Documentation/AOO4 User Guides/Draw Guide/Editing Pictures Raster Graphics/Importing Raster and Vector Graphics/Link or Embed

Apache OpenOffice 4.1 Draw Guide

Editing Pictures (Raster Graphics)

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• Introduction
• Importing Raster and Vector Graphics
  • Link or Embed?
  • Scanning
  • Pasting from the Clipboard
  • Dragging and Dropping
  • Inserting from a File
• Exporting Graphics
  • Exporting the Entire File
  • Exporting Single Objects
  • Exporting as a Vector Graphic
  • Exporting as a Raster Graphic
• Modifying Raster Object Properties
• The Picture (Editing) Toolbar and Graphic Pane
• Cropping
• The Graphic Filter Toolbar
• Changing Colors Using the Color Replacer
  • Practical Example: Changing Wrong Colors to Transparency
  • Effect of the Tolerance Parameter
  • Color Depth
    • Reducing color depth
• Conversion
  • Convert to a Contoured Image
  • Convert to a Polygon
    • Number of Colors
    • Point Reduction
    • Fill Holes
  • Convert to Bitmap
• Print Options with Raster Graphics

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Link or Embed?

If you select the Link option in the Insert picture dialog, the graphic is linked to, rather than embedded. It's not inserted into the document. Instead, a link to the graphic is created. This link is relative to the folder where the document is stored, even though it shows up in the Edit Links dialog (see Figure 121) as an absolute link.

If you store the document and the graphic in the same folder and transport the folder as a whole to another computer, the graphic will appear in the document as before.

Linked graphics are not changed as a result of any actions performed within OpenOffice. Such changes affect only the view of the graphic in the document, not the graphic itself. In particular, the format of a linked graphic remains unchanged. In contrast, when a raster graphic is embedded in a document, it is converted into PNG format.

Linking keeps the Draw document's file size small. The picture can be edited or even replaced by another, and the link will still function. As long as the new picture is given the same name as the old one, links will be re-established and updated when the document containing the link is next opened. However, some actions do not last beyond the current session (for example, Filter) or are simply not possible on a linked graphic (for example, using the color replacer to exchange colors).

Links can easily be removed. The linked picture will then be embedded in the document. To break a link, choose Edit → Links from the main menu bar. In the Edit Links dialog (see Figure 121), choose the link to be broken and then click on the  Break Link  button.

Figure 121: Editing links to documents