How do I lock multiple objects at once? Let’s say I add an image, then draw over it or insert a rectangle to highlight a specific feature. Then I would need to lock drawing objects to the image so that I can freely move the image so the objects on the layer change position respectively to the image.
Generally, I use Draw to annotate images and then copy the selection to Writer, the group will stay together when moved.
An alternative way is to add the image, then right click on it and select Add caption. Don’t add a caption and select None for category. Anchor other drawings, frames, or text boxes to the outer frame. When you want to move the collection make sure you select the outer frame and move that. It is easy to drag objects out of the frame of you aren’t paying attention so be careful with this method.
This can’t be done in Writer. Writer focuses on text. Interactions are considered only between text and “objects”: objects are controlled by position relative to paragraph (text) or text flow around “objects” by wrap parameters (in objects). There is nothing about object-object relations.
Since LO is a “global” suite, it always comes with Draw component. When you need to annotate an image, do so in Draw. You can group objects in Draw so that they’ll keep their relative positions when pasted into Writer (which will see the group as a single “object”). However, if you forget to group before copying a set of shapes, don’t worry: Draw or Writer implicitly group the set before the paste operation.
There is however one “decoration” you can’t achieve reliably: the use of arrows between text and image. You can’t make an arrow start from a word to end into an image because the arrow needs to cross text without disturbing it (wrap through) while the image must clear an area in text (wrap parallel). You need different wrap properties on parts of the 'object". If you use two objects (arrow + image), you’re back to the object-object interaction impossibility. In favourable cases, you could try “contour” wrap.