27. Insert Graphics in a Document
14 Set Up Page Formatting 15 Create a Multicolumn Newsletter 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.Gallery
KEY TERMGallery
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.
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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.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 TERMTWAIN 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. TIPSIf 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 TERMClip art A collection of low-resolution art, supplied by OpenOffice.org, that you can use to decorate your documents.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 TERMFloating frame Used in Web pages to display the contents of files. TIPIf 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 . |