Full width background

English
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#1

I’d like to have a full width background in header and footer.
Currently the only solution I see is to remove any page margins and create inside the page-frame margins by tabs or with other elements, but that’s a cumbersome and error-prone solution.
Does anyone have a better approach or a good solution in the direction I described?

EDIT:
Important part of the solution is that the typical header-functionalities still exist and are not just replaced or overlayed by something. Design is an image as background and page-numbers and date as “typical header-function” written on it. There could be several layers as long as functionality is given. In the comments this requirement is already getting clear, I think.

Edit 2:
An image added as content of the header can be sized NEARLY 100% but not completely. It leaves an uncovered space on one side which can be seen in an exported PDF too.
Overlay by page-numbers and date is possible. I tested adding an image without any frame directly in the header.

Edit 3:
Answers by @Hrbrgr and @ajlittoz add valuable information, nevertheless I added an own answer with a straight walk-through. Thanks lot @Hrbrgr and @ajlittoz, my answer is based on you concerns and input!

#2

Please delete duplicates of this question.

#3

Do you mean a background image or colour? Answer with a comment or a question edit.

#4

@ajlittoz in general that doesn’t matter, the problem is how to deal with header and footer in full width as they are within the page and shrink undesired with common page-margins.

#5

It does matter: an image can be placed irrespective of the margins, while background colour is constrained within the margins. An enhancement has been implemented recently to also colorize the margins but I think it has not yet reached the “stable” version. So, mention also your LO version (and perhaps your OS too).

#6

Thank’s, my intention was to use an image.
OS: Windows 10 with latest update (no update-version shown in basic info about computer)
LO: 6.3
Glad that you know some insights, wasn’t obvious in the beginning.

With background-image I had already the experience that the margins can’t be exceeded, so probably I’ve to create layers: 1) image below (perhaps in frame), 2) Text (with page-no. etc) above.

I had the frame in mind when I answered, so I thought already that the framed solution will be part of the challenge, but perhaps you propose a different construction.

#20

Here are my settings for a full-page background image.

I make sure the cursor is in the header (meaning header has been enabled in the page style) and Insert>Image. I then right-click on the image and Properties.

  • in Type tab, I check width is exactly equal to the page width (or a bit larger); you can do the same for the height.

    • Anchor: To paragrph
    • Position: horizontal Center or Left to Entire page; vertical Top to Entire page

  • in Wrap tab:

    • Settings Through
    • Spacing all 0 (but it does not matter because Through mode does not use this spacing)
    • Options In background otherwise it will cover the text body

  • I tried to play with transparency in Transparency tab but it seems to have no effect with the PNG images I used for experimenting

You can add whatever you like in the header (page number and count, date, title, fields, …).

I exported to PDF and checked my image was laid edge-to-edge without uncovered space.

Remark: when inserted, an image is stored inside an implicit frame. So, all you know about frames is applicable to images.

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#21

Thanks a lot, regrettable I couldn’t adjust the same width for the image like for the page. Having a page with of 210 mm I only could adjust 209,73 mm. The rest is still visible as white line from the page beside the image. Nevertherless placing a frame in the header and adding the image there either as content or as background is working (I tested only as background of the frame).

#22

Never have enough points yet to upvote, sorry.

#7

I hope I understand your question correctly.
The margins above and below should be at least the height of your graphic.

The header and footer should be independent of it!

It is best to use a frame at the top and bottom where you insert the graphic.

image description
image description841×687 13.7 KB

Example:

image description
image description1017×242 40.2 KB

document: Writer - Grafik in Rahmen.odt

I hope you can handle it, otherwise you should contact here again.

To do this, edit your question or write a comment. Don’t write an answer that is not a solution to your initial question. Thank you.

Instead of the graphics, you can also color the background of the frame.

Sorry, for my german-UI.

If my answer has solved your problem, please click on the checkmark in the circle image description to the left of the answer and click on the arrow ^ for upvote. This will tell the community that the question has been answered correctly.

#8

With me Windows 10 Home; Version 1909; 64-Bit | LibreOffice, Version: 6.3.3.2 (x64).

#9

Thanks @Hrbrgr, that’s probably the way to go. I still will test a bit, primary I’m looking for the typical functionality of header and footer, i.e. to display date and page-number. Important is that they still can be displayed on the frame / image and never disappear behind.

#10

@Hrbrgr I’m still thinking if its possible to repeat the frame including background automatically on each page, so that it could be used for Templates too. Special cases like 1st page different and odd and even pages optionally different too.

#11

As long as your “decoration” is part of the header or footer, it will be repeated on every page. As for the display of date/page/title, it is a matter of wrapping mode setting. Finally, 1st/odd/even page options result in 3 different page styles (even if they are presented under the same name). You can have different insertions in all them three.

#12

@Hrbrgr: achtung! anchoring to page may cause problems later. It is better to anchor to the [header] paragraph and position the image Entire Page. This eliminates the “strange” behaviour after edits.

#13

@ajlittoz exactly, that’s the nifty part and needs some explanation perhaps. Will try to bind the frame into the header / footer and hope I can exceed the margins of the header with the frame.

#14

@ajlittoz, yes thanks.

#15

@Hrbrgr Never have enough points yet to upvote, sorry.

#16

The solution marked as correct is working, but it needs a bit explanation and I’m not sure if in the example file the frame is added in the right place.

I will go trough the steps, “header” always can be exchanged by “footer” and the explanation is expected to work in both:

  1. create the document like usual and format the header-size like desired, add content inside the header like page-numbers, date, etc. including all desired header functions.
  2. Place the cursor inside the header (location doesn’t matter much, just not in the middle of a word and especially not marker) and insert a frame.
  3. Format the frame with full width, same like the page-width
  4. Now you can add a background image for the frame which covers the whole page-width. An image without frame and as content of header isn’t covering the whole width.
  5. mark the frame, the boundaries have to be visible and in Format->Arrange set it to “to Background”. Take attention, this is related to the frame, not the image itself!

Now the common header content should be visible on the image and the image as background.

Placing the cursor correct to mark or adjust something afterwards is a bit difficult, so the best is to add frame and image as background as last step.

#17

Since your image is not meant to have a caption or some other text to go with, I think you complicate matters by creating a frame first and inserting an image inside. You end up with two nested frames and selecting the right one may become tricky. You may select the inner one and changing its size will be limited by the outer one. This may also be the cause of your uncovered space if you have some spacing around the image or the inner implicit image frame cannot be adjusted to the size of the outer one.

Note that in my simpler solution, I can have an image larger than the page, which is automatically clipped to the page area.

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