Paste a Symbol

The Paste Symbol tool allows you to insert a symbol from a library onto the graphics page.

After a symbol is pasted using this tool, it can be moved, re-sized, reshaped, brought to the front and so on, and its properties edited just like any other type of object.

You can paste a symbol from the library on to a page in the following ways:

• As an unlinked symbol; the pasted symbol is not updated with changes to the symbol in the library.
• As a linked symbol; the symbol on the page is updated when the symbol in the library is changed (to alter the properties of a symbol in the library, open the library and edit it in the library). If you edit the symbol from the page and then change the source symbol in the library, the pasted symbol changes. For example, if you double the size of a pasted symbol, then double the size of the symbol in the library, the pasted symbol doubles again. You can remove the link to the library by using the Edit | Cut Link command.

Paste a Symbol from the Library to the Page

To paste a symbol from the library to a page:

1. Click the Paste Symbol tool or choose Edit | Paste Symbol.
2. To paste a linked symbol, select the Linked check box. To paste an unlinked symbol, deselect the Linked check box.

Break the Link

To break the link:

1. Select the symbol.
2. Choose Edit | Cut Link.

To display the properties of the objects in the symbol (after pasting), hold the Control (CTRL) key down and double-click the specific object. Alternatively, choose Tools | Goto Object, click the object, then click OK.

Paste Symbol as Flashing

If you have selected Paste Symbol as Flashing, two dialog boxes appear in sequence, allowing you to choose two images that you want to implement as a flashing symbol. The Primary Select Symbol dialog allows you to select the initial image used, the Flashing Select Symbol dialog the second image. If the bitmaps are different in size, the flashing symbol is scaled to the size of the primary image. If one of the symbols is itself a flashing symbol, only the primary state will be displayed.

Paste Symbol Dialog Box

This dialog box lets you paste a symbol from a library to the graphics page (or template).

Paste Symbol Dialog Box Properties

Property	Description
Symbol	A table of symbols in the project. To add a symbol to a graphics page, use the scroll bar to locate the thumbnail image of the symbol, then select it and click OK (or double-click the thumbnail image). To edit the object in the library, select it and click Edit. To create a new symbol, click New. Note: If the symbol has a small diamond-shaped badge next to it, it indicates it is a flashing symbol (see example below.)
Library	The library where the symbol is stored.
Linked	To paste a symbol that maintains the link with its library, check this box. A symbol that is linked will be automatically updated if the symbol in the library is changed. You can remove the link at any time with the Cut Link command from the Edit menu, but you cannot re-link a symbol with the library after this has occurred.

See Also

Published June 2018