OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox, and Thunderbird for Windows All in One [Electronic resources]

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 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.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 .