Question about copy/paste weirdness on web pages

[steve2470]

Hi all,

I copy and paste a lot of articles from web pages, as some of you know. Sometimes it's really easy. Sometimes...I have to be extremely patient and copy the lines from right to left, instead of my usual left to right. Sometimes the entire page gets highlighted and I have to start all over again.

Why is this ? Thanks in advance for your time.

Steve

[lpbk2713]

1. As a possibility ...

What you want to copy was posted in its entirety as an image rather than word by word.

[JBoy]

2. I think it's related to how the webpage is laid out. Here's a tip -

If the page has a link to "print" the page (or article), click that. A neatly laid out version of the article will likely appear without all the bells and whistles of the webpage. Copying the text from that is almost always a breeze.

[RC]

3. OR, Click on View > Page Source

And find the text you are after. Works on sites like Snopes.

You might have to use Find and Replace to remove the HTML though.
Crude, but it works.

[canetoad]

4. Also, there is sometimes hidden text

on web pages. Not for any nefarious reason - just artifacts from the page layout with div tags. It's sometimes left as small white text on a white background and will interfere with copy/paste.