Copy and Paste Web Page Material into a Word Processing Document
Avoid printing printing web pages. Copy and paste web page data into a wordprocessing file and save paper,
toner and time. You save time because as you are reading through the material, you can find specific items fast
with CMD-F. Additionally, you never again have to type text you want to quote. By copying and pasting your
research material, you may not have to print at all. If you do print, you print only what you want with no ads or
navigation bars. Here's how to copy and paste step-by-step.
Open a browser window and awordprocessing window and resize so you can work in both
at once.
1. Open the web page. Resize the web page window to cover top half of screen.
2. Open Microsoft Word. Resize to cover bottom half of screen.Type "Research" at the top of
the page. Press CMD-S, type in a title for your file and save on disk. A good file
name is "research_washington.doc".
Copy and paste fast with Drag and Drop
1. In web page, drag over the text you want.
2. Keep mouse down and drag the text to your word processing document. It will just pop
right in.
3. Right click on images and drag them to your document.
4. Go back to web page and click "locator bar" to highlight the URL and drag it to your
document.
5. Type in any of your own notes.
6. Do a final save with CMD-S and email your file home.
Problem
Solution
Drag and drop does not work!
Use the copy CMD-Cand paste CMDV commands below.
Text is no longer lined up. It looks awful!
CMD-A then choose a smaller font.
Another solution is to remove all the
extra carriage returns. You can do this
with a Find and Replace command.
Come to the Lab for a demo on this.
I don't have Microsoft Word.
Use AppleWorks, ClarisWorks or
whatever you have. You can even use
SimpleText or Notepad for text without
images. At WHS, Word is the easiest. If
you will be using your file on your
Windows machine at home, be include
the extension .doc in the name of you
r Word document. With SimpleText of
Notepad documents, name your file
using the extension .txt
My document won't open at home even
though I use Word at WHS and at home.
You are probably going back and forth
between a Mac and a Windows
computer. Windows machines like Word
files to end with the extension .doc e.g.
history5.doc or lab_report01.doc.
My teacher won't accept my paper because You need to always drag or copy and
I did not include my source, and now I can paste the URL into your research
not find the web page!
document.
Copy and Paste CMD-C and CMD-V (if Drag and Drop does not work)
Drag and drop does not work in some programs, especially on older software.
If drag and drop does not work, use the Copy and Paste commands.
1. In web page, drag over the text you want.. Use CMD-C to copy the text. Note: CMD-A
selects all text.
2. Click in wordprocessing document. CMD-V to paste material.
3. Right click on images and select "Copy Image" and paste the image into your document
with CMD-V.
4. Go back to web page and click "locator bar" to highlight the URL and copy with a quick
CMD-C, then paste into your document with CMD-V.
5. Type in any of your own notes.
6. Do a final save with CMD-S The image below shows how your screen will look.
Web page material (top) copied and pasted into a text file george.txt (bottom).
Note URL referenced in text file.
A Word file would be named george.doc to open on Macs and Window machines.
copy_paste.pdf 9/17/04 whs student mac lab ewestgate