Why when I try to open a pdf file (that is a presentation) with libreOffice impress, it opens the file with libreOffice Draw?
That’s the normal way to open PDFs in LibreOffice.
What exactly do you want to achieve, please describe it.
More information about operating system and LibreOffice version can help.
Even the most simple PDF readers can open PDF in some kind of presentation mode.
2 Likes
PDF is, just like post script, a format that is not designed for editing. It is instead intended to render an electronic document the same way on a range of systems, and allow for accurate printing on different printers and across computer systems. So typically, users will render a finished document to PDF. This is the only way to be quite sure that the receiver will see the document exactly as intended.
PDF does not contain information about the structure and logic of the document. Instead, it contains instructions on how and where to render text and graphics elements on paper.
Although a PDF is not intended to be an editable document, some editing is possible. In LibreOffice, Draw is most suited to interpret the elements of a PDF file into graphical blocs containing editable text or graphics. So Draw has been made capable to to import a PDF.
The results of the import effort rarely will be perfect, but can be usefull. As a rule, edit the original source. Only attempt editing a PDF if you do not have another option.
1 Like
If you want to run an Impress presentation that calls a pdf presentation from within it, and your default pdf program supports some sort of presentation mode in Full Screen then:
- Create an object such as a circle to act as a button.
- Right click it and select Interaction. A dialogue will appear
- Under Action at mouse click, select Run program
- Under Program, Browse to your pdf, select it and Open.
- OK
- Before the presentation make sure your pdf reader opens on correct screen, normally it is the last place it was closed.
- When doing your presentation, click on the circle and it will call your default pdf reader to open the pdf. Mine is Adobe Reader so pressing Ctrl+L puts pdf into full screen mode and it will operate as a presentation using clicker, arrow keys or mouse clicks.
- At the end it is better to Alt+Tab back to Impress as Ctrl+W closes the pdf presentation but leaves the pdf reader on screen.
Or just have the PDF presentation in full screen behind the Impress presentation and Alt+Tab to it at the appropriate point.
1 Like
@cion
It is possible to insert a PDF file as an image into an Impress presentation. But this only displays the first page of the PDF file.
For editing this first page of the inserted PDF file you can break it and then edit the single lines (text) or the images themselves (e.g. alter the transparency or contrast or brightness or you apply a border…). The proceeding now is like the one in Draw.
So this solution probably only solves a (little) part of your question. There are some DTP-programs which can better handle imported PDF files, but their output formats aren’t presentations…
I don’t know if it is appropriated for this case.
- In Impress
- Import as OLE Object, the PDF file, Menu/Insert/OLE Object/Create from file, linked or not.
A window with the file it’s created, double-clicking on it, can be seen it is a Draw object, showing all the pages of the file. - Double-click on the window to modify their size without modify the scale of the content.
- Copy the window on the next slide, double-click on it to select the desired page.