OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, and Ideas

How to insert graphics in OpenOffice Writer that are reasonably manageable

I sat down a few weeks ago to figure out the best way to anchor pictures.  Specifically, how to do it in a standard context like this. You have a paragraph or line of text describing something, and you might then say "....as shown in the following illustration." Then you have a picture on a line by itself. No wrapping or anything, very simple. Like this.

The horses at the Kalispell Dude Ranch are well-trained and gentle.

A very reliable way to do it is by anchoring  As Character.

Anchor As Character treats the graphic like a letter. Which means you can't drag it around, but that you can position it using the text alignment and indent features. And the less dragging, the less it is likely to be a little Skittery.

How to Use Anchor as Character

Step 1: Insert the Picture.

Create a blank line for the picture by pressing Return after the text. Choose Insert > Picture > From File and find the file (or just drag the picture in from the Gallery).

Step 2: Anchor the Picture As Character.

Right-click on the picture and choose Anchor > As Character.

Step 3: Position the Graphic Horizontally

Click NOT on the graphic but in the empty line NEXT to the graphic. Then just use the Left, Center, or Right alignment icon on the toolbar.

Troubleshooting: If the picture shows up about a quarter inch high, that's because the paragraph style applied has a height max on it. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not suitable for a style that's applied to the line a picture is on.

Either:

* Click in the paragraph marker next to the picture and choose Default from the dropdown style list

* Or click in the paragraph next to the picture, choose Format > Paragraph, Indents&Spacing tab, and select Single as shown.

Step 4: Position the Graphic Vertically

To control whether the graphic is vertically at the top, middle, or bottom of the blank line, right-click on it again and choose Align > Base At Top, Middle, or Bottom. You don't have to do this if you think the way it looks is fine.

Optional 1: If you want to make sure that the graphic automatically stays with the previous line of text describing it, here's what to do. Select the text above the graphic, choose Format > Paragraph, Text Flow tab, and select Keep With Next Paragraph.  Be sure to do this only with the paragraphs that precede graphics or you’ll end up with unusual pagination.

You might decide to create a specific style that you use for paragraphs that precede graphics, and define that style with the Keep With Next Paragraph attribute.

Optional 2: Click on the line, on the same line as the picture, and choose Format > Paragraph, Indents&Spacing tab. In the Spacing section in the middle, you can set spacing above and below the picture to space it so that it looks good and not too crowded up against the text.

Optional 3: Click on the picture and choose Insert > Caption to create a caption that stays with the picture.

The text, with a numbered field, will be inserted next to the picture, and the picture AND the new caption will be encased in a frame. That's how the caption stays with the picture.

Other Tips

A Setting You Probably Really, Really Don't Want

Here's what not to do. Right-click on the picture, choose the Type tab, and unmark the Follow Text Flow setting.

That will give you this result, with the picture going outside the margin. Yuck.

What About Anchor to Paragraph?

Anchor to paragraph is OK, as long as you don't unmark the Follow Text Flow option above. (I.e. keep that option marked.) You can drag the picture around with Anchor to Paragraph. But anytime you have that amount of freedom, it's possible to accidentally put the graphic where it shouldn't be. So I recommend trying Anchor as Character for solid graphics that stay where you put them.

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The simple and elegant PhotoAlbum extension for OpenOffice.org Impress

Once I installed this extension, it took me about six seconds to create a presentation based on a directory of graphics, one slide for each graphic.

http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/node/419

Download the extension, don't unzip it, then choose Tools > Extension Manager as always to add it.

Then choose Tools > Addons > Create Photo Album.

Point to the directory where your graphics are. That's it. You get a presentation.

Only thing is, the randomly chosen slide transitions are a little annoying, so click the Slide Transitions item, select No Transition (or something you like), then click Apply to All Slides. And you can use that pane also to change the amount of time on each slide, or to switch it to manually going from one slide to another.

 

Making changes to an OpenOffice.org chart in Draw

Thanks to Brian from Howard County Library for pointing this out to me.

Let's say you've got a chart, and it's fine, but you're just not that jazzed about how it looks. You'd like a more Graphic Designer look to it. Here's how to break it down and do whatever you want to it.

You've got this data; great new data on the number of users that use open source computers at the library branches.

And you make a basic bar chart, or whatever kind of chart.

And you can do some things. Double-click the chart, click on the element you want to delete, and press Delete.

You can also right-click on things like the background, choose Object Properties, and choose Invisible instead of a line and click OK. 

Then the lines don't show. (You could also re-create the chart without the lines.)

Another option, for adding text boxes, is choose View > Toolbars > Drawing. Click the T text box tool and draw a text box near the chart and type immediately. Then drag the text box over the chart.

But here's the thing you can do in Draw. Copy the chart; just click on it once and copy it. Then choose File > New > Drawing and paste it into the main slide work area.

Right-click on the chart and choose Break.

And now you can click on any particular part and just delete it or reformat it.

 

You could get to something like this.

Photoshop Express online, might be a good choice for casual users. (No Linux support yet.)

"Adobe recently released into public beta (ready to go, though, for all intents and purposes) their online Photoshop Express application. A further distillation of Photoshop Elements accessible via a web browser with Adobe’s Air technology installed, Express is no GIMP, but it’s free, available across platforms, and serves the needs of the MySpace set very well."

Be sure to read the terms of use carefully.

Read more...

How to insert graphics that are reasonably manageable

I sat down a few weeks ago to figure out the best way to anchor pictures.  Specifically, how to do it in a standard context like this. You have a paragraph or line of text describing something, and you might then say "....as shown in the following illustration." Then you have a picture on a line by itself. No wrapping or anything, very simple. Like this.

The horses at the Kalispell Dude Ranch are well-trained and gentle.

A very reliable way to do it is by anchoring  As Character.

Anchor As Character treats the graphic like a letter. Which means you can't drag it around, but that you can position it using the text alignment and indent features. And the less dragging, the less it is likely to be a little Skittery.

How to Use Anchor as Character

Step 1: Insert the Picture.

Create a blank line for the picture by pressing Return after the text. Choose Insert > Picture > From File and find the file (or just drag the picture in from the Gallery).

Step 2: Anchor the Picture As Character.

Right-click on the picture and choose Anchor > As Character.

Step 3: Position the Graphic Horizontally

Click NOT on the graphic but in the empty line NEXT to the graphic. Then just use the Left, Center, or Right alignment icon on the toolbar.

Troubleshooting: If the picture shows up about a quarter inch high, that's because the paragraph style applied has a height max on it. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not suitable for a style that's applied to the line a picture is on.

Either:

* Click in the paragraph marker next to the picture and choose Default from the dropdown style list

* Or click in the paragraph next to the picture, choose Format > Paragraph, Indents&Spacing tab, and select Single as shown.

Step 4: Position the Graphic Vertically

To control whether the graphic is vertically at the top, middle, or bottom of the blank line, right-click on it again and choose Align > Base At Top, Middle, or Bottom. You don't have to do this if you think the way it looks is fine.

Optional 1: If you want to make sure that the graphic automatically stays with the previous line of text describing it, here's what to do. Select the text above the graphic, choose Format > Paragraph, Text Flow tab, and select Keep With Next Paragraph.  Be sure to do this only with the paragraphs that precede graphics or you’ll end up with unusual pagination.

You might decide to create a specific style that you use for paragraphs that precede graphics, and define that style with the Keep With Next Paragraph attribute.

Optional 2: Click on the line, on the same line as the picture, and choose Format > Paragraph, Indents&Spacing tab. In the Spacing section in the middle, you can set spacing above and below the picture to space it so that it looks good and not too crowded up against the text.

Optional 3: Click on the picture and choose Insert > Caption to create a caption that stays with the picture.

The text, with a numbered field, will be inserted next to the picture, and the picture AND the new caption will be encased in a frame. That's how the caption stays with the picture.

Other Tips

A Setting You Probably Really, Really Don't Want

Here's what not to do. Right-click on the picture, choose the Type tab, and unmark the Follow Text Flow setting.

That will give you this result, with the picture going outside the margin. Yuck.

What About Anchor to Paragraph?

Anchor to paragraph is OK, as long as you don't unmark the Follow Text Flow option above. (I.e. keep that option marked.) You can drag the picture around with Anchor to Paragraph. But anytime you have that amount of freedom, it's possible to accidentally put the graphic where it shouldn't be. So I recommend trying Anchor as Character for solid graphics that stay where you put them.

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