Pictures and charts
Insert, resize and describe pictures in Nixt Writer, and see charts from Word documents.
You can insert pictures from files, resize them against the text column and give them alt text. Charts in Word documents are drawn from the data saved with them.
Insert a picture
- Put the caret where the picture should go.
- On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Insert a picture.
- In the file picker, choose a picture and click Open.
| Picture formats you can insert |
|---|
PNG (.png) |
JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg) |
GIF (.gif) |
BMP (.bmp) |
TIFF (.tiff) |
The picture goes in at the caret, in line with the text, at its own size. A picture wider than the text column is scaled down to fit it, keeping its proportions.
The picture is stored inside the document when you save, so it opens in Word too. If you undo the insertion before saving, nothing is added to the file.
Select a picture
Put the caret directly before or after the picture — click immediately to its left or right, or move to it with the arrow keys. While the caret is next to a picture, the Picture group appears on the Insert tab.
To delete a picture, put the caret directly after it and press Delete (Backspace on Windows and Linux).
Resize a picture
- Put the caret next to the picture.
- On the Insert tab, in the Picture group, click the width list (How much of the text column the picture fills).
- Choose 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%.
The picture keeps its proportions. The list shows whichever of the four sizes is nearest to the picture’s current width.
Add alt text
Alt text describes a picture for someone using a screen reader. Writer stores it in the document where Word keeps it.
- Put the caret next to the picture.
- On the Insert tab, in the Picture group, click the alt text button. Its tooltip says Add alt text — this picture has none, or shows the current alt text.
- In the Alt text dialog, describe what the picture shows.
- Click Save.
The alt text button is highlighted when the picture has alt text. The Accessibility checker lists every picture without it.
Pictures from Word documents
- Pictures are drawn on the page and in exported PDFs, at the size saved in the file.
- A picture’s description from Word is used as its alt text.
- Pictures from older Word documents saved in the VML format are drawn too.
Charts
Charts in Word documents are drawn on the page, from the data saved with the chart.
| Chart type in the document | How Writer draws it |
|---|---|
| Column and bar (including 3-D) | Columns or bars, grouped or stacked |
| Line (including 3-D) | Lines |
| Pie (including 3-D and bar-of-pie) | Pie |
| Doughnut | Doughnut |
| Area (including 3-D) | Areas |
| Scatter and bubble | Points |
| Any other type, such as surface or radar, or a chart with no saved data | A placeholder that names the chart type and title and lists the chart’s numbers as text |
The chart’s title and legend are drawn when the chart has them. Series colours come from the chart or the document’s theme. Charts are also drawn in exported and printed PDFs.
A chart stays in the file exactly as it was, including when you edit the paragraph around it. To change a chart, edit the document in the program that made it.
The Accessibility checker warns about a chart with no title, because the title is what a screen reader announces.
Pictures in PDFs
An exported or printed PDF includes PNG and JPEG pictures in body paragraphs, at their size on the page, and charts.
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