How can I make a floating frame appear on the next page after its anchor?

[quazgar]

In LibreOffice Writer, I want to have a floating frame (with image in it) appears on the next page after the paragraph it is anchored to.

The frame is too large in most cases to fit on the same page, and it definitely should come after the anchor. The positioning options I see are only for the position relative to either the anchor or the current page.

It would also be great if there is an option to use the next top or bottom of page that does not make the anchor move to the next page.

Is there a way to achieve this, so that the frame floats on the following page (or next sensible place)?

[mikekaganski]

tdf#89082 ⁠

[EarnestAl]

Not as far as I know. The normal solution is to anchor the frame in a convenient place, caption the image and use cross reference(s) (Ctrl+F2) on the preceding page, e.g Figure 1, page 5

The last thing I do before printing is to go through from the beginning and check or adjust frame positions.

[ajlittoz]

Generally speaking, the anchor determines the page into which the frame will appear. Position parameters then send the frame anywhere in the page (relative to the anchor or not).

In exceptional circumstances, related to ticking Keep inside text boundaries, the frame may be sent to the next page while keeping the anchor unchanged (this is internally managed by the layout algorithm). However, this does not change the flow behaviour: space remaining on the anchor page cannot be reclaimed for text which would have appeared after the frame. You still have white space.

It is very tricky to trigger this behaviour. If you don’t master frame styles, don’t try to do it. It requires very specific combined anchor and position parameters to be deterministic.

Give more information about your frame (size, element to which it is anchored – will better work if paragraph is non-empty, …) and your configuration: OS name, LO version, save format.

[quazgar]

@mikekaganski

tdf#89082 ⁠

Thanks, that is exactly the issue I am having.

Let’s hope for a solution some time in the future.

[ajlittoz]

I disagree with the premise in tdf#89082. Reporter states its frame is anchored As character. This choice makes the frame part of text flow (he emphasises as “non-floating”). Then the frame is considered as a “huge character” and so handled. This means the frame will not be shifted or moved; its keeps its sequential ordering relative to previous and following characters. Therefore, blank space is to be expected if the “huge char” can’t be laid out in the “current line” (remaining space at bottom of page).

On the contrary, when frame is anchored To paragraph or To character, its position is “external” to paragraph text flow. Then, more versatility is possible. Presently, the “anchor rule” dictates the frame lies in the same page as the anchor. This may cause the anchor itself (the paragraph) to be flushed to next page if paragraph and frame are too tightly “coupled”.

What I’d like is a “looser” coupling, i.e. a positioning option to request that if frame can’t be laid out on the page without overflow, it is put in “deferred” state where it is no longer considered for insertion in the current page. Text flow then occurs normally (possibly also putting new frames in “deferred” state if they too don’t fit in remaining space of the page). As soon as page transition occurs, “deferred” frames are considered each in its turn for insertion. To avoid problems, “deferred” frames must be allowed to again reach the “deferred” state in the new page.

The bug report also mentions conflicts when frames compete for the same position. This kind of conflict can be solved by unticking Allow overlap. Unfortunately, the built-in rule causes horizontal-only offset while I’d also like to be able to request vertical offset (when frames/images are narrower that printing width).

[mikekaganski]

tdf#40879 is there in See Also.