Insert LO Drawing in LO Writer document

[t8c4mWEkKTNX6uzycSNp]

I am using Ubuntu 14.04 with LibreOffice 4.2.8.2.

From a LibreOffice Writer document I insert a LibreOffice Drawing as follows:

Insert > Object > OLE Object…

A dialog titled “Insert OLE Object” is displayed. “Create new” bullet is selected by default. I select “LibreOffice 4.2 Drawing” from the “Object type” list, then press the “OK” button. A large LibreOffice Drawing frame appears in the Writer document. When I left-mouse click in the Drawing frame the Drawing tools appear at the bottom of the window. I am able to draw a simple drawing such as a a right triangle using three lines: A vertical line; A horizontal line whose left edge touches the vertical line’s bottom edge; and a hypotenuse connecting the vertical line top edge to the horizontal line right edge. I then left-click somewhere on the Writer document to exit the Drawing edit mode and return to the Writer edit mode. My right triangle is displayed in the Writer document. Good so far.

I notice my triangle is 1 inch tall and 2 inches wide but the Drawing frame it is in is 4 inches tall and 5.5 inches wide. I want to change the Drawing frame size to 1.5 inches tall and 3 inches wide but not change the Drawing.

1. From the Writer document, if I reduce the Drawing frame size, the drawing is distorted proportionately.

2. From the Writer document, if I right-click on the Drawing frame and select context menu item “Object…” a dialog titled “Object” is displayed. In the “Type” tab the width and height are displayed in centimeters even though I have selected inches in the Writer document. I unselect “Keep ratio” and change the width from 14.1 cm to 8 cm and change the height from 4.96 cm to 3 cm then click “OK”. The drawing is distorted proportionately.

3. From the Writer document, I double-click in the Drawing frame to enter the Drawing edit mode. I change the Drawing margins to 1.5 inch tall and 3 inch wide. While there are some serious issues scrolling while doing this, the frame size appears to change as desired. But when I left-click in the Writer document to exit Drawing edit mode, the Drawing frame appears to be its original large size.

4. From the Writer document, I double-click in the Drawing frame to enter the Drawing edit mode. While in the Drawing edit mode I change the Drawing frame size by left-clicking and dragging the top, bottom, left, and right edges to surround the drawing. When I left-click in the Writer document to exit Drawing edit mode, the drawing appears with the desired frame size. However, when I click to the right of the Drawing frame, the vertical blinking cursor is as tall as the original frame size (for the Drawing frame I have selected “Anchor” “As Character”).

What steps do I need to take to create a 1.5 inch tall by 3 inch wide Drawing frame within the Writer document that behaves like a 1.5 inch tall by 3 inch wide Drawing frame? Should I be inserting the Drawing frame in a different manner?

The Drawing object seems to think it is a page with page margins and format “Letter”. Is there some way to configure the Drawing object so it realizes it is an embedded frame within a Writer document and not a page?

[ajlittoz]

If you din’t mind doing your drawing editions in a different application, here’s how I do it.

All my drawings are done with Draw. I select which parts I want to export and copy them (ctrl-C). Only the selected components are taken into account with no margins around.

In Writer, I click where I want my drawing to appear and paste it with ctrl-V. A frame is inserted. I right-click it to anchor it as a character (or any other property you need) and to set the spacing around it with Wrap.

Then, when I need to modify my drawing, I do it in Draw with the full set of tools and copy again the result.

Note:

There is a small glitch. The size of the graphics, once pasted, is a but smaller than the original.