Copy and paste attributes

Attributes are the settings, effects, or modifications to your content. For example, volume is an attribute of a media clip or layer; size and position are attributes of a visual layer; font and color are attributes of text layers.

Copy and paste attributes lets you grab those properties from one piece of your project and apply them somewhere else, so you don't have to redo the same adjustments one-by-one. Get one shot looking and sounding right, then propagate that work across the rest of your composition.

Paste attributes applies to one destination at a time. If you need the same setup across multiple scenes, save it as a layout for easier reuse instead. Learn more about layouts.

This article covers:

Understanding clip, layer, and script track attributes

Different pieces of your project carry different kinds of attributes:

  • Audio clips (recordings, music) carry audio attributes like gain, speed, and audio effects.
  • Visual layers (images, shapes, text, captions) carry visual attributes like size, position, opacity, colors, rotation, zoom, and text styles.
  • Video clips and the script track carry both. A video can have an audio track underneath and an on-screen image on top. The script track has the audio of your spoken script with a visual canvas behind it.
  • Text and captions have extra text-specific attributes (font, text styles, text size, position) on top of their general visual attributes. The text-specific ones paste only onto other text or captions layers.

Copying attributes from sources with both visual and audio attributes

When copying attributes that carry both visual and audio settings, the specific selection you make determines what gets copied:

  • Highlight a text range in the transcript or drag across an audio range → you're selecting the audio properties
  • Click the layer in the scene editor or its row in the timeline → you're selecting the visual properties

How to copy and paste attributes

  1. Select your source clip or layer.
  2. Right-click to open the menu, then choose Copy, or press Command + C (macOS) / Control + C (Windows).
  3. Select the destination clip or layer of the same kind as your source.
  4. Right-click, then select Paste attributes, or press Command + Shift + V (macOS) / Control + Shift + V (Windows).

What attributes can I copy/paste?

Attribute Copied from Compatible source and destination
Gain, speed Clip selection A script range or a clip in the timeline
Size, position, rotation, opacity Visual layer Any visual layer (Scene Editor or timeline) — except the script track, which doesn't have these properties
Fill color, border color, stroke weight Visual layer Any visual layer (Scene Editor or timeline) — except the script track
Text styles, text size, text position Text or captions layer A text or captions layer only
Zoom level, color adjustments Visual layer (incl. script track) Any visual layer, including the script track itself

Known limitations

These conditions can prevent copy and paste attributes from working, often without any visible error.

  • Attributes can't be copied and pasted between mismatched layer or clip types. Audio attributes won't paste onto visual-only layers/clips, and vice versa. 
  • Copy and paste attributes isn't supported for gap clips or when in Correct mode.
  • AI text-to-speech clips don't support copy and paste attributes. Convert to a standard audio clip first.
  • Multi-clip copying isn't supported. Copying from a range that spans multiple clips throws an error ("Can't paste attributes from multiple clips"). Copy from one clip at a time.
  • Multi-layer destinations aren't supported. Paste applies to a single layer at a time. If you select multiple layers, the paste option won't be available.