Difference between revisions of "Documentation/OOo3 User Guides/Writer Guide/Adding images"

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Images (also called ‘pictures’ in this guide) can be taken from a variety of sources. They may be downloaded from the Internet, scanned, or created with a graphics program; or they may be photos taken with a digital camera.
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==Creating and Editing Images==
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You might create images (also called ‘pictures’ in OpenOffice.org) using a graphics program, scan them, or download them from the Internet (make sure you have permission to use them), or use photos taken with a digital camera. Writer can import various vector (line drawing) and raster (bitmap) file formats. The most common are GIF, JPG, PNG, and BMP. See the Help for a full list.
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Some things to consider when choosing or creating pictures include image quality and whether the picture will be printed in color or black and white (grayscale).
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To edit photos and other bitmap images, use a bitmap editor. To edit line drawings, use a vector drawing program. You do not need to buy expensive programs. Open-source (and usually no-cost) tools such as Gimp (bitmap editor) and Inkscape (vector drawing program) are excellent. For many graphics, OOo Draw is sufficient. These and many other programs work on Windows, Macintosh OS X, and Linux.
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For best results:
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* Create images that have the exact dimensions required for the document, or use an appropriate graphics package to scale photographs and large drawings to the required dimensions. Do not scale images with Writer, even though Writer has tools for doing this, because the results might not be as clear as you would like.
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* Do any other required image manipulation (brightness and contrast, color balance, cropping, conversion to grayscale, and so on) in a graphics package, not in Writer, even though Writer has the tools to do a lot of these things too.
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* If the document is meant for screen use only, there is no need to use high resolution images of 300 or more dpi (dots per inch). Most computer monitors work at between 72 and 96 dpi, reducing the resolution (and the file size) has no negative impact on what is displayed but does make Writer more responsive.
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==Preparing Images for Black-and-White Printing==
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If color images are to be printed in grayscale, check that any adjacent colors have good contrast and print dark enough. Test by printing on a black-and-white printer using a grayscale setting. Better still: change the “mode” of the image to grayscale, either in a photo editor or in Writer itself (see “Graphics mode” on page 12).
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For example, the following diagram looks good in color. The circle is dark red and the square is dark blue. In grayscale, the difference between the two is not so clear. A third element in the diagram is a yellow arrow, which is almost invisible in grayscale.
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== Inserting an image from a file ==
 
== Inserting an image from a file ==

Revision as of 10:36, 30 May 2010



Creating and Editing Images

You might create images (also called ‘pictures’ in OpenOffice.org) using a graphics program, scan them, or download them from the Internet (make sure you have permission to use them), or use photos taken with a digital camera. Writer can import various vector (line drawing) and raster (bitmap) file formats. The most common are GIF, JPG, PNG, and BMP. See the Help for a full list. Some things to consider when choosing or creating pictures include image quality and whether the picture will be printed in color or black and white (grayscale).

To edit photos and other bitmap images, use a bitmap editor. To edit line drawings, use a vector drawing program. You do not need to buy expensive programs. Open-source (and usually no-cost) tools such as Gimp (bitmap editor) and Inkscape (vector drawing program) are excellent. For many graphics, OOo Draw is sufficient. These and many other programs work on Windows, Macintosh OS X, and Linux.

For best results:

  • Create images that have the exact dimensions required for the document, or use an appropriate graphics package to scale photographs and large drawings to the required dimensions. Do not scale images with Writer, even though Writer has tools for doing this, because the results might not be as clear as you would like.
  • Do any other required image manipulation (brightness and contrast, color balance, cropping, conversion to grayscale, and so on) in a graphics package, not in Writer, even though Writer has the tools to do a lot of these things too.
  • If the document is meant for screen use only, there is no need to use high resolution images of 300 or more dpi (dots per inch). Most computer monitors work at between 72 and 96 dpi, reducing the resolution (and the file size) has no negative impact on what is displayed but does make Writer more responsive.

Preparing Images for Black-and-White Printing

If color images are to be printed in grayscale, check that any adjacent colors have good contrast and print dark enough. Test by printing on a black-and-white printer using a grayscale setting. Better still: change the “mode” of the image to grayscale, either in a photo editor or in Writer itself (see “Graphics mode” on page 12).

For example, the following diagram looks good in color. The circle is dark red and the square is dark blue. In grayscale, the difference between the two is not so clear. A third element in the diagram is a yellow arrow, which is almost invisible in grayscale.



Inserting an image from a file

In the case where the image is already available in a file stored on the computer, it can be immediately inserted in the Writer document. OOo can import various vector (line drawing) and raster (bitmap) file formats. The most common are GIF, JPEG or JPG, PNG, and BMP. See Graphic file types supported for a full list of supported graphic file types.

To insert an image from a file, proceed as follows:

  1. Determine the destination for the image. Place the cursor at or near the appropriate location in the document.

Template:Documentation/Note

  1. On the main menu, select Insert > Picture > From File. This displays the dialog box shown below.
  2. Navigate to the file to be inserted, select it, and click Open.
Insert picture dialog box.

Template:Documentation/Note

Linking an image file

If the Link option in the Insert picture dialog box is selected, Writer creates a link to the file containing the image, instead of saving a copy of the image in the document. The result is that the image is displayed in the document, but when the document is saved, it will contain only a reference to the image file—not the image itself. The document and the image remain as two separate files, and they are merged together only when you open the document again.

Linking an image has two advantages and one disadvantage:

  • Advantage – Linking can reduce the size of the document when it is saved, because the image file itself is not included. The file size is usually not a problem on a modern computer with a reasonable amount of memory, unless the document includes many large graphics files. Writer can handle quite large files.
  • Advantage – You can modify the image file separately without changing the document because the link to the file remains valid, and the modified image will appear when you next open the document. This can be a big advantage if you (or someone else, perhaps, a graphic artist) is updating images.
  • Disadvantage – If you send the document to someone else, or move it to a different computer, you must also send the image files, or the receiver will not be able to see the linked images. You need to keep track of the location of the images and make sure the recipient knows where to put them on another machine, so the Writer document can find them. For example, you might keep images in a subfolder named Images (under the folder containing the Writer document); the recipient of the Writer file needs to put the images in a subfolder with the same name (under the folder containing the Writer document).

Template:Documentation/Note

Embedding linked images

If you originally linked the images, you can easily embed one or more of them later if you wish. To do so:

  1. Open the Writer document in OOo.
  2. Choose Edit > Links from the menu bar.
  3. The Edit Links dialog box shows all the linked files. In the Source file list, select the files you want to change from linked to embedded.

  4. Click the Break Link button.
  5. Save the Writer document.
  6. The Edit Links dialog box.

Template:Documentation/Note

Inserting images from other sources

You can insert images from sources other than a file:

  • Graphics program
  • Scanner
  • OOo Gallery

Graphics program

You can use many different graphics programs to edit a graphic file. From these programs, you can select, copy, and paste an image or part of a graphic into an OOo document. The figure below shows an example of this procedure, which can be recreated with these steps:

  1. In the graphic program window, select an area of the image to be copied.
  2. Move the cursor over the selected area and press Control+C to copy.
  3. Switch to the OOo Writer window.
  4. Click to place the cursor where the graphic is to be inserted.
  5. Press Control+V to paste the image.
Using a graphics program.

Scanner

If a scanner is connected to your computer, OOo can call the scanning application and insert the scanned item into the Writer document page as an image. To start this procedure, place the cursor where the graphic is to be inserted and select Insert > Picture > Scan > Select Source.

Although this practice is quick and easy, it is unlikely to result in a high-quality image of the correct size. You may get better results by scanning material into a graphics program and cleaning it up there before inserting the resulting image into Writer.

OpenOffice.org Gallery

The Gallery contains objects (graphics and sounds) that you can insert into your documents. The Gallery is available in all components of OOo. For an introduction to the Gallery, see Chapter 11 (Graphics, the Gallery, and Fontwork) in the Getting Started guide.

To select a graphic from the Gallery and drag it into the document:

  1. Click on the Gallery icon GalleryIcon3.png (located in the right side of the Standard toolbar) or choose Tools > Gallery.
  2. Select the theme containing the image you want to insert.
  3. Click on the image with the left mouse button, then drag and drop the image into the document. You can also right-click on the object and select Insert > Copy.

The figure below shows an example of an image dragged from the Gallery.

Inserting an image from the Gallery.


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