Bug 145112 - Add option to distribute relative to the slide/page
Summary: Add option to distribute relative to the slide/page
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Impress (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Object-Selection-Alignment
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2021-10-13 11:58 UTC by Oliver Henneberg
Modified: 2023-03-07 11:30 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Test images and view the new arrangements (558.51 KB, application/pdf)
2023-03-02 15:32 UTC, Oliver Henneberg
Details
The option in question in PowerPoint (35.66 KB, image/png)
2023-03-02 20:43 UTC, Regina Henschel
Details

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Description Oliver Henneberg 2021-10-13 11:58:52 UTC
Hello LibreOffice team,
it would be great if I can arrange mulitple objects relative to the page.
E.g. 2 pictures in a row, I would like to have them equally separatete, with the same spacing to the edge of the page and the spacing between the two pictures.

Microsoft Powerpoint has a button "relative to page" which can be selected or not.
This works for alignment and distribution.
Cheers
Oliver
Comment 1 Buovjaga 2023-03-02 14:26:58 UTC
Ok, let's ask UX team.

Oliver: if you can provide a link to PowerPoint's help explaining this feature, it would be great. I tried to find it, but failed.
Comment 2 Heiko Tietze 2023-03-02 14:45:00 UTC
We have align and distribute. In order to make <space><image><space><image><space> equidistant you could create dummy objects with the same size of the images and use the existing functions. And I see no other functions in MS Impress (=> NEEDINFO).

What Impress has is what has been requested in bug 100141 - Add alignment and spacing guides. Another but rather loosely related topic is bug 125107 - Draw: distribute between snap lines.
Comment 3 Oliver Henneberg 2023-03-02 15:32:44 UTC
Created attachment 185702 [details]
Test images and view the new arrangements
Comment 4 V Stuart Foote 2023-03-02 16:55:13 UTC
Currently have .uno:DistributeHorzDistance and .uno:DistributeVertDistance
apply to a multi-frame selection (so images or draw shapes) and Impress or Draw sd only.

The space distribution is calculated against the x,y extents *of the selection* only. And for most cases that is going to be preferred (think of working when zoom'd in to canvas, do not want to affect elements out of view, just the selection).

There are occasions where the distribution could be more efficient if calculated against a specific x,y extent--a containing rectangle shape, or the common case for slide layout to distribute spacing calculated against the slide or drawing page margins.

UI would require some toggle, or additional UNO (i.e. distribute selection against a bounding shape/page margin).

Page margin x,y extent could never be the default for the distribution. But it would be useful to implement.
Comment 5 V Stuart Foote 2023-03-02 17:12:58 UTC
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #4)

> calculated against a specific x,y extent--a containing rectangle shape, or

likewise for the "snap lines" ask of see also bug 125107 except here canvas margins would define the extent of the distribution
Comment 6 Regina Henschel 2023-03-02 20:43:23 UTC
Created attachment 185708 [details]
The option in question in PowerPoint

The attachment shows the location of the setting "Align to Slide" in the UI in PowerPoint.

(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #2)
> We have align and distribute. In order to make
> <space><image><space><image><space> equidistant you could create dummy
> objects with the same size of the images and use the existing functions.

Not "with the same size of the images", but you draw a vertical line on the left edge and a vertical line on the right edge. Then mark them together with the images and use the distribution "Horizontal Spacing". As last step remove the dummy lines.

> I see no other functions in MS Impress (=> NEEDINFO).
It is the option "Align to Slide", which provides the requested feature. LibreOffice uses only "Align Selected Objects". See screenshot.

> What Impress has is what has been requested in bug 100141 - Add alignment
> and spacing guides.
That is not related to the requested feature here.

I think it is a valid request. It would supersede the above noted workaround.
Comment 7 Heiko Tietze 2023-03-03 07:47:38 UTC
The feature is a toggle of (o) Align Selected Objects vs. ( ) Align to Slide. With the second option, the slide edges are taken into account and align to bottom, for example, moves the objects to the slide bottom instead of the lowest object. The distribution options are enabled even with a single object and the slide edges are added to the calculation. For example, a single object will be "distributed" to the slide center.

The feature somewhat clashes with the snap lines from bug 125107. I could imagine a third radio button option.