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How do I automatically update image links while in full-screen presentation mode? (Think of a display that has to show an updating traffic map or something)

Glutanimate
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WxPilot
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  • Do you mean that if the file contents change but the file name and location remain intact, the picture is updated in Impress? – Richard May 27 '14 at 18:03
  • Yeah, that is exactly what I need to do – WxPilot May 27 '14 at 18:05
  • I don't think that's possible :( – Dusan Milosevic May 27 '14 at 18:06
  • That's unfortunate.. Time to hit the code then to make a solution – WxPilot May 27 '14 at 18:20
  • I've edited my problem based on what I have found in my research so far. So far it looks like the only 'easy' solution is to use MS Powerpoint and then cash in some money for expensive plugins for it. I'm actually very surprised no one in the community has made a solution for this since it would greatly expand the features of Impress especially since MS Powerpoint cannot update links in presentation mode either. – WxPilot May 28 '14 at 11:54
  • @WxPilot I am still not quite sure what you are asking for. What objects do you want to show in your presentation? Images? Websites? And what exactly do you mean by "automatically update in presentation mode"? – Glutanimate May 28 '14 at 12:02
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    It is only images (Edited to clear that one up too), and by automatically within presentation mode, I mean that even though it is currently in a fullscreen presentation, all of my images will update. Whether it's after a slide transition or before it loops or after a period of time doesn't matter, just as long as they update – WxPilot May 28 '14 at 12:08
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    There is the greyed out 'automatic' check box in the 'Edit Links' window (see Glutanimate's answer). But as I understand, it will only update after you reopen the presentation, not automatically over time. – WxPilot May 28 '14 at 12:28
  • @WxPilot OK, I think I understand what you mean now. I voted to reopen the question. In the meantime, you might want to try asking on AskLO as well. – Glutanimate May 28 '14 at 14:19
  • @Glutanimate I went ahead and did that when the question was put on hold (The better worded version). Honestly, it looks like the feature is not available, but perhaps the question might inspire someone. In the meantime, I figured out that Gnome Image Viewer combined with some scripting will do the same thing, perhaps with additional flexibility. – WxPilot May 28 '14 at 14:25

2 Answers2

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Edit: The method outlined in this answer will still require user input to update the images before entering presentation mode. It is not capable of automatically updating images while in presentation mode.

Original answer:

Linking an image in LibreOffice Impress

You can do this by linking the images instead of inserting them.

Go to Insert → Picture → From file.... Select your file and check Link in the file selection dialog that comes up:

enter image description here

Confirm your choice with OK. A new dialog should spawn that will ask you to confirm linking the image instead of inserting it. Click on OK again.

From now on any changes to the image will automatically show up when reloading the document. You can also update your links through the Link Editor (Edit → Links...):

enter image description here

For more information on linking/inserting images check out the link Korkel posted.

As an aside: If you are interested in linking images by default you should give this Q&A a look. Note: The CTRL + SHIFT workaround posted there doesn't appear to be working in LO Impress.

Glutanimate
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  • Not quite the solution I need, though it's my fault for not properly asking the question. I've edited it to be a little more specific. This definitely might help someone else though. – WxPilot May 28 '14 at 11:56
  • The hyperlink to taming-openoffice-org now links to a dubious website. Not the intended behaviour I suppose – zwep Aug 30 '21 at 13:45
  • @zwep ah, that's annoying. Thanks for the heads-up! I've replaced the link with an archive.org copy – Glutanimate Sep 09 '21 at 16:06
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There is currently no way to have Impress, while in presentation mode, update an image as it changes on the disk.

One alternate solution, if you only need an image slideshow, is to use the Gnome Image Viewer ('eog' command from terminal) since it will reflect changes to the image file while in slideshow mode, however, if you need captions outside of the image then this method will not work.

WxPilot
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