Copy Page-Anchored Images With Text?

[bhenning]

I am creating labels for a small-hardware organizer. I have come up with a layout I like:

What I’d like to be able to do is have every new page include those two images in the same relative positions and the same right-tab-stop, then I could type in the details of another screw.

Unfortunately the methods I’ve tried (Copy/Paste, Insert → Text from file…) only bring along the text and not the page-anchored images. I have to separately select and copy/paste each image to the new page. I cannot select both images at once. The one good bit is that since they’re page-anchored, when pasted, they drop into the correct positions.

Is there some setting or technique I can use that will get the page-anchored images into the copybuffer along with the text?

[ajlittoz]

What you experience is to be expected. Anchor to Page is a very special anchor mode reserved for surrogate DTP jobs (DTP = desktop publishing, which is not the target of Writer). This anchor should not be used unless you know perfectly what you are doing and accept the consequences. The one you describe is the least of them.

Latest LO releases have “hidden” To Page anchor so that it is no longer used routinely as most people didn’t understand its use because they made a confusion between anchor and position.

When you want something to be repeated on every page, put it in a header (or footer).

Consequently, anchor your image To paragraph in the header paragraph of your page style(s). If you header has no text of its own, it can be as small as you wish. Remember that the anchor location of a frame is completely independent from its position inside the page. Therefore there is no limitation on where you “park” the image.

I don’t understand your requirement about “the same right-tab-stop”. A frame has no relationship to tab stop. If your goal is to avoid having text superimposed over the image, set frame wrap mode to Off or Parallel.

For best answers, always mention OS name, exact LO version and save format.

[bhenning]

Thanks for your response, @ajlittoz.
I am using LibreOffice 7.4.7.2 as packaged by Debian for Debian 12, saving in odt format.

I guess I am one of those “didn’t understand its use” people! I picked Page Anchor because I wanted the image fixed in position on the page, not subject to text changes making it move around. I’m used to competing software’s tendency to completely scramble a document’s layout due to shifting image anchors… Anyway, now I see I can anchor to paragraph and still position it absolutely relative to the page.

I think the right solution for me is anchoring to the paragraph within the page body so that the images come along with the copy/paste operation. Not every screw I’m organizing is a hex-drive setscrew, so I will need different images for different labels, unless I can change header content midway through a document?

I mentioned the tab-stop requirement in an earlier draft of my question (when it was framed as a page style/template question) and forgot to remove that bit. That’s just for having the fastener length right-aligned on the page.

[ajlittoz]

@bhenning

so I will need different images for different labels, unless I can change header content midway through a document?

This is possible if your document contains several “parts”: one for square-head screws (I think they are common in Canada), one for hex-head, one for Torx, etc. As long as you don’t need one image per page, you can create one page style per part, each with its own image header.

In case you want one illustration per screw, use a frame anchored to the screw description paragraph I recommend you prepare the images outside Writer so that they end up with the same size, scale, angle, resolution, … to be ready to be used as is. With the same size, you can store all properties, including a position relative to the paragraph, not absolute in the page, in a frame style. Then you apply this frame style to the image and never never touch it (with the mouse) afterwards. With a carefully crafted frame style, your image will always follow your description paragraph, no matter if you add other items before it or delete others.

Just for jhe record, 7.4.7.2 is now lagging several releases behind current. You should perhaps upgrade to Debian 13 (or more recent if any).

[bhenning]

Just for jhe record…

Yeah, I know. I’m way overdue for both hardware and software upgrades!

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. I’ll try them out with the next bunch of things I have to sort.