Making a duplicate copy of a design can serve several purposes. The duplicate design can preserve a snapshot of a design at a particular stage or archive a design for later reference. Copying a basic design as an offline or template design gives you a starting point for a new design (see Saving a Design in a Different Format).

When you use the Save As command, Bentley OpenUtilties Designer copies the design in the selected format, but the source design remains the active design, unlike the Save As command in some software applications. When you make changes to the design and use the Save As command, the Design Assistant will apply these changes to both the active design and the saved design. For example, if you alter Design 1 and then save it as Design 2, the Design Assistant saves Design 1 and then makes a copy as Design 2. Thus, any use of the Save As command will save the current design in its existing state as well as the new design.

The Save As command is used to copy a design. This command opens the Save As dialog box. To copy a design, you must give the duplicate design a different name. If you want to copy a GIS design in the same format, the GIS must be running.