Copy One or More Form Fields

These instructions can also be used to create a form field at both the Form Document tab of the assembly window and in HotDocs Filler.

Frequently, you need to copy fields on a form. For example, say you need to create a group of fields that all have the same properties. Rather than creating each field individually and modifying its properties, you can create a single field, assign the properties, and then copy the field to create the others in the group.

When a field is copied to a new place in the same template, all the field’s properties (size, font, line formatting, fill order, etc.) are copied with it. Similarly, when variables, conditions, or REPEAT instructions are attached to fields, they are also attached to the copied fields. However, if you copy fields from one template to another, the variables, dialogs, and other components used in computations, conditions, or instructions are not copied to the new template’s component file. You must copy these items manually. (See Create and Edit Multiple Components Simultaneously or Use One Component File for Multiple Templates.)

When you copy fields to a new location, the cursor position tells HotDocs where to paste the copied fields. If you copy a single field, the lower-left corner of the field will be at the cursor position. Likewise, if you copy two or more fields at the same time, the lower-left corner of an invisible boundary box drawn around all of the copied fields will be at the cursor position. If there is no cursor, the field is pasted on top of the original.

You can copy fields on only one page at a time.

To copy and paste one or more fields

  1. Edit a form template. (See Edit a Form Template.) Edit a form document. (See Edit a Saved Form Document.)
  2. Select the field or fields you want to copy. (See Select a Field.)
  3. Choose Copy (Edit menu). The field is copied to the Windows Clipboard. (You can also select the field and press Ctrl+C, or you can right-click on the field and choose Copy from the shortcut menu.)
  4. Place the mouse cursor where you want the lower-left corner of the copied field to be, and then click the mouse to set the cross-hair.
  5. Choose Paste (Edit menu). The copied field is pasted at that location. (You can also press Ctrl+V, or you can right-click on the field and choose Paste from the shortcut menu.)

If you need to automate an updated version of the template, it may be easier to replace the static content, rather than copy all of the fields. (See Update the Underlying Text in a Form Template.)

You can also copy a field by holding down the Ctrl key while dragging the field to its new location.

If you are working in a fillable PDF template, remember that linked fields are associated with underlying fillable fields in the PDF. If you plan to save the assembled document as a fillable PDF, answers associated with linked fields will only be merged where there are fillable fields on the form. This means that you cannot copy a linked field to a new location on the form and expect the answer to appear there in the resulting fillable PDF. If you want to use the same variable somewhere else in the form, create a regular HotDocs field and assign it the same variable name as the fillable field. Note, however, that in the fillable PDF, the answer will appear static.