Adding Graphics, or Video, to the Gallery for Easier Access to Clip Art and Other Pictures

Note, August 20th: I just discovered a very simple way to add graphics from the Gallery to the background of your header or footer, page, or paragraph.

I would  say that a nice big gallery of clip art or other useful graphics is worth way more than a thousand words, if you're trying to convince your users to like OpenOffice.org. (Nothin' wrong with the program, but we know that change can be a pain.) Some users find it difficult to navigate a file system, which is what you need to do if you're using Insert > Picture > From File. And, frankly, dragging from a nice pane of graphics is easier.

When I go to a client site, there's always some resistance among users to doing the switch. However, people just love going through the gallery. The mood definitely changes when people see the graphics and start dragging pictures of cheese and armadillos and yellow school buses onto their documents.

To get a bunch of graphics, just google for free clip art and download it.  Here are a few options specifically for teachers.

Some clip art

http://clip-art.kaboose.com/index.html
http://school.discovery.com/clipart/new.html
http://www.teacherfiles.com/clip_art.htm  (BIG collection)

Free animations
http://register.freeze.com/download/index.aspx?sx=348413c5-d957-4f6c-bfe7-d91ca643ee6a

You might also consider the phenomenal Big Box of Art, vast amounts of clip art for not a lot of money.

So whether you want easier access to pictures or video, or good change management techniques, the gallery is a nice feature.

The locations of all the gallery graphics and other gallery info is stored in openoffice\share\gallery, in the .sdv files. Copy those files to other computers if you want them to have the same graphics, when you're done doing the configuration.

1. Click the Gallery icon or choose Tools > Gallery.

2. The gallery will appear.

3. Click New Theme.

4.  Click the General tab, and type the name of the theme that you want displayed in the Gallery.

5. Click the Files tab and click Find Files.

6. In the window that appears, go to the directory containing the graphics. The directory can contain subdirectories; all graphics in all subdirectories will be brought in for you to choose from. Click OK.

7. All the graphics in that directory and any subdirectories will be brought into the window.

8. To add only some, use Ctrl select or Shift select to select specific graphics. Select the Preview checkbox to see graphics. Then click Add.

To add all graphics, just click Add All.

9. A window will show the graphics being added.

10. Find more graphics and add them the same way, or just click OK. You'll see the graphics in the gallery. To add a graphic to a document, just drag it into the document.

If  you need to change the name or add files later, right-click on the theme and choose Properties. This will take you back to the same window.

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Comments

[Javier]

Clipart is so 90s... Lately I prefer to use photos in my presentations. My favorite site to obtains free photos is stck.xchng:

http://www.sxc.hu/

It's important to check in every case the licence of the photos.

Great blog! A great site to learn.

[misterdee]

Clipart is so 90s.... if you blast it everywhere all over your document with no regard for design. ;)

It still has its place to lift a flat page, be it a report, letter, customer correspondance, whatever... provided it's used in moderation.

Perhaps it's a good thing that OOo doesn't let you easily import 60,000 images :)

[KAMI]

You might want to check OxygenOffice Professional and Extensions because they have lots of extras like templates and clip-arts. I am really interested in your opinion and I would be happy if you send me some contributions.

[arno ziffél]

It is interesting that you mention the Big Box of Clipart series. One of the immediate drawbacks of such a collection is that there no way to import keywords, or indeed add them oneself - should one be so inclined to catagorize, for example, 350,000 graphics. The Gallery tool is something of an afterthought in OO in this respect. It certainly is convenient for up to, say, 100 pieces of proprietary clipart, but beyond that, one is literally staring at a herculean task that could last for months! The industry needs some form of standardization without a doubt. But, if OO is to set itself apart from Office in this respect, this tool needs much more specific attention.

Clipart may be very '90s in some respects, but in others -kids in school, for example- it is a place for many to begin enlivening their documents and expanding their skills.

Is there a link for OxygenOffice somewhere?

[Solveig Haugland]

Hi Arno,

If you want to integrate your clip art into your office suite then yes, the keyword issue does rear its head. Using the Big Box separately is certainly a solution (particularly if you have the disk space to load all those CDs) if the users are happy to insert a picture, i.e. knowing the path, rather than the simpler approach of dragging in.

That would be a great thing for the Oxygen folks to do, expanding the gallery. Might be a huge usability advantage and selling, so to speak, advantage, for schools.

Solveig

[Edward]

So 90s? Well maybe in a business document, but my wife uses OO to design labels for her christmas cookies, jellies, pastries, hot cocoa, etc. She makes invitations for tea parties in the spring. She makes chocolate dipped pretzels and attaches a custom made tag to the ribbon that ties the cellophane bag. ClipArt still has plenty of use around my house.

It would be nice if OO had a keyword search and catagory function that allowed one image to be "referenced" in different catagories. Of course, as Arno Ziffel stated, who wants to pick-and-choose and then catagorize 350,000 images ?

[Solveig]

Hi Edward,

I'm not sure that a big collection of well categorized clipart needs to be part of an office suite. I really like Big Box of Art, with about 700,000 images and a very nice keyword search. Find the graphic, then just save it where you need it and insert it.

Great to hear your wife uses OOo for so much!

Solveig

[karry]

http://www.batterygoshop.co.uk/uniwill/un258.htm uniwill Amilo A-1630 A1630 UN258 ,

[Gary Winnick]

Hi,

I am Gary Winnick. I like you blog too much.

[Leanda Miller]

Hi from Leanda Miller

I am about to add 'clip art' & a picture to my presentation for my Academic Literacies assignment. I haven't checked it out yet but I can tell that the Gallery is innovative. My husband never liked clip art - he went to Art School for 3 yrs. It can liven up a document but he reckon's it's a bit like having a large bowl of generic brand nut's-there are none that you want to pick.

Cheers

P.S. I think openoffice.org is great. I had installed it, but just kept sticking to what I knew, I am 51 & I guess we get stuck in our way's as we get older. I am learning new tricks though & I will recommend openoffice to friends now.