[Solved] "Stationery" / full-page background?

[AcePalarum]

I have been trying to create a document whose background is something other than plain white paper - ideally, not just a solid color either, more like a light-colored parchment background or similar. I know the "program that shall not be named" used to have a Stationery option that would do exactly that; however, I haven't found a similar function in OpenOffice. I've done some searching through these forums and haven't really found an answer.

I have tried doing the "set margins to zero and adjust text indents" method; however, in addition to being unable to figure out how to create top and bottom indents for each page to fake those margins, I am running into the same problem I've seen in a few other places where the "background" picture refuses to drop behind the text, so I can't actually change the text anymore. (Also, frankly, I've already burned a lot of time and brainpower getting the layout to its current state; I'd really rather not have to go through all of the individual files that make up the overall document and wrestle through them again.)

** I understand that the best/most effective/preferred way to do this is to create the document normally and then print it on patterned paper.** However, I don't intend to ever print this document out hardcopy, but rather as a PDF. Yes, I could print one copy on special paper and then scan it, but scanned documents never have as good a resolution as a PDF printed directly from the document program. Also, the final document will likely be several hundred pages, and the whole point of doing it all digitally is to save paper and ink.

So ... is there actually a way in OpenOffice to do the digital equivalent of loading patterned paper into my printer? (I am okay if the answer is "no", I just want to be certain.)

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Specs:
OpenOffice 4.1.1 (AOO411m6(Build:9775) - Rev. 1617669)
Windows 7 Home Premium, Service Pack 1

[Zizi64]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=57596

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=80663

[musikai]

Besides the multiple ways in the links perhaps the easiest way would probably be to use a third party software to stamp/background your final pdf.
You could use the free PDFtk to set a 1-page.pdf as background to your final pdf.
the original command line tool is here:
https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/
Or try a gui version like PDFTK Builder:
http://angusj.com/pdftkb/

[John_Ha]

See Re: Watermark based on Paper format not margins for a downloadable example file.

If your problem is solved please click the Edit button on your original post and add [Solved] in front of your subject.

[AcePalarum]

The third-party software suggested works perfectly. Thanks!