LibreOffice Writer: Text and Image Overlap Sucks

[eigdig]

How do you default Writer object and text layout to be like MS Word? You know, without the unnecessay overlap of images, text, tables or other things you might have. Its horrifying to try aligning thing when it all overlaps in the strangest ways.

One of the main reasons I use Word,Writer or WordPad is to paste text and images together. You can’t do that in notepad or other simple text editors.

The main reason I have been trying to switch to Writer is to get away from MS Word. Microsoft increasingly wants you to log in to everything.

So is there a way to default this overlap problem in Writer or not. There are a number of other threads asking about this. What is taking so long? So far it is the main thing causing Writer to suck as a Word alternative.

[Hrbrgr]

How do you default Writer object and text layout to be like MS Word?

Not at all, but you can persuade Writer to do exactly what you want it to do and present it that way.

So is there a way to default this overlap problem in Writer or not.

Of course, there are ways to arrange images and texts sensibly. However, this requires a little learning process, because Writer has very good functions for this.

So far it is the main thing causing Writer to suck as a Word alternative.

I consider this to be an assertion on your part, for which I would ask you to provide conclusive evidence.

[ajlittoz]

Unfortunately, the default about overlap changed in “recent” upgrade (I don’t remember if it was to 6.x or 7.x). Now Allow overlap is enabled by default and, yes, it is an annoyance.

The best and only way I know to fix it is to work with frame styles. You may be aware of paragraph styles because they exist in Word, but Writer offers also character, frame, page and list styles.

When you paste an image into a document, it is hosted in frame styled with Graphics style. So, your task is to customize Graphics style, Wrap tab to remove the tick on Allow overlap.

You can also customize the other parameters, such as position or alignment, so that all your images will be laid out the same without the need to manually do it.

To avoid the pain to customize the Graphics frame style in every new document, save your style collection in a personal template and make it the default template.

[MikeV1]

I too have this issue, and your response at least provided a potential solution, whereas the response from “Hrbrgr” offered nothing of value. OF COURSE the questioner posed an assertion! It needed asserting. It still does.

Building and saving frame styles may solve some problems, but most of the time I insert an image of a document and then attempt to superimpose text boxes overtop of it, to function as labels. There are never two such documents the same in terms of text box number, size or location. So must I then build a new frame style for every document separately?

Basically, is there not an easy way to insert something (like an image or text box) and have it appear “more forward than” whatever background image is already inserted, and place it where I want, and after saving and closing and later reopening find that it stayed where I placed it?

Thanks in advance, ajlittoz.

[Hrbrgr]

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Videos/Insert_and_edit_images_in_Writer_Part_1#Caption_the_image

[ajlittoz]

@MikeV1
Trying to position frames (images) and text boxes relative to each other is nearly always bound to fail because you can’t relate frames and text boxes (they are independent from each other).

Consequently, it is best to prepare your “combined” illustration in Draw and insert it as a whole in Writer. Unfortunately this turns the illustration into a drawing object which can’t be controlled by a frame style (meaning you position it manually and set all its parameters manually).

@MikeV1

There are never two such documents the same in terms of text box number, size or location. So must I then build a new frame style for every document separately?

Answering this question for frames only: by playing adequately with the AutoSize check boxes, anchor mode and position settings, you can design a single frame style per category (such as image at left, image at right, …) and the frame style reacts automatically to the insertion context.

To make your styles available to all new documents without having to recreate them, store the styles in a template file (extension .ott) and create the documents based on this template (Files>New>Templates).