[Issue] Master slide background lost

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kirkdickinson
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[Issue] Master slide background lost

Post by kirkdickinson »

I have a presentation that I have changed and added to for a long time. I have never messed with making multiple master slides until now.

I have 6-7 master pages that have different backgrounds. Every time I open the file, half the slides have blank backgrounds, some of them have wrong backgrounds, and a few of them are still correct. None of them are named "default".

Do the backgrounds need to be in the same subdirectory?

Is it possible that I have a corrupt file? How do I fix it?

Thanks for any help.

Title Edited. A descriptive title for posts helps others who are searching for solutions and increases the chances of a reply (Hagar, Moderator).
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: tagged [Issue] (link to a bug report).
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acknak
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by acknak »

I wouldn't say that the file is "corrupt" if it will still open without any errors.

However, it does sound like Impress has made a hash of it, which is not unheard of.

I don't expect there is any way to fix the file, other than to manually go through and fix the problems. The only real protection is having a backup copy/copies. You should always be prepared to lose your working copy of a document without it being a disaster.
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RoryOF
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by RoryOF »

What format are you saving in?
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

acknak, thanks for the response.

Fixing it only works until I close it. Every time I reopen, I get a message that says: "Update all links?" If I say no, then it opens, but is messed up. If I say yes, I get a further message that says: "The file could not be found!" then I have to click OK 28 times. I don't know why 28 times. There are only about 4 missing backgrounds. The file is messed up just the same.

I haven't counted the messed up slide, but there are more than 28 messed up.

Where do I go from here tracking down this problem?

Thanks
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Zizi64
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by Zizi64 »

Maybe some pictures or others are LINKED in your presentation and they not present on linked place. You need EMBED that things into your file.
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by Zizi64 »

Check it: "Edit -> Links", for find the linked objects. Delete the link, if that object was delete from presentation. Maybe the object was delete, but the link still in file.
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by acknak »

If you want to attach a copy, maybe we can take a look and see what pops out. You can use the "Upload Attachment" link (below the message entry area after you click "POST REPLY"). [Forum] How to attach a document here. There is a size limit; if your file is >128k, you'll have to use one of the free file sharing sites and post a link here for us.
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by RoryOF »

Two steps towards a fix: firstly save in OOo format (.odp) and secondly, download, install and use Sun Presentation Minimizer from the extensions repository (www.openofffice.org "I want to do more" link). This will prepare an optimised version of your presentation, with all images embedded, not linked.
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

RoryOF wrote:What format are you saving in?
I have been using odp, but have tried ppt also. Same Same.

thanks
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

Zizi64 wrote:Maybe some pictures or others are LINKED in your presentation and they not present on linked place. You need EMBED that things into your file.
OK, one problem down. I had some inserted slides linked. Broke those links and saved as a new file.

Thanks,

Kirk
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

RoryOF wrote:Two steps towards a fix: firstly save in OOo format (.odp) and secondly, download, install and use Sun Presentation Minimizer from the extensions repository (http://www.openofffice.org "I want to do more" link). This will prepare an optimised version of your presentation, with all images embedded, not linked.

OK, I opened the document, fixed all the backgrounds. I downloaded and installed the Minimizer and ran the wizard which saved a mini file.

Opened that file and backgrounds are hosed just the same as always. I reset the backgrounds in the mini file, saved and closed. Reopened and it is hosed again.

Here is the mini file:
http://www.texaslonghorn.com/temp/071510b.mini

Thanks for all the recommendations.
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by RoryOF »

In the Save As window make sure "Automatic file name extension" box is checked.

When I open your presentation, Slide 1 has a black background, 2 and 3 have a white background and everything else either uses a green/orange frame or is a full page illustration.
What do you expect Slide 1 to have?
I see a blue/white text message of about half the screen area on a black background, this in turn standing on a black background of full screen area, in turn standing on the green/orange frame which underlies everything. If you wish the green frame to show, you need to reduce your background fills by pulling the green handles so that they sit in te framed area. Many of the full screen slides overlay the green frame, and I take it that you want the green frame on everything
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

I did not want the green frame on everything. That is the corrupt file. Slide one has a graphic that covers the background. That graphic was created in photoshop and I didn't want to make a master out of it. Just override the background with a foreground image. That one works no problem. 2 & 3 are the same. 4, 5 and 6 are the only slides that should have that particular green background. Slide 7, 8 and 9 have a graphic covering the background. Slides 10-22 should have a different background, they are based on a master called "song" which has gotten messed up with the background from the master called "announcement", in fact all the masters seem to have picked up the announcement slides background.

This problem is not happening only on my Mac. It happens on my PC/XPSP3 with Open Office 3.2.0

I changed all the sides to not be based on announcement and deleted that master page. This did not solve the problem.

Still testing.

Kirk
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by RoryOF »

Almost every slide seems to use that green background. Select a slide, pull the foreground off it, and you will see the green background lurking there. You need to select a plain master slide.

I'm going off air now for a week - time off for good behaviour!
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

This is a bug. I can replicate it every time. (it is either a bug or the program is designed to work bass akward)

Steps to follow from the presentation Wizard:
Empty Presentation
Next
Presentation Backgrounds (pick one, doesn't matter, but I picked Wine)
Next
Create
At this point there are two master slides one called "Default" and one called "wine"
View/Slide Master
I change the background on both masters to something else
Close Master view
Create a new slide
Change the new slide to the other master, whichever isn't the 1st one
Save document as odp file
Open said file
Both slides and both masters now have the same background.

In my opinion, this behavior is a bug.

Thanks for trying to help me with this, but it looks like I am either fighting a bug or a total mis-understanding of how to make master slides that have different backgrounds.

Kirk
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RoryOF
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by RoryOF »

If you Double click on a Master Slide, that is used for All slides. If you select a slide, and right click on a master, a pop-up offers you choice of "All Slides" or "selected Slides".

I think a large part of your problem is that subconsciously you are working against a deadline - you want the presentation ready for Sunday - and Murphy's Law cuts in "Everything that can go wrong will go wrong".

Now I'm out of here!!!
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by acknak »

I don't see a problem if I follow your steps. I'm using 3.2.1 on Linux.

You might try a fresh user settings profile, also: [Tutorial] The OOo user profile
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

RoryOF wrote:If you Double click on a Master Slide, that is used for All slides. If you select a slide, and right click on a master, a pop-up offers you choice of "All Slides" or "selected Slides".

I think a large part of your problem is that subconsciously you are working against a deadline - you want the presentation ready for Sunday - and Murphy's Law cuts in "Everything that can go wrong will go wrong".

Now I'm out of here!!!
Rory,

Thanks, and you are right, I am usually under a deadline. I know that I did not make the mistake of applying a master to all slides. The masters are messed up too. When I change the messed up master's backgrounds back, the slides based on them get corrected also.

Thanks, have a good vacation.

Kirk
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

acknak wrote:I don't see a problem if I follow your steps. I'm using 3.2.1 on Linux.

You might try a fresh user settings profile, also: [Tutorial] The OOo user profile

Thanks,

I just reset the user settings and can still duplicate the behaviour. I am going to record a screen capture of my steps and see if I am loosing my mind or just doing it wrong.

I will post that in a couple of minutes.

Kirk
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

OK, I did a screen capture of what I am doing. I had to re-encode it smaller because it was avi. This file is MP4 in iPod format.

http://www.texaslonghorn.net/temp/maste ... nd_bug.mp4 (17 MB)
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by acknak »

Yeah, ok. I see it now. It's the image background that seems to be the key here. You said "change the background" and I just set one of the built-in textures as the background. When I actually set an image as the background, I see the same thing you do on re-opening the file.
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by acknak »

Ok, here's the bug report: Issue 96646: Different background pictures get lost for slide masters
You can register there and add your vote (up to two) or comment.

I'm surprised this has gotten a higher priority--it seems like a nasty bug in an important feature.

Anyway, there are two relatively easy workarounds: a) either use a plain image as the background, or b) add the image as one of the bitmap textures, then set that as the background.

For a), don't use the context Page Setup menu to set the image as the slide background. Just insert the image, size it to cover the slide, then Arrange > Send to Back so it's behind everything else.

For b), first insert an arbitrary rectangle, then Format > Area > Bitmaps; click "Import" and select your image, then OK. Now, on the master slide, you can use Format > Page > Background > Fill: Bitmap, and select your image. Set the fill Position/Type to "Autofill" (the default), and OK.

Delete the rectangle you started with, it's only purpose is to get to the area dialog.
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Re: Do I have a corrupt file?

Post by kirkdickinson »

Thanks, I guess what is happening isn't me going crazy. Thanks for the help. I voted on the bug report.

Kirk
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