Advanced Copy and Paste with Paste Special - 01 Nov 2007

The Paste command has many possibilities, only one of which you get when you choose Paste.

Choose Edit → Paste Special.

Explore each of the options you have for pasting the copied object into the destination document. Options may include:

• Unformatted text and formatted text. Formatted will preserve the original formatting. Unformatted text will appear in a format appropriate for the destination (the current font, for example). Pasting as unformatted text strips out all formatting and many hidden characters from the source, giving you the most 'raw' transfer of text. It is almost identical to you retyping the text, but much faster.
• Picture or Picture (Windows Metafile) and bitmap. Picture is a vector-based picture, and is higher quality and takes up less space than a bitmap. Generally speaking, you should avoid pasting bitmaps. Pasting as a picture has the following characteristics:
  • It is the most efficient method from a file size perspective. A linked object takes up a bit more space in the file. An embedded object add significantly to the size of your presentation.
  • It is the most secure method. What you see is what you get. Nobody can look 'behind' the numbers to expose models, functions, or data.
  • It is the most reliable method. The picture will be visible, and will look the same, on any computer.
  • However, you cannot modify the data in the picture. It is the least 'flexible' option.
• Object. This results in embedding the source into the destination. The object will appear exactly as in the source and will still be editable, using the source application.