Ubuntu – How to improve LibreOffice’ performance when making larger documents

libreoffice

I am currently using Ubuntu, and am trying to write a book which is very heavy on graphics – a memory book like a high school year book. It is mostly photos, as many as 12 on a page.

I have to make each page with a separate file name as if I make a file with more than say 5 images in it, the program either runs very slowly, erratically or the OS stalls. I save each page completed page 3 ways, once as an odt.file, again as a pdf and then again as a jpeg, so I will have multiple options when it comes time to put it all together.

I bought a better computer with 16gb RAM which seems to help, but I am still seeing some of the slowness and stalling as on my old laptop. It is the worst while using Libre Office Writer, and better with Libre Office Impress. I am hoping to have a book with around 108 pages when I am finished, all of which have to be converted into one large pdf file for the printer.

Anyone have any idea what my problem is and do they have any suggestions on how I can work more efficiently and with fewer stalls? What if I am unable to make one large 108 page document with at least 1000 photos in it? I'd hate to do all this work (thousands of hours) only to not be able to actually get my work printed.

Best Answer

Change your document processing strategy. Do not "put" the images inside the document. Keep the images in a directory and build the document so it accesses those files when it is compiled.

My first thought was that you should use LaTeX for that, it is what I would do. If you are heading toward something you will show to other people, that's going to give publication quality output. If you want a nice, WYSIWYG processor for LaTeX documents you should use LyX which lets you layout the document by pointing and clicking and also gives you access to the full, more advanced potential of LaTeX should you need it in some (isolated) places.

But I expect most document systems can do it. You don't really need LaTeX. You just need some system that won't try to absorb all of the images into one gigantic file. Maybe others here can advise you on that.

I bet LibreOffice has a way to NOT "include" (embed?) the images within the master document, but rather just refer to them for compilation.

I'd be tempted to write this in HTML or a Markdown document, maybe.

Anything that does not absorb the separate image files will be much better,though.

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Auto convert odt to pdf

A quick and dirty example using code from the pyinotify project [http://github.com/seb-m/pyinotify]

You will need to change the WATCHED_DIR to your directory containing ODT files. Also remember to install unoconv first.

# Notifier example from tutorial
#
# See: http://github.com/seb-m/pyinotify/wiki/Tutorial
#
# odtwatcher.py

import os
import pyinotify
import subprocess

WATCHED_DIR = '/tmp/test'

wm = pyinotify.WatchManager()  # Watch Manager
mask = pyinotify.IN_MODIFY

class EventHandler(pyinotify.ProcessEvent):
    def process_IN_MODIFY(self, event):
        fname = event.pathname            
        if os.path.splitext(fname)[1] == '.odt':
            print 'MODIFIED: ', fname
            args = ['unoconv', '-f', 'pdf', fname]
            try:
                subprocess.Popen(args)
            except OSError as e:
                print 'Could not convert file %s to PDF. Error %s' % (fname, str(e))

if __name__ == '__main__':
    handler = EventHandler()
    notifier = pyinotify.Notifier(wm, handler)
    wdd = wm.add_watch(WATCHED_DIR, mask, rec=True)        
    notifier.loop()

Save this as odtwatcher.py and then run it in the background

python odtwatcher.py &

Ubuntu – Annotate PDF with stylus

How to annotate a PDF

sudo apt-get install okular

Open the PDF with Okular, press Review, then go to Settings → Full Screen Mode (or ctrl + shift + F). You can close full screen mode by pressing the combination again, but in case you can't remember it: Press alt to open the HUD, type "exit", and press enter.

You might want to define different free hand pencils in the settings. (I have no idea how well they work with a stylus since I don't have one, but there is still the other option using LibreOffice.)

How to import PDFs into LibreOffice Impress

Open any LibreOffice Module or the LibreOffice starter and choose File → Open. Select the PDF. LibreOffice Draw will open. Select any slide on the left and press ctrl + A to select all of them. Copy them, open up LibreOffice Impress, and paste them in the slide panel there. Start your presentation by choosing Slide Show → Start From First Slide or pressing F5.