How to copy objects

How do i copy objects, not putting in invo and taking em out or anytihng is there away of making a replica like on top or anything

Select your object. Hold shift key and grab any arrow and drag. You will end up with a copy at the original location and a copy at the new location.

Generally, the shift-drag method Sylvia mentioned is the most convenient, but just to be through, there are is alternate methods. You can select your object and press Ctrl-D. This spawn a duplicate of the item at an offset location from the original of plus .5 meters on X and Y.

I think it's an offset of .5m on x and y with Ctrl-D.

You're right. Editing that to fix it now. Thanks.

Wow that is so much more convenient. I have been using take copy, spawning them into the world, and then manually setting the coordinates. Man, and I was doing this for prim hair. The shift copy should speed up my production so much.

That method also works great for building houses. shift copy drags the new wall out while keeping two of the three coordinates identical to the original.

There is yet another option which can be very handy if you want to create copies of an object which are aligned with another existing object. First select the object you want to copy (rezzed in world, not in your inventory), then in the edit window go to the Create tool. Select "Copy selection" and "Center copy" (not sure if they're the exact names because I can't get in world atm, but they should be close). Now click on a face of another object. A new copy of the object you had selected will appear, and it will be centered on the face of the other object that you clicked. Another useful option is "Keep tool selected" which will stop it from switching from Create back to the Edit tool each time you create an object.

another tip, if you want a copy in the exact same position, shift drag it and hit control/command-z to undo it. it's not really undone -- the copy still exists -- but it's back in the same position as the original.

Minor distinction that's rarely of consequence: Shift-Drag moves the original and leaves a copy at the starting position, not vice versa.

(darn important to know, if you're shift-sliding a friend's prims.)

Your prims will be the ones in the old place. His prims will be in the new place. (so don't do this while he's actively building.. or he'll end up trying to work on your prims! And if the default permissions are set, the "new prims" (in the old location) will be no mod no copy!

(your friend will not appreciate this.)

But let's assume that you're working with YOUR prims. I know this question will come up.. so here's an answer.

Why would you shift-drag and then undo? Why would I ever WANT 2 identical prims in the same location?

if you're using the Prim Mirror Tool (aka "Flip Script".. you'll want 2 prims coinciding if your hope is to flip one and leave the other in it's place.

You could also want 2 prims coinciding if you wanted to make an array. (like a ring of chairs or something... shfit-drag the chair to clone it.. now you have 2 chairs. Rotate one chair 180 so that they face each other. Select both chairs.. shift-slide up.. Now undo. Select one pair of chairs (dun matter which), and rotate (what is that ctrl-slide?) Unless your chairs are made out of viciously tortured prims, the rotational axis should be in the dead center between the chairs. With this method, it's easy to make a ring of prims/objects, in perfect relation to the center. (stargate Glyphs anyone?)

Another good reason for this, is if you need to make a sphere or other object out of 2, or several prims. Perhaps by dimpling. having 2 prims in the same place, makes it way easier to get them lined up. This is useful if you need to but some metal flanges on a spherical object, or something like that. (think back to the array idea.. but with only one prim, instead of 2).. having several prims, with the same exact coordinate and rotation axis can be handy in a lot of situations.