Hello,
Just wondering if it’s possible to move a section of text (one paragraph, for example), from one document to another without having to “copy,” open up the destination document, and then “paste.” Is there any way to give some sort of “move” command just for selected text, that circumvents copy/paste? It would be great to be able to open text as its own document, or add it to an existing doc.
Thanks!
This is what the “Cut” command is used for, if I understand you correctly, Cut is just like Copy, except it removes the original. Also, consider Cmd-clicking on both documents, setting Scrivenings mode and using either cut and paste or drag and drop to move the text.
I use the Split and Merge commands for this. That way the text being moved is never in “limbo” in the clipboard. (This little detail has saved me much heartache over the years: even if the power dies mid-move, the text is still safe.)
First, in the source document, use the Document -> Split command to split at the beginning of the text to be moved, then again at the end.
Then, in the destination document, create a split at the point where you want to insert the new text.
Finally, in the Binder, drag the document containing the text to be moved into the space between the two halves of the destination document.
At your convenience, use the Documents -> Merge command to glue the splits back together into a single file. I don’t bother with this step until I’m pretty much done moving things around.
This looks like, and is, a lot of extra work for just a paragraph or two. But if you’re moving multiple pages around, or if the source and destination are in the middle of large documents, it’s one of Scrivener’s best features.
Note that since the text being moved has its own document, you can do all of the same things with it that you can with any other document: edit, add metadata, whatever.
Katherine