[Solved] How do frame a photo on a page in a document?

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cgerard
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[Solved] How do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by cgerard »

I have inserted, sized and positioned photographs of varying sizes on several pages within a document. I want to place frames around the photos. If I right click in the middle of a photo, then click on photo, then click on frame and select my options, then click okay, I'm taken back to the page and the photo is beautifully framed. HOWEVER,
when I save and close the page then open it back up again, or copy the page and open the copy, the frame has gone away. I've attempted to add the frames several times. They are always there and look great UNTIL I copy or close the document.
Why is this happening and how do I get it to work correctly?
Thanks
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: tagged [Solved].
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acknak
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by acknak »

What document format are you saving to? Saving to any format other than OOo's native ODF format (.odt for text) carries some risk of losing formatting. If you're not saving as ODF, try that and see if you still have a problem.
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by cgerard »

Hate to show my ignorance but - I don't know what OO and odf is - so I guess we can assume it's a native format because I didn't do anything but save then name the doc .

FYI: I started this doc on a different computer using Microsoft Word 2007. When it became clear that my old CPU and or hard drive were about done for, I got a new cpu and my IT guy loaded the Apache word program on it and copied all info on my hard drive to the new cpu. Everything transferred over - so, again, besides not knowing OO from ODF, I don't know what it was originally saved as.
I know I didn't create any 'specific' kind of doc. just whatever I got when I hit save as or save.

FWIW - I created a new doc in Apache just now, added a photo, added the frame, hit the save button and named the doc then closed it. When I then reopened the doc, the frame was gone again. So it would seem that the transfer from Word to Apache is not the cause of the problem.

I really appreciate the time you're taking on this.
Thanks
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Zizi64
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by Zizi64 »

Hate to show my ignorance but - I don't know what OO and odf is - so I guess we can assume it's a native format because I didn't do anything but save then name the doc .
OO.o = openOffice.org it is an old name of OpenOffice suite. Now it named Apache OpenOffice
odf = ODF: Open Document Format is an International Standard file format for the office suites. (file extensions are: .odt, .ods, .odg, .odp...)
((The Microsoft uses different (standardized, and non-standardized) file types: .doc, docx, .xls, .xlsx, etc...))
The MS formats, and the ODF Standard are not 100 compatible.

When you open edit a document (.odt and/or .doc/docx type) in the OpenOffice, then you always will work in the ODF format. The OpenOffice can work with ODF formats only. The .doc files will be convert once at opening the file. If you save it into foreign formats, you will lost some informations, (formattings, properties, or objects) anyway, because the file will be convert at save again into the foreign (.doc) format.


Always work in the native, standardized ODF formats with the Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice.
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Please, edit the initial post in the topic: add the word [Solved] at the beginning of the subject line - if your problem has been solved.
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by Zizi64 »

or copy the page and open the copy, the frame has gone away.
Can you upload a small size (128 KiB) example file here? (or you can link it from a file sharing service if the example file is larger than 128 KiB)
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by acknak »

cgerard wrote:... FYI: I started this doc on a different computer using Microsoft Word 2007. ...
In this situation, OO will try to keep the same file format, so you're probably working with .doc in this case.

FWIW - I created a new doc ... So it would seem that the transfer from Word to Apache is not the cause of the problem.
That sounds reasonable.

One thing to check. after you close and re-open the document, check the border settings again to see if the settings are gone or if they were saved and restored.

NOTE: I assume you're actually dealing with border settings, since there is no "frame" item in the Picture menu. It's important to be careful with the terms because Writer provides something labeled "frame" in the menus, so we need to be sure we're talking about the same thing.

If the settings are still there, you can try making the border thicker, or add some space between the border and the image. I've seen in some cases that the image seems to cover the border if it's too thin or too close.

You can also double-check the file type when you save the file: under the file name, the file type is shown. You should be using the "ODF Text Document (.odt)" file format.
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by cgerard »

thanks for the explanation. Your explanation of the OO or ODF makes sense and I'm certain everything I use is set it up in ODF

You said: "One thing to check. after you close and re-open the document, check the border settings again to see if the settings are gone or if they were saved and restored."

I just checked that. And when I checked the border settings again, the settings were gone. And I did mean border not frame. sorry.

I've attached a photo (hopefully I got it small enough) that I've copied onto a document. I want to make certain I've been clear about that. Each photo I'm working with I has been cropped, applied a 'paint' type of application then copied onto a document. THEN I attempt to add the border by placing my cursor over the photo, right click, click on picture, click on border, then set the border, click ok. Then I click on save, close out the doc. reopen and no border. Twice I've attempted to add the border to this photo, saved it, closed it, reopened it and the border is gone.
I would very much like this to work as I'm working with multiple pages, multiple photos of multiple sizes and this is such an easy way to make the border - if only it would work :o)

thank you again.
Untitled 1.doc
this is a photo that I've attempted to add a border to.
(114 KiB) Downloaded 213 times
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by acknak »

The file you attached is saved as .doc format. You can see that in the file name (also shown in the OO window title) and in the file type setting when you File > Save As ...

Here's an ODF Text Document (.odt filename suffix). If you open it and change the border settings, then save and re-open, I think you'll see that it works as expected--it works for me.
Attachments
image_border_sample.odt
(136.84 KiB) Downloaded 174 times
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cgerard
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by cgerard »

Oh my gosh.
As I'm sure you've ascertained, I'm not very computer savvy - much of the finer details are lost on me. I'm a writer and for the most part have only worked in Word for my documents. And I don't normally include photos in my documents.

In any event, my problem is that I've been saving as a .doc instead of a .odf'? Is that correct? If so I don't understand how I'm supposed to save a document as a .odf as it automatically saves as a .doc
And since this entire document has apparently been saved as a .doc is there any way to make the borders work now?

And by the way - I have NO idea how you were able to determine that this was an OO not ODF. where do I find that?

Again, thank you so much for your time.
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by acknak »

One way to manage the file format/document type is ...

1) Open the document file

2) Menu: File > Save As ...

Here you can see what file type (Document format) OO has detected when it opened the file. The file type information should appear below the file name box. In the case of your "Untitled 1" file attached here, it says "Microsoft Word 97/XP/2000 (.doc)". For the file I uploaded, it says "ODF Text Document (.odt)".

If you don't see that information, it may be due to a configuration option, or there may be an option to "expand" or "show options" or something like that.

At this point, you can leave the file type unchanged and click "Save" or OK to save the file in the original format ...

Or, you can click on the file type box and select a different type. If you change the file type, when you click OK or Save, the document will be saved in the format (file type) selected.

It's best to always work in OO's native file type (ODF Text) because that format can safely store any settings or document content. You always have the option to save an extra copy of the file in a different format if needed.
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cgerard
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by cgerard »

I understand.
So I opened the file again, clicked save as and saw it was saved as a .doc, hit save as type down arrow and selected odf text document not odf template. It told me that doc already existed and did I want to replace it. I said yes. Saved it. Now it says it's untitled1.odt (not odf). I added the border. Saved. Closed. Opened again - and still no frame.
What did I do wrong?

thanks again!!!
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by acknak »

Your steps sound correct to me. The only thing I can think of is that you may be opening an old copy of the document that didn't get the border. I've had this happen myself when I start saving things with the same name. And the way OO behaves in this situation makes it easy to get confused.

Just as a "sanity check" open the document I attached above and change the border settings (make it red or something), save it, and re-open it. That really ought to work. If it doesn't then there's some basic problem. If it does work, then you'll know that something odd is going on when you're working on the other document.

As an extra check, start a new document, add an image, set the border and save it as ODF Text. If that also fails, then attach that document here so we can take a look at it.
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by cgerard »

I couldn't find an attached document, sorry. But I did as you suggested and started a new doc, saved as an odf file then added the photo and the border and closed it out, opened it up and it WORKED!
So - it would appear that I need to start from scratch with a new (as opposed to converted) odf file. Glad to know there is a way to do it. Sad, also, because I have this 30 page document already finished except for adding the borders.

So I decided that I'd start a new odf document, then cut and paste everything from the word doc and drop it into the new odf doc. Everything worked. I made the change, saved. Reopened and the odf doc kept the border. I thought all was good.

I close the document again and now, for whatever reason, I can't open it. Neither can I open my old word.doc In fact, I can't open ANY existing document.

Help. What's happening? Is it because I've reset my default to odf instead of word?
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by RoryOF »

Start TaskManager (Ctrl Shift Esc) and kill any soffice processes shown on TM's Processes tab. Then start OpenOffice.
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cgerard
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by cgerard »

before I got your reply, I shut down the computer and restarted. All is working fine now. Whew. That had me scared. Apparently things just needed to be reset? Can I feel safe that things will work now, as they had before?

Once again, thank you sooo very, very much for your help. You've been very patient and kind and gave excellent, clear advice. It's so much appreciated.
And now - I have borders on my pictures. :o)
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by acknak »

Glad to hear you got it sorted!
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cgerard
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Re: how do frame a photo on a page in a document?

Post by cgerard »

Thanks to you, yes. I never would have known where to start let alone get to the root of the problem.
If I could give you a medal, I would :o)
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