Trying to type on top of background picture

[digiday]

Hi OOo-ers,

I just set up OO and I've placed one of the stock pictures on my page in Writer... but I can't figure out how to type on top of this background picture that I want to use.

I've checked and done several searches in the tutorial, but I don't get any search results when I try "text over picture" or "type on top of picture".

When the stock picture is placed (the blue pixels is my choice here) there is no cursor to place or to start typing with... I've worked with it for an hour or so and I can't figure it out.

Forgive my lack of knowledge here... I am brand new to OOo.

Thanks for any input,

digiday

[Hagar Delest]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Right click the pic and Arrange Wrap>In background. (Anchor has to be set to something else than As character).

Please add '[Solved]' at the beginning of your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.

Corrected the menu entry.

[digiday]

Hi Hagar,

Thanks for you reply... when I do that, "Send to Back" and "Send Backward" command, nothing changes... I still do not have a cursor or a way to create a text field... I had tried the little button on the menu bar to "Send to Back" previously when I was wading around trying to figure this out.

If my picture is already in the background now, how to I start typing on top of it?

Thanks much for your response,

digiday

[Hagar Delest]

Sorry, I made a mistake, the entry is not in Arrange but in Wrap!

[digiday]

Hi Hagar,

I had tried that too already... via right-clicking on the background and double-clicking and bringing up the tabbed window for Wrap and I set it for "Wrap through in background" but I still can't type anything... I tried all of those Wrap choices.

I'm also just trying on another document for an alternative to type on top of a plain colored background... I've had success typing on top of the color, but every time I make a text move the coverage of the color on the background changes to a much smaller section of my page and then I can't get it to change back, even with undo.

I'm not sure what all is going on... I may need to get a copy of QuarkXpress or InDesign to do what I need to do, but that isn't an option today for me.

Thanks,

digiday

[acknak]

If you want complete freedom to position something like an image, you should set the image wrap to "Through" or (Through) "In background". With either of those settings, you can drag the image anywhere and Writer will not try to reposition anything. You can anchor it to a paragraph, or to the page, whichever you like; the page's text will appear in the foreground, over the image.

If you want the image to be a background for the entire page, you configure that through Format > Page > Background.

If you want to position text over the image in a precise way--like a callout pointing to something in the image--or, if your document is some kind of page-oriented graphic rather than primarily running text, then you probably want to use OOo Draw instead of Writer. Draw gives you much more flexibility in positioning text and graphics.

[digiday]

Hi acknak

"...I tried all of those Wrap choices."

"...when I do that, "Send to Back" and "Send Backward" command, nothing changes... I still do not have a cursor or a way to create a text field... I had tried the little button on the menu bar to "Send to Back" previously when I was wading around trying to figure this out."

Unfortunately I tried those things, as I mentioned in my previous posts, to no avail.

I've moved on to using a page layout app for what I was trying to do... I like OOo for word processing, though sometimes it seems to have a bit more than a mind of it's own.

Thanks,

digiday

[Hagar Delest]

Have you tried the Wrap option?

Wrap.png (6.75 KiB) Viewed 13299 times

[digiday]

Hi Hagar (or may I call you Sammy?)

"...I tried all of those Wrap choices."

"Unfortunately I tried those things, as I mentioned in my previous posts, to no avail."

Still no cursor to type with on top of the background image.

I get the feeling that it would be simpler to carve it in stone.

I appreciate your tenacity though.

digiday

[RoryOF]

The reason some techniques are emphasised is because, firstly, most volunteers on the site will try that procedure before posting it, to refresh their memory, so they _know_ it works, and secondly, it is frequently the case that the assertion by a poster that he has tried this or that technique may be incorrect; he may have missed some small point. You may notice on this forum that not infrequently a poster will post to say that the recommended technique has suddenly and mysteriously started working for him. Often this happens after a computer has been shut down and restarted. I don't say any of these instances apply to you and hope you won't take my remarks personally, as they are not so intended; I just draw attention to them as part of the mystery of why computers work or don't work!

[Hagar Delest]

Hi Hagar (or may I call you Sammy?)

No Sammy at all!!! Wrong guess.

For your issue, do you at least see the In background option in the Wrap section?

[digiday]

Sorry Hagar, I know Sammy Hagar's son and I met Sammy briefly one time, so I thought you might be him.

Yes I can see the "In Background" option.

And Hi Rory... nice to hear from a new person in addition to the other dedicated forum contributors that have already participated in my discussion thread.

I realize that at a certain point, the issue in one's question becomes more important to a forum's contributors than it was to the person who originally posted the question... but that isn't the case here... I very much appreciate the dedication and tenacity of everyone who has attempted to fix this problems for me.

I figure that there is software made for making page layouts with images in the background, and there is software for creating letters and documents, and trying to use one for the other is sometimes problematic.

Yesterday, when I made an OO document just with color in the background, I was able to type on top of it, but the background color kept changing proportions and would not remain covering the entire page every time I made a text move... so I feel that I am barking up the wrong tree and I should stick with QuarkXpress and InDesign for text on top of anything.

Thanks,

digiday

[Hagar Delest]

Or could you upload a sample file (see How to attach a document here)?

[RoryOF]

A dedicated commercial DTP program, such as PageMaker (of blessed memory!) or Adobe Indesign will certainly do the job; I'm fairly sure OpenOffice will do so also, but I have never attempted such a task with it, not having any need to do so in the last few years. Previously I did most advanced image manipulation with Coreldraw.. If you wish to remain with opensource programs, you might try Scribus.

[digiday]

Hi Rory,

I miss Pagemaker a bit too, though there was a new version that came out a few years ago. I used to work in digital pre-press bureaus and Pagemaker had a bit of a bad rep though... it had many problems with sending erroneous instructions to film and plate imaging machines like Linotronic, Sci-Tex and Creo, and color proofers like Indigo, Fiery, Lamda, Approval and Iris machines.

Corel Draw and Corel Paint fell somewhere in between and were generally referred to by their users as "the real desktop publishing and photo editing apps"... that always used to give us a laugh at work.

Corell apps proliferated via PCs because they used to be included as pre-installed software on PCs back in the late 80s and early 90s.

QuarkXpress and then InDesign became the industry preferred page apps as replacements for Pagemaker... Adobe ended up replacing itself as the industry standard... first Pagemaker, then Quark topped Pagemaker, then InDesign topped Quark... that somewhat defines Pagemaker's demise.

I recently found out about GNU, GIMP, SCRIBUS and others under the GNU open source license... GIMP and SCRIBUS are pretty good for industry standard knock-offs, and great for free if you have Photoshop, InDesign and Quark on your Mac, but want something on your PC without paying for another license.

I'll stick with what I know for DTP apps and what works as a word processor.

Thanks,

digiday