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Moving and copying objects

Last updated on May 24, 2023

You can move objects by dragging them with specific tool, by using the arrow keys on the keyboard, or by entering precise values in a panel. You can also copy objects using clipboard, clone the objects or duplicate transformed objects.

Move objects by dragging

Select an object or multiple objects.

Looking for Help with selection tool? See selecting objects.
Select the Selection tool , position the pointer over the object.
To move the object, drag it to the new position. You can use mouse click and drag or use arrow key in the keyboard.
To constrain the object’s movement to straight lines, in multiples of 45°, Shift-drag.

Move objects by using the arrow keys

Select an object or multiple objects.
Do one of the following:
- To move the selection 1 pixel at a time, press the arrow key for the direction in which you want the object to move.
  
  You can use the above step when you want to make tiny movements of objects.
- To move the selection 10 pixels at a time, press Shift+arrow key.
  
  You can use the above step to make significant movement of objects.

When Snap To Pixels is selected, the arrow keys move objects by pixel increments on the document’s pixel grid, not by pixels on the screen.

Move objects by using the Property inspector

Select an object or multiple objects.
If the Property inspector is not visible, select Window > Properties.
Enter x and y values for the location of the upper-left corner of the selection.

The units are relative to the upper-left corner of the Stage.

Move objects by using the Info panel

Select an object or multiple objects.
If the Info Panel is not visible, select Window > Info.
Enter x and y values for the location of the upper-left corner of the selection.

The units are relative to the upper-left corner of the Stage.

Cut, copy, or paste objects

To copy or move objects between layers, scenes, or other Animate files, use the cut or copy, followed by paste technique. You can paste an object in a position relative to its original position.

Select an object or multiple objects.
Select Edit > Cut or select Edit > Copy.
Do one of the following:
- To paste the selection in the same position relative to the Stage, select another layer, scene, or file, and then select Edit > Paste In Place.
- To paste the selection in the center of the work area, Select Edit > Paste In Center. You can also select the layer or frame, right-click, and choose Paste in Center.

Copying objects with the clipboard

Elements copied to the clipboard are anti-aliased, so they look as good in other applications as they do in Animate. This feature is useful for frames that include a bitmap image, gradients, transparency, or a mask layer.

Graphics pasted from other Animate documents or programs are placed in the current frame of the current layer. How a graphic element is pasted into an Animate scene depends on the type of element it is, its source, and the preferences you have set:

Text from a text editor becomes a single text object.
Vector-based graphics from any drawing program become a group that can be ungrouped and edited.
Bitmaps become a single grouped object just like imported bitmaps. You can break apart pasted bitmaps or convert pasted bitmaps to vector graphics.

Before pasting graphics from Illustrator into Animate, convert colors to RGB in Illustrator.

Cloning or duplicating an object

You can clone or duplicate an object.

Select an object or multiple objects.
You can clone or duplicate an object in one of the following ways:
- Use Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Macintosh).
- Use Ctrl + D keys from the keyboard.
- Click the Duplicate Selection and Transform button in the Transform panel.

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