Background image to margins

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ErasmusS
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Background image to margins

Post by ErasmusS »

I am trying use an image as a background for a document in the writer, and while I can add it using Format -> Page -> Background, it then only appears to the margins of the writing area, not to the edges of the page.
When I instead use Insert -> Picture I can get the image to whatever size and position I want, but it does not fully become background, instead "popping out" in front of the text, on every other page.

I would like to use the former method to get the background, but I need it to run all the way to the edge of the page. How would I go about doing that?
Open Office 4.1.5 on Windows 7 x64
JeJe
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by JeJe »

Set the page margins to 0.

Edit: To adapt the text you could change the paragraph indents. Or you could have three columns for your pages with unused left and right columns the size of the margins you had and everything placed in the middle column.

Edt2: Or you could use linked Frames sized to the original margin area.
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keme
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by keme »

Two approaches:
  1. Set page margins to zero
    • use indents to emulate left/right margins
    • use page header/footer for top/bottom margins.
    This is easier to work with when you just work within the current document, using existing styles and "just type your content".
  2. Insert image (anchored) in header or footer.
    Image settings:
    • Arrange: Send to back
    • Wrap: In background
    • Align to top and left edges of page
    This is easier to work with if you use content from other sources (copy/paste a lot). It may also be slightly more compatible if you collaborate with users of other software titles. It is easy to accidentally select the background image when you click in an area with no content, so make sure you know where your escape and undo keys are ;)
Find attached a sample using the 2nd approach. (The rendered background is cached in the file, which made it exceed upload limit. I had to reduce it to thumbnail size to get an acceptable file size for upload. Just select the image in top left corner and drag the bottom right corner to resize.)
Attachments
FullSizeBackground.odt
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ErasmusS
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by ErasmusS »

keme wrote: This is easier to work with when you just work within the current document, using existing styles and "just type your content".
[*]Insert image (anchored) in header or footer.
Image settings:
  • Arrange: Send to back
  • Wrap: In background
  • Align to top and left edges of page
This is easier to work with if you use content from other sources (copy/paste a lot). It may also be slightly more compatible if you collaborate with users of other software titles. It is easy to accidentally select the background image when you click in an area with no content, so make sure you know where your escape and undo keys are ;) [/list]

Find attached a sample using the 2nd approach. (The rendered background is cached in the file, which made it exceed upload limit. I had to reduce it to thumbnail size to get an acceptable file size for upload. Just select the image in top left corner and drag the bottom right corner to resize.)
I tried this, and while I do get an image in the background, I cannot find a way to select text in that document. Whenever I click on something it only selects the background-image. Is there a reliable way for me to select other, more "front" elements?
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JeJe
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by JeJe »

You might need to reduce the size of the picture when editing the document using that method. This macro will toggle reduced to minimum size and back to full size.

Code: Select all

Sub toggleminumumsize
with thiscomponent.drawpage.getbyindex(0) 'you need the index of the picture
if .width <100 then 'minimum size appears to be 41 on mine
.width = 21000 'my text area on A4
.height =29700 'my text area on A4
else
.width = 0
.height =0
end if
end with
End Sub
Last edited by JeJe on Fri Sep 25, 2020 4:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Lupp
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by Lupp »

ErasmusS wrote:...while I do get an image in the background, I cannot find a way to select text in that document.
You may need to quit the selection of the image first. Esc should do - or selecting any object (except the image) from the Navigator.

By the way 1: There wasn't any mention of printing: Most printers won't be capable of printing to the edge of the paper.

By the way 2: With recent LibreOffice the PageStyle has the Area options like shapes, and having chosen the variant Bitmap you can import any image (not just .bmp) for the purpose. Custom size is then independent of the paper size and the margin settings.
Last edited by Lupp on Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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ErasmusS
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by ErasmusS »

Is there a way to make the background non-selectable? I mean, if it was just colour I would not be able to select it after all. Is there a similar way for a graphic to be non-interactive?
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JeJe
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by JeJe »

Setting a color just tells it to fill the area with color before the page is drawn on top. A graphic is an actual object with many properties. Unfortunately there isn't one to enable/disable. There isn't one to make visible/non-visible either which is why I suggested toggling the size to (almost) hide it. You can protect the contents, position and size but that doesn't stop you selecting it.
Last edited by JeJe on Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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keme
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by keme »

In many cases you can do the content production first, then add the image as part of the finishing work. If you can work like that, I believe the header-anchored background image is the best way.
ErasmusS wrote:Is there a way to make the background non-selectable? I mean, if it was just colour I would not be able to select it after all. Is there a similar way for a graphic to be non-interactive?
Only when you make it part of the page properties.

Then you need to set the margins to 0, as per JeJe's first suggestion, and use a bit of "cheating" to simulate margins. For those cheats, look at JeJe's suggestion of linked frames and my suggestion of indents/headers/footers.

Both kinds of simulated margins may have some side effects concerning pasted content, index/ToC creation, etc., but it is certainly going to be smoother to work with if you need to have the background image present while you work.
Bill
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by Bill »

ErasmusS wrote:Is there a way to make the background non-selectable?
No. This bug is not fixed.

Issue 95811 - Image in background prevents selecting text which is above it with mouse
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Lupp
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by Lupp »

Since my above post may not have put it clear enough, I want to provide an example.
The document was created with LibreOffice V 7.0.1.2 and will only show the effects correctly if opened with a recent LibO.

It was successfully tested with LibO V 6.4.5. A few older versions (including 6.0) did not treat it correctly. (This may depend on the usage of ODF V1.3.)

Due to the size of the example file I couldn't upload it here.
Link: http://psilosoph.de/FreeOfficeForums/Fu ... centLO.odt
On Windows 10: LibreOffice 25.2.4 and older versions, PortableOpenOffice 4.1.7 and older, StarOffice 5.2
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Lupp from München
ErasmusS
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by ErasmusS »

If I use LibreOffice instead, could it be completed successfully then, i.e having graphics in the background but non-interactive?
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Lupp
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by Lupp »

Reaching for an advantage may require to accept a disadvantage.
In this case your documents would no longer work as intended in AOO, and I would doubt if AOO ever will upgrade to ODF 1.3.

I' dont feel sure about your term "non-interactive". If you mean a background image that is not a selectable object, but only editable via the PageStyle settings, that's the case.

Simply try it. If you are on Win you can download a PortableApps version (32-bit) of LibreOffice from the location http://downloadarchive.documentfoundati ... /portable/. You can unpack it to an empty folder, and run it for testing without an installation. Then try my example and see yourself.

What about my remark concerning printing and printers?
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Lupp from München
erbsenzahl
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by erbsenzahl »

Additum to discussion

Bug in LibreOffice (not yet repaired in version 7.0.x)
Be aware if changing your background images: Writer does not erase the unwanted images but stores them in the file.
See discussion here: https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question ... t-deleted/

See also the difference of AOO and LO in linking page background images: AOO can do, LO denies and only can embed images. (Same in Writer table backgrounds.) - Cheers
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John_Ha
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by John_Ha »

1. Just drag the image to the page edges.
2. Search the forum with watermark for other methods.

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.
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See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
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Lupp
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by Lupp »

Thanks to "erbsenzahl" for the hint. The mentioned bug is https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/sho ... i?id=92796 (tdf#92796).
It was also an opportunity to study how to remove unused background images from the file and how to make respective changes to styles.xml.
(The example I linked to in a previous post was reworked.)
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Lupp from München
ErasmusS
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Re: Background image to margins

Post by ErasmusS »

After months of trying I gave in and moved to LibreOffice. It might be simpler there.
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