Building a template to insert photos on a page

[josephj]

I want to create a document (that I will later convert into a template). I want it set up so I can just drag and drop photos from another window and it will go exactly where I want it at exactly the right size. This will most often be used as part of a text document, so I'd like to do it in writer. (Also because I don't use draw at all and don't know how to get it to do anything.)

What I tried to do was create three regular frames on a page exactly where I wanted them and exactly the right size. That worked, but I couldn't figure out how to insert a picture into one of the frames. Dragging and dropping a picture seemed to drop it on top of the frame instead of in it.

My pictures will be 4x3 reduced a bit so they fit on a US Letter page with a little space between them and room for page margins.

Any help would be appreciated.
TIA
Joe
kubuntu oneiric/LibreOffice.

[RoryOF]

Click on the page to deselect the frame. Then click inside the frame, and /Insert /Picture from file. Play with this until you get the knack.

[josephj]

Thanks for the instant reply!

That works. It anchors the picture to the frame, but ...

The picture wasn't scaled before adding it to the document, so it needed to be resized. It stuck right out of the frame. I thought it would be viewported or, more likely, clipped by the frame.

I was able to (unintentionally!) drag the picture right out of the frame.

It seems like the frame just serves as a (useful) "frame" of reference, not a wall between it's content and the rest of the document (which is what I wanted.)

The picture upper left corner was placed inside the frame (at the frame margin?).

Is there a way to have the picture start right on the upper left corner of the frame, so I just have to drag the lower right corner of the picture to the lower right corner of the frame and I don't have to move the picture to the upper left corner first?

This will certainly meet my immediate needs, but what I really want is a way to just drag and drop a photo onto a frame (or even insert picture in frame as you suggest) and have it automagically fill the frame (or, at least, not exceed it) and stay there.

Thanks.
Joe

[RoryOF]

I can't help further than my earlier answer; all my current work is plain text. When I had to build files containing many illustrations I used a dedicated DTP application such as PageMaker or Adobe Indesign, but my current needs have moved away from graphics intensive publications for some ten years now.

[acknak]

Unfortunately, I don't think there's any way to get (fully) what you want. Writer is very awkward and inconvenient at handling images and I've never found any way to significantly improve the situation. To realize any real improvement, I think you would need some macro programming to automate all the fiddly little adjustments that have to be made.

The only thing I can suggest is to set up the default graphics frame as "anchor to character". That may make for somewhat less fiddling.

Frames are also very fiddly. If you can live with a table layout, you can drag images into a table and they will be resized to fit the table.

[josephj]

Thanks. I'll try a table (or, in this case, maybe 3 tables with one cell each). There isn't anything special about a frame (at least at my level of understanding!). It's just a way to get to picture(s) where I want them and the correct size without manually adjusting each one every time and only getting it approximately right.

I've done my share of proramming, but have never delved into LO/OOo macros, so I'll pass on that approach.

Joe

[acknak]

Frames aren't necessary for sizing or positioning--images get their own frame. Frames are good if you need to enclose several items to keep them together and/or maintain some relative arrangement. So, if you have a caption with the image, the only way I know of to keep the image and caption together is to put them inside a frame (or table).

The anchor as character and table enclosure are somewhat more predictable. The main limitation is that you can't have text flowing around/alongside the image.

[josephj]

Thanks. It's one thing to know about a feature and another to actually know how to use it effectively.

[Daiwe01]

• Insert > Frame
• Reset input focus inside frame
• Paste picture from clipboard;
  picture will be scaled to fit frame
• Change picture attribute to Anchor as Character
  to prevent dragging out of frame

Both the frame and, separately, the picture within the frame may then also be manually resized .