[Solved] OpenOffice 4.1.5 keeps ruining inserted images

[CoGDork]

In spite of my signature, I am actually using 4.1.5 on Windows 10 (the registration would not accept that as a valid version or OS); with that out of the way, I wrote a review of a game and included screenshots in the review. I saved it and exited the program, then decided later to go back and check it one last time... and the images I had inserted were all screwed up. Most were blown up, then cropped; others were shrunk and shoved into a corner of a bordered area. This has happened every single time I save, exit, and open, and it doesn't matter what I save the file as--odt, doc, docx, rtf--it does that every single time, and I have to delete every image and then re-insert them and re-adjust them to fit the article.

THIS ARTICLE IS DUE SOON. I can't afford to have this issue keep going, so THIS PROBLEM MUST BE SOLVED AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE--PREFERABLY WITHIN 48 HOURS OF THIS POST. What is going on and how do I get openoffice to stop screwing up my images?

[Bill]

Please post a sample file for examination. Also verify that you're reallly using an official version of Apache OpenOffice 4.1.5. AOO does not save .docx files.

[CoGDork]

The docx thing was me misinterpreting the different forms of doc files that OO can save as like the dummy I am. That goof aside, the problem is still very much real; here's a link to a Word 6.0 doc version of the file (it was too big to upload as an attachment).

[Hagar Delest]

Can't access the file right now but a couple of hints:
- Save in native ODF (.odt). In what format should it be sent when ready? If PDF, then keep working in .odt and export in PDF at the end. If in MS Word format, then better forget about AOO. You can try LibreOffice but no guarantee.
- Anchor the pics As character.

[RoryOF]

I agree with Hagar - stay in odt format until the work is finished. Then, if you must, save in .doc format - all .docx capable applications can also read .doc format which OO supports. Use Word 97/2000/XP format rather than Word 6. PDF is a better format for sending a finished document.

[John_Ha]

First, it is not AOO which is "ruining inserted images" - it is user error on your part. Have you read Chapter 8 - Working with graphics in the manual?

I have no idea what you have done to your .doc file because it is enormous - it is 17 MBytes.

Saving it as Monkey Island Review.odt file reduces it to 1 MBytes. Saving Monkey Island Review.odt as Monkey Island Review.doc gets it to 980 kBytes.

See [Tutorial] Some useful hints on using images for a discussion on how best to handle images in Writer.

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for why you should always work in and save files as .odt. Only create a .doc as the final act (of sillyness?!).

You will find much useful information in the User Guides, the Writer, Base and Calc Tutorials and the AOO Frequently Asked Questions. May I suggest you bookmark the pages.

Showing that a problem has been solved helps others searching so, if your problem is now solved, please view your first post in this thread and click the Edit button (top right in the post) and add [Solved] in front of the subject.

[CoGDork]

Problem with that is that it has to be submitted as a Word file or Google doc.

[John_Ha]

Problem with that is that it has to be submitted as a Word file or Google doc.

Read the tutorial. You are having problems because you are misusing AOO. It is user error.

[RoryOF]

When it is finished, you can certainly submit it as .doc. Select Word 97/2000/XP as the chosen format, but because you are not sending OO's native format or PDF, there may be some variation in format.

[Bill]

The embedded graphics are in svm format which I have never used. Maybe someone else would know if that is a problem. I did find this bug report:

Issue 126201 - svm graphic image works in AOO 4.0, doesn't work in AOO 4.1.1

[CoGDork]

First, it is not AOO which is "ruining inserted images" - it is user error on your part. Have you read Chapter 8 - Working with graphics in the manual?

I have no idea what you have done to your .doc file because it is enormous - it is 17 MBytes.

Saving it as Monkey Island Review.odt file reduces it to 1 MBytes. Saving Monkey Island Review.odt as Monkey Island Review.doc gets it to 980 kBytes.

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for why you should always work in and save files as .odt. Only create a .doc as the final act (of sillyness?!). ((wow, this was sort of rude and unnecessary))

You will find much useful information in the User Guides, the Writer, Base and Calc Tutorials and the AOO Frequently Asked Questions. May I suggest you bookmark the pages.

Showing that a problem has been solved helps others searching so, if your problem is now solved, please view your first post in this thread and click the Edit button (top right in the post) and add [Solved] in front of the subject.

Okay, I saved it as an .odt then saved THAT as a 95 doc; the problem persisted. I took that other suggestion and saved the odt as an xp doc; the problem persisted. I used the tutorial/manual links you made; they did not once mention my issue nor give me information on what could be causing it. I need someone here to give me more help than "read the manual and stop asking for help because we're not here to help you". THIS IS A SUPPORT AND TROUBLESHOOTING FORUM--asking that people give me actual genuine help with regards to my specific situation instead of linking a manual that does not help me solve the problem is not out of the question. If I am missing anything in the manual, don't just go "read it again", please tell me the exact place and line in it that I am somehow missing that will solve this problem--that, again, is not asking the world.

Problem with that is that it has to be submitted as a Word file or Google doc.

Read the tutorial. You are having problems because you are misusing AOO. It is user error.

With regards to your "Oh you dummy dummy, you should never ever save anything as anything besides .odt" attitude, as I said before, I CANNOT SUBMIT IT IN ODT FORM. I CAN ONLY SUBMIT IT AS A DOC. I don't know how to make it any clearer than that. The person I have to submit it to will not accept any other form aside from .doc form. That's the long and short of it--there is absolutely no other option except to have it work correctly as a doc; as such, telling me to just make it an odt is no help at all, so please stop telling me to do that and start telling me how to make it work as a doc.

I'm sorry if I come across as rude and annoying, but (1.) there is a deadline for this that I have to submit it by, (2.) I have tried and tried and tried to fix it on my own with no success, so my frustration level and tolerance for snarky comments is very low. Please give me some detailed help with my specific issue in mind, and please try to be civil about it.

[John_Ha]

There is a problem with Image 5.

When I save the .doc as Microsoft 2003 xml Image 5 is many times larger than the other images and takes up about 80% of the file. It is a cropped image where the original is 72cm x 38cm.

See the images tutorial:

It is far better to process your images in an image editor so that they are exactly how you want them to appear before inserting them into AOO.

Also, the document has been open for editing for 574 hours suggesting it has been repetitively reused. It may be "tangled".

With regards to your "Oh you dummy dummy, you should never ever save anything as anything besides .odt" attitude, as I said before, I CANNOT SUBMIT IT IN ODT FORM. I CAN ONLY SUBMIT IT AS A DOC. I don't know how to make it any clearer than that. The person I have to submit it to will not accept any other form aside from .doc form. That's the long and short of it--there is absolutely no other option except to have it work correctly as a doc; as such, telling me to just make it an odt is no help at all, so please stop telling me to do that and start telling me how to make it work as a doc.

Read the differences tutorial. It says:

0. When using Writer always save all documents as .odt files

When using any application, always save files in that application's format because everything will be saved. When using Writer always save all documents as .odt files.

That way you know that all your document and formatting will be saved. If someone irrationally asks you to send them a .doc file, question the request, and offer to send them a .odt file instead as all versions of Microsoft Office later than 2007 claim to be able both to read and to write .odt files. If MS Word corrupts the .odt file, get the recipient to complain to Microsoft - note the hatched area below where MS Word chooses not to work with that content stored in a .odt file. If the requester insists on a .doc file, then create a .doc file as a copy of the master .odt file, and delete the .doc after sending it so you don't start editing it by mistake in future. If you want to guarantee the recipient sees what you see you have two choices:
1. Send them a .odt file and tell them to open it with AOO Writer. Even this does not guarantee it because if the user does not have the fonts you used installed on their PC, their PC will substitute different fonts.
2. Create a PDF and send them the PDF. This guarantees they will see exactly what you see in your PDF. AOO embeds the fonts in the PDF so even if they don't have those fonts installed, they will use the fonts you embedded. The downside? is they cannot edit a PDF.

Always work in, and save all Writer documents, as .odt files.

and

4. Saving as .doc files is not recommended but ...

... if you are forced to create a .doc file, save as a .odt as usual, and create a copy as a .doc file. Be sure to select Word 97 / 2000 / XP as it is the most recent format. Word 95 and Word 6.0 .doc formats are very old and obsolete and less comprehensive than Word 97 / 2000 / XP .doc format. For example, Word 95 and Word 6.0 file format cannot store Draw objects.

Differentiate between what you save as, and what you send as.

Incidentally if you download the files whose links I gave you the problem is fixed.

[CoGDork]

This is much more helpful, but sadly that's not the only image that keeps getting screwed up--even the smaller ones go bad, so that might rule out the size being the source of the problem. As for the latter issue, what do you mean by "tangled" and how would I go about "un-tangling" it?

[John_Ha]

Download the files whose links I gave you and work with them.

Saving it as Monkey Island Review.odt file reduces it to 1 MBytes. Saving Monkey Island Review.odt as Monkey Island Review.doc gets it to 980 kBytes.

[CoGDork]

Download the files whose links I gave you and work with them.

Saving it as Monkey Island Review.odt file reduces it to 1 MBytes. Saving Monkey Island Review.odt as Monkey Island Review.doc gets it to 980 kBytes.

I downloaded both files and there was the same issue.

[John_Ha]

The images in the downloads are what they are your original .doc file so if they wrong there, they will be wrong in my files. But the .odt file will be stable for any new work. Unlike .odt files, .doc files do not offer an easy way of extracting images (other than by r-click > Copy etc).

I don't know how you want your images and I don't have the original images. If they are incorrect then

1. Delete the images from the .odt file
2. Open the correct images with an image editor and edit/resize etc as required until you have the image as you want it. Save the images as a PNG or GIF.
3. As they are PNG or GIF images insert them by dragging them or pasting them into place. Adjust to size..
4. Save as a .odt file.
5. Now create a copy of the .odt file as a .doc file to send.

[RoryOF]

I saw nothing elaborate with the image positioning - they just seemed to be inserted into blank spaces between paragraphs in the flow of text. Anchoring to character or to paragraph should have held them in position, provided the original images were of reasonable size and resolution - for an image being printed out on standard (A4 or US letter) paper, that would be a horizontal pixel count of about 1600-1700 pixels (at 210 dpi) - more will offer no improvement.

Of coiurse, if they were .svm format as Bill suggested, it might be best to convert these to .png or .tiff, and resize if necessary.

[CoGDork]

The images in the downloads are what they are your original .doc file so if they wrong there, they will be wrong in my files. But the .odt file will be stable for any new work. Unlike .odt files, .doc files do not offer an easy way of extracting images (other than by r-click > Copy etc).

I don't know how you want your images and I don't have the original images. If they are incorrect then

1. Delete the images from the .odt file
2. Open the correct images with an image editor and edit/resize etc as required until you have the image as you want it. Save the images as a PNG or GIF.
3. As they are PNG or GIF images insert them by dragging them or pasting them into place. Adjust to size..
4. Save as a .odt file.
5. Now create a copy of the .odt file as a .doc file to send.

I tried editing them and changing the size, but when I inserted them they were back to the default size they were before I adjusted them to the page (that's what I did when I first did the article, before the problem popped up). Changing the size in an editor didn't affect how big they were in OO.

EDIT: I copied the .odt file, then renamed it as a .doc file; I think that solved the issue, but could you check it on your end to see if it stays fixed after being sent just to make sure?

[Zizi64]

There are three optimized pictures with 64 color instead of millions of the colors...

[John_Ha]

EDIT: I copied the .odt file, then renamed it as a .doc file

You cannot do that. Changing the file qualifier does not change the contents of the file. Renaming fred.odt to fred.doc does not change it to a .doc file..

I tried editing them and changing the size, but when I inserted them they were back to the default size they were before I adjusted them to the page (that's what I did when I first did the article, before the problem popped up). Changing the size in an editor didn't affect how big they were in OO.

Correct. Edit them in an image editor to the pixel count you want. Insert them into AOO and stretch them to the size you want.
Read the Tutorial - it's all in there.