Copy paste from Autocad LT

luuk · March 25, 2025, 2:50pm

Hello,

A colleague and I discovered a difference in copy pasting from Autocad to Rhino8 and from AutocadLT (lite version) to Rhino8. We use the same rhino version but he is working with a normal Autocad and I’m using the LT version. If I paste something from Autocad I get the option to paste a image, while my colleague pastes the lines itself. Is there a fundemental difference between the two applications for it to not work with AutocadLT?

Rhino 8 SR13 2024-11-12 (Rhino 8, 8.13.24317.13001, Git hash:master @ ca3666c3ebed2b9567e10930077bfa0884f65db9)
License type: Commercial, build 2024-11-12
License details: LAN Zoo Network Node

Windows 11 (10.0.26100 SR0.0) or greater (Physical RAM: 32GB)
.NET 7.0.0

Computer platform: LAPTOP - Plugged in [85% battery remaining]

Non-hybrid graphics configuration.
Primary display and OpenGL: NVIDIA RTX A2000 8GB Laptop GPU (NVidia) Memory: 8GB, Driver date: 7-23-2024 (M-D-Y). OpenGL Ver: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 552.86
> Integrated accelerated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- Secondary monitor is laptop’s integrated screen or built-in port
- Windows Main Display attached to adapter port 1
Primary OpenGL: NVIDIA RTX A2000 8GB Laptop GPU (NVidia) Memory: 8GB, Driver date: 7-23-2024 (M-D-Y). OpenGL Ver: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 552.86
> Integrated accelerated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- Secondary monitor is laptop’s integrated screen or built-in port
- Windows Main Display attached to adapter port 1

Secondary graphics devices.
Intel(R) UHD Graphics (Intel) Memory: 128MB, Driver date: 4-2-2024 (M-D-Y).
> Integrated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- There are no monitors attached to this device. Laptop lid is probably closed

OpenGL Settings
Safe mode: Off
Use accelerated hardware modes: On
GPU Tessellation is: On
Redraw scene when viewports are exposed: On
Graphics level being used: OpenGL 4.6 (primary GPU’s maximum)

Anti-alias mode: 4x
Mip Map Filtering: Linear
Anisotropic Filtering Mode: High

Vendor Name: NVIDIA Corporation
Render version: 4.6
Shading Language: 4.60 NVIDIA
Driver Date: 7-23-2024
Driver Version: 31.0.15.5286
Maximum Texture size: 32768 x 32768
Z-Buffer depth: 24 bits
Maximum Viewport size: 32768 x 32768
Total Video Memory: 8 GB

Rhino plugins that do not ship with Rhino
C:\Program Files\Enscape\Enscape.Rhino.Plugin-net48\Enscape.Rhino8.Plugin.dll “Enscape.Rhino8.Plugin” 4.2.0.1589

Rhino plugins that ship with Rhino
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Commands.rhp “Commands” 8.13.24317.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\rdk.rhp “Renderer Development Kit”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\RhinoRenderCycles.rhp “Rhino Render” 8.13.24317.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\rdk_etoui.rhp “RDK_EtoUI” 8.13.24317.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\NamedSnapshots.rhp “Snapshots”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\MeshCommands.rhp “MeshCommands” 8.13.24317.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\RhinoCycles.rhp “RhinoCycles” 8.13.24317.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Grasshopper\GrasshopperPlugin.rhp “Grasshopper” 8.13.24317.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Toolbars\Toolbars.rhp “Toolbars” 8.13.24317.13001
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\3dxrhino.rhp “3Dconnexion 3D Mouse”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\Displacement.rhp “Displacement”
C:\Program Files\Rhino 8\Plug-ins\SectionTools.rhp “SectionTools”

Japhy · March 25, 2025, 3:02pm

My guess it that since Autocad LT has limited functionality (no addons for example) it isn’t capable of reading the clipboard info.

luuk · March 25, 2025, 3:14pm

But shouldn’t rhino be reading the clipboard?

Japhy · March 25, 2025, 3:34pm

Have you tried different object types, like plain text, or geometry? Rhino has pretty advanced clipboard reading capability, guessing its on the Autocad LT side.

RHammer · October 22, 2025, 8:42pm

We are running Autocad lt and get the same functionality in both directions. Instead of geometry getting pasted, we get images like screenshots of the viewport.

When I check the %Temp% file where Windows stores clipboard contents there is a .DWG file with the contents in it. If I drag and drop that .DWG file into Rhino and select Import, it imports just as expected. It seems like the issue is with how Rhino is processing the clipboard contents. I can’t find any reference to a setting for this, but it seems like it should be achievable.

Japhy · October 22, 2025, 9:02pm

Hi Ryan,

What version of Rhino are you using?

I just did a quick test of Copying a Curve from Autocad to Rhino 8 with no issues. Going from Rhino to Autocad is a bitmap.

RHammer · October 22, 2025, 9:08pm

Any help would be appreciated. I didn’t even know this was supposed to work until today. I was thinking about trying to create a tool to achieve it and learned it is already supposed to function that way.

Here is the System Info:

Rhino 8 SR23 2025-9-8 (Rhino 8, 8.23.25251.13001, Git hash:master @ e75a9d62e23cc6f52d4ef68eb7eda9f8da9b6cd9)
License type: Commercial, build 2025-09-08
License details: LAN Zoo Network Node

Windows 10 (10.0.19045 SR0.0) or greater (Physical RAM: 32GB)
.NET 8.0.21

Computer platform: DESKTOP

Standard graphics configuration.
Primary display and OpenGL: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (NVidia) Memory: 8GB, Driver date: 6-12-2025 (M-D-Y). OpenGL Ver: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 576.80
> Accelerated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- Windows Main Display attached to adapter port #0
- Secondary monitor attached to adapter port #1
- Secondary monitor attached to adapter port #2
- Secondary monitor attached to adapter port #3

Secondary graphics devices.
Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (Intel) Memory: 2GB, Driver date: 9-19-2025 (M-D-Y).
> Integrated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- There are no monitors attached to this device!

OpenGL Settings
Safe mode: Off
Use accelerated hardware modes: On
GPU Tessellation is: On
Redraw scene when viewports are exposed: On
Graphics level being used: OpenGL 4.6 (primary GPU’s maximum)

Anti-alias mode: 4x
Mip Map Filtering: Linear
Anisotropic Filtering Mode: High

Vendor Name: NVIDIA Corporation
Render version: 4.6
Shading Language: 4.60 NVIDIA
Driver Date: 6-12-2025
Driver Version: 32.0.15.7680
Maximum Texture size: 32768 x 32768
Z-Buffer depth: 24 bits
Maximum Viewport size: 32768 x 32768
Total Video Memory: 8 GB

Rhino plugins that do not ship with Rhino

Rhino plugins that ship with Rhino
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\SolidTools.rhp	“SolidTools”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\Commands.rhp	“Commands”	8.23.25251.13001
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\WebBrowser.rhp	“WebBrowser”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\rdk.rhp	“Renderer Development Kit”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\RhinoScript.rhp	“RhinoScript”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\AnimationTools.rhp	“AnimationTools”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\IdleProcessor.rhp	“IdleProcessor”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\RhinoRenderCycles.rhp	“Rhino Render”	8.23.25251.13001
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\RhinoRender.rhp	“Legacy Rhino Render”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\rdk_etoui.rhp	“RDK_EtoUI”	8.23.25251.13001
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\import_ACAD.rhp	“AutoCAD file import: import_ACAD”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\NamedSnapshots.rhp	“Snapshots”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\MeshCommands.rhp	“MeshCommands”	8.23.25251.13001
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\RhinoCycles.rhp	“RhinoCycles”	8.23.25251.13001
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\RhinoCode\\RhinoCodePlugin.rhp	“RhinoCodePlugin”	8.23.25251.13001
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\Toolbars\\Toolbars.rhp	“Toolbars”	8.23.25251.13001
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\3dxrhino.rhp	“3Dconnexion 3D Mouse”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\Displacement.rhp	“Displacement”	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 8\\Plug-ins\\SectionTools.rhp	“SectionTools”

dale · October 22, 2025, 9:15pm

@RHammer - knowing the version of AutoCAD LT you have might be helpful.

– Dale

RHammer · October 22, 2025, 9:22pm

Here is the AutoCAD version as well as the .DWG file taken directly from the %Temp% folder.

A$Cd11b9d02.DWG (128.9 KB)

dale · October 22, 2025, 10:01pm

Thanks @RHammer - I’ve logged the issue so we can take a run at this.

– Dale

RHammer · June 8, 2026, 11:04pm

Now that we have copy paste functionality from AutoCAD lt to Rhino, is there any easy route of getting it to work in the other direction? Would adding the clipboard format to the Rhino export be enough? Or is it far more complicated than that? I played around a little with the temp files and can’t readily tell how AutoCAD is tracking its clipboard contents. It seems to be using the temp file along with some internal tracking, but I really don’t know.

I have a single click macro setup to export overwriting a specific .dwg file currently, then I copy and paste from it to the working drawing, but it seems so close that it should be within reach.

I’ll include a snip of the clipboard contents from each program in case it is helpful and am happy to put some work in towards gaining this functionality if anyone can offer a little guidance in how it should be approached.

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Copy paste from Autocad LT

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