Writers frequently rely on Copy and Paste when working with text, whether to reuse snippets, gather research notes from the web, or transfer content between applications. Ulysses’ Smart Copy and Smart Paste features are especially helpful when working with different text formats, as basic formatting is often distorted or lost when using standard copy and paste functions.

Smart Paste

In short, Smart Paste allows you to:

• convert from Markdown or HTML code,
• convert from Rich Text–formatted text,
• strip out all tags by pasting as Plain Text,
• add code examples by pasting as Code Block, and
• paste code as Raw Source.

Suppose you want to add a piece of text from an online article to a sheet in Ulysses. Select and copy the desired text. To preserve the formatting, proceed as follows:

• On iPad/iPhone: Tap the location in the sheet where you want to paste the text. In the context menu that appears, tap the right-pointing arrow, then choose Paste As… › Rich Text.
• On Mac: You’ll find the Smart Paste options in the Edit menu. In this example, go to Edit › Paste › Rich Text.

Another example: You’re writing a technical handbook and want to add code snippets to your text. Follow the steps above, but select Paste as Code Block instead, and you’re done.

Smart Copy

Using the Smart Copy feature is just as straightforward. You can copy your text as HTML, Plain Text, Markdown, or Rich Text. For example, you can copy text in Ulysses as HTML to quickly add it to your website.

• On iPad/iPhone, select the text you wish to add to your website. Tap the right-pointing arrow in the context menu, select Copy As… and HTML. Then, paste the text into your website/editor.
• On Mac, select the text, and go to the Edit menu › Copy › HTML.

Shortcuts

If you work on Mac or with a keyboard attached to your iPad or iPhone, you can speed things up with the following shortcuts:

• ⇧⌘C (shift-cmd-C) to open the smart copy options menu
• ⌥⌘C (alt-cmd-C) to copy selected text as Markdown
• ⇧⌘V (shift-cmd-V) to open the smart paste options menu
• ⌥⌘V (alt-cmd-V) to paste text as Markdown