[Solved] Select Transparent Colour

[jonsoellner]

Hi all

I recently switched to OpenOffice after using MS Office and am very pleased! One option I found useful is the 'select transparent colour' button in the picture toolbar on Word. This meant that the colour you selected on the inserted image became completely transparent and any text or images underneath showed through.

Can this be done with Writer?

I want to do this because I make PDFs of documents that include images of wooden worktops that we make. When using Word, I used to insert an image of our logo over the worktop image and make the white background transparent, like the example image. This stops people ripping images from the PDF and passing them off as their own worktops!

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[jonsoellner]

I have solved this problem by using GIMP to create layered images and inserting them into my documents. Would still be interested to know if this can be done in Writer though!

[huw]

There is a request open for this. You could register, and vote for it:
Issue 43563 - Option to set transparency color

[jonsoellner]

Will do. hanks again huw, you've helped me on more than one occasion. In light of the request, I will mark this thread as solved. I will indeed register and vote!

[MikeHenry]

I just tried this and it worked for me. See picture below.
All I did was place a frame over the page, type into the frame, popup the FrameProperties box, select a background color (it won't work with NoBackground), then dial in a transparency. I used an orange background with 70% transparency. I layed it over the page text but I assume it will work the same way over a picture.

Transparent.jpg (13.29 KiB) Viewed 20533 times

[jonsoellner]

Thanks for your comment Mike, but it's a picture that's being layered over another picture, rather than a frame, so the method you describe won't work. Also, you can still see the coloured background as its not 100% transparent, which is no good for me!

[acknak]

If that's your logo, just forget the image: convert it to a vector graphic. It'll be a smaller object and higher quality, and it will have a transparent background, or whatever background you need.

[acknak]

BTW, you can do what you originally asked, but not in Writer only: you have to do the modification in Impress.

1) File > New > Presentation > Create (default blank slide)
2) Insert > Picture > From file... mylogo.png
3) Tools > Eyedropper (you'll get the smaller window shown in the shot. Note: that's actually an Impress window, not a Writer window)
4) Click to select the first color (check mark)
5) Click on the part of the image with the color you want to change.
6) Click "Replace" on the Eyedropper: that color will be made transparent, or whatever you set the "replace with..." to be.

Now you can copy the modified image and paste that into Writer.

I added a border to the modified "logo" in the sample.

Note that the effect is not perfect: the letters have a noticeable "halo" where some of the background is still visible.

[jonsoellner]

any suggestions as to which vector editor to use to vector map the original bitmap? are there any open source programs out there that you know of?

if not, it's probably just going to be easier to stick with making layered raster images in GIMP (which can produce the desired effect perfectly, as long as you start from a bitmap not a jpeg), since the end result will be made into a PDF anyway.

[huw]

Where did you get your logo? If it was designed for you, the artist should have supplied vector as well as raster versions.

If you can't get that then you might try tracing. I can't see from your original picture what the green widgits are either side of your logo. If they're just lines then you could do the whole thing in Draw (assuming you at least have the fonts). If they're something that needs tracing with a pen-tool such as the one in Adobe Illustrator, does Gimp have such a thing?

Tracing logos is a skill that takes time the first few attempts, but it is not that hard. Trace round any graphic elements and array or mirror if any are repeated. Then identify the font, and its size and tracking, and also any effects (bold, etc.) or distortions (vertical stretch etc.). Okay, maybe it's not that easy, either. If your current Gimp method looks good enough in the final product then stick with it.

[acknak]

any suggestions as to which vector editor to use to vector map the original bitmap? are there any open source programs out there that you know of?

Umm... OOo Draw will work fine, although Inkscape is oriented more toward professional graphics.

Although Draw can trace a bitmap, I've never been pleased with the result. You would probably do best if you start with the actual text, which means you need to know what font(s) are used in the logo. The alternative is to "trace" the letters by hand, which can be a little tedious.

If you like, send me a good quality image of the logo (the ones on your web page are too small), and I'll give you a half-hour of playing with it. If you know what font(s) are used, that would help too, but I can probably find something that matches. Look in my profile "Interests" for an email address.

[MikeHenry]

Another word for vector graphic is text frame.
Your logo looks like plain text and only takes five minutes to duplcate.
Using the technique above, just place colored text on the image with a clear background.
Another technique that works is save the logo as a GIF with a transparent color, and OOWrite will use the transparent color correctly.

[jonsoellner]

you have all been extremely helpful, and I appreciate it!

To be honest making layered raster images in GIMP is perfectly adequate. I downloaded a trial version of Adobe Illustrator and used that to vector trace the bitmap so that I have a vector version if I do need it, though it is not 100% perfect, but only slightly out.

The logo was around in this company long before I was, so the name of the font used has been lost in the mists of time.... but there are some pretty close matches available to me, as a starting point.

Problem solved... thanks for the offer acknak

[huw]

The logo was around in this company long before I was, so the name of the font used has been lost in the mists of time.... but there are some pretty close matches available to me, as a starting point.

WhatTheFont? reckons Fontana ND family. I don't know my typeface anatomy, but shape of the short tails on the d & n is distinctive.