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[afPub 1.7.1.404] Impossible to paste layers inside page without layers


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When I copy and paste layers from my master page to put them unto a page, that's impossible on a page without layers, because when there are no layers the context menu (rightclick menu) doesn't appear on rightclick. It only appears when right-clicking on a layer, but the whole point is that there are no layers and I want to paste them in.

So to paste layer, first we need to add some dummy layer first, just to get the contextmenu with 'Paste' in it. That's not really efficient.

The contextmenu should also appear when we rightclick on the layers-area and we have layers on the clipboard to paste.

(see video).

 

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I'm curious why you want to copy layers from a Master Page to a document page, rather than simply Applying the Master? Are you trying to copy them without them being part of a Master Page layer?

In any case, you don't need the right-click menu. Just use Edit > Paste (Ctrl/Cmd+V), which works perfectly fine in my experience.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

I'm curious why you want to copy layers from a Master Page to a document page, rather than simply Applying the Master? Are you trying to copy them without them being part of a Master Page layer?

In any case, you don't need the right-click menu. Just use Edit > Paste (Ctrl/Cmd+V), which works perfectly fine in my experience.

Great question. It's because I decided to use another structure than using a masterpage. I'd like to copy the existing layers from the masterpage to a regular page to use it as a linked file inside other documents (background) instead and want to keep that file clean, so no need to use materpages there. That way I have sort of a master-of-all-masters page.

When I than change this master-of-all-masters-page (the background-layout of a letter), all other afPub-files using this file as a linked image (so special types of letters all using the same background) should change too.

BTW this bug is not only related to copying from masterpage to page, but also from page to page. Or from a page to the same page even to put the just cut layers back with a paste.

 

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54 minutes ago, Friksel said:

BTW this bug is not only related to copying from masterpage to page, but also from page to page. Or from a page to the same page even to put the just cut layers back with a paste.

I don't see a bug. Possibly a missing function, but since Edit > Paste works, I'd see it as low priority for an enhancement.

55 minutes ago, Friksel said:

When I than change this master-of-all-masters-page (the background-layout of a letter), all other afPub-files using this file as a linked image (so special types of letters all using the same background) should change too.

Interesting idea, but I don't understand how that would (or does?) work. If you haven't actually used the Master Page as a Master Page, what would make the copied layers change when the linked file is changed? The Master Page itself might change, but the copied layers are no longer connected to it.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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21 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Interesting idea, but I don't understand how that would (or does?) work. If you haven't actually used the Master Page as a Master Page, what would make the copied layers change when the linked file is changed? The Master Page itself might change, but the copied layers are no longer connected to it.

I want to have three types of letters:
* A general letter
* An offer letter
* An invoice letter

They all use the same background and footer. Only the labels and content layout change on these layout types for letters.

At first I had it like this:

* Master A = the background for all types of letters
* Master B = the masterpage for a general letter which uses Master A as a background
* Master C = the masterpage for an offer letter which also uses Master A as a background
* Master D = the mastermage for an invoice letter which also uses Master A as a background.

So when changing Master A (the background for all letters), all letter-types are changing with it.

But that's only the masterpages. Not the (dummy-)content placed on it. So there's no layout yet for the actual values after the labels (like subject-label or address on the letter) and there's no body content on the letter.

So for this I need to pre-create pages:
* Page 1 = A general letter (using Master B and additional text frames for the actual content)
* Page 2 = An offer letter (using Master C and additional text frames for the actual content)
* Page 3 = An invoice letter (using Master D and additional text frames for the actual content)

(Although in realitity it gets more complicated. Because of all three types I also need to have a starterpage, a middle-page and a last-page variant).

 

Now when I'd like to use this template file for a letter, I have to copy it first, than remove the pages I don't want, so I could not restore them, and only use the pages I need for a letter. And next to this I have a lot of master pages in one file.

So what I actually would like to see in Publisher is a way to set 'page templates'. So we could pick a page template from our list and start typing over the dummy text. But it doesn't seem to be possible to have some sort of Page Templates in Publisher.

So I solve this now by creating it this way instead:

* One file with only the background of the letter (previously Master A) - so this doesn't use a master page, only a page (like a regular designer file) --> hense my action to copy all frames from the master page to a normal page
* One file for the General Letter --> uses the background-file as a background in its masters and adds layout for a general letter (subject field and all that)
* One file for the Offer Letter --> uses the background-file as a background in its masters and adds layout for an offer letter (pricing things and all that)
* One file for the Invoice Letter --> uses the background-file as a background in its masters and adds layout for an invoice letter (different pricing things and all that)
 

That way it's way easier and more efficient to pick directly the right file for a letter and start typing. Without the need to remove all unused pages first and having a file with a lot of master pages we don't need anyway.

And also now it's much easier to re-use the exact same background for new letter-types. We just need to create a new file, using the same background-file as a linked resource.

Hope this helps,

But now, please keep this thread about the issue please :)

 

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10 minutes ago, Friksel said:

But now, please keep this thread about the issue please :)

If by "issue" you mean "lack of a right-click menu" to paste layers, when no layers exist: Again, I think it's working correctly and as intended. In that situation, Edit > Paste works and seems appropriate to me. In my opinion you have a feature request. Serif will agree, or not, of course :)

If I've missed some other issue, sorry.

Overall: your approach is interesting, but I still don't understand the need to precreate dummy pages. Just put the relevant text frames on Masters B, C, etc. and create new real pages with the appropriate Master applied when you need one. And that resolves a lot of the other issues you've described, I think.

But, OK, we'll keep this focused on your issue or feature request. Thanks for the explanation.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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20 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

your approach is interesting, but I still don't understand the need to precreate dummy pages. Just put the relevant text frames on Masters B, C, etc. and create new real pages with the appropriate Master applied when you need one. And that resolves a lot of the other issues you've described, I think.

You are totally right. I see it now. I didn't know it was possible to override text inside the masterpage from within a page using that master page without affecting other pages using the same masterpage. Being able to do this is just briljant! Since I left Adobe (indesign in this case) I was used to Scribus and that software doesn't handle it that way. There you cannot edit (at least not AFAIK) the contents of the master page from within a page using that master page. Not even sure if Indesign could handle this situation the way Publisher handles it now, when I was using that software back then.

This is briljant. Thanks for helping and letting me get to this point! So actually what I'm after (Template Pages) are in fact already possible with master pages. That's great! :)

20 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Again, I think it's working correctly and as intended. In that situation, Edit > Paste works and seems appropriate to me. In my opinion you have a feature request. Serif will agree, or not, of course :)

Although I agree with you it's a nice 'workaround' to be able to use Edit > Paste for this usecase and that it's a minor issue with less priority, I still call it a bug to not being able to use the rightclick menu on layers when there's no layer yet. Because what we want is to add layers and that's the place we might expect the menu to be. Because we're also using that same menu to copy layers.

Also 'paste' a layer should not need to be done from right clicking on a layer anyway and should also always be available from within the layers area in my opinion. Because we just want to paste that layer(s) in the root, not on a layer, in this case, so it makes sense to click on some space outside of a layer to get the contextmenu to paste the layers.

 

But again, thanks for helping me with the masters pages issue! It's great how Publisher handles this! It's very powerful. :)

 

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