Indesign 19.5 Merges/flattens separate elements into a single uneditable graphic?

[Jenifer32133388scrf]

This has been happening off and on for months, I haven't been able to find any other mentions of it on forums, but another designer I work with has also expereienced this. If this is a new "function" it's not helpful and I would like to know how to prevent it from happening:

If I select multiple objects in an Indesign document (for example: a vector icon, a type box, and a rectangle shape) and copy/paste them into another Indesign page, the objects MERGE into one graphic! All of the separate elements become one element within in a content box. This new "flattened" graphic can't be opened or edited - I tried to right-click it but the popup menu does not recognize the graphic as something that could be opened in Photoshop etc. It doesn't matter if the elements are grouped or if it's just multiple objects selected, the result is the same: it becomes a single uneditable graphic. The Undo command does not undo the merge, so I have to delete the new "flat" image and repaste the elements (often multiple times) until it copies as it should. Sometimes it doesn't paste correctly after repeated tries, so I have to quit and restart. I've checked to make sure my finger isn't accidentally holding some other key as I paste, but I can't imaging why merging multiple individual elements into something uneditable in a layout program would be an option at all, mistake or not. Screen shots of "before" (individual elements) and "after" (merged) are attached. 

I updated to the newest version of Indesign hoping to resolve it, but to my surprise, the Paste In Place key command would not work. It only worked about 10% of the time, sometimes the Paste command didn't work either. (Yes, I tested to make sure it's not my keyboard, but Paste In Place keyboard command did work in other Adobe programs.)

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Unfortunately, screenshots are missing.

Could you please clarify your platform, OS and InDesign versions? 

And maybe share a sample INDD file - with original objects before and your "flattened" result of Copy&Paste.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Jenifer32133388scrf

You can also try resetting preferences.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I will just say that I've never seen anything like this behavior, and a few minutes of experimenting along the lines of your report have resulted only in more or less exact copies of whatever was selected, copied and pasted. ID is, if anything, meticulous about maintaining the relationship of elements, including things like layer assignment.

So either you're doing something else that's odd/not usual practice, or you have a significant gflitch in your system. As RT says, it helps a lot to know exactly what platform, OS, version etc. you're using, and to share a sample file that has the before and after objects in it.

[Jenifer32133388scrf]

Thanks James - It's like when you take your car to the mechanice because it's making a noise but they can't reproduce the noise or diagnose... I can't get Indesign to do it when I want to show anyone, it doesn't happen all the time, but frequently enough for it to be an issue. I work in a production environment so I use keyboard commands to work quickly, but I've been paying close attention to ensure I'm not accidentally holding down or kitting a key as I paste, but all I'm doing is just selecting objects, Cmd V and Cmd P and the objects merge. It's really bizarre. 

My OS is Sonoma 14.6.1, Indesign 19.5

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Jenifer32133388scrf

Maybe you are doing Paste INTO? 

Do you get vector or bitmap? 

Maybe you've some software working in the background? 

[BobLevine]

Sounds like you're copying from one version of InDesign and into a different version of InDesign. If that's not the case, let us know.

[Jenifer32133388scrf]

Hi Bob - no, I'm only using Indesign 19.5. 

[Mike Witherell]

Edit > Preferences > Clipboard Handling > and turn off all the Prefer PDF switches.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Edit > Preferences > Clipboard Handling > and turn off all the Prefer PDF switches.

By @Mike Witherell

Isn't that only for external sources? 

[Jenifer32133388scrf]

Thank you - this option is already unchecked in my Preferences and I still get the same effect. 

[Mike Witherell]

I dunno. But after re-reading this post, maybe a deep reset is in order?

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/reset-indesign-preferences-and-other-troubleshoo...

[Luke Jennings3]

What happens when you don't use the shortcuts and use the menu? Did you do a full shut down and restart of your computer? Try using the clipboard preferences in the attached screen shot (even though this is for copy/paste from external sources). What happens when you use the Content collector tool to copy/paste? If this were a bug, I would expect more users to be complaining. Are you using any 3rd party plug-ins?