Tech: Clipboard help

Subject: Tech: Clipboard help
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 09:12 AM

I have been given some instructions to collect information which apparently is sent to the clipboard, I am then supposed to paste this info into an email and send. The first bit is ok, it told me the info had been sent to the clipboard, now my problem is I can't find the ****** clipboard.

Anyone know how?? I am on WinXP if that helps.

wbh

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 09:14 AM

I thought the above message was going below the line, it obviously did'nt, so I am not having a good day.

Can someone with the knowhow kindly put it where it belongs, thanks

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 09:20 AM

Once you have copied the information from the source go to your e-mail application.

Create a new e-mail.
Click in the message area of the new e-mail and click on the menu Edit, Paste.
The information should be pasted into your e-mail.

Clipboard resides in the background and allows you to copy data and then move to another location/application and paste.

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Cattail
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 09:24 AM

Hi WBH.

As far as I understand it, (and I could very well be wrong), the
clipboard is just a tempory storage space and all you have to do is
open up your word processor, or notepad, and right click and paste
the contents of the clipboard into there and save it.

If I am wrong then somebody far better than I will be along in a
minute to correct me, in the meantime....its worth a try.

Best wishes and hope it works.

Cattail !

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Cattail
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 09:28 AM

There you are! Somebody who knew what he was doing came along.
Thanks Villan.

I was correct in essence though so it should have worked alright.

Cheers for now.

Cattail !

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 09:40 AM

Cattail :-)

You are correct about the clipboard. However the only difference is that you can go straight to the application you want to paste the data into. I normally tell people to use the menu's as that way, they know where to look for the future in any application.

However as you say, you right click on the mouse and select paste.

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 10:04 AM

Brilliant!!!

Thanks all, something else I've learnt, just wish I had asked BEFORE I pulled my hair out.

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 10:11 AM

No point in going bald over it LOL :-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 10:16 AM

The clipboard is just a temporary memory space. Generally, in any application you can select what you want to copy, and the usual "formal method" is to click on Edit and then on Copy on the dropdown menu. Alternate: Ctl-C will do the copy.

In the same program, or in any other, Edit and Paste will "paste" the contents of the clipboard at whatever location you've picked with the cursor. Alternate: Ctl-V.

Depending on the program/application Right-Click and select Copy or Paste will do the same thing. A few, especially older programs, may use Ctl-I for the paste rather than Ctl-V (Some Word Perfect programs use the Ctl-I for "insert" according to ancient memories(?))

In most Microsoft Office programs, once something is in the clipboard, you can also click Edit and then "Paste Special" which allows you to past what's in the clipboard directly, as "formated text" (rtf), or as "unformated text" (.txt).

The "Paste Special" variation can be extremely useful when copying from web pages. A direct paste often puts "messy bunches of code and bookmarks and frames and tables etc." in the paste.

"Paste Special Unformatted" will paste only the text characters without all the mess.

"Paste Special Formatted" usually will paste a minimum of "messy stuff" but will retain links, and sometimes will paste images.

If you don't like the look of what pasted, Ctl-Z is the "undo" that removes the paste but leaves the clipboard intact. Choose a different Paste or Paste Special and try again.

Note that what's in the clipboard remains there so you can paste the same thing in more than one place. In most programs a new "Copy" will replace what's in the clipboard, ready for the next paste. In some Office programs the clipboard may be able to retain several "copies" and a popup menu will ask which one you want to paste. It should be obvious what to do when you see it happen.

In older Office programs if you want to copy several things before pasting them, there is a utility called the "Spike" that can be handy, but unless you practice a bit it can get confusing. Usually "objects" paste out in the reverse order of the copying (LIFO = last in first out). Consulting Help in the program at hand is recommended.

All clear now?

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 10:18 AM

No LOL :-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 11:34 AM

An extremely useful additional technique is the "Screen Capture."

There are numerous ways that things on the internet can be posted that "inhibit" copying. For those circumstances:

Alt-PrtScn (The Alt Key held down while the Print Screen key is pressed) will place the "picture" of the Window that's active into the clip board.

Ctl-PrtScn will do the same for the entire face of the monitor.

Ctl-V will then paste the picture into another application like Word. (My preferred method is to use "File|New from Clipboard" in Photoshop Elements. Other "graphics" programs may - or may not - allow you to "paste" from the clipboard or "import" from it.)

The picture that you get is rather low resolution, typically 72 dpi, so where possible you'd want to zoom in to make what you want as large as possible on the screen before you "capture" it. (Some "copy inhibiting" methods, like Flash, don't allow you to zoom in.)

This is also a good method for snatching error messages in pop-up windows, unless the pop-up is one of those that closes as soon as you touch any key, or one that times-out and closes itself exactly at the instant when you find the PrtScn key that you haven't needed for a while.

This is another "slightly special" way of using the clipboard.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 11:50 AM

I always use Word for Screen Capture

Once the picture is in word, I then crop the picture and then increase the size of the cropped picture, so that its readable.

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 11:50 AM

There are a number of programs called "Clipboard Extenders" which are designed to not only show you what is on the clipboard at any moment, but also to save some specified number & types of clipboard items that you may need.

There are MANY of these prograMS....these are the free ones (scroll down to 'clipboard extenders')....but two of them are rated especially well...ClCl & Yankee Clipper (YC3)

There are also several pay programs...particularly ClipMate....which is beyond amazing in what it can do...but is also formidable to learn.

I have a couple of the free programs ...one of which is always running- just in case....and one I open only when I need to save and organize...and possibly edit... a bunch of complex 'clips' for some project...and have them handy to paste into an application

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 11:59 AM

Likewise, screen captures can be done with an external program which does more than what is built into Wondows...

MWSnap is VERY good....and free.

One that may be simpler but do more, but is now shareware...is FastStone Capture. It will capture a scrolling window.

The BIG boy in this area, also payware, is Snagit32....anyone who wants the ultimate can Google it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 12:23 PM

Recent Microsoft Word versions (at least since Word 2002, and probably earlier) have a button on the Edit menu where you can show the clipboard. This opens a window, usually to the right side of the window that shows what the contents of the clipboard are. The window can also be opened by keying Ctl-C twice, with the first Ctl-C copying what's selected and the second one opening the window.

Strictly speaking, in the versions with this feature, a new "Copy" doesn't replace objects already in the clipboard, but if you use the simple-minded Copy and Paste commands/keystrokes it's a LIFO like the "Spike" of earlier versions. If you open the clipboard menu, you can choose an "older" copied object for insertion in the program where the clipboard window is displayed. An older object is "pushed out" only if the last addition filled the clipboard memory space. The default appears to be to remember the last 24 objects saved, but I haven't encountered a size limit for total clipboard space.

No extra program(s) required, although the add-on programs might provide some additional options.

I haven't looked to see whether this option is available in all Office programs, but would expect it in the useful ones. It's not directly available in IE, but if you keep Word open, what you copy in IE appears in the clipboard in the Word window, so you can - with a little extra effort - track what's there.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 01:00 PM

We still have Word 2000. I opened it to see how it works, and under 'view', I found toolbars on the menu...and 'clipboard' as one item. This gave me a little box which showed 4 squares, one of which had an indication of text in it. Clicking that square pasted the current clipboard item into Word. The other boxes did nothing, though text in parenthesis said (1 of 12) whatever that meant.

So,,,I assume later versions of Word have improved this feature.

I think, since I do so little serious document processing, I'll just stick to my stand-alone capture, clipboard and editing programs.

(and you know me...I just love to play & experiment...*grin*)

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: nutty
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 01:53 PM

I love MWSnap and use it all the time. Its so simple to cut bits out of the screen to paste into other documents.

It even allows you to cut and copy drop down lists which normally close as soon as you click on another function.

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Tootler
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 05:59 PM

Another application that allows you to "grab" the clipboard is Note Tab Lite. It's a freeware text editor which has a number of useful features. You can find it at http://www.notetab.com/index.php

Geoff

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 06:03 PM

Bill D -

The clipboard clears itself when you close Word, if that's where you look at it. If there's a "Copy" of significant size when you exit, sometimes it will ask if you want to save the clipboard for use in another program, but it's vague where the cut-off size is. It should usually ask if you Copy and then exit before you Paste somewhere.

To get multiple items in the clipboard, you'd have to copy multiple things after you open Word, although they shouldn't all have to be copied in Word. Whether Word 2000 will add more than the four boxes you saw is not something I can make a good guess about.

My Word 2002 (at the moment) shows a "2 of 24" on the top bar of the clipboard Window, but doesn't show any empty boxes.

It's possible that the Word Help might give more info if you search for clipboard, but there's really no guarantee on that either.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 06:12 PM

Some programs will let you view the clipboard more easily than others. If you don't refer to a clipboard program you have to remember to paste the item you clipped before you forget and save something else over it. I've done that more than a few times!

Screen shots don't need extra programs. I typically will hit a simultaneous "alt" and "print screen" (top of the keyboard) to capture whatever is displayed on the active window (so be sure to have it arranged to include everything you want). Then I open Adobe Photoshop and click "new." It knows the size of the image on my clipboard and opens the blank image to that size. I move my mouse over the new background and click "control V" and insert it. And work from there.

Sometimes when you close a program it will tell you that you saved a lot of stuff on your clipboard and ask if you want to save it for later. I've never paid enough attention to access the program at that point, but one of these days maybe I should. It would probably be useful.

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: Clipboard help
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 09:45 PM

Tootler..indeed.. I had forgotten about NoteTab, as it actually does a lot more than I usually need..(much like MS Word).

SRS....it's true that simple captures don't need an 'extra' program, but if one does much image making, there will eventually come a time when it is desirable to capture a 'specific' area not defined by either a window or the entire screen...or even a scrolling window 6 times as long as the screen, or ...possibly...a freehand area shaped like Texas *grin*. MWSnap will do a lot of tricks, and SnagIt and FastStone will do even more.

There is certainly no reason to burden yourself with extraneous programs that are never used..(like one guy you might know of who just collects 'em)..but there are little tricks that are easier with a program built just for that purpose.

John..I had looked in Word 'help' and got little useful info. Even your explanation indicates that MS hadn't done much with clipboard usefulness, and once I found the programs which specialize in that area, I just quit trying to make word processing programs do extra duty. I now have entire collections of 'clips' in categories...with different expiration rules and simple toggles to enable or disable capture...and sound files to remind me what they DID.

Bells & Whistles...I love 'em, just as the program authors who made 'em did.