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I want to set an image as a background for the page in LibreOffice Writer 5. I found plenty of articles on the web, including in the LibreOffice documentation, however, they are not helpful, because apparently that whole area of the application was reworked in the 4.3/4.4 timeframe, and the menus mentioned in the documentation simply don't exist anymore. I even found one comment claiming it is impossible.

LibreOffice Writer 5 clearly does still support background images, since I can open existing documents with background images just fine, I just can't find a way to create new ones.

I found a menu that lets me choose between a predefined set of existing background images in Format→Page→Area→Bitmap. However, I want to use my own background image.

I found an article that says I have to first open LibreOffice Draw and add my background image to the Gallery there, then I can use it in LibreOffice Writer, however even after adding my image to the Background section in LibreOffice Draw (and restarting LibreOffice, just to be safe), it still doesn't show up amongst the backgrounds in the dropdown list in LibreOffice Writer.

So, how can I set the background to a user-defined image? Or is it really impossible?

Jörg W Mittag
  • 3,959

4 Answers4

6

How do I set a page background image to a customised bitmap?

The missing step in your question is importing the bitmap using Draw

  1. Import the bitmap to the "Fill" list using Draw (this step is not required in Libreoffice 5.0.1.2)
  2. Set the page background image using Writer

Note:

  • The lastest version of Libreoffice 5.0.1.2 has an additional "Import Graphic" button on the "Area" > "Bitmaps" dialog so step 1 above can be omitted.

Import the bitmap to the "Fill" list

  • Close Writer
  • Open Draw
  • Menu "Format" > "Area"
  • Select "Bitmaps" tab
  • Click "Import"
  • Choose a bitmap
  • Give the bitmap a name
  • Press OK

  • Press OK again

    enter image description here

  • Here I have added a bitmap named "Desktop Background"

  • Close Draw

Set the page background image

  • Open Writer
  • Menu "Format" > "Page"
  • Select "Area" tab

  • Set "Fill" to "Bitmap"

    • Press "Import Graphic" (Libreoffice 5.0.1.2)
  • Select a bitmap

  • Press OK

    Libreoffice 5.0.1.2:

    enter image description here

    Libreoffice 5.0.0.5 (Note missing "Import Graphic" button)

    enter image description here

  • Here I have selected the bitmap "Desktop Background" added previously

    enter image description here

DavidPostill
  • 162,382
4

The above approaches, using page format, only will fill within the page margins. For an edge-to-edge "bleeding" image, follow this approach from user cloph: https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question/4683/full-a4-background-image-in-writer/

  • insert the graphic into the document,
  • choose Anchor|To Page from the context menu
  • choose Wrap|In Background from the context menu
djsadinoff
  • 143
2

If you open Format --> Page in Libreoffice Writer 5 and go to Area tab, clicking on Import Graphic button allows you to choose your own image.

enter image description here

You can set size, position and tiling (repeat it multiple times in background)

Then, it will be your page background.

enter image description here

UPDATE: To address Jorg comment, this was made with LO v5.0.1.2.0

enter image description here

Alfabravo
  • 601
0

It is much easier than the previous answers make it look.

Here is how you do it:

Menu: Format, Page

Click on Area tab, then on Fill

Use the Import Graphic button on the right bottom

Find your image for the background in your file system
It can be any JPG or whatever.

Click on Apply.

And you're done.

SDsolar
  • 1,696