You will need an Obsidian note and default macOS Finder.app
Select file(s) in Finder and press Cmd+C
Paste files to note with Cmd+V
Expected result
Files added to vault and referenced in note.
And it actually happens for Linux and Windows
Actual result
On Mac only text filenames will get added to note.
Environment
Operating system: Tested on macOS Catalina/Big Sur
Obsidian version: 0.11.13
Additional information
It is a low priority problem because you can always use drag-and-drop.
I am sure the expected behavior is possible and this rather a bug and not a limitation of MacOS Finder.app.
I discovered the bug while working on my Imgur plugin for pasting images
With Imgur plugin the image gets uploaded to remote and the name of the file gets pasted below, like this:
Happens for any files copied from Finder.app (default Mac OS app, like explorer.exe on Windows)
If I enable my Imgur plugin, it manages to capture image and upload it. That’s why I said I am sure it is possible to paste image with clipboard from Finder.app. Attaching more detailed gif below.
First I try to copy-baste 3 files using buffer, but Obsidian only pastes file names (subject of this bug)
Then I activate my plugin and it manages to upload the image (This proofs that it is possible to get data from buffer copied from Finder.app)
3rd scenario: I disable my plugin (revert default Obsidian behavior) and demonstrate that on drag-and-drop event Obsidian adds files to the note as expected. The same is expected from copy-paste, but on Mac copy-paste leads to plain text file names pasted without any actual files pasted (again, subject of this topic)
0.12.9, I tested with .png and .pdf, and it is still pasting the name, not a link to the file.
Oddly - and possibly related to @Kir 's note about using the Imgur tool - if I use Alfred’s Clipboard History feature, instead of regular pasting, it actually does paste as a file.
In that tool, it saves it as a “File: foo.jpg” file buffer. And that pastes as a link in Obsidian.