Why does a text frame background have to be separately made transparent?

English
, , ,
#1

I wanted to ask this in the earlier question but that question is closed.

I also wanted to make a frame background transparent, and the advise there worked, but I really don’t understand why it has to be set to be transparent. I would have thought that Frame > Area > None should work.

This is because in the case of page background Page Setup > Area > None works. I can confirm this by exporting to PDF and then stamping that PDF on another. I can confirm that it really has no background so it’s effectively transparent. But I don’t see why I have to select a solid colour and make it transparent.

Actually in the older thread it is written that it has to be a solid colour and “none” doesn’t work, but while “none” works for me, I still have to select Transparency 100%.

Is this a bug and should I report it?

#2

Or is there already an error message?

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/

In my version of LibreOffice it works without any problems.

Version: 24.8.0.3 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 0bdf1299c94fe897b119f97f3c613e9dca6be583
CPU threads: 8; OS: Windows 10 X86_64 (10.0 build 19045); UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: de-DE (de_DE); UI: de-DE
Calc: CL threaded

First steps to take before submitting a bug

#3

It works here too, but my question was about why it should be necessary to select transparency and why “no background” isn’t sufficient.

#4

Is there a sample document to see the problem, instead of clicking your link, and arriving at another question without a sample?

#5

Wrap mode of the frame may also play a key factor. A frame is supposed to put aside a part of the print area for other purpose than the main text. Consequently, Writer flows text around the frame, avoiding to interfere with it.

When Area is None, the frame does not define a background by itself and inherits the background property from some higher level (page style?). Then the appearance depends on the z-index of the frame relative to text.

Your question does not tell which usage you want for this frame. There may be a very simple solution by sending the frame to background. And all parameters can be recorded in a frame style for easy repetitive application.

#6

The question refers to LO version 4.0.4. You have been asked to tell OS version and LO version, please add this in your question.

This (Frame > Area > None) works on LO 4.4.7 (Windows; portable version) and even on LO 3.6.7 (without possibility of extra choice, but as default and always as No fill option). Same on OpenOffice 4.1.15.


Frame background (or area) properties as None can be seen in LO versions 6.x, 7.x, 24.x


@jamadagni
Could you describe your problems more detailled, IMO there is no bug or problem related on your question about Writer | Frame | Background/Area

1 Like
#7

qa110155.odt (102.5 KB)
Insert > Frame inserts a non-transparent white frame based on the frame style named “Frame”.
Insert > Text Box inserts a non-transparent graphic with no background at all. It appears transparent. When you add some color to the new text box, the non-transparent setting takes place. This is somewhat confusing, and I guess we are not talking about frames here.

#8

Likely, it uses the “document background color” (I think, because text frames are “whole document inside document”, unlike text boxes that are just a graphic elements). Indeed, seems inconsistent, but unlikely to change (it would be a breaking change for infinite number of existing documents); if changed, there would also be a need for a new “use document background” option to do what it does now - a color “automatic” could be used, I think.

#9

@Villeroy
Your sample document made me discover a real weird behaviour with frame background.

When you apply a frame style “as is from the factory”, Transparency factor is “quantised”: 0-99% gives not transparent, 100% full transparent. Area is set at its default None.

But, if you select a Color, any, be it white, then the transparency factor becomes proportional as expected.

This behaviour seems to correspond to OP description. Submitter definitely addresses frames, not text boxes.

@mikekaganski: the Area tab does not allow to select “Automatic” colour like what is offered in Font Effects of other styles. This could perhaps be a valuable addition.

#10

The “automatic” color would only be useful, if the “None” background was transparent.

#11

Granted. But since None has no parameter, I was thinking of Color settings where you can select various palettes and there is no Automatic checkbox like in Font Effects.

Impressum (Legal Info) | Datenschutzerklärung (Privacy Policy)   Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license.