How to Copy ( CTRL L ) Object Data to Many Objects while keeping all their Transforms ( Location Rotation & Scale ) I'm trying to build a roof with shingles.

I start with one shingle, and make 3 modifiers: 2 arrays and 1 mirror.

To reduce file size and mesh vertex I apply the modifiers, then I want to copy Object Data from the main object ( shingle ), to all the other identical objects ( object instancing ).

The problem is that it copies the location, therefore it piles them all.

When I test with simple cubes, see blend file.



The main object is the RED cube.

The array cubes are the BLUE ones.

and a new created cube is the GREY one.

It works fine when I copy Object Data from the main object, to the GREY. The grey object stays in its location.

but when I do the same thing with the BLUE objects, they pile up.

I tried to APPLY all transforms, and same thing. ( CTRL A ).

How could I "reset" the BLUE objects like if they were newly added?

I saw a similar question here but based on what I just said, there should be an easier solution.
If you want blue cubes to stay in their position after you link their mesh data to the gray cube, you need to reset their origin to their individual centers.

You can use that devil shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C for that.

I hope it is what you are going to achieve :)



Here is your .blend with this "fix" applied.