Real fundamental question here; if I want to make graphic changes to a layout, I do a save as, which adds the "copy" to the layout name, then work on the copy. Once I have made the changes to my liking, do i then change the name back to the orginal and have it replace it? Or am I better off working on the original and if i screw up, use the copy. Make sense?

Renaming the copy wont cause it to replace the original, nor will the references to the original automatically change to the new one. How you actually do it is up to you. I prefer to make changes in the copy then when it's ready, select all, copy, and paste to the original layout (where, I've deleted all the original elements.)

thank you for the advice