3. If you chose Copy with Base Point in Step 2, pick a base point to use for the copy operation.
The base point is like a base point for a block definition, as described in Chapter 13. Choose a useful point such as the endpoint of a line, the lower-left corner of a rectangle, or the center of a circle.
4. Select the objects that you want to copy and then press Enter to end object selection.
5. Click in the second drawing’s window to make it current.
6. Right-click in the second drawing’s window and choose Paste from the cursor menu.
Choose Paste to Original Coordinates if you want to copy the objects so that they land at the same point (with respect to 0,0) in the second drawing as they were located in the first drawing.
7. Specify an insertion point for the copied objects by object snapping to a point on an existing object or typing absolute X,Y coordinates.
AutoCAD copies the objects.
It’s easy to confuse the CoPy and COPYCLIP commands:
? CoPy is AutoCAD’s primary command for copying objects within a drawing.
? COPYCLIP — along with related commands like CUTCLIP and PASTECLIP — is AutoCAD’s version of copy and paste via the Windows Clipboard.
(You can use the Windows Clipboard cut-and-paste method to copy or move objects within a single drawing, but using the AutoCAD CoPy and Move commands usually gives you better control and precision.) Table 6 -2 summarizes AutoCAD’s Clipboard-related commands, along with the equivalent choices on the right-click menu and the Standard toolbar.
Table 6-2 AutoCAD Clipboard Commands
| Cursor Menu Choice | Command Name | Toolbar Button Name |
|---|---|---|
| Cut | CUTCLIP | Cut to Clipboard (Ctrl+X) |
| Copy | COPYCLIP | Copy to Clipboard (Ctrl+C) |
| Copy with Base Point | COPYBASE | none |
| Paste | PASTECLIP | Paste from Clipboard (Ctrl+V) |
| Paste as Block | PASTEBLOCK | none |
| Paste to Original Coordinates | PASTEORIG | none |
The Stretch command is superficially similar to CoPy and Move; it has the same inscrutable base point and displacement prompts, and it shifts objects — or parts of objects — to other locations in the drawing. But it also has important differences that often confound new AutoCAD users to the point where they give up trying to find out how to use Stretch. That’s a mistake, because Stretch is a valuable command. With it, you can perform editing operations in seconds that would take many minutes with other commands. Here are the things you need to know to make Stretch your friend:
? To use Stretch, you must select objects by using a crossing selection box (or crossing polygon), as described in the section “Perfecting Selecting,” earlier in this chapter. See Figure 6-6.
Figure 6-6: Use a crossing selection box to select objects for stretching.
? Stretch operates on the defining points of objects — endpoints of a line, vertices of a polyline, the center of a circle, and so on — according to the following rule: If a defining point is within the crossing selection box that you specify, AutoCAD moves the defining point and updates the object accordingly.
For example, if your crossing selection box surrounds one endpoint of a line but not the other endpoint, Stretch moves the first endpoint and redraws the line in the new position dictated by the first endpoint’s new location. It’s as though you have a rubber band tacked to the wall with two pins, and you move one of the pins. See Figure 6-7.
Figure 6-7: Stretch moves defining points that lie within the crossing selection box.
? Stretch can make lines longer or shorter, depending on your crossing selection box and displacement vector. In other words, the Stretch command really combines stretching and compressing.
? You usually want to turn on ortho or polar tracking mode before stretching. Otherwise, you’ll end up stretching objects in strange directions, as shown in Figure 6-8.
Figure 6-8: The hazards of stretching without ortho or polar tracking turned on.
The following steps describe how to Stretch lines:
1. Draw some lines in an arrangement similar to the dark lines shown in Figure 6- 9.
Figure 6-9: Dragging objects in the middle of the Stretch command.
Start your stretching with simple objects. You can work up to more complicated objects — polylines, circles, arcs, and so on — after you’ve limbered up with lines.
2. Press Esc to make sure that no command is active and no objects are selected.
