Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

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aperriman
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Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by aperriman »

I generally have footnote text smaller than body text. If I copy and paste body text into a footnote, the size (and font) of the body text is retained. So I then have to reapply the footnote paragraph style to get the pasted text to match the size (and font) of the footnote. If I paste plain text, of course, any formatting such as italics is lost. If you do the same thing in Word, the formatting is automatically adjusted to match the surrounding font. Am I missing something in Mellel? Is there a way to copy and paste text between paragraph styles without having to reformat the paragraph?
shades
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Re: Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by shades »

If you paste with CMD + OPT + SHIFT + v, then it will be pasted in with the font/style of the surrounding text.
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aperriman
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Re: Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by aperriman »

Indeed, but as I said, pasting as plain text strips any character style variations, so then I have to go back and redo any italics in the pasted text.
rpcameron
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Re: Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by rpcameron »

So essentially you are requesting an option to paste, and then to apply the current paragraph style to the newly inserted text?

Another option is to assign a keyboard shortcut to your body text paragraph style, then you only have to hit CMD+V to paste, and then SHIFT+F1 to apply the body paragraph style, for example ...
— Robert Cameron
aperriman
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Re: Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by aperriman »

I guess this is the best that can be done given the way Mellel works currently—I was hoping I'd missed something.

But I would suggest that the structural differentiation between the underlying paragraph formatting and formatting applied secondarily to text in the paragraph would be useful. It would allow, as in Word, for text copied from one paragraph style to another automatically to adjust to the surrounding font without losing the applied formatting (e.g., italics and bold). It would avoid the further step of reformatting the paragraph.
farcas
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Re: Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by farcas »

On a related note, I would also like to copy and paste text and retain the character style. But I'd also like to simply change certain aspects of the style. For example, if a text has color or bold and I wish to retain that, but change the font and size, can I apply a partial style? Or create a style that only changes the font and size?


Thanks!
rpcameron
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Re: Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by rpcameron »

farcas wrote:On a related note, I would also like to copy and paste text and retain the character style. But I'd also like to simply change certain aspects of the style. For example, if a text has color or bold and I wish to retain that, but change the font and size, can I apply a partial style? Or create a style that only changes the font and size?


Thanks!
Style variations will do that. Just set up your variations similarly, so when you change paragraph/character styles, the underlying text retains which variation it is.
— Robert Cameron
farcas
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Re: Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by farcas »

rpcameron wrote:Style variations will do that. Just set up your variations similarly, so when you change paragraph/character styles, the underlying text retains which variation it is.
So are you saying I can apply a partial character style to a text...? If I have a text with red and bold and superscript etc all mixed in from a source, can I apply my regular and just change the font and size?


Thanks!
rpcameron
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Re: Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by rpcameron »

farcas wrote:
rpcameron wrote:Style variations will do that. Just set up your variations similarly, so when you change paragraph/character styles, the underlying text retains which variation it is.
So are you saying I can apply a partial character style to a text...? If I have a text with red and bold and superscript etc all mixed in from a source, can I apply my regular and just change the font and size?
Not quite. I think we're talking about two different things. Here are the two situations:
  1. You are attempting to move text into Mellel from an outside source. This outside text has myriad style aspects, including font, style, size, &c. You wish to apply a style to them in Mellel, and maintain the different aspects of the outside text.
  2. You are moving text around within Mellel, and wish to apply a different style to the pasted text.
In the case of 1, what you want to achieve is not really possible. Once you apply a style to text, ALL of that text now has the new style.

However, in the case of 2, it is possible if you are you are using style variations. Option 2 is merely changing the style, not applying a style to text that had none. When changing styles, variations are kept intact.

In any case, the best way to work within Mellel, especially if you are going to have differing sections of text that you wish to have the same style, is to create your styles before you do any text entry. Create a complete Style Set for your document; starting from the bottom up is the best way:
  1. Character styles
  2. Paragraph Styles
  3. Note styles
  4. Section styles
  5. Page styles
  6. Note streams
  7. Auto-Titles (including Outline and Mentions)
If you create your styles as you go, you are going to end up with a lot of mismatched styles, and changes done in one part may not carry over as you expect to other sections.
— Robert Cameron
farcas
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Re: Copy and paste between different paragraph styles

Post by farcas »

farcas wrote:However, in the case of 2, it is possible if you are you are using style variations. Option 2 is merely changing the style, not applying a style to text that had none. When changing styles, variations are kept intact.
Thanks. I'm working with it and it is making more sense.

Thanks for the pointers too!
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