How to copy and paste a sketch

[Anonymous]

Hey there, I am very new to Fusion 360 and still trying to find my way around. This one has really got me scratching my head. How do you copy a basic 2D sketch? I am selecting the shape, let's say a center point circle, using CTRL + C and then CTRL + V. Nothing happens. If I right click on the circle it gives me the option to redo paste, but it does not create a 2nd shape. 

How can I achieve this? In the more basic offering of 123D, when I hit copy and paste, even with a 2D sketch, it pops up the new shape and provides the move tool. 

[Anonymous]

Hi Phil,

    Just copying in the same plane. I make copies for splitting bodies etc. I never really noticed this problem before .... I just usually tick the copy box in the copy/move pop-up ... but for whatever reason I now find I have to explicitly select edit sketch first.

[Phil.E]

I just found that if you are outside of sketch edit, and you start the Move command first, leaving the filter set to bodies, and pick a visible sketch object, the copy option is available. This seems wrong so I'll ask this is intended behavior.

Thanks,

[kulpio]

Wow, I struggled with this for months, doing drawing y projecting numerous times when I could just copy from a drawing and paste into a new one.... I feel dumb and enlighten at  the same time lol.

[chrisplyler]

---

@kulpio wrote:

Wow, I struggled with this for months, doing drawing y projecting numerous times when I could just copy from a drawing and paste into a new one.... I feel dumb and enlighten at  the same time lol.

---

Terminology warning: In Fusion 360, a Drawing and a Sketch are totally different things.

[Phil.E]

@kulpio Glad you worked it out.

No worries about learning! In all CAD programs each day is a school day. And the community is here for your questions, just ask!

[Anonymous]

thank you Phil! I am finally able to sleep at night, I now understand the process. Make your sketch but instead of trying to copy back into the same place, I have to 'finish sketch', start a new one and then i can paste it in. SO simple and now I have done it, so obvious yet for some reason I was unable to wrap my head around it. Thank you again.

[Anonymous]

I was wondering how to make a copy in the drawing design sketch mode, it doesn't show a copy symbol or anything like that.

[Phil.E]

Does the help page for "how to copy a sketch" help?

http://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=Fusion_Sketch_how_to_copy_sketch_html

[grayed]

This is all very well -- but how the heck do you get into Edit Sketch mode? 

[daniel_lyall]

Right-click menu on the sketch icon, in the tree or timeline.

[Iskenderus]

Ok, we now know how to copy, but how to paste? How to paste on sidebar tree or on plane (working area)? There is no options like paste. It's a simple intuitive way to make it and people seek it this way. If some object (new sketch) has to be created it's better to make it automatically, and as a developer mind you'd say "but you have to create first a sketch in order to show the software what to do". Well, if I paste without creating a new sketch object, make an automatic creation of a sketch, then show me the options to choose the right plane and paste, its done! 

[grayed]

This absolutely DOES NOT WORK.  Even when you click Edit Sketch, copy and paste does NOTHING.  This is ridiculous and constantly sends me back to 123D design, which actually allows copy/paste.

[Phil.E]

The easiest way to think of this is to compare it to using Word. 

1. You must select a paragraph to copy.

2. You must select a place, such as another word document, to put the copied paragraph.

In Fusion:

1. You must select the sketch objects to copy. This can be done in or out of Edit Sketch. The sketch just needs to be visible.

2. You must select a place to put the copied objects. This place is a "sketch". (just like in Word, the place to paste is a "document you are editing".

So thinking of sketches as word documents, does this make more sense? Please let me know where my analogy fails.

For an even better way to help me understand, please use Autodesk Screencast, turn on your microphone, and show me how it doesn't work. My intention is to better understand why this doesn't work for you, and improve the process if at all possible. Your help is needed for me to understand why it doesn't work for you. Just saying "it doesn't work" does not show me how it doesn't work for you. I need to see your workflow.

For reference: Here is another video showing the workflow.

1. Copy the objects

2. Make a sketch, or edit a sketch, and use Paste.

Thanks,

[Phil.E]

Here is the help page for copy sketch. Please let me know if these steps fail for you so I can ask them to fix the information here.

http://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=Fusion_Sketch_how_to_copy_sketch_html

[grayed]

Thanks for the prompt reply, Phil.  I'm currently reviewing the page you linked in message 74, and there are a couple of snags I'm tripping over.  I've created a simple center-point circle in the XY plane, and clicked Finish Sketch.  BTW, if I don't finish the sketch, I CAN copy and paste it.  But nowhere in the directions can I find any mention of that. 

So now I've got a finished, inactive sketch.  The directions are

1. With the sketch active [As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, I can make the sketch active by right clicking it in the tree and choosing Edit Sketch], select the elements you want to copy.

   Note: You can hold down the Shift key and click individual elements or window select all the elements.

2. Right-click the selected elements and select Copy.

I know the sketch is active because "An active sketch is the one where you can see the sketch tab is active, and the sketch tools along with the green button Finish Sketch are available" and all three of those conditions are met under Edit Sketch.

But I'm stuck at step 2, because there is no Copy command in the right-click menu.  Nor do CTR-C and CTR-V work. This is why I am frustrated - I am following Autodesk instructions explicitly but the result is not as it should be.

Give me a while to figure out how to do a screencast....

[grayed]

Oh, and thanks for the little video.  Selecting a sketch by dragging with the mouse (box select) then right-clicking the canvas does give me Copy.  However, selecting it in the tree does not.  Selecting it in the design does. So the instructions "Select the elements you want to copy" is unclear.  Since I was selecting it in the tree (the way you select a body or component) that was a problem for me. 

"3. Right-click an empty area of the canvas and select Paste."

That does not result in pasting a new sketch.  I saw in your video to click Make Sketch in order to paste (makes sense in a way, since you're creating a new sketch, but this is not intuitive, not the way it works in 123D Design,  and and most important NOT what it says to do in step 3 of the instructions!).

Appreciate the help.

[Phil.E]

Thanks for clarifying.

Your expectation is to copy an entire sketch, which is not advertised.

The instructions are to "Copy sketch elements within a sketch" or "Copy sketch elements to a different sketch". Not "copy and paste to create a new sketch". The instruction at line 3 is referring to "copy sketch elements within a sketch" meaning you are in a sketch, remain in a sketch, and are not intending to make a new sketch by pasting some information. Even microsoft does not offer to make a new word document when you paste words on your mouse clipboard.

I'll ask the web team to clarify the instructions so that it's clear you cannot copy an entire sketch, and must copy the entirety of the contents of a sketch, and also create a place to past the contents (a new sketch) in order to "copy (an entire) sketch."

[grayed]

Where 123D Design puts in a rectangle,  F360 actually puts in 4 lines and you have to Shift-click to select all 4, then you can copy and paste.  Didn't expect that:  I sketch a rectangle, I expect to be able to select a rectangle.  For that matter, I expect to be able to select it in the tree at the left, then copy and paste it.

My son laughed and said, "Why are you messing with F360 when OpenSCAD and FreeCad are so much easier?"  Guess I'll try them.  And as I said before, I often go back to 123D Design because it's so much more intuitive.   I've been trying to work my way through the F360 tutorials but it's a tough go because the instructions don't seem to work -- there must be steps left out (like selecting four lines instead of a rectangle, or selecting a new sketch before you can paste).

Phil, thanks for your help, I'll try to look at the rest tomorrow, or I might just give up on F360 and spend my time on something friendlier.

[daniel_lyall]

@grayed  Just one thing when you goto past the sketch making sure you have a sketch point, the origin point a point on a body highlighted the paste will work most time, you will get fails then you just redo the copy then it should work as advertised. 

You can window select what sketch elements you want, it is highlighting what you want.

[sevesp2]

Hi. 
sorry for the late reply, 1 year later. 
I don’t use Fusion any longer. 

Thanks for your reply, anyway. 

S