Copy Paste

[ASUNDER]

We already have the duplicate keyboard shortcut, the Ctrl + drag to duplicate, and the Alt + drag to duplicate.
And the copy > paste FX will paste the FX onto the new selected object.  Same with paste style.

So how come the regular paste won't replace the new selected object with the copied one?  Why is it the same as duplicate?
In this example if I copy the rectangle you would think if I select the ellipse and hit Ctrl + V to paste, that it would replace the ellipse with the rectangle.

Why would you want this?  For the circumstances when you want that exact location of the target object to be kept.  You might want to swap out multiple objects at the same time without having to move anything around.  You could select multiple objects and it would replace them all respectively with the copied object.  And it would replace the exact name and location of the layers in the layer window.  Like I said we already have THREE ways of duplicating without copy paste also being a duplicate, so this would be a no brainer.

[carl123]

The regular copy paste function is highly unlikely to change

What you should be requesting is the addition of a new paste command commonly known as Paste Replace or Paste to Replace which can be found in other apps and is considered a useful feature for those that use it.

[ASUNDER]

1 hour ago, carl123 said:

The regular copy paste function is highly unlikely to change

Ya.  I realize nothing requested to any software company is likely to change, but at least one can put in the requests anyway.
People always believe their ways are right; whether they are or not.

I've noticed a 1:1 ratio of the less logical a design choice is, the more the designer will stubbornly insist that it's good.

1 hour ago, carl123 said:

What you should be requesting is the addition of a new paste command commonly known as Paste Replace or Paste to Replace which can be found in other apps and is considered a useful feature for those that use it.

Ya, "replace" would be a better name for it.  Well, kind of, because the current "paste" isn't paste at all.  Copy Paste is literally duplicate, just two steps instead of one.  It is identical to the duplicate function.  Yet another thing that is 100% redundant, like the Alt duplicate key.  If it were to paste at the mouse cursor position, or you would select another layer and it would paste (the copied layer) under the newly selected one, that would be something different than duplicate, but it doesn't.  It's literally duplicate, white washed with a "paste" veneer.  There are FIVE ways to duplicate in this program and no replaces.  FIVE DUPLICATES!  What were they smoking when they decided Alt and Paste will be duplicates instead of what they are supposed to be.

[carl123]

16 minutes ago, ASUNDER said:

Copy Paste is literally duplicate, just two steps instead of one.  It is identical to the duplicate function. 

Duplicating an object is just one of the functions copy paste can do. But it can do lots of other things like copying text from another application or copying and pasting images from the Internet.

21 minutes ago, ASUNDER said:

or you would select another layer and it would paste (the copied layer) under the newly selected one, that would be something different than duplicate, but it doesn't

Copy paste can paste above your selected layer, below your selected layer, inside your selected layer or at the top of the layer stack by utilising the 3 insertion target icons at the top right of the toolbar 

[ASUNDER]

5 minutes ago, carl123 said:

Duplicating an object is just one of the functions copy paste can do.

That's something that it shouldn't do.
Take some text, copy it, then select some other text and Paste.  Tell me what it does.
It replaces the selected text.  (It won't do anything other than that, and people have never thought it odd that it replaces but is named paste).  If I were to choose a cursor position instead of select text, it would paste there instead, inserting the text.

Likewise: If you have copied an object, it should paste to the mouse cursor position (cursor = center of its new bounding box).  If you have layer selections it should replace those objects at their location on the spread (their own center of bounding box is the location for the pasted center of bounding box paste object).

I would be fine with an added shortcut, of course.  The people that like the useless vanilla Ctrl V paste can keep it as it is, but not me.  'Replace' is where it's at.

10 minutes ago, carl123 said:

Copy paste can paste above your selected layer, below your selected layer, inside your selected layer or at the top of the layer stack by utilising the 3 insertion target icons at the top right of the toolbar 

Those are functions of the Insertion target choices, not characteristics of the shortcut itself.  I mentioned the layer stack because I was trying to think of some way it could be different than duplicate (what is the advantage of using it instead of duplicate).  "Replace" would make it useful.  Just as "Paste FX" and "Paste Style" etc. have their own advantages; reasons for existing.  "Paste" does not; in terms of the objects on the screen; it's just a redundant duplicate.

[Pšenda]

39 minutes ago, ASUNDER said:

Copy Paste is literally duplicate, just two steps instead of one.

It's definitely not!
Copy+Paste+Paste+Paste+Paste.... creates any number of copies of the original inserted object - in different places, in different documents, in different applications. Duplicate always creates only one copy - and that only to the original location, so if several copies are needed, the command must be repeated constantly (the copied object must be constantly selected) and pasting into another location/document/application cannot be solved with it at all.

[PaulEC]

49 minutes ago, ASUNDER said:

People always believe their ways are right; whether they are or not.

Very true! – So why do you assume that your way is right and other peoples are wrong? Just because you don't see the need for something, that doesn't mean that it may not be useful for others!

[carl123]

54 minutes ago, carl123 said:

Duplicating an object is just one of the functions copy paste can do.

38 minutes ago, ASUNDER said:

That's something that it shouldn't do.

I think you are seriously underestimating the power of the paste command which is the Swiss Army Knife of pasting and a multifunctional tool in one command

Whereas the commands for Duplicate, Paste Inside, Paste FX, Paste without format, Paste Style are essentially all "one trick ponies"

Edit > Paste can...

Paste over/replace selected text
Paste text at cursor point
Paste above selected layer
Paste below selected layer
Paste inside selected layer
Paste at top of layer stack
Paste from other applications
Paste across different, opened Affinity documents
Paste from the Internet
Paste to duplicate a selected layer

Edit > Paste came first, he is the daddy the rest are his children and who are they to now be telling him that he is duplicating what they can do?

 

49 minutes ago, ASUNDER said:

Likewise: If you have copied an object, it should paste to the mouse cursor position

That I believe would be a function of the Paste in Place command which sadly does not exist as that would be a useful addition to the software

[ASUNDER]

49 minutes ago, Pšenda said:

It's definitely not!
Copy+Paste+Paste+Paste+Paste.... creates any number of copies of the original inserted object - in different places, in different documents, in different applications. Duplicate always creates only one copy - and that only to the original location, so if several copies are needed, the command must be repeated constantly (the copied object must be constantly selected) and pasting into another location/document/application cannot be solved with it at all.

I'm not talking about those things.  They can stay as-is; I'm not asking for changes on that.  The thing I'm requesting is a shortcut to replace objects.
And since you can hit the duplicate button multiple times, that's the same behavior as hitting the paste button multiple times.  That just strengthens my complaint that paste is redundant.

50 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

Very true! – So why do you assume that your way is right and other peoples are wrong? Just because you don't see the need for something, that doesn't mean that it may not be useful for others!

You telling me this is about as useful as holding Alt to duplicate.  And gets in the way of the discussion, like Alt duplicate gets in the way of disabling snap.

4 minutes ago, carl123 said:

I think you are seriously underestimating the power of the paste command

I never asked for any of the cross-platform copy/paste features to be changed.  Again, I'm only asking about the position of objects on the spread GUI (and replacing the layers in the layer stack).
That is the one and only pain point for this "paste" feature.  Everything else is fine.  So why are you guys challenging my request by telling me about things I'm not requesting?

6 minutes ago, carl123 said:

Paste above selected layer
Paste below selected layer
Paste inside selected layer
Paste at top of layer stack

I already told you where it pastes in the layer stack has nothing to do with the paste command.  The 'Insertion' options govern all created things.  It's not some special feature of paste.

My 'Replace' request would not only replace the objects on the spread but also their position in the layer stack.  It would replace the layers entirely with the copied one.
So if the current paste is "surgical" then replace would be doubly so.  Not having replace is a missed opportunity.

[Old Bruce]

I too really want a Paste Replace command. I honestly don't know why we cannot use the Context Menu's paste as the location for the pasting.

[seltzdesign]

+1 for a Paste to Replace functionality. I use it a lot in Figma and there doesn't seem to be an easy substitute in Affinity. I would love to use it for replacing objects with their symbol counterpart: