How can I replace mutliple instances of an object with another object in Illustrator?

[EltonRay1]

Hi ... I have an artboard that has multiple little flowers (all the same) that I want to replace with another flower that I have later created. I want to be able to replace all the old flowers with the new one that I made so that the new flowers will be in the exact position on the artboard as the old ones. I also have other design elements on the artboard that I don't want to touch. Is there a way to do this in bulk in Illustrator? Please let me know. I am still a bit of a newbie here, and I attempted to get this info from YouTube but could not find it. These flowers are not symbols, but if I can bulk edit them to all become symbols and then replace them all with another symbol, that could be an option. However, these flowers are already on the artboard and have not been created as symbols already. 

Any step by step advice for this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

[Ton Frederiks]

Maybe this script helps:

https://github.com/nvkelso/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/find-and-replace-graphics/findAndReplaceG...

[EltonRay1]

Oh ... I don't actually know how to use scripts. Could you give me details on this?

[EltonRay1]

I actually found a YouTube tutorial for this. I will be using it. Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUWWlWP1QkI&t=547s

[Ton Frederiks]

Good to hear you found how to use it. Hope it works for you.

[Monika Gause]

Try global edit for this.

When you first copy the new design to the clipboard you can replace the old design.

[EltonRay1]

Thanks for your response ... I tried to delete the old ones with the Global Edit but when I pasted, they did not go into the right spots to replace the old ones in their exact position. Is there a way to do this?

[Monika Gause]

First paste the new design, then delete the old objects. Maybe delete all but one of the old objects, then paste the new and then delete that last bit.

[Anna Lander]

Do you need to keep the old design also? If not, you can replace the object directly in the symbol. Double click on any instance on the artboard or in the Symbols panel, delete the old image, and place the new one.

But if you want to keep the old version, this way does not work.