The Format Painter is a tool on the Palette toolbar that allows you to quickly copy the visual formatting of one element or connection and paste it to others in a View. Instead of having to manually apply the font, font colour, text alignment, and other formatting to each new element or connection in a View, you can quickly copy all of the formatting attributes by using one toolbar button.
The Format Painter tool is at the top of the Palette:
The Format Painter tool
To copy and paste formatting in View:
Note that copied formatting from an element cannot be pasted to a connection, and vice-versa. You can use the Format Painter tool between different Views. If it is "primed", simply select it from the Palette in another View and paste the formatting to target elements or connections.
To see a screen-cast demonstration of the Format Painter go to this web-site: http://archi.cetis.ac.uk/movies/format-painter/format-painter.html