Section 27. Insert Graphics in a Document


27. Insert Graphics in a Document

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

14 Set Up Page Formatting

15 Create a Multicolumn Newsletter


SEE ALSO

28 Draw with Writer


Writer enables you to put pictures in your documents. Those graphic images can have captions and borders, and you can specify how the text around such images wraps.

Writer supports the inclusion of all the following kinds of graphic images:

  • Graphic images from a file, such as bitmapped images

  • Graphic images from OpenOffice.org's Gallery

  • Graphic images you scan into your document

  • Graphic images produced in OpenOffice.org's other products such as Draw and Impress

  • A Calc chart

KEY TERM

Gallery A collection of graphics supplied by OpenOffice.org programs that you can insert into your documents.


When you insert a graphic image, Writer places an anchor at that location. You will see the anchor when editing but not when you print your document. The anchor shows where you inserted the actual image. You can format a graphic image to appear on the left or right of text, or above or below the text in which you insert the graphic. Therefore, the anchor and the actual image may not appear together. When you want to move an image, move its anchor and not the image itself.

27. Insert Graphics in a Document


KEY TERM

Anchor A Writer placeholder that shows itself as an icon of a boat anchor. Anchors show the location of objects such as graphic images, footnotes, and endnotes. The anchor shows where you inserted an object. If you move the object, the anchor stays in place.


1.
Request a Picture

To insert a graphic image from a file, first place your text cursor where you want the image to go. Then, select Insert, Picture, From File from the menu. Writer displays the Insert picture dialog box, which is nothing more than a file-selection dialog box where you navigate to the file you want to insert. Once you select the graphic image you want to place in your document, click the Open button to insert the image.

NOTE

OpenOffice.org supports all popular graphic file formats, including JPG, GIF, and BMP files.

If you want to scan an image directly into Writer, select Insert, Picture, Scan instead and select the scanning method you want to use to scan the picture. (Some scanners support multiple scanning methods .) As long as you have a TWAIN -compliant scanner attached to your computer (which most scanners are), Writer will scan the image and bring that image into your document.

The picture is selected so that you can make any adjustments. Whenever a picture is selected, the Frame and Picture toolbars appear, offering one-click access to many common graphics- related tasks .

KEY TERM

TWAIN A scanner hardware interface format recognized by all of today's computers.

2.
Adjust the Size

Once Writer brings the graphic image into your document, you can make adjustments to suit your needs. Typically, Writer imports graphic images and centers them at the location you inserted them. No text wraps to either side of the image, and the image often is not sized properly for your document.

To resize the image, drag any of the eight resizing handles inward to reduce the image size or outward to increase the image size.

3.
Wrap to the Page

If you want to embed the image inside text, having the text wrap around the image instead of the image consuming space without any text wrapped around it, right-click the image and select Wrap, Page Wrap from the menu.

TIPS

If you want to add a caption to your image, right-click the image and select Caption to display the Caption dialog box. You can add a sequential number before your caption so that you can reference all your images from the document by number.

If you want Writer to add a caption automatically whenever you insert an image, choose Tools, Options from the menu bar and then select the AutoCaption category to specify how you want the caption to look.

If you want to maintain the proportions of a picture as you resize it, press and hold Shift while dragging one of the resizing handles. For greater control over how your picture wraps to surrounding text, right-click the image and then choose Picture .

4.
Adjust the Text Wrap

Once you've elected to wrap to the page, you now can drag the image up or down to the middle of text, and the text will wrap around the image. As you drag the image, a dotted -line placeholder shows where the dragged image will appear when you release your mouse button. When you release your mouse button, the image is anchored into place and surrounding text will wrap around the sides.

You're not limited to keeping the image in the middle of the text. If you'd prefer to move the image over to the left or right margin, you can drag the image or click it and then click the Align Left, Center Horizontal , or Align Right button on the Picture toolbar. Often, text is easier to read if it wraps only on the left or right side of an image instead of the image falling directly in the center of the text.

5.
Insert a Gallery Item

You may insert one of OpenOffice.org's Gallery images if you wish instead of importing your own graphic image. The Gallery contains a collection of clip art , such as fancy numbers , buttons , and graphic borders that you may want to use to spruce up your page.

KEY TERM

Clip art A collection of low-resolution art, supplied by OpenOffice.org, that you can use to decorate your documents.

You must display the gallery before you can drag items from the gallery into your document. To display the gallery, click the Gallery button on the Standard toolbar or select Tools, Gallery . The top half of your screen shows the gallery, organized in the following categories: Backgrounds, Bullets, Homepage, My Theme, Rulers , and Sounds . Some of the gallery images are useful for creating and designing web pages. The Sounds category contains various sounds you can insert into a document, although this feature is often overused at first and then never used later after its novelty wears off.

To insert a gallery image, click to select that image and drag it to the place in your document where you want the image to go. As with graphic images you insert, once the gallery image appears in your document, you can resize it and align it with text in the way that fits your needs best.

To close the gallery, click the Gallery button on the Standard toolbar, or choose Tools, Gallery . You can also drag the bottom of the gallery up or down to shrink or expand it if you want to leave it open as you work.

6.
Insert Another Object

By clicking Object on the Insert menu, you are given the chance to insert a chart (see 29 Add a Chart or Spreadsheet to a Document ), mathematical expression (see 30 Use Mathematical Formulas in Documents ), floating frame , and other kinds of objects into your document.

KEY TERM

Floating frame Used in Web pages to display the contents of files.

TIP

If you plan to insert many objects into a document, display the Insert Object toolbar to speed up your work. Choose View, Toolbars from the menu bar and then click Insert Object to display this toolbar.

7.
Format a Picture

You can fine-tune many properties of a picture using the Picture dialog box and the Picture toolbar. If the Picture toolbar does not appear when you select a picture, choose View, Toolbars, Picture . Using buttons on the Picture toolbar, you can change the graphics mode (for example, from default to grayscale), adjust color and transparency, and even insert another picture. Use the Picture dialog box to make even more modifications to the selected picture, such as changing its size, position, spacing from the surrounding text, cropping and borders, and even adding a hyperlink. To open the Picture dialog box, right-click the picture and then click Picture .



OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox, and Thunderbird for Windows All in One
Sams Teach Yourself OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox and Thunderbird for Windows All in One
ISBN: 0672328089
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 232
Authors: Greg Perry

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