Cloning paths

When you clone a selected path by clicking Clone on the Edit menu, Expression Design creates a new path that looks identical to the original, but it's not actually a duplicate. A clone is a special kind of object that is based on an original, master path, but it does not have nodes. Its structure is based on the shape of the master path, and whenever you edit the master path's nodes the clone's shape is updated, too.

However, a clone can have its own stroke and fill attributes and can be transformed independently of its master path. For example, you could make five clones of a single object and each could have a different stroke, be scaled and rotated differently, and have different effects applied to it. But when you change the shape of the master path, that change would ripple through to all the clones.

After drawing a path (top left) and creating a clone of it, you can apply a different stroke, fill, or effect to the clone (top right). When you edit the path shape of the master path, the clone changes, too (bottom).

Note that you cannot make a clone of a text object, just individual paths, shapes, or groups of paths. (You could convert the text object to paths , but the text would no longer be editable.)

If you have created one or more clones and are not sure which object is the master, select one of the clone objects and click Select Master on the Select menu.

Tip: You can convert a clone object to an editable path — breaking the link to its master — by clicking on Convert Object to Path from the Object menu.

When you delete a master path, its clone(s) remain. In that case, one clone is always converted to a normal path, but if there is more than that one clone, the other clones remain clones.