9.4.1 Copying and Pasting Formats

CopyPaste-Format

While Graph Templates and Themes are generally used to apply a previously-saved set of customizations to specified graph(s), Copy and Paste Format operations offer more freedom in choosing which format properties one wants to selectively copy from a source graph, and subsequently, which copied properties one wants to selectively paste to a target graph.
In Origin, you can choose to copy format properties from a graph window's page, layer, axis titles, axis lines and ticks, user-defined text and drawn objects, graph legends and plots. Which properties can be copied and which can be pasted, will depend on the selected object.

Basic Steps to Copy and Paste Format

To copy the format of a graph or graph object (text, line, arrow, etc.) and paste it to another graph or graph object:

1. Create and customize your graph or graph object (text label, line width, line style, fill pattern, arrow, rectangle, etc).

   

2. Right-click on the customized graph or graph object and select Copy Format, in some occasions, you might need to further select which format properties to be copied, otherwise you will copy all the format settings from source.

   

3. To apply the copied format properties of the customized graph or object to another graph or graph object, select a target graph or graph object, right-click and select Paste Format (to paste all copied format properties) or Paste Format To which needs to further select which format property to be pasted.

   

Copy and Paste Format Properties to Other Layers

Sometimes one may want to copy format from a dataplot and then apply copied format to all other layers. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Customize the graph in one layer, click to highlight data plot in that layer and right click to select Copy Format.

   

2. Right click on any blank area in the page and select Paste Format To: All Line Plots: All to apply all copied format properties to all layers.

   

3. Then the applied format is shown in the following figure.

   

Alternatively you can paste copied format properties to a specified layer, to do so you just need to select that layer first and paste.

Copy and Paste Format Properties to All Graphs in Project/Folder

In some cases, one may want to copy format from a graph layer and apply to all other graphs in current project/folder. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Create and customize your graph.

   

2. Suppose now we only want to copy the format properties from data plot. To do so click to select data plot so its data points are highlighted, then right click to select Copy Format from context menu.
3. Now we want to apply some parts of copied format properties to all graphs in project. To do so firstly active a different graph window, hold SHIFT key and right click to select Paste Format To: All Line Plots: All or select Edit:Paste Format (Advanced)... to open Apply Formats dialog.
4. Uncheck the All box and select wanted properties by checking corresponding boxes in front of each item. Then select All Graphs in this Project from Apply Scope to apply selected format properties to all line data plots in all graph windows in project.

   

5. You can view and edit the details of copied format by clicking the Edit Theme Details button to expand the Details display box. You can check List View box on the right to view the list of format properties. To edit the copied format properties, single click on the row in Value column to enter a value or select an option. You can also apply multiple selected properties other than all the properties by holding Ctrl key to select multiple items and check Apply Selected Properties Only box to apply.

   

You can also save currently copied format properties into a theme by clicking Save As... button in Apply Formats dialog. Later you can edit and apply the saved theme using Theme Organizer.

Copy and Paste Format Properties to a Specified Plot Type in Project/Folder

If you have a multi-layer graph and each layer contains different types of plot. Now you just want to copy format from one plot type in some layer and apply format properties of that specified plot type to all other layers. Below is an example to show how to copy format from a column plot in one layer and apply to all other columns plots in other layers.

1. Customize the column plot in one layer.

   

2. Click to highlight column plot in layer 1 and right click to select Copy Format to copy only the format of column plot.

   

3. Select layer 2 and right click to select Paste Format To: All Column Plots: All.

   

4. The format properties are only applied to the column plot in second layer.

   

You can also apply copied format from a specified plot type to specified layers/graphs or all graphs in the folder/project. To do so, hold SHIFT key when you select an item in the Paste Format To context menu or go to Edit: Paste Format... to open Apply Format dialog. Then you can select an option from Apply Scope drop-down list.

Copy and Paste Format Context Menu Items

When selecting an option in Copy Format/Paste Format context menu to copy/paste format properties from/to a graph or a graphic object, the format properties contained in that option are corresponding to a single or multiple controlling options in the graph's Plot Details dialog or in the graphic object's Properties dialog.

For instance, suppose you are trying to paste format properties copied from a data plot.

You can find the format properties for each item in Paste Format To context menu by double clicking the source data plot to bring up its Plot Details dialog. The correspondences between each item in Paste Format To context menu and options in Plot Details dialog are shown in the figure below:

To view the details of each item in Copy Format/Paste Format context menu, you can go to Edit: Paste Format to open Apply Formats dialog. Then to view the details of a particular item, first uncheck All box under Formats to Apply and select the checkbox on the left of wanted item. After that click the Edit Theme Details button to expand the Details display box to view all the details.