It is easy to Insert a full page Image pdf on a page, with Properties Type, Original size, Anchor to page, Position left and top to Entire page then Arrange it to the back. Format Wrap in Background should allow image to be typed over.
How can I type over the image? I can’t select the page anymore, just the image. I can’t even access the text on the page.
LO Writer 7.1.4.2 Win10x64
Format Wrap in Background … I can’t even access the text on the page
I can. Using Version: 7.1.4.2 (x64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: a529a4fab45b75fefc5b6226684193eb000654f6
CPU threads: 12; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 19043; UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: ru-RU (ru_RU); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded. If there’s no text, then indeed the image is selected. But even then, clicking outside of the page de-selects the image, and shows the normal typing cursor.
Don’t anchor To page unless your document is only one page log. This anchor mode is the source of difficulties, user confusion and misunderstanding. It was intended as an approximate replacement for desktop publishing (DTP), not routine use.
Why do you want to overwrite a PDF? Do you intend to fill-in a form? In this case, use a PDF viewer: they all have a fill in form mode. As a fallback, do it in Draw; it will be much easier han with Writer.
@Mike_Kaganski even with text on the page the image is selected (which is a bug since the image was set to the background) but clicking outside the text doesn’t allow the document to be typed over.
@ajlittoz interesting comment on anchoring to page, I’ve done it for years in MS-Word without issue.
I regularly receive scanned pdf forms of one to multiple pages. It is convenient to type over them to allow details to be updated later and a word processor is much better than freehand text.
I ended up using LO-Draw which was less than satisfactory, with a centre text anchor even with top-aligned (which worked) and left-aligned (which didn’t work). I’d still like to get this working for the future.
As said, I can do what you expect (I can select the text, and I can type on the page), using exactly the same LO version and same OS (Windows 10). So unless you show your document, there’s nothing to say.
Note that moving an image to background is not the same as making it the page background - it’s still an image inserted to the document (part of the content), rather than its formatting; so being able to select such an image is not a bug per se.
I’ve done it for years in MS-Word without issue
You cold never do “it” in MS Word, just because there’s no “anchor to page” in MS Word - you can position an image to page, but not anchor to page there. See also FAQ.
I’ve done it for years in MS-Word
Writer is not a drop-in replacement for Word and has followed a different track. There are very formal definitions of the founding principles for ODF, the native Writer format. Anchor mode To page has strictly no equivalent. It means you anchor to page 13 and it will remain anchored to page 13 even if you document is reduced to 5 pages. And pages 6-12 can’t be deleted unless you delete the object anchored to page 13!
Users, instead, want some object to occupy the full current page. “Current” is defined as the position of the text to which it is associated. This implies an anchor To paragraph or To character (both are essentially the same) and a position related to the page not to the paragraph. In this way if the reference position changes due to edits, the object will also move but still occupying the full page area.
I would suggest using a pdf reader that allows you to add text boxes over the top of the pdf. There are a few out there, not Adobe Reader, but generally ones that also offer a paid-for version for editing pdfs. It is then a matter of opening the pdf in the reader, clicking the text box tool and where you want to place it, then start typing. Easy.