area and let Affinity auto-create a frame)

I am sorry I can't reproduce this occurrence. Can you upload a screencast video that demonstrates this procedure with your entire screen, including the Context Toolbar and the Layers panel at least?

[Ken King]

thomaso  I guess you're right... the style of the text changes. I tried to make it so the text was all the same. But nothing I've tried has kept it consistent. Still... that doesn't explain why sometimes it does it right and other times it doesn't. I've tried varying the frames or having no frames. It's just random. So I have begun to copy the text and paste it "special with no formatting" into a Word document. Then I copy from Word back into Affinity Pub and the text is always the same. It's cumbersome, but effective!

[Old Bruce]

@Ken King Are you using Paragraph and Character Text Styles? Are there any Text Styles in your Publisher Document? It could be you are copying / pasting [No Style] text and it is taking on the characteristics of the Currently selected Paragraph and or Character Styles.

[thomaso]

3 minutes ago, Ken King said:

nothing I've tried has kept it consistent. Still... that doesn't explain why sometimes it does it right and other times it doesn't. I've tried varying the frames or having no frames. It's just random.

That's quite strange. Although I can't imagine the culprit I assume it is locally influenced on your computer, otherwise such would have been reported earlier.

Is there a chance that you upload a video demonstrating the process?

Does this also happen if you copy a selected part of text and then select another text + choose menu Edit > Paste Style? What style gets pasted then, the initial of the copied text or the modified style?

What app version and what operating system are you using?

2 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

It could be you are copying / pasting [No Style] text and it is taking on the characteristics of the Currently selected Paragraph and or Character Styles.

Does it work for you like this? To me also [No Style] text keeps its copied style if the text gets pasted whereever within Affinity.

[Ken King]

thomaso  Let me backtrack a bit (it may allow some clarity). I originally created this book in a program called Canva. This was not the best plan, as I realized later. When I imported into Affinity Pub the text was jumbled or there were different fonts & sizes randomly throughout. I tried unsuccessfully to get al the text to be the same. Nothing worked. That's when I tried to grab the correct text and paste into a page. it worked sometimes, and didn't other times. I tried every different way to cut and paste.

Old Bruce   I tried setting Paragraph and Text Styles. What you say is true... however, it just doesn't make sense to me that it works sometimes and not others. But copying to a Word Doc and back into AP is working fine. My brain was ready to explode!

 

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, Ken King said:

I originally created this book in a program called Canva. This was not the best plan, as I realized later. When I imported into Affinity Pub the text was jumbled or there were different fonts & sizes randomly throughout.

So it appears the initially used file does influence or entirely cause your issues. I don't know Canva and what file format you did import, – but just as an option: If you export your book from Canva as PDF and then open this PDF in APub you will not run into this confusion of text styles.

1 hour ago, Ken King said:

I tried unsuccessfully to get al the text to be the same. Nothing worked.

You should be able to select all text and apply a saved style from APub's Text Style panel. It can be useful to apply first [No Style] as paragraph and as character style, too, or to apply the wanted style with the option to overwrite possible assigned character styles.

1 hour ago, Ken King said:

Nothing worked. That's when I tried to grab the correct text and paste into a page.

Where from did you grab the "correct text"? From Canva? (while your topic is titled "Cut and copy within Affinity"). Or from one APub page to another?

[Ken King]

thomaso   I did import as a .pdf. But it was definitely not the same in APub as it was in Canva... varying text issues.

                  I'll try your suggestion. 

                  No... I was only working in APub using the text that was actually correct on the file I imported (hoping to use the correct text to change the ones that were not                            correct). Yes... one APub page to another. But I could not get consistent paste to be the correct text font style. 

[Ken King]

thomaso, Old Bruce and anyone else who may be able to help.

I have been copying text from Canva and "Paste Special" into Word with the font I want in Affinity Pub. Then copying that and pasting it into APub. It has been working... then this happened... *Screenshots below*

The first screenshot is the Text Style (top page highlighted text) that I want and has been working throughout this cumbersome process. You can see the Text Info to the right "Normal 3" and "No Style". 

The second screenshot is the lower page, on which I used the exact same process to paste, but the text style changed (weight or boldness of text... less bold)... notice the Text info to the right ""Normal 4" and "No Style". 

It just randomly changed.  I cannot figure out how to get it to be the same as the rest of the text in the book. 

[Ken King]

Ok fellas... I just accidentally figured out what is going on.  If there is a blue "Rectangle" around the border of the page, the text in other text boxes is lighter (not as bold). As soon as I delete the outer rectangle from the page, the text in the other boxes instantly matches the rest of the pages....   not sure if there is a viable reason for that, but it works just the same! Thanks for all your help.