Hello! I am having a really basic problem with getting paste in place to apply the copied shape to a destination location. It keeps wanting to paste to the source location. Even if I delete the copied shape and the larger source shape, after I click or double click on the destination shape, the paste-in-place will paste the shape to the location where the source shape was. Is there some setting which needs to be disabled or enabled? Thanks in advance. Without this feature the tool is not really usable.
And just in case someone is wondering, this happens with keyboard shortcuts as well as when right clicking and choosing UI options. And yes I have rebooted, the mouse works fine for everything else and highlights things in blue correctly, and I have even tried to figure out if making things groups or components would help (it doesnât).
What you described is what Paste in Place is supposed to do. If you want to copy an entity and paste it elsewhere in the model space use Paste not Paste in Place.
Thank you DaveR for your prompt response, and I did also wonder about that. The thing is I am watching multiple videos where the pasting in place happens to different entities. I am taking a class that is behind a paywall, but I also found something on youtube that shows the expectation, ie a mortise being copied from the apron to the leg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gkPyodhjjU.
In my class it isnât a full blown mortise, rather just a rectangle, but the benefit is that you donât have to figure out all the measurements to know where to paste the entity to. Hopefully the video better explains the goal, as I suspect my explanation wasnât very good.
You should use groups and components for any geometry you create.
Paste in place works correctly in SketchUp for Web
Thank you mihai.s. That is how I started things out, using components and groups. I have tried every combination of triple click and double click and single click, and then I started trying go ever more simple, to isolate the issue. I also tried with 2017 Make (since uninstalled). I tried another household laptop with the web version, which has the exact same issue, so it is either me or the software but not the laptop. If it is my mistake, it normally takes me minutes to figure things out, not the hours it has been taking me with this issue!
Same in SketchUp Make 2017 (as expected)
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Thank you so much mihai.s. Maybe I need to take a break and try again tomorrow. Clearly it is working the way it should be for you. I appreciate your support.
Sounds like you need to get your head around the selection tool and context.
A single click will select whatever you click on, if raw geometry that would be a face or edge, if a group or component that would be the group or component.
A double click on raw geometry will select the thing you click on and everything within direct contact to that, so a double click on a face will select the face and its edges.
A double click on a Group or Component will open the G/C for editing. Then a subsequent double click within that G/C will select a face and its edges. This is what we mean when we talk about context, you are now working with the geometry within the context of the G/C.
A triple click on raw geometry will select the thing you click on and everything attached to that object, so for example a double click on a face of a cube will select the face and its 4 edges but a triple click on that same face will select all 6 faces of the cube and the associated edges.
A triple click on a G/C will both open the group for editing and select everything inside. A trap that many new users fall into.
You also need to be aware of how a selection fence works, Left to Right with a solid âboxâ it only selects what is entirely within the box, whereas Right to Left with the dashed box it will select everything it touches.
These are the basic fundamentals of selection with sketchup, once you grasp them Iâm sure the copy paste thing will make sense.
The main point is you need to enter the correct context and select the correct parts to then be able to enter the other context and paste them correctly.
Looks like @mihai.s and @Box got you sorted while I was away.
I did understand from your description what you are trying to accomplish. In case you still have any misunderstanding, the idea with Paste in Place here is that you are copying the geometry from inside the apron component and pasting it inside the leg component. Whether itâs a full blown tenon or just a rectangle drawn on the end of the apron.
FWIW, there are other ways to do this that might be faster or more efficient depending on what it is you are modeling. Hopefully your instructor with show those to you as well.
Good luck.
YEAY!!! Thank you for the very detailed explanations which led me onto the right path. It did take me a couple of hours to sort out. After restarting the class from the beginning it finally started to âclickâ (or should I say âdouble clickâ 
), My magic formula now is:
Double click to get into the component
Double click to select the thing being copied
Ctl-C
Escape
find the new component and double click to get into it
Only right click on the area you want to paste to (not double click)
then do Paste in Place.
Phew! And more importantly, what an amazing community of helpers! Thank you again!
