diff --git a/src/qcdscene.cpp b/src/qcdscene.cpp
index ca0bdd3..4bbe30e 100644
--- a/src/qcdscene.cpp
+++ b/src/qcdscene.cpp
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ void QCDScene::replace( const QString2String &strings )
             f->second->replace( item, st.key(), st.value() );
       }
    }
+   foreach(QGraphicsItem *item, list ) {
+      QShapeFactory::iterator f = sfactory.find( item->type() );
+      if( f != sfactory.end() )
+         f->second->replace( item, "", "" ); // to clean placeholders
+   }
 }
 
 bool QCDScene::load( const QString &fileName, QString *errMessage )
diff --git a/src/qlightroundtextitem.cpp b/src/qlightroundtextitem.cpp
index 27c0f8a..b9e23ed 100644
--- a/src/qlightroundtextitem.cpp
+++ b/src/qlightroundtextitem.cpp
@@ -264,7 +264,15 @@ QItemDialog *QShapeControllerRoundText::createDialog( QWidget *parent ) const
 void QShapeControllerRoundText::replace( QGraphicsItem *item, const QString &from, const QString &to ) const
 {
    QLightRoundTextItem *textItem = static_cast< QLightRoundTextItem * >( item );
-   if( textItem->text() == from )
+   bool placeHolder = textItem->text().left( 1 ) == "?" && textItem->text().right( 1 ) == "?";
+
+   bool replace = false;
+   if( from.isEmpty() )
+      replace = placeHolder;
+   else
+      replace = textItem->text() == ( placeHolder ? QString( "?%1?" ).arg( from ) : from );
+
+   if( replace )
       textItem->setText( to );
 }
 
diff --git a/src/qlighttextitem.cpp b/src/qlighttextitem.cpp
index ba07e26..6b89672 100644
--- a/src/qlighttextitem.cpp
+++ b/src/qlighttextitem.cpp
@@ -81,7 +81,16 @@ void QShapeControllerText::writeData( QXmlStreamWriter &writer, const QGraphicsI
 void QShapeControllerText::replace( QGraphicsItem *item, const QString &from, const QString &to ) const
 {
    QGraphicsSimpleTextItem *textItem = static_cast< QGraphicsSimpleTextItem * >( item );
-   if( textItem->text() == from )
+
+   bool placeHolder = textItem->text().left( 1 ) == "?" && textItem->text().right( 1 ) == "?";
+
+   bool replace = false;
+   if( from.isEmpty() )
+      replace = placeHolder;
+   else
+      replace = textItem->text() == ( placeHolder ? QString( "?%1?" ).arg( from ) : from );
+
+   if( replace )
       textItem->setText( to );
 }