Possiblity of moving drawn sketch as in whole instead part-by-part basis in LO Writer.

[Pranav]

After when we finish drawing something in LibreOffice Writer using Drawing toolbars, the user might want to move the entire drawn image to another section. But sadly this is not possible.

I think it would be a very cool idea if there is a way to achieve this. Similar to how we can move around text using Text Box. I think there should also a similar concept where we can shift entire drawn images to different sections/parts of the document.

If we try to move this drawn image, it will only move on a part-by-part basis, not as in whole. We can’t control all components of that image at once and put it where we want. This limits the concept of “drawing” inside a LO Writer. It’s fixed to a point where we draw. Let our image move.

Sincerely,

A heavy LO user.

[anon73440385]

You can “Group” the parts of your drawing within Writer as well. If Grouped you can move your drawing as a whole.

[anon87010807]

That’s not a comment but a solution.

[anon73440385]

@anon87010807 - sorry, but wasn’t sure that this is really OP’s issue.

[EarnestAl]

Once you have selected one item in a drawing you can drag select all other drawing objects. You then group them, then move. Cheers, Al

[Pranav]

@anon73440385 Group is a cool concept. Thanks for mentioning that. But problem with grouping is, “how grouping works”. The process is not subtle. Because you can’t select the drawn area dragging the mouse, you have to click on each drawn object. And it takes multiple attempts to see that group option when u right-click. And almost impossible to get a group option when u are doing at the side of words.

[EarnestAl]

As my comment directly above; select one drawing object then you can drag select all of them without selecting any text. Al

[ajlittoz]

@anon73440385 gives you an immediate solution.

Workflow-wise, I consider a bad method to draw your illustrations directly in Writer, all the more if they are complex. LO is a complete suite offering text processing (Writer application) and Draw (drawing application). Both are enabled when you install the suite, so there is no excuse for not using Draw.

You benefit of more powerful and versatile tools in Draw than in Writer because Draw is targeted towards drawing. The tools in Writer are courtesy ones to address simple drawings.

Design in Draw then select what you want to transfer into Writer (I use to have several “pictures” in the same Draw page as a compact storage medium), optionally group the selected objects, copy and paste in Writer. The copied object(s) will end up in a Writer frame which is much easier to position than a set of drawing objects (grouped or not).

Similarly, avoid using text boxes which are unrelated to the main text flow and can’t be cross-referenced, should you need to echo the content in your text.

[Pranav]

“can’t be cross-referenced, should you need to echo the content in your text.” I didn’t understand the meaning of the statement. text boxes contents are related to the context of the document. I found it useful in many places. In places like writing formula which require “a/b” where there is an underline below “a” and there is “b” below that underline. I wish it was easy more to do this. Using the build-in option which is inside Insert > Object > Formula for this makes the formula unmovable glued to the place where u make it. Times like this make TEXT BOX an excellent alternative.

About the Draw application, I find it difficult to cooperate with. I wish its options are more laid out like this: https://app.diagrams.net/ which is more visually friendly to get started with.

So the concept of Image Box is not that bad.

[ajlittoz]

Contents of text boxes may be related to main text in your mind but Writer considers them as totally separate objects. And difficulties comes from this design. Usually, text boxes (and frequently “image boxes”) are bad.

In fact, what you need is frames. A frame creates a secondary text flow with the same properties as the main flow, meaning you can cross-reference it.

The result of Insert>Object>Formula is a frame anchored As character which explains you can’t move it as you can’t move any other character of the paragraph. Transform it into a moveable frame either by assigning another frame style (if you’re familiar with this concept) or right-click on it and Anchor>To paragraph or Properties and you can customise any property.