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davidm96182514
Participating Frequently
January 23, 2019
Answered

Copy Paste w/ Inconsistent Results

  • January 23, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 2703 views

I'm a relatively new user so forgive me if I get some of the terminology wrong.

I'm working in a single file and creating multiple iterations while exploring a design.  To keep the file organized, I'm copying layers onto fresh artboards with each iteration. However one layer in particular isn't maintaining the structure of it's sub-layers (while all the others work just fine), resulting in broken clipping masks among other problems. "Paste Remembers Layers" is unchecked so that's not the issue.

Screencap of me copying, the green layers are the structure I expect to replicate on the next artboard:

Screencap of me pasting the results.  Right away we see the clipping masks are broken, and the sub-layers are no longer structured as they were. Comparatively, this does not occur when copying and pasting Jelly or the button. Also worth pointing out that the new layer is suddenly marked with an underline as though it were a clipping mask:

My first solution was to avoid this be duplicating artboards entirely using the Artboard panel, but that creates a whole mess of duplicate objects within the layers themselves and also breaks , rather than creating new / duplicate layers, so I'm not exploring that as an option at the moment (though I'll take any advice on that front as well - this feature seems woefully broken to me to the point that I assume I've missed something).

To recap:

  1. How can I get the copy and paste to work on "ninja" like it does on "jelly" and the button layers.
  2. The duplicate artboard feature seems either broken or just a terrible UX by default, is there something I'm missing to make it a true duplicate?
This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Ton Frederiks

Hi David,

It is certainly a bug.

Copy paste or grouping should never change the stacking order of objects or release clipping masks.

You can mention it here:

Adobe Illustrator Feedback

and also refer to this post.

3 replies

Daniel E Lane
Daniel E Lane
Inspiring
January 24, 2019

Build up one of these, Use the Artboard tool and Option+Drag the artboard to completely duplicate that artboard, contents and all. Sort out the pieces and parts in the layers panel and then do your changes to the second one. It's not optimal, but it creates the second artboard, everything is in the exact placement you want and you can at least move forward for now.

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 24, 2019

I cannot really figure out what causes the problem, but I can see that the stacking order of groups and objects gets messed up when copy/paste or grouping is used.

If I make the Ninja objects into a Symbol, it behaves, even after breaking the link to the symbol.

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    davidm96182514Author
    Participating Frequently
    January 24, 2019

    Thanks Ton.  I'll use this workaround for the time being, but I'm hesitant to write it off as "correct" since this is looking more and more like a outright bug. Frustrating since I'm a relatively new user and was placing the blame on myself.

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    January 24, 2019

    Hi David,

    It is certainly a bug.

    Copy paste or grouping should never change the stacking order of objects or release clipping masks.

    You can mention it here:

    Adobe Illustrator Feedback

    and also refer to this post.

    John Mensinger
    Community Expert
    John MensingerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 23, 2019

    Turn on Paste Remembers Layers.

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    davidm96182514Author
    Participating Frequently
    January 23, 2019

    Thanks, but no luck.  "Paste Remembers Layers" creates the same issue as outright duplicate the artboard, ie. the objects are copied into their existing layer structure rather than into the new / empty layer.

    I turned the option in and here are the results. Even with "layer 13" selected as the desired destination, it forces the pasted elements into the previous "ninja" layer. Also note that the clipping masks broke when compared to previous screencaps.

    D
    davidm96182514Author
    Participating Frequently
    January 23, 2019

    I wanted to add that the clipping masks are not causing the issues. The problem persists even if they are deleted entirely before copying ans pasting - the sub-layer structure is obliterated when pasted and the destination layer is inexplicably marked as a clipping layer (when Paste Remembers Layers is turned off).

    Download: Dropbox - mockup01.ai

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