Cut, copy and paste

Copy and paste in PlexiiDraw: paste in front, in back, in place or on every artboard, copy by Option-dragging, and paste your artwork into other apps.

All plansUpdated 21 October 2026By the Plexii team

PlexiiDraw has Illustrator's paste commands. As well as a plain paste, you can paste exactly in front of or behind what you have selected, in the same spot, or on every artboard at once. Every copy is independent: editing a copy never changes the original.

Before you start

Copy and paste are on every plan.
Open an artwork. See Start an artwork and set up the artboard.
On Windows, press Ctrl for ⌘ and Alt for ⌥.

Copy and paste

Select a shape with Select (V).
Press ⌘ C to copy it, or ⌘ X to cut it.
Press ⌘ V. The copy appears in the middle of the view.

A cut shape goes from the artwork, and ⌘ V brings it back. The same commands are in the Edit menu, and F2, F3 and F4 also cut, copy and paste.

Paste exactly where you want it

Copy first, then choose one of these. Each is also in the Edit menu.

Command	Mac	Windows	Where the copy goes
Paste	`⌘` `V`	`Ctrl` `V`	The middle of the view.
Paste in Front	`⌘` `F`	`Ctrl` `F`	Directly in front of the selection.
Paste in Back	`⌘` `B`	`Ctrl` `B`	Directly behind the selection.
Paste in Place	`⇧` `⌘` `V`	`Ctrl` `Shift` `V`	The same spot it was copied from.
Paste on All Artboards	`⌥` `⇧` `⌘` `V`	`Ctrl` `Alt` `Shift` `V`	One copy on each artboard.

Paste on All Artboards is one step to undo: one ⌘ Z takes away every copy it made.

Copy by dragging

Hold ⌥ (Alt on Windows) and drag a shape. The original stays exactly where it was, and the copy lands where you let go.

To copy a shape a set distance, hold ⌥ and press an arrow key: a copy is nudged across. Press ⌘ D (Transform Again) to make another copy one more step along. See Transform and align objects.

Duplicate

Choose Edit > Duplicate to copy the selection. ⌘ D is Transform Again, as in Illustrator, so Duplicate has no key. You can give it one in the Keyboard shortcuts dialog. See PlexiiDraw keyboard shortcuts.

Copy part of a path

With Direct Selection (A), you can select a single point of a path. Press ⌘ C with one point selected and the whole path is copied. See Edit points and paths.

Paste into other apps

Copy a shape in PlexiiDraw, then paste it into another app, such as Pages, Keynote or a web page in your browser. It arrives as a picture or as a vector drawing.

To paste SVG copied from Figma into PlexiiDraw, see Place and import pictures, PDFs and SVGs.

Common questions

My paste landed in the middle of the screen, not where I copied it. That is what Paste does. Use Paste in Place (⇧ ⌘ V) to paste in the same spot.

If I change a copy, does the original change too? No. Copies you paste, duplicate or Option-drag are independent of the original.

⌘D no longer duplicates. ⌘ D is now Transform Again, as in Illustrator. Use Edit > Duplicate instead.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].