Copying Plots to the Windows Clipboard

It is easy to copy a plot to the Windows clipboard, and to paste the plot from the clipboard to the SAS/IML Studio output document window or to another application, such as Microsoft Windows or PowerPoint.

To copy a plot to the clipboard, activate the plot and select Edit Copy or press CTRL+C. You can paste to most applications by selecting Edit Paste or pressing CTRL+V.

SAS/IML Studio places the plot on the clipboard in three graphics formats:

Windows Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF)

stores the image as a series of 32-bit Windows drawing commands. This is the best format for exporting plots from SAS/IML Studio, because the file size is small and the image is faithful to the original. However, not all Windows applications support the EMF format. Specifically, SAS/IML Studio's output document window does not support the EMF format. Microsoft Word and PowerPoint do support the EMF format.

Windows Metafile Format (WMF)

stores the image as a series of 16-bit Windows drawing commands. This format is supported by virtually all Windows applications. However, the WMF format does not support wide patterned lines - lines that are not solid and have a width greater than one pixel. The WMF format represents a wide patterned line as a solid line of the same width.

Windows Device Independent Bitmap Format (BMP)

stores the image as a bitmap. This format is supported by virtually all Windows applications. Plots stored in the BMP format require much more memory than those stored in either the EMF or WMF format.

Note: When you paste a plot from the clipboard to a SAS/IML Studio output document window, SAS/IML Studio pastes the plot by using the BMP format. If the plot you are pasting does not make use of wide patterned lines, you can save memory by selecting Edit Paste Special to paste the plot by using the WMF format.