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blahblahblah5
Participant
September 30, 2020
Answered

Alt dragging duplicates twice in InDesign

  • September 30, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 2035 views

Just as the title says. When I "alt drag" on anyhting it now duplicates twice instead of once. Its infuriating. It's been happending for a couple weeks so I'm assuming its since the latest update (15.1.2). I've restarted InDesign, I've restarted my computer and I've uninstalled and re-installed InDesign numerous times. 

 

Uninstalling and re-installing works very temporarally. But thats it. Right back to multiple duplicating soon after. 

 

Has anyone else experienced this and have a fix?

Correct answer Rebekka26239237a1dj

Yeah that ghosting is indicative of tapping your right arrow key when dragging to make a copy. I'd try another keyboard or at least just try rapping on your arrow keys for a bit and try it again. Wondering if a key is stuck or something?


Had the same issue, tapping the arrow keys a few times solved the problem! Thank you!

 

4 replies

M
manwithcomputer
Participant
December 10, 2020

Can't get this to stop happening no matter what. 

S
stigatleb
Participant
February 22, 2021

On Windows: Pushing the arrow up on the keyboard while holding Alt and drag (a bit tricky with only two hands, but use the Alt-gr) will give you more duplicates. Pushing the arrow down on the keyboard while holding Alt and drag will reduce number of duplicates.

    D
    defaults42fydg1lhwr
    Participant
    April 15, 2022

    This solved the problem for me, thank you!!!

     

    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 1, 2020

    While I haven't experienced that ghosting, I finally brought my MacBook Pro in to get the faulty keyboard replaced. What a difference! I can't believe I waited so long. 🙄

    https://support.apple.com/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks 

     

    ~Barb 

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 30, 2020

    Hi Blahblahblah5:

     

    Uninstalling and re-installing works very temporarally. But thats it. Right back to multiple duplicating soon after. 

    Have you rebuilt the preferences and cache files?

    https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-rebuilding-preferences-cache/ 

     

    ~Barb 

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    B
    blahblahblah5Author
    Participant
    September 30, 2020

    I'll try this. Thank you.

    hammer0909
    Community Expert
    hammer0909Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 30, 2020

    I'm running 15.1.2 on the Mac OS and am not seeing this issue. It works as expected. When you drag, are you seeing a ghosted version of that second copy? If so, I'm wonding if you're having an issue with your keyboard as you can make additional copies using alt + drag and adding the arrow keys. Any chance you can try alt + dragging using a different keyboard? Also I just tested the alt + drag on Windows and it works as expected.

    B
    blahblahblah5Author
    Participant
    September 30, 2020

    Yes, there is a ghosted (dotted outlined) version of the second copy. See attached. The second attachment is the end result.

     

    Unfortunately, I dont have access to a different keyboard at the moment. Still working from home. I'm on macbook pro.

    hammer0909
    Community Expert
    hammer0909Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 1, 2020

    Yeah that ghosting is indicative of tapping your right arrow key when dragging to make a copy. I'd try another keyboard or at least just try rapping on your arrow keys for a bit and try it again. Wondering if a key is stuck or something?

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