OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, and Ideas

How to output to files all the graphics that are pasted into a document in OpenOffice Writer

You've been there. You have a document full of graphics and you'd like to be able to save them all as individual separate graphics files. Mountain.jpg, picnic.jpg, diagram.jpg, etc. But it's a pain, and there are a LOT of them.

Here's a way to use the web wizard to make it a lot easier. I think this should work also in Calc and Impress, I just haven't tried it.

I just got an excellent comment on this -- you can also change the file extension to .zip, unzip it, open it up, find the graphics directory, and there are all your graphics without this process. Copy them out. Then zip up the file again and change the file extension back to .odt. If you're comfortable with that, that's the faster process.

So here's a document.

Choose File > Wizards > Web Wizard.Click Add to add the document with the graphics. Choose to export to HTML.

It doesn't particularly matter what options you choose; just pick some layout and export it to HTML.If you might ever use the exported version then pick the appropriate layout for the pages.

Pick the output directory.

The exported files will have a graphics and a content directory. You want the content directory. Go to the directory you exported to, open contents, and you'll see all the graphics.

How to make text wrap around a graphic (and resizing the graphic proportionately) in OpenOffice Writer

When you insert a graphic, it usually looks like this. You can't get the text on either side of it.



What do you do if you want it to look like this, though?




Or what do you do if you want to have the graphic there on the left, then you want to start typing over there on the right, to the right of the graphic?

Just follow these steps. Put your text in first, then insert the graphic. (Insert > Graphic > From File, or paste something from the Internet, or choose Tools > Gallery to drag in a graphic.)

Now.

Right-click on the graphic and choose Wrap > Page Wrap.




Now the text can wrap around it.



It doesn't look quite right, though. The words come right up to the edge of the picture. So give it some space. Right-click on the graphic and choose Picture. Click on the Wrap tab and give the picture a little space on all four sides.



Now there's more space.



Also, you might want to drag it to a different point in the document, so go ahead and do that. The wrapping will continue to work.



Finally, you might want to resize the graphic. Click on it so the green handles on the sides and corners show, then move your mouse over a corner handle and drag in to shrink it or out to enlarge it.





Hold down the Shift key while you do this, to make sure that you keep the picture proportionate and don't make it to squat or skinny.

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Making Illustrated Callouts With Clip Art From the Gallery, and the OpenOffice Callout Drawing Tools

I love the callouts in OpenOffice.org. I also love that they're available in Draw, Impress, Writer, and Calc.

To get started, just choose View > Toolbars > Drawing. If there isn't a checkmark next to the Drawing option, select it.

Now look for the Drawing toolbar. It usually appears at the bottom of your work area.

Adding a Graphic

You can choose Insert > Picture > From File to add a graphic if you know where it is. Or just choose Tools > Gallery to turn on the picture gallery, and drag in a graphic from there. Click here to learn more about using the Gallery, including adding graphics to it.

Adding a Callout

You can choose Insert > Picture > From File to add a graphic if you know where it is. Or just choose Tools > Gallery to turn on the picture gallery, and drag a graphic into your document.

1. Be sure you've got the Drawing toolbar on, according to the instructions at the top of this blog.

2. Find the Callouts icon.

3. Click and hold down on the black triangle to the right of the Callouts icon.

4. Click on the tool you want. Move your mouse into the drawing area.

5. Click and hold down, drag your mouse down and to the right (or up and to the left) and you'll see the callout being drawn.

6. Release the mouse, the callout you drew appears.

7. Select a different fill color for the callout.

8. Select different line width, style, and color for the callout.

9. Double-click in the graphic; the cursor will appear.

10. Type the callout.

11. If the text is too big, click the callout border, find a handle, and drag the handle to resize the callout.

12. Double-click in the callout to select the text so you can change the font, then select a font from the dropdown window.

13. Drag the point of the callout to where it needs to be; it will change sides if necessary. Alternately, drag the callout to a different position in relation to the graphic.

And you're done!

From Draw or Impress: Exporting the Graphic to Reuse Later (for Use in the Gallery, on a Web Page Like This Blog, or Any Other Reason)

You can copy and paste to Writer or Calc. However, if you want to add your graphic with callout to the Gallery, put it in a web page, or anything else more reusable, do this.

Select everything you want to export. You can select everything manually, press Ctrl A, or just draw  a box with your mouse (not the box tool) completely around the items to select.

Choose File > Export.

Specify the location to export to and name the file. Select the format, not HTML but JPG, PNG, or something similar.

Click Save.

If a message prompts you to make some choices, either click OK accepting the options, or make your choices. For instance, with JPG, the highest number is the best quality.

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