[Issue] Background on slides impress

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jclaiborn
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[Issue] Background on slides impress

Post by jclaiborn »

I am working with Office 2.4 and Windows XP

I am trying to develop a presentation. Somehow I got a background from a template I found and like it. However now when I try to add new slides they come without the background. The only way I can get the background is to add a duplicate slide and then remove the contents and put in new ones.

When I look at the background it labels it a bit map.

How can I get new slides to have this other than the tedious method I am now using.
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Tagged the thread as issue (link to a bug report).
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acknak
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by acknak »

Have you set the background on the master slide(s)? I think you have to do that in order to make it the default background for new slides.

Try View > Master > Slide Master and check that the background is set there.
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jclaiborn
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by jclaiborn »

I somehow fixed things on one computer which was the one I started the presentation on. I don't know what I did.

However I have tried working on the same presentation on another computer. If I look at the master slide there it has no background despite the slides in the actual presentation having the background I want.

I don't understand how to get that background onto the master.
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acknak
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by acknak »

Did you start with a Powerpoint file or template? If so, that could explain some of the strangeness: things don't always import perfectly from MS Office.

With OOo 2.4, you can right click on any slide (including the master) > Slide > Set Background Image for Slide. That will use the image as a bitmap pattern to fill the background.

You can also use Format > Page > Background > Fill = Bitmap, but that's a long way around to do the same thing.

You can also just add the image as an object on the master slide: Insert > Picture > From File.
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jclaiborn
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by jclaiborn »

Actually I started with a template I downloaded from the Open Office extension site. I saw it, liked it but now can't seem to find it in the templates.

I tried the steps you describe to set a background picture for slides and don't see any effect unless there is no background to start with. That is if I start with a slide with no background and put in a picture that becomes the background. If however I already have a background then following the right click slide>set background> does not produce any change.

My next problem is that I want to work on notes. I had put some in when I made some of the slides but they are now gone. I can recreate them so that is not a big deal but wonder about their disappearing.

In the presentation I am working on now if I go to a notes view I do not get the slide in the top part of the window. I tried opening a new presentation with other templates for background and then the slide does appear above the place to put comments.

This is all getting quite weird.
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acknak
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by acknak »

It's likely that the only way we'll get to the bottom of this is if you can post your file here (for files >128k, use a file sharing site like mediafire.com).

If the file is confidential, you can email me; the address is under "interests" in my user profile.
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jclaiborn
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by jclaiborn »

Per your suggestion I have put the file in question on Mediafire

http://www.mediafire.com/?4hcrxninl38

If you can make any sense out of it I will be grateful.
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acknak
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by acknak »

Ok, let me see if I can walk through a couple of things to see if it clears up some mysteries.
I tried the steps you describe to set a background picture for slides and don't see any effect unless there is no background to start with. That is if I start with a slide with no background and put in a picture that becomes the background. If however I already have a background then following the right click slide>set background> does not produce any change.
Right. It's a little confusing, but the file you uploaded seems ok in this.

The confusing thing is that there are two different ways to set a background, and they can interfere with each other.

Right-click > Slide > Set Background Picture for Slide (or Format > Page > Background > Fill = Bitmap) fills the area of the slide rectangle with a bitmap pattern, similar to filling it with a color. In the case of an image, the bitmap pattern is large and does not repeat the way the other bitmaps do. That fill is the farthest "back" that you can get: everything else on the slide will overlay it.

The file you uploaded uses the Insert > Picture > From File method. This method simply has a normal picture, sent to the back, but that is still over the background fill. So when you tried Right-click > Slide > Set Background..., the area fill is still underneath and obscured by the image object and it appears to have no effect.

If you go to the master view, click on the slide background to select the picture, then press "Delete", you remove the background image object. The other slides use the master, so the background disappears from all the slides as well. Now, if you use Right-click > Slide > Set Background..., the change will not be obscured and you can see it take effect.

Neither is more "correct"--you can use whichever method you want.
... if I go to a notes view I do not get the slide in the top part of the window.
Right; I see that too. The slide in the notes view appears for some slides but not for others. However, the slide appears if I click on the layout sample in the panel on the right. I've not seen that before; my guess is that it's just a bug.

If I select all the slides (use the slide panel on the left) and then click on the layout sample, then all the slides appear in the notes view.
I had put some in when I made some of the slides but they are now gone.
I see notes on many of the slides--are you using the "Notes" view (tab at the top of the center panel)?
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jclaiborn
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by jclaiborn »

First let me say thank you for all the time you are putting into my questions.

I will need to print out what you wrote about the background thing and play with it for a while.

As for notes I find that your tip about clicking on the layout does bring in the slide. It has to be done for each one. The ones that do show up have an object in them. The ones that don't are just text that I put in.

If this is a bug should it be reported? I don't know how to do that either.

As for the notes. I recreated them because ones in a previous version were gone.
I see the new ones but was trying to understand what happened to the old ones.

My next problem is that I want to be able to use the notes when I give the presentation. The only way I can think of to do that is to print out the presentation with the notes. I tried to do that and got a handout with the slides and then a bunch of pages that look like the note view with blank boxes and the few slides that have notes printed out the notes.

Also if it makes any difference I am going to have to use someone else's computer to give the presentation so I will be converting the file into PowerPoint format.
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acknak
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by acknak »

It looks like these are known problems:
Issue 45923: Export to Powerpoint causes problems with Notes View
Issue 71329: slides not visible in notes view

Both of these result from saving a presentation in Powerpoint format, then re-opening that file in OOo. I don't know if you've done that with your presentation or not, but if you have, then what you're seeing is consistent with those reports.

You can register there (the OOo bug-tracking page) and add your vote (up to two) or comment if you like.

In general, it's risky to save OOo documents as MS Office formats: ideally, everything will be fine, but in practice there are lots of problems--everything from lost formatting to lost files.

I recommend that you never depend on saving in MS Office formats. Save the file as ODF (OOo's native format), and then save a copy as the MS Office format you need. Never edit the MS Office-format file: edit the ODF file as your master copy and export a new Powerpoint file.

Also, for presentations, moving between computers can be a bigger problem. Working on one computer, saving as PPT and running the presentation on another system, you are very likely to find that the presentation looks different.

The biggest source of difference is fonts. If you used a font when you created the presentation that is not present on the other system, then a different font may be substituted and the appearance will change.

Test it on the other system if you can. If you can't test it, then I recommend making a PDF version of the presentation as a backup in case the Powerpoint version can't be used. The PDF presentation will not have your animations or slide transitions, but at least it will look exactly the same as when you created it.
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desaunay
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Re: Background on slides impress

Post by desaunay »

Sad to say, but the issue is now solved, in IBM/LOTUS Symphony.
Other annoying points have been taken in consideration in this software, as well, such as including tables easily.

That makes a competition to OOo
OOo 2.4.X on Ms Windows XP
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