LAYOUT : the newsletter of page design

If you want to make a duplicate of a master page object while editing an Adobe InDesign layout, you can either (a) switch to the master page to copy it for pasting back into the layout, or (b) override the object directly in the layout and duplicate it. The problem is that (a) is fiddly while (b) leaves your master page object unlocked (overridden). Here’s a quick way to do it without breaking the link back to the master page. First, override the object as in (b) by holding down the Command+Shift (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift (Windows) keys and clicking on it with the Selection tool. Copy the overridden object to the clipboard by pressing Command+C (Mac) or Ctrl+C (Windows). Now apply the Undo command by pressing Command+Z (Mac) or Ctrl+Z (Windows). You will find that the Undo command reverses the override action, leaving the master page object untouched, but keeps the object copied in the clipboard. You can now just paste it back on to the layout to create a duplicate by pressing Command+V (Mac) or Ctrl+V (Windows).