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The default behavior of Microsoft Office Visio is to paste a copied shape to the center of the visible portion of the drawing page. If you're trying to replicate the exact placement of a shape from another page or drawing, you can use a guide point to help.

1. On the View menu, make sure that both Rulers and Guides are selected.
2. On the page you're copying the shape from, drag a guide point from the intersection of the two rulers to the upper-left corner of your drawing page, and then release the mouse button.



Note  The x and y coordinate values of the guide point appear on the taskbar while it is selected. To ensure that the guide point is placed exactly at the corner of the page, make sure the values match your page size. For example, if you're working with an 8.5-by-11-inch page in portrait orientation, the upper-left corner has an X value of 0 in. and a Y value of 11 in.

3. Select both the guide point and the shape that you want to copy.



How

Do one of the following:

• Click the guide point , press SHIFT, and then click the shapes you want to copy.
• Click the Pointer tool (set to Area Select or Lasso Select), and then drag a selection net around the guide point and all the shapes you want to copy.
• Click the arrow on the Pointer tool, and then click Multiple Select. (The Pointer tool changes to indicate Multiple Select mode .) Click the guide point, and then click each shape you want to copy.
4. On the Edit menu, click Copy (or press CTRL+C).
5. Open the page you want to copy the shape to, and make sure the upper-left corner of the drawing page is visible.

How

• If you're copying to another page in the same drawing, click the page tab at the bottom of the drawing window , or on the Edit menu, point to Go To, and click the page you want.
• If you're copying to a page in another drawing, open that drawing to the page you want.
6. On the Edit menu, click Paste (or press CTRL+V).
7. With the shapes still selected together (that is, the guide point and shapes have a magenta outline and are surrounded by a green selection box), move the pointer over one of the shapes.
8. When the pointer changes to a four-headed arrow , drag the shapes so that the guide point is directly over the upper-left corner.



Note  Look at the Left and Top values in the taskbar. When the guide point is matched to the upper-left corner in an 8.5-by-11-inch page in portrait orientation, the Left value is 0 in. and the Top value is 11 in.

Note  The guide point does not appear when the drawing is printed, so there's no need to delete it from your pages. However, if you're planning to use this method of copying more than once on a page, you should delete the guide point after you place the first copy so you can easily see the guide point that is used for placing subsequent copies.