Wouldn't it be nice if you could "paste inside" in Illustrator?
Well, now you can!
Here is a short videoclip showing it in action: http://www.govisit.se/pasteInside_for_Illustrator.swf
With the help of Carlos Canto I have created my first Illustrator script that mimics how "Paste Inside" works.
You can paste multiple objects at once and also let paths be added to an existing clipmap while retaining the clipping paths fill and stroke.
It doesn't work exactly as in Freehand though. You don't cut the content before pasting it inside. Just select them with the "clipping path" as the BOTTOM MOST path. And run the script. Having the Clipping path at the bottom is important for the script to work.
Here's the script:
Right click and save as pasteInside.jsx
Scripts can't be assigned a quick key in Illustrator but I've found out a way to do it. (At least on Windows but maybe also for OSX.)
Windows: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/749001?tstart=0
OSX: http://forums.adobe.com/message/2943218#2943218
By the way I use Ctrl+Alt+V to paste inside.
Hopes this takes out some of the frustration of using Illustrator. I know it will for me.