Select, group, copy and paste objects
The Select tool works on the objects you have added to a page: text boxes, images, shapes, stamps and signatures. It does not change the original text of the PDF (see Edit text).
In the app: Help ▸ Show me
Select and move
- Choose Select on the toolbar, or press V.
- Click an object to select it. Eight handles appear around it.
- Drag the object to move it, or drag a handle to resize it.
- Press Delete (or Backspace) to remove the selection.
| To do this | Do this |
|---|---|
| Add or remove an object from the selection | Shift+click it |
| Add an object | Ctrl+click it (on a selected object, Ctrl+click removes it) |
| Copy while moving | Hold Ctrl and drag; the originals stay, as in Word or PowerPoint |
| Duplicate | Ctrl+D |
| Nudge by 1 point | Arrow keys |
| Nudge by 10 points | Shift+arrow keys |
| Deselect | Click empty page, or Esc |
Note
There is no drag-a-box selection. Select several objects with Shift+click or Ctrl+click, or use Select all in the page menu below. Text markups (highlights and similar) can be selected but are not moved by dragging or the arrow keys.
Press Enter with an object selected to add a comment to it (Edit menu, Comment on selection…).
Group and ungroup
A group lets you treat several objects as one.
- Select two or more objects.
- Press Ctrl+G, or choose Edit ▸ Group, or right-click and choose Group.
- To split it again, press Ctrl+Shift+G or choose Ungroup.
A group is selected, moved, copied and resized as one. It has eight handles around the whole group; drag any handle to scale every member. Hold Shift on a corner handle to keep the proportions. Grouping and ungrouping are each one undo step (Undo and redo).
Important
Signature blocks (see Signatures) cannot be grouped, ungrouped or stretched as a group.
The page right-click menu
Right-click the page for Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Select all (every object on that page), Group and Ungroup. Items that do not apply are greyed out. In a read-only document the editing items are unavailable.
Cut, copy and paste
- Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V work on selected objects. Paste puts them at the right-click point, or at the centre of the view when you use the keyboard.
- If the clipboard holds plain text copied elsewhere, pasting makes a text box in the current text style (Text boxes).
- If it holds only an image, pasting places an image, no larger than half the page (Images).
- Copying selected text from the page copies that text instead of objects.
Tip
The original text of the PDF cannot be cut. The menu shows "Use Edit text (D) to change the document's text"; follow that advice.
See also Keyboard shortcuts.