ChemSketch: Pasting from external sources produces a low‑resolution bitmap rather than an editable structure

Description

When users copy a structure from another application (such as a PDF viewer, office document, or web browser) and paste into ChemSketch, they get a low‑resolution bitmap image rather than an editable chemical structure. This prevents further editing or use with downstream tools.

Solution

1. Determine the origin of the object being copied. Note, many non-chemical programs (such as PDF viewers or browsers) only copy images (bitmaps) to the clipboard.
2. Applications designed for chemistry (like ChemDraw or SD viewers) may place both the structure data (e.g., Molfile) and an image onto the clipboard.
3. Use an intermediate chemical file format.
   • From the source application export the structure as a MOL, SDF, SMILES, or another supported chemical format (if available).
   • In ChemSketch: Use File > Open or Import to open the exported file for a fully editable structure.
4. If the source is a chemical editor:
   • Use the editor's Copy as or Copy Structure feature (if available).
   • Paste into ChemSketch; ChemSketch may interpret the clipboard content as a chemical structure rather than just an image.
5. Manually redraw simple fragments
   • For straightforward molecules from graphic-only sources (such as textbook diagrams), it may be quicker to recreate them in ChemSketch using templates and standard fragments.