LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide 60

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Contributors

Jean Hollis Weber Bruce Byfield Gillian Polack

Cathy Crumbley

Acknowledgments

This book is updated from the LibreOffice 5.4 Writer Guide, which was adapted from the

OpenOffice.org 3.3 Writer Guide. Contributors to those books are listed on page 21.

Feedback

Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to the Documentation Team’s

mailing list: documentation@global.libreoffice.org

Note

Everything you send to a mailing list, including your email address and any other

personal information that is written in the message, is publicly archived and cannot be

deleted.

Publication date and software version

Published July 2018. Based on LibreOffice 6.0.

Documentation for LibreOffice is available at http://documentation.libreoffice.org/en/

Contents
Copyright..................................................................................................................................... 2
Contributors............................................................................................................................ 2
Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................2
Feedback................................................................................................................................ 2
Publication date and software version.....................................................................................2
 Preface...............................................................................................................................16
Who is this book for?................................................................................................................. 17
What’s in this book?...................................................................................................................17
Minimum requirements for using LibreOffice..............................................................................17
How to get LibreOffice...............................................................................................................18
Installing LibreOffice..................................................................................................................18
Setting up and customizing LibreOffice......................................................................................18
Extensions and add-ons............................................................................................................18
Where to get more help.............................................................................................................18
Help system..........................................................................................................................18
Other free online support......................................................................................................19
Paid support and training......................................................................................................19
What you see may be different..................................................................................................20
Illustrations............................................................................................................................ 20
Icons..................................................................................................................................... 20
Using LibreOffice on macOS......................................................................................................20
Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................... 21
Frequently asked questions.......................................................................................................21
Chapter 1 Introducing Writer............................................................................................22
What is Writer?..........................................................................................................................23
Parts of the main Writer window................................................................................................23
Title bar................................................................................................................................. 23
Menu bar...............................................................................................................................23
Sidebar.................................................................................................................................24
Toolbars................................................................................................................................ 27
Rulers................................................................................................................................... 29
Status bar..............................................................................................................................29
Context (right-click) menus........................................................................................................32
Dialogs....................................................................................................................................... 32
Document views........................................................................................................................ 32
Normal view..........................................................................................................................32
Web view..............................................................................................................................32
Full Screen view....................................................................................................................32
Starting a new document...........................................................................................................33
From the Start Center...........................................................................................................33
From the Quickstarter...........................................................................................................33
From the operating system menu..........................................................................................34
From the Menu bar, toolbar, or keyboard..............................................................................34
From a template.................................................................................................................... 34
Opening an existing document...................................................................................................35
Saving a document....................................................................................................................36
Save commands................................................................................................................... 36
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Save As command................................................................................................................ 36
Saving a document automatically..........................................................................................37
Saving as a Microsoft Word document..................................................................................37
Password protection..............................................................................................................37
Opening and saving files on remote servers..............................................................................39
Using the Navigator................................................................................................................... 39
Moving quickly through a document......................................................................................40
Using the Navigation toolbar.................................................................................................41
Rearranging headings and text using the Navigator..............................................................42
Setting reminders.................................................................................................................. 42
Choosing drag modes...........................................................................................................43
Undoing and redoing changes...................................................................................................43
Reloading a document...............................................................................................................43
Closing a document...................................................................................................................44
Closing LibreOffice.....................................................................................................................44
Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics...............................................................................45
Introduction................................................................................................................................ 46
Selecting text............................................................................................................................. 46
Selecting items that are not consecutive...............................................................................46
Selecting a vertical block of text............................................................................................47
Cutting, copying, and pasting text..............................................................................................47
Finding and replacing text..........................................................................................................48
Using the Find toolbar...........................................................................................................48
Using the Find & Replace dialog...........................................................................................49
Inserting special characters.......................................................................................................50
Inserting non-breaking spaces and hyphens.........................................................................51
Inserting en and em dashes..................................................................................................51
Checking spelling and grammar.................................................................................................52
Spelling................................................................................................................................. 52
Spelling and grammar...........................................................................................................53
Grammar............................................................................................................................... 54
English sentence checking....................................................................................................55
Using synonyms and the thesaurus...........................................................................................57
Hyphenating words....................................................................................................................58
Automatic hyphenation..........................................................................................................58
Manual hyphenation.............................................................................................................. 59
Using AutoCorrect...................................................................................................................... 60
Using Word Completion.............................................................................................................60
Using AutoText...........................................................................................................................61
Creating AutoText..................................................................................................................62
Inserting AutoText..................................................................................................................63
Printing a list of AutoText entries...........................................................................................63
Changing the case of selected text............................................................................................63
Chapter 3 Working with Text: Advanced.........................................................................65
Introduction................................................................................................................................ 66
Using built-in language tools......................................................................................................66
Using paragraph and character styles...................................................................................66
Using Tools > Language........................................................................................................67
Using language settings in Options.......................................................................................67
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Using the status bar..............................................................................................................68
Advanced find and replace techniques......................................................................................68
Find and replace text attributes and formatting.....................................................................69
Find and replace paragraph styles........................................................................................69
Use similarity search.............................................................................................................70
Use wildcards and regular expressions.................................................................................70
Tracking changes to a document...............................................................................................71
Preparing a document for review..........................................................................................72
Recording changes...............................................................................................................72
Accepting or rejecting changes.............................................................................................73
Comparing documents..........................................................................................................74
Merging modified documents................................................................................................74
Adding other comments.............................................................................................................75
Using footnotes and endnotes...................................................................................................76
Inserting footnotes and endnotes..........................................................................................76
Defining the format of footnotes/endnotes.............................................................................77
Linking to another part of a document........................................................................................77
Using cross-references.........................................................................................................78
Using bookmarks.................................................................................................................. 78
Using hyperlinks....................................................................................................................78
Line numbering.......................................................................................................................... 80
Chapter 4 Formatting Text................................................................................................83
Introduction................................................................................................................................ 84
Using styles is recommended....................................................................................................84
Removing manual formatting................................................................................................84
Formatting paragraphs...............................................................................................................84
Alignment options..................................................................................................................86
Line and paragraph spacing..................................................................................................87
Paragraph indentation........................................................................................................... 88
Paragraph background color.................................................................................................88
Settings on the Paragraph dialog..........................................................................................89
Setting tab stops and indents.....................................................................................................91
Changing the default tab stop interval...................................................................................92
Formatting characters................................................................................................................92
Font name, size, and effects.................................................................................................93
Settings on the Character dialog...........................................................................................94
Autoformatting........................................................................................................................... 97
Formatting numbered or bulleted lists........................................................................................99
Using the Bullets and Numbering toolbar..............................................................................99
Using the Bullets and Numbering palettes on the Sidebar..................................................100
Using the Bullets and Numbering dialog.............................................................................101
More information......................................................................................................................102
Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics.............................................................................103
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 104
Setting up basic page layout using styles................................................................................104
Inserting a page break without changing the page style......................................................105
Inserting a page break and changing to a new page style...................................................105
Changing page margins...........................................................................................................106
Creating headers and footers...................................................................................................107
Using fields in headers and footers.....................................................................................108
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Formatting headers and footers..........................................................................................108
Numbering pages....................................................................................................................109
Simple page numbering.......................................................................................................110
Combining header text and page number............................................................................110
Changing the number format...............................................................................................111
Numbering pages by chapter...............................................................................................111
Numbering the first page something other than 1................................................................112
Defining a different first page for a document...........................................................................113
Adding title pages................................................................................................................113
Restarting page numbering.................................................................................................114
Formatting footnotes and endnotes..........................................................................................116
Defining footnote location and separator line.......................................................................116
Defining borders and backgrounds..........................................................................................117
Adding a border...................................................................................................................117
Adding a color to the background........................................................................................118
Adding a gradient to the background...................................................................................119
Adding a bitmap (i,age) to the background..........................................................................119
Adding a pattern or hatching to the background..................................................................120
Deleting a color, gradient, bitmap, or other background......................................................121
Adjusting the transparency of the background....................................................................121
Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced.......................................................................122
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 123
Choosing a layout method.......................................................................................................123
Using columns to define the page layout.................................................................................124
Formatting column width and spacing.................................................................................124
Formatting separator lines...................................................................................................125
Distributing text across columns..........................................................................................125
Using frames for page layout...................................................................................................125
Creating frames...................................................................................................................126
Moving, resizing, and changing frame attributes.................................................................126
Anchoring frames................................................................................................................128
Linking frames.....................................................................................................................128
Using tables for page layout....................................................................................................129
Positioning information in headers or footers......................................................................130
Creating sideheads using tables.........................................................................................130
Using sections for page layout.................................................................................................132
Creating sections................................................................................................................ 132
Editing and deleting sections...............................................................................................137
Updating links..................................................................................................................... 138
Changing page orientation within a document.........................................................................139
Setting up a landscape page style......................................................................................139
Inserting a landscape page into a portrait document...........................................................140
Portrait headers on landscape pages..................................................................................141
Chapter 7 Printing, Exporting, E-mailing.......................................................................144
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 145
Quick printing...........................................................................................................................145
Controlling printing................................................................................................................... 145
Selecting general printing options.......................................................................................146
Printing multiple pages on a single sheet of paper..............................................................146
Selecting what to print.........................................................................................................147
Printing a brochure.............................................................................................................. 148
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Printing in black and white (on a color printer).....................................................................149
Previewing pages before printing........................................................................................150
Printing envelopes................................................................................................................... 150
Printing labels..........................................................................................................................153
Exporting to PDF.....................................................................................................................153
Quick export to PDF............................................................................................................153
Controlling PDF content and quality....................................................................................153
Exporting to ePub.................................................................................................................... 160
Exporting to other formats........................................................................................................160
E-mailing Writer documents.....................................................................................................160
E-mailing a document to several recipients.........................................................................161
Sending a fax........................................................................................................................... 163
Digital signing of documents....................................................................................................163
Signing multiple times with same signature.........................................................................164
Removing personal data..........................................................................................................165
Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles....................................................................................166
What are styles?......................................................................................................................167
Why use styles?..................................................................................................................167
Style categories...................................................................................................................167
The Styles deck in the sidebar.................................................................................................167
Filtering the visible styles....................................................................................................168
Applying styles......................................................................................................................... 168
Applying paragraph styles...................................................................................................168
Applying character styles....................................................................................................170
Applying frame styles..........................................................................................................171
Applying page styles...........................................................................................................171
Applying list styles...............................................................................................................177
Applying table styles........................................................................................................... 178
Assigning styles to shortcut keys........................................................................................178
Creating and modifying styles..................................................................................................178
Using New Style from Selection, Update Style, and Load Styles........................................178
Drag-and-drop a selection to create a style.........................................................................181
Changing a style using the Style dialog...............................................................................181
Using AutoUpdate............................................................................................................... 181
Deleting styles......................................................................................................................... 181
Example: creating and modifying paragraph styles..................................................................182
Creating the Poem paragraph style.....................................................................................182
Creating the Poem Heading style........................................................................................183
Changing the formatting of your styles................................................................................184
Using paragraph styles to define a hierarchy of headings........................................................185
Choosing paragraph styles for heading levels.....................................................................185
Assigning outline levels to other styles................................................................................185
Setting up heading numbering............................................................................................186
Setting up the indentation of headings................................................................................188
Chapter 9 Working with Styles.......................................................................................190
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 191
Creating custom (new) styles...................................................................................................191
Style dialog.........................................................................................................................191
Organizer page................................................................................................................... 191
Style inheritance..................................................................................................................192
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Working with paragraph styles.................................................................................................193
Indents & Spacing page......................................................................................................193
Alignment page...................................................................................................................195
Text flow options for paragraph styles.................................................................................196
Font options for the paragraph style....................................................................................197
Options for positioning text..................................................................................................199
Controlling tab stops........................................................................................................... 200
Outline & Numbering page..................................................................................................201
Setting up a drop cap..........................................................................................................201
Background (area), highlighting, and transparency.............................................................202
Borders...............................................................................................................................203
Using conditional paragraph styles......................................................................................203
Working with character styles..................................................................................................204
Creating a new character style............................................................................................205
Working with frame styles........................................................................................................205
How frame styles work........................................................................................................206
Planning the styles..............................................................................................................206
Creating new frame styles...................................................................................................207
Working with page styles.........................................................................................................207
Creating a new page style...................................................................................................207
Organizer page................................................................................................................... 207
General settings for the page style......................................................................................207
Area and Border pages.......................................................................................................209
Header and Footer pages...................................................................................................209
Columns page.....................................................................................................................209
Footnote page.....................................................................................................................209
Working with list styles.............................................................................................................209
Creating a new list style......................................................................................................210
Example: Creating a simple list style...................................................................................213
Chapter 10 Working with Templates..............................................................................215
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 216
Using a template to create a document....................................................................................216
Creating a document from the Templates dialog.................................................................216
Creating a document from a template in the Start Center...................................................217
Creating a template..................................................................................................................217
Creating a template from a document.................................................................................217
Creating a template using a wizard.....................................................................................218
Editing a template....................................................................................................................218
Updating a document from a changed template..................................................................219
Adding templates obtained from other sources........................................................................219
Installing individual templates..............................................................................................219
Installing collections of templates........................................................................................220
Setting a default template........................................................................................................220
Setting a template as the default.........................................................................................220
Resetting Writer’s default template as the default...............................................................221
Associating a document with a different template....................................................................221
Organizing templates...............................................................................................................222
Creating a template category..............................................................................................222
Deleting a template category...............................................................................................222
Moving a template...............................................................................................................223
Deleting a template.............................................................................................................223
Importing a template...........................................................................................................223
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Exporting a template...........................................................................................................223
Chapter 11 Images and Graphics...................................................................................224
Images (graphics) in Writer......................................................................................................225
Creating and editing images....................................................................................................225
Preparing images for black-and-white printing....................................................................225
Adding images to a document..................................................................................................226
Inserting an image file.........................................................................................................226
Linking an image file........................................................................................................... 227
Scanning............................................................................................................................. 229
Inserting an image from the Gallery....................................................................................229
Inserting an image as a background...................................................................................229
Modifying, handling, and positioning images............................................................................230
Using the Picture toolbar.....................................................................................................230
Using the Formatting toolbar and Image dialog...................................................................231
Cropping images.................................................................................................................231
Resizing an image...............................................................................................................233
Rotating or flipping an image...............................................................................................234
Other settings......................................................................................................................234
Deleting an image...............................................................................................................235
Exporting images................................................................................................................ 235
Compressing images..........................................................................................................235
Saving modified images......................................................................................................235
Using Writer’s drawing tools....................................................................................................236
Creating drawing objects.....................................................................................................236
Setting or changing properties for drawing objects..............................................................237
Resizing a drawing object...................................................................................................237
Grouping drawing objects....................................................................................................237
Rotating drawing objects.....................................................................................................238
Positioning images within the text............................................................................................238
Arranging images................................................................................................................239
Anchoring images...............................................................................................................240
Aligning images................................................................................................................... 240
Wrapping text around images.............................................................................................241
Adding captions to images.......................................................................................................245
Adding captions automatically.............................................................................................245
Adding captions using the Caption dialog...........................................................................246
Adding captions manually...................................................................................................247
Creating an image map............................................................................................................248
Managing the LibreOffice Gallery.............................................................................................250
Adding objects to the Gallery..............................................................................................250
Deleting images from the Gallery........................................................................................251
Adding a new theme to the Gallery.....................................................................................251
Deleting a theme from the Gallery.......................................................................................252
Location of the Gallery and the objects in it.........................................................................252
Using Fontwork........................................................................................................................252
Creating a Fontwork object.................................................................................................252
Editing a Fontwork object....................................................................................................253
Moving and resizing Fontwork objects................................................................................255
Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks...................................................................................256
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 257
Types of list.............................................................................................................................. 257
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Bullet lists............................................................................................................................257
Numbered lists....................................................................................................................258
Outline lists.........................................................................................................................259
Combining list and paragraph styles........................................................................................260
Restarting paragraph numbering.........................................................................................261
Nesting lists.........................................................................................................................262
Outlining with paragraph styles................................................................................................262
Creating outlines with a single paragraph style...................................................................263
Adding paragraph styles to outline levels............................................................................263
Skipping a paragraph in a list..............................................................................................263
Applying list styles................................................................................................................... 264
Restarting or continuing the numbering...............................................................................264
Naming list styles.....................................................................................................................265
Formatting list styles................................................................................................................265
Positioning bullets, numbers, and list items.........................................................................266
Formatting ordered (numbered) lists...................................................................................267
Designing unordered (bulleted) lists....................................................................................270
Using images as bullets......................................................................................................271
Chapter 13 Tables of Data...............................................................................................277
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 278
Creating a table....................................................................................................................... 278
Inserting a new table...........................................................................................................278
Creating nested tables........................................................................................................279
Using AutoCorrect to create a table.....................................................................................280
Formatting the table layout......................................................................................................281
Default parameters..............................................................................................................281
Resizing and positioning the table.......................................................................................282
Resizing rows and columns.................................................................................................283
Resizing individual cells......................................................................................................284
Inserting rows and columns.................................................................................................285
Deleting rows and columns.................................................................................................285
Merging and splitting cells...................................................................................................286
Specifying table borders......................................................................................................286
Selecting background colors and graphics..........................................................................287
Displaying or hiding table boundaries..................................................................................289
Creating and applying table styles...........................................................................................289
Applying a table style..........................................................................................................290
Creating a table style.......................................................................................................... 290
Formatting the table text..........................................................................................................291
Specifying text flow............................................................................................................. 291
Vertical alignment................................................................................................................ 292
Number formats.................................................................................................................. 292
Rotating text in a table cell..................................................................................................293
Data entry and manipulation in tables......................................................................................294
Moving between cells..........................................................................................................294
Sorting data in a table.........................................................................................................294
Using spreadsheet functions in a table................................................................................295
Additional table operations.......................................................................................................297
Protecting cells in a table....................................................................................................297
Adding a caption................................................................................................................. 297
Cross-referencing to a table................................................................................................297
Creating a heading row in an existing table.........................................................................297
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Merging and splitting tables.................................................................................................297
Deleting a table...................................................................................................................298
Copying a table...................................................................................................................298
Moving a table.....................................................................................................................298
Inserting a paragraph before or after a table.......................................................................299
Using tables as a page layout tool......................................................................................299
The Table menu and Table toolbar...........................................................................................299
Chapter 14 Mail Merge.....................................................................................................301
What is mail merge?................................................................................................................302
Creating and registering an address data source.....................................................................302
Creating a form letter...............................................................................................................304
Editing merged documents..................................................................................................307
Printing mailing labels..............................................................................................................307
Preparing for printing...........................................................................................................308
Removing blank lines from labels........................................................................................310
Printing................................................................................................................................311
Editing a saved file of mailing labels....................................................................................311
Printing envelopes................................................................................................................... 312
Setting up envelopes for printing.........................................................................................312
Merging and printing the envelopes....................................................................................313
Creating an envelope template...........................................................................................313
Using the Mail Merge Wizard to create a form letter................................................................313
Step 1: Select starting document........................................................................................313
Step 2: Select document type.............................................................................................314
Step 3: Insert address block................................................................................................314
Step 4: Create salutation.....................................................................................................318
Step 5: Adjust layout........................................................................................................... 319
Step 6: Edit document and insert extra fields......................................................................320
Step 7: Personalize documents...........................................................................................321
Step 8: Save, print or send..................................................................................................322
Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies............................................324
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 325
Tables of contents.................................................................................................................... 325
Creating a table of contents quickly.....................................................................................325
Customizing a table of contents..........................................................................................326
Editing a table of contents...................................................................................................332
Updating a table of contents................................................................................................333
Deleting a table of contents.................................................................................................333
Alphabetic indexes................................................................................................................... 334
Adding index entries............................................................................................................334
Creating a concordance......................................................................................................336
Creating an alphabetic index quickly...................................................................................336
Customizing an index..........................................................................................................337
Maintaining an index...........................................................................................................341
Other types of indexes.............................................................................................................341
Example: Creating an index of figures.................................................................................342
Bibliographies..........................................................................................................................343
Creating a bibliographic database.......................................................................................343
Adding entries to the database............................................................................................345
Maintaining entries in the database.....................................................................................345
Advanced: Modifying the bibliographic database................................................................345
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Adding references (citations) into a document....................................................................347
Editing a reference..............................................................................................................349
Creating the bibliography....................................................................................................349
Defining the paragraph style for the bibliography................................................................351
Updating, editing, and deleting an existing bibliography......................................................353
Chapter 16 Master Documents.......................................................................................354
Why use a master document?.................................................................................................355
Using the master document Navigator.....................................................................................355
Styles in master documents and subdocuments......................................................................356
Creating a master document: scenarios...................................................................................356
Starting with no existing documents.........................................................................................356
Step 1. Plan the project.......................................................................................................357
Step 2. Create a template...................................................................................................357
Step 3. Create the master document...................................................................................358
Step 4. Create subdocuments.............................................................................................358
Step 5. Add some pages to the master document...............................................................358
Step 6. Insert the subdocuments into the master document................................................359
Step 7. Add table of contents, bibliography, index...............................................................360
Combining several documents into a master document...........................................................361
Splitting a document into master and subdocuments...............................................................363
Restarting page numbering......................................................................................................364
Editing a master document......................................................................................................365
Changing the appearance of the master document.............................................................365
Editing subdocuments.........................................................................................................365
Adding, deleting, or renaming subdocuments.....................................................................366
Cross-referencing between subdocuments..............................................................................366
Preparing items as targets for cross-referencing.................................................................366
Inserting the cross-references.............................................................................................368
Creating a master document template.....................................................................................370
Creating one file from a master document and its subdocuments............................................370
Anchoring images.................................................................................................................... 371
Chapter 17 Fields.............................................................................................................372
Introduction to fields................................................................................................................. 373
Keyboard shortcuts for fields...............................................................................................373
Quick and easy field entry........................................................................................................373
Using document properties to hold metadata and information that changes............................373
Using other fields to hold information that changes..................................................................375
Using AutoText to insert often-used fields................................................................................376
Defining your own numbering sequences................................................................................376
Create a number range variable..........................................................................................377
Use AutoText to insert a number range field........................................................................378
Using automatic cross-references............................................................................................379
Inserting cross-references...................................................................................................380
Available formats.................................................................................................................380
Preparing items as targets for cross-referencing.................................................................381
Using fields in headers and footers..........................................................................................382
Developing conditional content................................................................................................383
Choose the types of conditional content to use...................................................................383
Plan your conditional content..............................................................................................384
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Create the variable.............................................................................................................. 384
Apply the condition to the content.......................................................................................385
Change the value of the variable.........................................................................................389
Using placeholder fields...........................................................................................................389
Using other fields.....................................................................................................................390
Chapter 18 Forms.............................................................................................................391
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 392
When to use forms...................................................................................................................392
Alternatives to using forms in Writer....................................................................................392
Creating a simple form.............................................................................................................392
Create a document..............................................................................................................393
Open the form toolbars.......................................................................................................393
Activate design mode..........................................................................................................393
Insert form controls............................................................................................................. 393
Configure controls...............................................................................................................394
Use the form....................................................................................................................... 394
Form controls reference...........................................................................................................395
Example: a simple form...........................................................................................................398
Create the document...........................................................................................................398
Add form controls................................................................................................................398
Configure form controls.......................................................................................................399
Finishing touches................................................................................................................401
Accessing data sources...........................................................................................................401
Creating a database............................................................................................................402
Registering an existing data source....................................................................................404
Deregistering a data source................................................................................................404
Re-registering an existing data source................................................................................405
Creating a form for data entry..................................................................................................405
Entering data into a form.....................................................................................................406
Advanced form customization..................................................................................................407
Linking a macro to a form control........................................................................................407
Read-only documents.........................................................................................................408
Fine-tuning database access permissions..........................................................................408
Form control formatting options...........................................................................................409
Chapter 19 Spreadsheets, Charts, Other Objects........................................................410
Introduction: OLE objects.........................................................................................................411
Inserting a new OLE object.................................................................................................411
Inserting an OLE object from a file......................................................................................412
Editing OLE objects............................................................................................................. 412
Spreadsheets........................................................................................................................... 412
Resizing and moving spreadsheet objects..........................................................................413
Editing a spreadsheet object...............................................................................................413
Formatting spreadsheets....................................................................................................415
Charts...................................................................................................................................... 417
Inserting a chart..................................................................................................................417
Selecting chart type.............................................................................................................417
Entering chart data.............................................................................................................. 419
Adding or removing chart elements.....................................................................................419
Chart formatting..................................................................................................................419
Resizing and moving charts................................................................................................420
Chart elements.................................................................................................................... 420
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Changing chart area background........................................................................................421
Changing chart wall background.........................................................................................421
Audio and video.......................................................................................................................421
Using media files................................................................................................................. 421
Using the Gallery.................................................................................................................422
Media playback...................................................................................................................422
Formulas.................................................................................................................................. 422
Chapter 20 Setting up Writer..........................................................................................423
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 424
Choosing options that affect all LibreOffice components..........................................................424
User data............................................................................................................................ 424
Memory options...................................................................................................................424
View options........................................................................................................................424
Print options........................................................................................................................ 425
Paths options......................................................................................................................425
Fonts options...................................................................................................................... 425
Security options...................................................................................................................426
Application colors................................................................................................................426
Choosing options for loading and saving documents...............................................................427
General............................................................................................................................... 427
Microsoft Office................................................................................................................... 429
HTML compatibility..............................................................................................................429
Choosing Writer-specific options..............................................................................................429
General options................................................................................................................... 429
View options........................................................................................................................430
Formatting Aids options.......................................................................................................431
Grid options.........................................................................................................................431
Print options........................................................................................................................ 431
Table options.......................................................................................................................432
Changes options.................................................................................................................433
Comparison options............................................................................................................ 433
Compatibility options...........................................................................................................434
AutoCaption options............................................................................................................435
Mail Merge E-mail options...................................................................................................436
Choosing language settings.....................................................................................................436
Install the required dictionaries............................................................................................436
Change some locale and language settings........................................................................437
Sentence checking..............................................................................................................437
Choose spelling and grammar options................................................................................438
English sentence checking..................................................................................................438
Chapter 21 Customizing Writer......................................................................................439
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 440
Customizing menu content......................................................................................................440
Creating a new menu..........................................................................................................441
Customizing toolbars...............................................................................................................442
Choosing icons for toolbar commands................................................................................442
Assigning shortcut keys...........................................................................................................443
Saving changes to a file......................................................................................................444
Loading a saved keyboard configuration.............................................................................444
Assigning macros to events.....................................................................................................444
Adding functionality with extensions........................................................................................444
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Installing extensions............................................................................................................445

Adding custom colors...............................................................................................................446

Adding fonts............................................................................................................................. 447

Finding free-licensed fonts..................................................................................................447

LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide | 15

Preface

Who is this book for?

LibreOffice is a feature-rich, free, and open source office suite. It includes several powerful

applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, and formula

editing. Writer is the word-processing application. It is compatible with a wide range of document

formats including Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx), and you can export your work in several formats

including PDF.

Anyone who wants to get up to speed quickly with LibreOffice Writer will find this book valuable.

You may be new to word processing software, or you may be familiar with another office suite.

What’s in this book?

This book introduces some of the main features of Writer, the word processor component of

LibreOffice, and provides instructions for their use.

Part 1: Essentials

1 Introducing Writer

2 Working with Text: Basics

3 Working with Text: Advanced

4 Formatting Text

5 Formatting Pages: Basics

6 Formatting Pages: Advanced

7 Printing, Exporting, Emailing

8 Introduction to Styles

9 Working with Styles

10 Working with Templates

Part 2: Extras

11 Images and Graphics

12 Lists: Tips and Tricks

13 Tables of Data

14 Mail Merge

15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies

16 Master Documents

17 Fields

18 Forms

19 Spreadsheets, Charts, other Objects

20 Setting up Writer

21 Customizing Writer

Minimum requirements for using LibreOffice

For a detailed list of requirements and operating systems supported, see the LibreOffice website,

https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/system-requirements/

Preface | 17

How to get LibreOffice

Versions of LibreOffice for Windows, Linux, and macOS can be downloaded free from

https://www.libreoffice.org/download. Linux users will also find LibreOffice included free in many of

the latest distributions.

Portable and other versions of LibreOffice are listed on the download page. Linux, Vanilla, and

other versions may differ in a few features from the descriptions in this book.

Installing LibreOffice

Information on installing and setting up LibreOffice on the various supported operating systems is

given here: https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/install-howto/

Setting up and customizing LibreOffice

You can change the default settings (options) in LibreOffice to suit your preferences. To change

settings, go to Tools > Options on the Menu bar. Settings are described in the Help and in

Chapter 2, Setting up LibreOffice, in the Getting Started Guide. Some settings of particular interest

to users of Writer are covered in Chapter 20, Setting up Writer, in this book.

Tip

Many settings are intended for power users and programmers. If you don’t understand

what an option does, we recommend leaving it on the default setting unless

instructions in this book recommend changing the setting.

You can customize menus, toolbars, and keyboard shortcuts in LibreOffice, add new menus and

toolbars, and assign macros to events. See Chapter 21, Customizing Writer, for details.

Extensions and add-ons

You can add functionality to LibreOffice with extensions and add-ons. Several extensions are

installed with the program and you can get others from the official extensions repository,

https://extensions.libreoffice.org/ and from other sources. See Chapter 21, Customizing Writer, for

more information on installing extensions and add-ons.

Where to get more help

This book, the other LibreOffice user guides, the Help system, and user support systems assume

that you are familiar with your computer and basic functions such as starting a program, opening

and saving files.

Help system

LibreOffice comes with an extensive Help system. This is your first line of support. Windows and

Linux users can choose to download and install the offline Help for use when not connected to the

Internet; the offline Help is installed with the program on MacOS.

To display the Help system, press F1 or select Help > LibreOffice Help from the Menu bar. If you

do not have the offline help installed on your computer and you are connected to the Internet, your

default browser will open the online Help pages on the LibreOffice website.

The Help menu includes links to other LibreOffice information and support facilities.

18 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Note
The options marked in this list by a ‡ sign are only accessible if your computer is 
connected to the Internet.
•What's This? For quick tips when a toolbar is visible, place the mouse pointer over any of 
the icons to see a small box (“tooltip”) with a brief explanation of the icon’s function. For a 
more detailed explanation, select Help > What's This? and hold the pointer over the icon. 
In addition, you can choose whether to activate Extended Tips using Tools > Options > 
LibreOffice > General.
•User Guides ‡ Opens your default browser at the Documentation page of the LibreOffice 
website https://documentation.libreoffice.org/en/english-documentation/. There you will find 
User Guides (to download as free PDFs or buy as printed copies) and other useful 
information.
•Get Help Online ‡ Opens your default browser at the Ask LibreOffice forum of questions 
and answers from the LibreOffice community https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/questions/.
•Send Feedback ‡ Opens your default browser at the Feedback page of the LibreOffice 
website https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/feedback/. From there you can report bugs, 
suggest new features and communicate with others in the LibreOffice community.
•Restart in Safe Mode Opens a dialog where you can restart LibreOffice and reset the 
software to its default settings.
•Donate to LibreOffice ‡ Opens your default browser at the Donation page of the 
LibreOffice website https://donate.libreoffice.org/. There you can make a donation to 
support LibreOffice.
•License Information Outlines the licenses under which LibreOffice is made available.
•Check for Updates ‡ Opens a dialog and checks the LibreOffice website for updates to 
your version of the software.
•About LibreOffice Opens a dialog and displays information about the version of 
LibreOffice and the operating system you are using. This information will often be 
requested if you ask the community for help or assistance with the software. [On macOS, 
this option is found under LibreOffice on the Menu bar.]
Other free online support
The LibreOffice community not only develops software, but provides free, volunteer-based support.
See Table 1 and this web page: https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/ 
For comprehensive online support from the community, look at mailing lists and the Ask LibreOffice
website, https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/questions/. Other websites run by users also offer free tips 
and tutorials.
Paid support and training
You can also pay for support through service contracts from a vendor or consulting firm 
specializing in LibreOffice. For information about certified professional support, see The Document 
Foundation’s website: https://www.documentfoundation.org/gethelp/support/
 Preface | 19

Table 1: Free support for LibreOffice users
Free LibreOffice support
FAQs Answers to frequently asked questions
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Faq
Mailing lists Free community support is provided by a network of experienced users
https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/
Native language support
The LibreOffice website in various languages
https://www.libreoffice.org/community/nlc/
Mailing lists for native languages
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Local_Mailing_Lists
Information about social networking
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Website/Web_Sites_services
Accessibility options Information about available accessibility options. 
https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/accessibility/
What you see may be different
Illustrations
LibreOffice runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems, each of which has several 
versions and can be customized by users (fonts, colors, themes, window managers). The 
illustrations in this guide were taken from a variety of computers and operating systems. Therefore,
some illustrations will not look exactly like what you see on your computer display.
Icons
The LibreOffice community has created icons for several icon sets, including Breeze, Elementary, 
Galaxy, High Contrast, Sifr, and Tango. Each user can select a preferred set. The icons in this 
guide have been taken from a variety of LibreOffice installations that use varying sets of icons, so 
the icons you see may differ from the ones used in this guide.
To change the icon set used, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > View. In the User Interface 
section, choose from the drop-down lists under Icon style.
Using LibreOffice on macOS
Some keystrokes and menu items are different on macOS from those used in Windows and Linux. 
The table below gives some common substitutions for the instructions in this chapter. For a more 
detailed list, see the application Help.
Windows or Linux macOS equivalent Effect
Tools > Options 
menu selection
LibreOffice > Preferences Access setup options
Right-click Control+click and/or right-click 
depending on computer setup
Opens a context menu
Ctrl (Control)  (Command)Used with other keys
F5 Shift+ +F5Open the Navigator
F11 +TOpen the sidebar Styles and Formatting deck
20 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Acknowledgments

This book is updated from previous versions of the LibreOffice Writer Guide. Contributors to the

earlier versions are:

John A Smith Jean Hollis Weber Peter Schofield

Hazel Russman Leo Moons David Blymire

Jeremy Cartwright John M. Długosz Barbara Duprey

Jamie Eby Ron Faile Jr. Gary Schnabl

Klaus-Jürgen Weghorn Rafael Atias Preston Manning Bernstein

This book was adapted from the OpenOffice.org 3.3 Writer Guide. Contributors to that book were:

Jean Hollis Weber Michele Zarri Gary Schnabl Magnus Adielsson

Agnes Belzunce Ken Byars Bruce Byfield Daniel Carrera

Dick Detwiler Alexander Noël Dunne Laurent Duperval Martin Fox

Katharina Greif Tara Hess Peter Hillier-Brook Lou Iorio

John Kane Rachel Kartch Stefan A. Keel Jared Kobos

Michael Kotsarinis Sigrid Kronenberger Peter Kupfer Ian Laurenson

Alan Madden Paul Miller Vincenzo Ponzi Scott Rhoades

Carol Roberts Iain Roberts Joe Sellman Robert Scott

Janet M. Swisher Barbara M. Tobias Catherine Waterman Sharon Whiston

Bob Wickham Claire Wood Linda Worthington

Frequently asked questions

May I distribute LibreOffice to anyone? May I sell it? May I use it in my business?

Yes.

How many computers may I install it on?

As many as you like.

How can I contribute to LibreOffice?

You can help with the development and user support of LibreOffice in many ways, and you

do not need to be a programmer. To start, check out this web page:

https://www.libreoffice.org/community/get-involved/

May I distribute the PDF of this book, or print and sell copies?

Yes, as long as you meet the requirements of one of the licenses in the copyright statement

at the beginning of this book. You do not have to request special permission. We request that

you share with the project some of the profits you make from sales of books, in consideration

of all the work we have put into producing them. https://www.libreoffice.org/donate/

Preface | 21

Chapter 1

Introducing Writer

What is Writer?

Writer is the word processor component of LibreOffice, a freely available, fully-featured office

productivity suite. In addition to the usual features of a word processor (text entry, editing, and

formatting; spelling checker, thesaurus, hyphenation, and autocorrect; find and replace; and

others), Writer provides these important features:

•Change tracking during revisions (Chapter 4)

•Page layout methods, including styles, frames, columns, and tables (Chapters 5 and 6)

•Export to PDF and ePub (Chapter 7)

•Document digital signatures (Chapter 7)

•Templates and styles (Chapters 8, 9, and 10)

•Built-in drawing tools (Chapter 11)

•Lists (Chapter 12)

•Tables of data (Chapter 13)

•Mail merge (Chapter 14)

•Automated tables of contents and indexes (Chapter 15)

•Master documents, to group a collection of documents into a single document (Chapter 16)

•Fields and forms (Chapters 17 and 18)

•Database integration, including a bibliography database (Chapters 14, 15, and 18)

•Embedding or linking of spreadsheets, equations, and other objects (Chapter 19)

•And many more

Parts of the main Writer window

The main Writer window is shown in Figure 1. Its features are described in this section.

Title bar

The Title bar is located at the top of the Writer window. It shows the file name of the current

document. When the document is not yet named, the document name will appear as Untitled X,

where X is a number. Untitled documents are numbered in the order in which they are created.

Menu bar

The Menu bar is located just below the Title bar in Windows and Linux and at the top of the screen

in macOS. When you select one of the menus, a submenu drops down to show further options,

including:

•Commands that directly cause an action, such as Close or Save, in the File menu.

•Commands that open dialogs. These are indicated by an ellipsis (…) following a command,

such as Find or Paste Special, in the Edit menu.

•Commands that open further submenus. These are indicated by a right-pointing arrow

following a command, such as Toolbars and Zoom, in the View menu. Moving the cursor

onto one of these items causes its submenu to open.

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 23

Figure 1: Parts of the main Writer window

Sidebar

The Sidebar is normally open by default on the right side of the Writer window, as shown in Figure

1. If necessary, select View > Sidebar from the Menu bar to display it. The Sidebar also has a

Hide/Show icon, as shown in Figure 2. When the Sidebar is closed, it can be opened by clicking

this icon, which will be on the far right side of the window.

The Writer Sidebar contains five decks by default: Properties, Page, Styles (shown as Styles and

Formatting in some installations), Gallery, and Navigator. Each deck can be opened by clicking its

corresponding icon on the Tab bar to the right of the sidebar.

Two additional decks are available: Manage Changes and Design. By default, they are not

enabled. See further information on page 26.

Each deck consists of a title bar and one or more content panels. A panel is like a combination of

toolbar and dialog. Toolbars and Sidebar panels share many functions. For example, the icons for

making text bold or italic exist in both the Formatting toolbar in the main Writer window and the

Character panel of the Properties deck.

Some panels contain a More Options button, which opens a dialog with additional editing controls.

When the dialog is open, the document is locked for other editing.

To adjust the width of the Sidebar, place the cursor on its left edge. When a double-headed arrow

appears, click and drag to right or left. When the Properties deck is open, you cannot make the

Sidebar smaller than a certain width. When any other deck is open, the Sidebar can be collapsed

to the width of its Tab bar.

To undock the Sidebar and make it floating, and to dock a floating Sidebar, use the drop-down list

in the Sidebar Settings above the Tab bar (see Figure 2). From the same list, you can choose

which tabs to include in the Sidebar.

24 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 2: Properties deck of Sidebar

Figure 3: Sidebar Settings menu

Sidebar decks

The decks contained in the Sidebar are described below.

Properties deck: Contains tools for directly formatting content.

When text is selected, these panels appear:

–Styles: Apply, create, or update a paragraph style.

–Character: Modify text by the font type, size, color, weight, or spacing.

–Paragraph: Modify a paragraph by alignment, lists or bullets, background color, indent,

or spacing.

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 25

Sidebar settings

Title bar

Tabs

Panel title

Deck

Panel contents

More Options button

Hide/show

button

Sidebar

Settings

When a graphic is selected, these panels appear:

–Area: Modify the fill mode and transparency of the background.

–Graphic: Modify the graphic's brightness, contrast, color mode, or transparency.

–Wrap: Modify the position of the graphic relative to surrounding text, where these

modifications are available.

–Position and Size: Modify width and height.

When a drawing object is selected, these panels appear:

–Area: Modify the fill mode and transparency of the background.

–Line: Modify line style, width, color, or arrows.

–Position and Size: Modify width, height, rotation, or flip.

When a frame is selected, the wrap panel opens but may be grayed out if frame wrap is not

available.

Page deck: Contains tools for directly formatting the page. It has four panels:

–Format: Modify the size, width, height, orientation, and margins of the page.

–Styles: Modify the page numbering style, background, layout, and number of columns.

–Header: Activate/deactivate the header and modify its margins, spacing, and contents.

–Footer: Activate/deactivate the footer and modify its margins, spacing, and contents.

Caution

Be aware that by changing the options on the Page deck, you will change the page

style in use, modifying not only the current page but all pages using the same page

style in this document.

Styles deck: (Titled Styles and Formatting on some installations.) Manage the styles used in the

document, apply existing styles, create new styles, or modify them. For more information, see

Chapter 8, Introduction to Styles, and Chapter 9, Working with Styles.

Gallery deck: Add images and diagrams included in the Gallery themes. The Gallery has two

sections: the first lists the themes by name (Arrows, Background, Diagrams, etc.) and the second

displays the images in the selected theme. Select the New Theme button to create new themes.

To insert an image into a document, or add a new image to the Gallery, drag and drop the selected

image. For more information, see Chapter 11, Images and Graphics.

Navigator deck: Browse the document and reorganize its content by selecting content categories,

such as headings, tables, frames, graphics, and so on. For more information, see “Using the

Navigator” on page 39.

Manage Changes deck: When changes have been recorded in a document, you can view, accept,

or reject them in this deck. It provides the same functions as the floating Manage Changes window.

This deck is available only when Experimental Features is enabled in Tools > Options >

LibreOffice > Advanced. For more information on managing changes, see Chapter 3, Working

with Text: Basics.

Design deck: Provides quick access to document design themes (fonts and colors) and style

presets. This deck is available only when Experimental Features is enabled.

26 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Toolbars

LibreOffice has two types of toolbar locations: docked (fixed in place) or floating. Docked toolbars

can be moved to different locations (for example, top, bottom, or side of the workspace) or made to

float. Floating toolbars can be docked.

Displaying or hiding toolbars

To display or hide toolbars, go to View > Toolbars on the Menu bar, then click the name of a

toolbar in the drop-down list. An active toolbar shows a checkmark beside its name. Note that

toolbars created from tool palettes are not listed in the View menu.

To hide a toolbar, go to View > Toolbars on the Menu bar and deselect the toolbar, or right-click in

an empty space between the icons on a toolbar and select Close toolbar from the context menu.

Most-used toolbars

In a default LibreOffice installation (see Figure 1), the top toolbar, just under the Menu bar, is called

the Standard toolbar.

The second toolbar at the top is the Formatting toolbar. It is context-sensitive; that is, it shows the

tools relevant to the current position of the cursor or the selected object. For example, when the

cursor is in text, the Formatting toolbar provides tools for formatting text. When the cursor is on a

graphic (image), the tools are for formatting images.

To free more space for the document, you can choose a single-toolbar alternative containing the

most-used commands. To activate it, enable View > Toolbars > Standard (Single Mode) and also

disable View > Toolbars > Standard and View > Toolbars > Formatting.

Other toolbars are available at View > Toolbars. They are discussed in the relevant chapters of

this book.

Sub-menus and tool palettes

Toolbar icons with a small triangle to their right will display sub-menus, tool palettes, or other

methods of selecting items, depending on the icon.

A tool palette is a pop-up collection of tools attached to a single tool in a toolbar. The palette can be

made into a floating toolbar, as shown in Figure 4. Once removed from the parent toolbar, it

displays a Title bar. Tool palettes can be floating or docked along an edge of the screen or in one of

the existing toolbar areas.

Figure 4: Example of tearing off a tool palette

Moving toolbars

Docked toolbars can be undocked and either moved to a new docked position or left as a floating

toolbar.

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 27

To undock a toolbar:

1) Move the mouse cursor over the toolbar handle, which is the small vertical bar to the left of

a docked toolbar and highlighted in Figure 5.

2) Hold down the left mouse button and drag the toolbar to the new location.

3) Release the mouse button.

Figure 5: Toolbar handles

To move a floating toolbar, click its title bar and drag it to a new floating location or dock the toolbar

at the top or bottom of the main window.

Note

You can also dock a floating toolbar by holding down the Ctrl key and double-clicking

in the title bar of the toolbar.

Floating toolbars

Writer includes several toolbars, whose default settings are floating in response to the current

position of the cursor or selection. For example, when the cursor is in a table, a Table toolbar

appears, and when the cursor is in a numbered or bullet list, the Bullets and Numbering toolbar

appears. You can reposition or dock these toolbars as described in “Moving toolbars” above.

Customizing toolbars

You can customize toolbars in several ways, including choosing which icons are visible and locking

the position of a docked toolbar. You can also add icons and create new toolbars, as described in

Chapter 21, Customizing Writer.

To position the toolbar:

•Click Dock Toolbar to dock the selected floating toolbar. By default, a toolbar will dock at

the top of the workspace. You can reposition the toolbar to a different docked position. See

“Moving toolbars” on page 27.

•Click Dock All Toolbars to dock all floating toolbars.

•Click Lock Toolbar Position to lock a docked toolbar into its docked position. Locking

maintains the toolbar’s position even when other toolbars on the same bar change location.

•Click Close Toolbar to close the selected toolbar.

Access a toolbar’s customization options by right-clicking in an empty space between the icons on

the toolbar to open a context menu. Then choose among the following options:

•To show or hide icons defined for the selected toolbar, click Visible Buttons on the context

menu. Visible icons on a toolbar are indicated by an outline around the icon (Figure 6) or by

a check mark beside the icon, depending on your operating system. Select or deselect

icons to hide or show them on the toolbar.

•Click Customize Toolbar to open the Customize dialog. See Chapter 21, Customizing

Writer, for more information.

28 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 6: Toolbar context menu and selection of visible toolbar icons

Rulers

The horizontal ruler across the top of the workspace is visible by default but the vertical ruler on the

left is hidden by default. To enable the vertical ruler, choose View > Rulers > Vertical Ruler from

the Menu bar, or choose Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > View. To quickly show or hide

both rulers, use the key combination Ctrl+Shift+R.

Tip

The horizontal ruler has a comments button on its right end; click this to quickly show

or hide any comments.

Status bar

The Writer status bar is located at the bottom of the workspace. It provides information about the

document and convenient ways to quickly change some document features. It can be hidden by

deselecting it in the View menu.

Figure 7: Left end of Status bar

Figure 8: Right end of Status bar

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 29

Page number

Shows the sequence number of the current page, the total number of pages in the document,

and the current page number (if different from the sequence number). For example, if page

numbering is restarted at 1 on the third page of a 6-page document, the sequence number is

3, the total number of pages is 6, and page number is 1, as shown in Figure 7.

If any bookmarks have been defined in the document, a right-click this field pops up a list of

bookmarks. Click a bookmark to be taken to that location in the document.

To jump to a specific page in the document, click this field. The Navigator opens (see “Using

the Navigator” on page 39). Click in the Page Number field in the Navigator, type the

sequence number of the required page, and press Enter.

Word and character count

The word and character counts of the document are shown in the status bar, and are

updated as you edit. If specific text is selected, the count for that selection will temporarily

replace the document total count.

By default, the character count includes spaces. To display the character count excluding

spaces, double-click the word count in the status bar, or choose Tools > Word Count.

You can also see the number of words and characters (and other information including the

number of pages, tables, and graphics) in the entire document in File > Properties >

Statistics.

Page style

Shows the page style of the current page. To change the page style, right-click this field. A list

of page styles pops up. Click one to select a different style. To edit the attributes of the

current page style, double-click this field. The Page Style dialog opens.

Caution

Changing the page style here may affect the styles of following pages, depending on

how the page styles are set up. See Chapters 8 and 9 for details about styles.

Text Language

Shows the language and localization used for spelling, hyphenation, and the thesaurus. It is

based on the position of the cursor or the selected text.

Click to open a menu where you can choose another language/localization for the selected

text or for the paragraph where the cursor is located. You can also choose None (Do not

check spelling) to exclude the text from a spelling check or Reset to default language.

Choosing More... opens the Character dialog. See Chapter 3, Working with Text: Basics, for

more information.

Insert mode

This area is blank when in Insert mode. Click to change to Overwrite mode; click again to

return to Insert mode. In Insert mode, any text after the cursor position moves forward to

make room for the text you type; in Overwrite mode, text after the cursor position is replaced

by the text you type. This feature is disabled when using Record Changes mode.

Selection mode

Click to choose different selection modes. The icon does not change, but when you hover the

mouse pointer over this field, a tooltip indicates which mode is active.

30 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

When you click in the field, a context menu displays the available options. See Chapter 3,

Working with text: Basic, for details.

Document changes status

This icon shows when the document has no unsaved changes. This icon or a similar

one shows when it has been edited and the changes have not been saved.

Digital signature

If the document has been digitally signed, an icon is displayed here; otherwise, it is blank.

Click here to sign the document or to view the existing certificate. See Chapter 8, Printing,

Exporting, E-Mailing, for more information.

Section or object information

When the cursor is in a section, heading, or list item, or when an object (such as a picture or

table) is selected, information about that item appears in this field. Double-clicking in this

area opens a relevant dialog.

Object Information shown Dialog opened

Image Size and position Image

List item Level and list style Bullets and Numbering1

Heading Outline numbering level Bullets and Numbering1

Table Name or number and cell reference of cursor Table Format

Section Name of section Edit Sections

Other (Blank) Fields

View layout

Click the corresponding icon to change between single page, side-by-side, and book layout

views (see Figure 9). You can edit the document in any view. Zoom settings interact with the

selected view layout and the window width to determine how many pages are visible in the

document window.

Figure 9: View layouts: single, side-by-side, book

Zoom

To change the view magnification, drag the Zoom slider, or click the + and − signs, or right-

click the zoom level percent to pop up a list of magnification values from which to choose.

Zoom interacts with the selected view layout to determine how many pages are visible in the

document window.

1 If a list style was used with a list item or heading, no dialog appears.

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 31

Context (right-click) menus

Context menus provide quick access to many menu functions. They are opened by right-clicking

on a paragraph, graphic, or other object. When a context menu opens, the functions or options

available will depend on the object that has been selected. This can be the easiest way to reach a

function, especially if you are not sure where the function is located in the menus or toolbars.

Dialogs

A dialog is a special type of window. Its purpose is to inform you of something, or request input

from you, or both. It provides controls for you to specify how to carry out an action.

In most cases, you can interact only with the dialog (not the document itself) as long as the dialog

remains open. When you close the dialog (usually, clicking OK or a similar button saves your

changes and closes the dialog; clicking Cancel closes the dialog without saving any changes),

then you can again work with the document.

Some dialogs can be left open as you work, so you can switch back and forth between the dialog

and your document. An example of this type is the Find & Replace dialog.

Document views

Writer has three ways to view and edit a document: Normal, Web, and Full Screen. To change the

view, go to the View menu and click the required view.

You can also choose View > Zoom > Zoom from the Menu bar to display the Zoom & View Layout

dialog, where you can set the same options as on the Status bar.

You can also use File > Print Preview to view the document, but this view does not allow editing.

See “Previewing pages before printing” in Chapter 7, Printing, Exporting, E-mailing.

Normal view

Normal view is the default view in Writer. It shows how the document will look when you print it or

create a PDF. In this view, you can use the Zoom slider and the View Layout icons on the Status

bar to change the magnification.

In Normal view, you can hide or show the headers and footers and the gap between pages. To hide

them, choose View > Hide Whitespace from the Menu bar. A check mark will appear next to the

option. When this option is activated, white space, headers, and footers are also hidden in Full

Screen view.

Web view

Web view shows how the document will look if viewed in a Web browser; this is useful when you

create HTML documents. In Web view, you can use only the Zoom slider. The View Layout icons

on the Status bar are disabled, and most of the choices on the Zoom & View Layout dialog are not

available.

Full Screen view

In this view, no toolbars or sidebar are displayed; the document takes up the full area available,

using the zoom and layout settings previously selected. To exit Full Screen view and return to

either Normal or Web view, press the Esc key or click the Full Screen icon on the floating toolbar

in the top left-hand corner. You can also use Ctrl+Shift+J to enter or exit Full Screen view.

32 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Starting a new document

You can start a new, blank document in Writer in several ways. If a document is already open in

LibreOffice, the new document opens in a new window.

From the Start Center

When LibreOffice is open but no document is open, the Start Center is shown. Click the Create:

Writer Document button to create a new text document, or click the Templates button to start a

new document using a template other than the default template.

Figure 10: LibreOffice Start Center

From the Quickstarter

When LibreOffice is installed on computers running Windows or Linux, a Quickstarter feature may

also be installed. Computers running macOS do not have a Quickstarter.

To use Quickstarter, right-click its icon in the system tray to open a pop-up menu (Figure 11). From

here, you can open an existing document, create a new document, or open the Templates dialog.

The default installation of LibreOffice does not set the Quickstarter to load automatically. To

activate it, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Memory on the Menu bar and select Load

LibreOffice during system start-up (if using Windows) or Enable systray Quickstarter (if using

Linux). Close and restart LibreOffice to have Quickstarter appear.

You can prevent Quickstarter from appearing by reversing this procedure, or by deselecting Load

LibreOffice during system start-up on the pop-up menu. To temporarily close Quickstarter, right-

click its icon in the system tray and select Exit Quickstarter.

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 33

Figure 11: Quickstarter pop-up menu

From the operating system menu

You can open the LibreOffice Start Center or the Writer component from the operating system

menu in the same way that you start other programs. When LibreOffice was installed on your

computer, in most cases a menu entry for each component was added to the system menu. On

macOS, the LibreOffice icon will be in the Applications folder. When you double-click this icon,

LibreOffice opens at the Start Center (Figure 10).

From the Menu bar, toolbar, or keyboard

When LibreOffice is open, you can also start a new Writer document in one of these ways.

•Press the Ctrl+N keys.

•Choose File > New > Text Document on the Menu bar.

•Click the New icon on the Standard toolbar.

From a template

A template is a set of predefined styles and settings that is used to create a new document.

Templates enable the easy creation of multiple documents with the same default settings. For

example, all the chapters of the Writer Guide are based on the same template. As a result, all the

chapters look alike; they have the same headers and footers, use the same fonts, and so on.

A new LibreOffice installation may contain only a few templates, but you can create your own or

download more from http://templates.libreoffice.org/ and other websites. See Chapter 10, Working

with Templates.

To open the Template dialog, where you can choose the template you want to use for creating your

document, do one of the following:

•Press the Ctrl+Shift+N keys.

•Choose File > Templates > Manage on the Menu bar.

•Choose File > New > Templates on the Menu bar.

•Click the arrow next to the New icon on the Standard toolbar and select Templates from

the drop-down list.

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The example shown in Figure 12 highlights a template in the Documents > My Templates folder.

Double-click the desired template to create a new document based on the that template. For more

about the Templates dialog, see Chapter 10, Working with Templates.

Figure 12: Creating a document from a template

Opening an existing document

You can open an existing document in several ways.

When no document is open:

•Click Open File or Remote files in the Start Center.

•Choose File > Open or File > Open Remote File on the Menu bar.

•Press Ctrl+O on the keyboard.

•Click the Open icon on the Standard toolbar.

•Double-click a thumbnail of recently opened documents displayed in the Start Center. You

can scroll up or down in the Start Center to locate a recently opened document.

If a document is already open:

•Click the Open icon on the Standard toolbar and select the additional document to be

opened from the Open dialog.

•Click the small triangle to the right of the Open icon and select from a list of recently

opened documents.

•Use File > Recent Documents to make a selection.

•Choose Open Document on the Quickstarter.

When using the Open dialog, navigate to the folder you want, select the file you want, then click

Open. If a document is already open in LibreOffice, the second document opens in a new window.

You can reduce the list of files in the Open dialog by selecting the type of file you are looking for.

For example, if you choose Text documents as the file type, you will only see documents Writer

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 35

can open (including .odt, .doc, .txt). This method opens Word (.doc and .docx) files as well as

LibreOffice files and other formats.

You can also open an existing Writer document using the same methods you would use to open

any document in your operating system.

If you have associated Microsoft Office file formats with LibreOffice, you can also open these files

by double-clicking on them. See the Help for more about file associations.

Saving a document

You can save a documents using either the Save commands or the Save as command.

Save commands

Save a new file or a previously-saved file

Do one of the following:

•Press Ctrl+S.

•Choose File > Save on the Menu bar.

•Click the Save icon on the Standard toolbar.

If the file has not been saved previously, a Save As dialog appears after selecting one of the above

options. Enter the file name, verify the file type and location, and click Save.

If a previously-saved file is being saved with the same file name, file type, and location, nothing

else needs to be done.

Save to a remote server

Use if your document is already stored on a remote server or you want to store it on a remote

server. Choose File > Save to Remote Server. When the Save As dialog appears, enter or verify

the name, type, and location, then click Save.

See “Opening and saving files on remote servers” on page 39 for more information.

Save a copy

Use if you want to keep the document open for more editing and also save a separate copy of the

current version.

Choose File > Save a Copy. When the Save As dialog appears, enter or verify the name, type,

and location, then click Save. The copy is not opened and the original file remains open and active.

Save all

Use to save all files open in the current session.

Choose File > Save All. All open files will be saved without changes to name, type, or location.

Save As command

Use if you want to save the current version as a new document by changing the file name or file

type, or by saving the file in a different location on your computer.

Choose File > Save As, or use Ctrl+Shift+S to open a Save As dialog where you can change the

file name, type, or location, and click Save.

If you want to preserve the original file, first save a copy as described above.

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Note

LibreOffice uses the term “export” for some file operations involving a change of file

type, such as PDF and ePub. See Chapter 7, Printing, Exporting, E-mailing, for more

information.

Saving a document automatically

You can choose to have Writer save your document automatically in a temporary file at regular

intervals. To set up automatic file saving:

1) Select Tools > Options > Load/Save > General. (See also Chapter 2, Setting up Writer.)

2) Click Save AutoRecovery information every and set the time interval. The default value

is 15 minutes. Enter the value you want by typing it or by pressing the up or down arrow

keys.

3) You may also wish to select Always create backup copy.

4) Click OK to save the changes.

Saving as a Microsoft Word document

To exchange files with users of Microsoft Word, you can save a document in a format such

as .DOCX.

1) Important: First save your document in the file format used by LibreOffice Writer, .odt. If you

do not, any changes you made since the last time you saved will only appear in the

Microsoft Word version of the document.

2) Then click File > Save As.

3) On the Save As dialog, in the File type (or Save as type) drop-down menu, select the type

of Word format you need. You may also choose to change the file name.

4) Click Save.

From this point on, all changes you make to the document will occur only in the new (Microsoft

Word) document. If you want to go back to working with the .odt version of your document, you

must open it again.

Tip

To have Writer save documents by default in the Microsoft Word file format, go to

Tools > Options > Load/Save > General. In the section named Default File Format

and ODF Settings, under Document type, select Text document, then under Always

save as, select your preferred file format.

Password protection

Writer provides two levels of document protection: read-protect (file cannot be viewed without a

password) and write-protect (file can be viewed in read-only mode but cannot be changed without

a password). Thus you can make the content available for reading by one group of people and for

reading and editing by a different group. This behavior is compatible with Microsoft Word file

protection.

To protect a document with passwords:

1) Use File > Save As when saving the document. (You can also use File > Save the first

time you save a new document.)

2) On the Save As dialog, select the Save with password option in the lower left corner, and

then click Save.

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 37

3) The Set Password dialog opens (Figure 13).

Figure 13: Two levels of password protection

Here you have several choices:

–To read-protect the document, type a password in the two fields at the top of the dialog.

–To write-protect the document, click the Options button and select Open file read-only

in the File Sharing Password section.

–To write-protect the document but allow selected people to edit it, select Open file read-

only and type a password in the two boxes at the bottom of the dialog.

4) Click OK to save the file. If either pair of passwords does not match, you receive an error

message. Close the message box to return to the Set Password dialog and enter the

password again.

Caution

LibreOffice uses a very strong encryption mechanism that makes it almost impossible

to recover the contents of a document if you lose the password.

Changing or removing the password for a document

When a document is password-protected, you can change or remove the password while the

document is open. Choose File > Properties > General and click the Change Password button.

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Opening and saving files on remote servers

LibreOffice can open and save files stored on remote servers (that is, not on your computer or local

area network). This feature enables you to work on a document in the office and still have access

to it from home or elsewhere. Storing files on a remote server also backs up documents, saving

data from computer loss or hard disk failure. Some servers are also able to check files in and out,

thus controlling their usage and access.

LibreOffice supports many document servers that use well-known network protocols such as FTP,

WebDav, Windows share, and SSH. It also supports popular services like Google Drive and

Microsoft OneNote, as well as commercial and open source servers that implement the OASIS

CMIS standard. For more information, see the Getting Started Guide.

Using the Navigator

Writer provides ways to move quickly through a document and find specific items by using the

many features of the Navigator, the Navigation toolbar, and related icons.

In the default installation of LibreOffice, the Navigator is part of the Sidebar. It lists all of the

headings, tables, text frames, graphics, bookmarks, and other objects contained in a document.

Figure 14: The Navigator in the Sidebar

To open the Navigator (Figure 14), do one of the following:

•Click the Navigator tab in the Tab bar on the right of the Sidebar.

•Double-click the Page number field on the status bar.

•Click the Navigator icon (if visible) on the Standard toolbar.

•Press F5.

•Choose View > Navigator on the Menu bar.

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 39

Click the + sign or triangle to the left of a category or subcategory to display the contents.
Table 2 summarizes the functions of the icons at the top of the Navigator.
Note
In a master document, the Navigator has different functions. See Chapter 16, Master 
Documents.
Table 2: Function of icons in the Navigator
1Navigation Opens the Navigation toolbar (see page 41).
2Previous, Next
Jumps to the previous or next item in the selected category (page, 
graphic, hyperlink, comment, and so on). To select the category of 
items, see “Using the Navigation toolbar” on page 41.
3Page number Jumps to the page sequence number shown in the box. Type the 
required page number or select it using the up and down arrows.
4Drag Mode Select Insert as Hyperlink, Link, or Copy. See “Choosing drag modes”
on page 43.
5Promote/Demote Chapter Move headings and text in the document. See “Rearranging 
headings and text using the Navigator” on page 42.
6Content Navigation View Switches between showing all categories and showing only the 
selected category.
7Set Reminder Inserts a reminder. See “Setting reminders” on page 42.
8Header/Footer Jumps between the text area and the header or footer area (if the 
page has them).
9Anchor <–> Text Jumps between a footnote anchor and the corresponding footnote 
text.
10 Heading Levels Shown Choose the number of heading levels to be shown.
11 Promote/Demote Level Quickly change heading levels in the document. See “Rearranging 
headings and text using the Navigator” on page 42.
Moving quickly through a document
The Navigator provides several convenient ways to move around a document and find items in it:
•To jump to a specific page in the document, type its sequence number in the box at the top 
of the Navigator and press Enter. The sequence number may be different from the page 
number if you have restarted numbering at any point.
•When a category is opened to show the list of items in it, double-click an item to jump 
directly to that item’s location in the document. For example, you can jump directly to a 
selected heading, graphic, or comment by using this method.
•To see the content in only one category, highlight that category and click the Content View 
icon. Click the icon again to display all the categories. You can also change the number of 
heading levels shown when viewing Headings.
•Use the Previous and Next icons to jump to other objects of the type selected in the 
Navigation toolbar. (See next page for details.)
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Note

A hidden section (or other hidden object) in a document appears gray in the Navigator,

and displays the word “hidden” as a tooltip. For more about hidden sections, see

Chapter 6, Formatting Pages: Advanced.

Tip

Objects are much easier to find if you give them identifying names when creating

them. By default, LibreOffice gives objects names such as Image1, Image2, Table1,

Table2, and so on. These names are assigned in the order in which the objects were

added to the document, which may not correspond to the location of the object in the

document.

You can rename objects after inserting them. For example, to rename an image, right-

click its name in the Navigator, choose Image from the context menu, then choose

Rename. The view jumps to the image (to show which one it is) and a small dialog

pops up. Type a new name for the image and click OK to save.

You can also right-click the image and select Properties. In the Image dialog, go to

the Options page, edit the name, and click OK.

Using the Navigation toolbar

To display the Navigation toolbar (Figure 15), click the Navigation icon (top left icon on the

Navigator, Figure 14) or the Navigate by icon on the Find toolbar.

The Navigation toolbar has icons for all the object types shown in the Navigator, plus some extras

(for example, the results of a Find command). See Table 3.

Figure 15: Navigation toolbar

Table 3: Icons in Navigation toolbar

1 Table 6 Headings 11 Section 16 Repeat search

2 Text Frame 7 Reminder 12 Bookmark 17 Index entry

3 Graphics 8 Drawing 13 Selection 18 Table formula

4 OLE Object 9 [Form] Control 14 Footnote 19 Wrong table formula

5 Page 10 Previous [Object] 15 Comment 20 Next [Object]

Click an icon to select that category of object (such as an image). Now the Previous and Next

icons (in the Navigator itself, in the Navigation toolbar, and on the Find toolbar) will jump to the

previous or next occurrence of the selected type of object. This is particularly helpful for finding

items like index entries, which can be difficult to see in the text. The names of the Previous and

Next icons (shown in the tooltips) change to match the selected category; for example, Next

Graphic, Next Bookmark, or Continue search forward.

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 41

Rearranging headings and text using the Navigator

You can move headings and their associated text to another location in the document by doing the

following:

1) If necessary, click the expansion symbol (+ sign or arrow) to the left of a heading to expand

the list of subheadings.

2) (Optional) If you have several subheading levels, you can more easily find the headings

you want by changing the Heading Levels Shown selection to show only 1 or 2 levels of

headings.

3) Click the heading of the block of text that you want to move and drag the heading to a new

location on the Navigator. Or, click the heading in the Navigator list, and then click either the

Promote Chapter or Demote Chapter icon. All of the text and subsections under the

selected heading with it move up or down in the document.

To move only the selected heading and not the text associated with the heading, hold down Ctrl,

and then click the Promote Chapter or Demote Chapter icon.

Tip

The names Promote Chapter and Demote Chapter can be misleading. They might

be better described as Move Up or Move Down (within the document, without

changing the heading level) to distinguish them more clearly from Promote Level and

Demote Level, which change the heading level—from Level 1 to Level 2, for example.

To quickly change the outline level of a heading:

•To change the outline level of a heading and its associated subheadings, select the heading

in the Navigator, then click either the Promote Level or Demote Level icon. This action

does not change the location of the headings, only their levels.

•To change the outline level of only the selected heading, but not its associated

subheadings, hold down Ctrl, and then click the Promote Level or Demote Level button.

Note

Users of Microsoft Word will notice the similarity between this functionality and Word's

Outline View.

Setting reminders

Reminders let you mark places in your document that you want to return to later on, for example to

add or correct information or simply mark where you finished editing. The possible uses of

reminders are limited only by your imagination.

To set a reminder at the cursor’s current location, click the Set Reminder icon in the Navigator.

You can set up to 5 reminders in a document; setting a sixth causes the first to be deleted.

Reminders are not highlighted in any way in the document, nor are they listed in the Navigator, so

you cannot see where they are, except that when you jump from one to the next, the location of the

cursor shows the location of the reminder.

To jump between reminders, first select the Reminder icon on the Navigation toolbar. Then click

the Previous and Next icons. Reminders are not saved with the document.

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Choosing drag modes

You can insert items such as other documents and images using the Navigator’s drag and drop

modes. Choose one of the following from the drop-down menu of the Drag Mode icon. Then select

the item and move it to where it should be inserted.

Insert As Hyperlink

Hyperlinks the entire item.

Insert As Link

Links the copied item to the original item so that when the original item is changed, that

change will be reflected in the current document. By contrast, the copied item is protected

and cannot be changed directly in the document. Note that you cannot create links for

graphics, OLE objects, references, or indexes using this method.

Insert As Copy

Inserts a copy of the selected item.

Undoing and redoing changes

To undo the most recent change in a document, press Ctrl+Z, choose Edit > Undo on the Menu

bar, or click the Undo icon on the Standard toolbar. To get a list of all the changes that can be

undone, click the small triangle to the right of the Undo icon on the Standard toolbar. You can

select several sequential changes on the list and undo them at the same time.

Figure 16: List of actions that can be undone

After changes have been undone, Redo becomes active. To redo a change, select Edit > Redo, or

press Ctrl+Y or click the Redo icon on the Standard toolbar. As with Undo, click the down

arrow icon of the combination icon to get a list of the changes that can be restored.

Reloading a document

You may want to discard all the changes made in an editing session since the last time you saved

it. Undoing each change or remembering where the changes took place can be difficult. If you are

sure you do not want to keep the changes from the last time the document was saved, you can

reload the document.

To reload a document, go to File > Reload on the Menu bar. A confirmation dialog asks if you want

to cancel all changes; choose Yes to return the document to the version that was last saved.

Chapter 1 Introducing Writer | 43

Closing a document

If only one document is open and you want to close that document, go to File > Close on the

Menu bar or click the X on the Title bar. The X may be located on either the right or left end of the

Title bar.

If more than one document is open and you want to close one of them, go to File > Close on the

Menu bar or click the X on the Menu bar of that document’s window. When only the last document

is open, the X on the Menu bar disappears.

If the document has not been saved since the last change, a message box is displayed. Choose

whether to save or discard changes.

Closing LibreOffice

To close LibreOffice completely, go to File > Exit on the menu bar in Windows and Linux operating

systems. In a macOS operating system, go to LibreOffice > Quit LibreOffice on the Menu bar.

In Windows and Linux, when you close the last document using the X on the Title bar of the

window, then LibreOffice will close completely. MacOS does not have this function.

You can also use a keyboard shortcut:

•In Windows and Linux – Ctrl+Q

•In macOS – Command ⌘+Q

If any documents have not been saved since the last change, a message box is displayed. Choose

whether to save or discard your changes.

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Chapter 2

Working with Text: Basics

Introduction

This chapter covers the basics of working with text in Writer. It assumes that you are familiar with

the use of a mouse and keyboard and that you have read about Writer’s menus and toolbars and

other topics covered in Chapter 1, Introducing Writer.

We recommend that you also display formatting aids, such as end-of-paragraph marks, tabs,

breaks, and other items in Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Formatting Aids. See Chapter

20, Setting up Writer, for more information.

When you have read this chapter, you should know how to:

•Select, cut, copy, paste, and move text.

•Find and replace text.

•Insert special characters.

•Check spelling and grammar, use the thesaurus, and choose hyphenation options.

•Use the autocorrection, word completion, autotext, and case-changing features.

See Chapter 3 for more tools and techniques for working with text and Chapter 4 for methods of

formatting text.

Selecting text

Selecting text in Writer is similar to selecting text in other applications. You can swipe the mouse

cursor over text or use multiple clicks to select a word (double-click), sentence (triple-click), or

paragraph (quadruple-click).

You can also click in the text, press F8 to enter “Extending selection” mode, and then use the

arrow keys on your keyboard to select a contiguous block of text.

In addition to selecting blocks of text, you can select items that are not consecutive, and columns

(vertical blocks) of text.

One way to change selection modes is to use the icon on the Status bar (see Chapter 1). When

you click the icon, a context menu displays the available options: Standard selection, Extending

selection (F8), Adding selection (Shift+F8), and Block selection (Ctrl+Shift+F8).

Selecting items that are not consecutive

To select nonconsecutive items (as shown in Figure 17) using the mouse:

1) Select the first piece of text.

2) Hold down the Ctrl key and use the mouse to select the next piece of text.

3) Repeat as often as needed.

To select nonconsecutive items using the keyboard:

1) Select the first piece of text. (For more information about keyboard selection of text, see the

topic “Navigating and Selecting with the Keyboard” in the LibreOffice Help (F1).)

2) Press Shift+F8. This puts Writer in “Adding selection” mode.

3) Use the arrow keys to move to the start of the next piece of text to be selected. Hold down

the Shift key and select the next piece of text.

4) Repeat as often as required.

Now you can work with the selected text.

Press Esc to exit from this mode.

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Figure 17: Selecting items that are not next to each other

Selecting a vertical block of text

You can select a vertical block or column of text that is separated by spaces or tabs (as you might

see in text pasted from e-mails, program listings, or other sources), using LibreOffice’s block

selection mode. To change to block selection mode, use Edit > Selection Mode > Block Area, or

press Ctrl+F8, or click the Selection icon in the status bar and select Block selection from the list.

Now you can highlight the selection, using mouse or keyboard, as shown in Figure 18.

Figure 18: Selecting a vertical block of text

Cutting, copying, and pasting text

Cutting and copying text in Writer is similar to cutting and copying text in other applications. You

can copy or move text within a document, or between documents, by dragging or by using menu

selections, icons, or keyboard shortcuts. You can also copy text from other sources such as Web

pages and paste it into a Writer document.

To move (drag and drop) selected text using the mouse, drag it to the new location and release it;

the cursor changes shape while dragging. To copy selected text, hold down the Ctrl key while

dragging. The text retains the formatting it had before dragging.

To move (cut and paste) selected text, use Ctrl+X to cut the text, insert the cursor at the paste-in

point and use Ctrl+V to paste. Alternatively, use the buttons on the Standard toolbar.

When you paste text, the result depends on the source of the text and how you paste it. If you click

the Paste button, then the pasted text keeps its original formatting (such as bold or italics). Text

Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics | 47

pasted from Web sites and other sources may be placed automatically into frames or tables as part

of the format when you paste. If you do not like the results, click the Undo button or press Ctrl+Z.

To make the pasted text inherit the paragraph style at the insertion point:

•Choose Edit > Paste Special, or

•Click the arrow on the combination Paste button, or

•Click the Paste button without releasing the left mouse button.

Then select Unformatted text from the resulting menu.

The range of choices on the Paste Special menu varies depending on the origin and formatting of

the text (or other object) to be pasted. See Figure 19 for an example with text on the clipboard.

Figure 19: Paste Special menu

Finding and replacing text

Writer has two ways to find text within a document: the Find toolbar for fast searching and the Find

& Replace dialog. In the dialog, you can:

•Find and replace words and phrases.

•Use wildcards and regular expressions to fine-tune a search (see Chapter 3).

•Find and replace specific attributes or formatting (see Chapter 3).

•Find and replace paragraph styles (see Chapter 3).

Using the Find toolbar

By default, the Find toolbar is shown docked at the bottom of the LibreOffice window (just above

the Status Bar) in Figure 20, but you can float it or dock it in another location. For more information

on floating and docking toolbars, see Chapter 1, Introducing Writer. If the Find toolbar is not visible,

you can display it by choosing View > Toolbars > Find from the Menu bar or by pressing Ctrl+F.

Figure 20: Docked position of Find toolbar

To use the Find toolbar, click in the text input box and type your search text, then press Enter to

find the next occurrence of that term from the current cursor position. Click the Find Next or Find

Previous buttons as needed.

Click the Find All button to select all instances of the search term within the document. Select

Match Case to find only the instances that exactly match the use of upper and lower case letters in

the search term. Click the icon next to Match Case ( ) to open the Find & Replace dialog.

48 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Click the Navigate by button to open the Navigator and the Navigation toolbar; see Chapter 1.

To close the Find toolbar, click the X button on the left, or press Esc on the keyboard when the text

cursor is in the search box. Ctrl+F toggles the Find toolbar off and on.

Using the Find & Replace dialog

To display the Find & Replace dialog, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+H, or choose Edit > Find &

Replace from the Menu bar, or click the Find & Replace button ( ) on the Find toolbar. When

the dialog is open, optionally click Other Options to expand it (see Figure 21). Extra options are

shown automatically when CTL or Asian languages have been selected in Tools > Options >

Language Settings > Languages.

Figure 21: Expanded Find & Replace dialog

To use the Find & Replace dialog:

1) Type the text you want to find in the Find box.

2) To replace the text with different text, type the new text in the Replace box.

3) You can select various options, such as matching the case or matching whole words only.

The other options include searching only in selected text, searching from the current cursor

position backwards toward the beginning of the document, searching for similar words, and

searching in comments.

The use of other options is described in Chapter 3.

4) When you have set up your search, click Find Next. As the document view moves to each

found instance, replace the text by clicking Replace.

Tip

If you click Find All, Writer selects all instances of the search text in the document.

Similarly, if you click Replace All, Writer replaces all matches, without stopping for you

to accept each instance.

Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics | 49

Caution

Use Replace All with caution; otherwise, you may end up with some highly

embarrassing (and hilarious) mistakes. A mistake with Replace All might require a

manual, word-by-word, search to fix.

Inserting special characters

A special character is one not found on a basic English keyboard. For example, © ¾ æ ç Ł ñ ö ø ¢

are all special characters. To insert one or more special characters:

1) Place the cursor in the document where you want the characters to appear.

2) Click Insert > Special Character or click the Special Character icon in the main toolbar to

open the Special Characters dialog (Figure 22).

3) Double-click the characters (from any font or mixture of fonts) you wish to insert, in order;

they appear in the document as you select them. The selected characters are also added to

the Recent Characters list on the lower left of the dialog.

Tips

To view details of a character, single-click it; it is then shown on the right, along with its

numerical codes.

To insert a character and leave the dialog open, double-click the character. To insert a

character and close the dialog, click it and then click the Insert button.

Different fonts include different special characters. If you do not find a particular

special character you want, try changing the Font selection.

Figure 22: The Special Characters dialog, where you can insert special characters

50 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Inserting non-breaking spaces and hyphens

Non-breaking spaces

To prevent two words from being separated at the end of a line, press Ctrl+Shift when you

type the space between the two words.

Non-breaking hyphen

You can use a non-breaking hyphen in cases where you do not want the hyphen to appear at

the end of a line, for example in a number such as 123-4567. To insert a non-breaking

hyphen, press Shift+Ctrl+minus sign.

These are also available through Insert > Formatting Mark.

Inserting en and em dashes

To enter en and em dashes as you type, you can use the Replace dashes option on the Options

page under Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoCorrect Options. This option replaces two hyphens,

under certain conditions, with the corresponding dash.

– is an en-dash; that is, a dash the width of the letter “n” in the font you are using. Type at least

one character, a space, one or two hyphens, another space, and at least one more letter. The

one or two hyphens will be replaced by an en-dash.

— is an em-dash; that is, a dash the width of the letter “m” in the font you are using. Type at least

one character, two hyphens, and at least one more character. The two hyphens will be

replaced by an em-dash. Exception: if the characters are numbers, as in a date or time range,

the two hyphens are replaced by an en-dash.

In Table 4, the A and B represent text consisting of letters A to z or digits 0 to 9.

Table 4: Inserting dashes

Text that you type Result

A - B (A, space, hyphen, space, B) A – B (A, space, en dash, space, B)

A -- B (A, space, hyphen, hyphen, space, B) A – B (A, space, en dash, space, B)

A--B (A, hyphen, hyphen, B) A—B (A, em dash, B)

1--2 (number, hyphen, hyphen, number) 1–2 (number, en dash, number)

A-B (A, hyphen, B) A-B (unchanged)

A -B (A, space, hyphen, B) A -B (unchanged)

A --B (A, space, hyphen, hyphen, B) A –B (A, space, en dash, B)

Another means of inserting en and em dashes is through the Insert > Special Characters menu.

Select the U+2013 or U+2014 character (found in the General punctuation subset), respectively.

A third method uses keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts vary depending on your operating

system, as described below.

Tip

You can also record macros to insert en and em dashes and assign those macros to

unused key combinations, for example Ctrl+Shift+N and Ctrl+Shift+M. For more

information, see Chapter 21, Customizing Writer.

macOS

For an en dash, hold down the Option (Alt) key and type a hyphen. For an em dash, the

combination is Shift+Option+Hyphen.

Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics | 51

Windows

On most non-Asian installations of Windows, hold down one of the Alt keys and type on the

numeric keypad: 0150 for an en dash or 0151 for an em dash. The dash appears when you

release the Alt key.

Tip

On a keyboard with no numeric keypad, use a Fn (Function) key combination to type

the numbers. (The Fn key is usually to the right of the left-hand Ctrl key on the

keyboard.)

For example, on a US keyboard layout, the combination for an en dash should be

Alt+Fn+mjim and for an em dash it should be Alt+Fn+mjij.

Linux

Hold down the Compose key and type two hyphens and a period for an en dash, or three

hyphens for an em dash. The dash appears when you release the Compose key.

Tip

The key that operates as a Compose key varies with the Linux distribution. It is usually

one of the Alt or Win keys, but may be another key, and should be user-selectable.

Checking spelling and grammar

Spelling

Writer provides a spelling checker, which checks to see if each word in the document is in the

installed dictionary. Also provided is a grammar checker, which can be used separately or in

combination with the spelling checker.

Automatic Spell Checking checks each word as it is typed and displays a wavy red line under

any unrecognized words. Right-click an unrecognized word to open a context menu (Figure 23).

You can click one of the suggested words to replace the underlined word with the one selected. If

the list does not contain the word you want, click Spelling and Grammar to open a dialog. When

the word is corrected, the line disappears.

Figure 23: Spelling context menu

To enable automatic checking, go to Tools on the Menu bar and select Automatic Spell

Checking. It can also be enabled from the Standard Toolbar by clicking the Automatic Spell

Checking icon (which may not be displayed on a default toolbar), or from Tools > Options >

Language Settings > Writing Aids and selecting Check spelling as you type in the Options list.

If the document has change tracking enabled, then the context menu contains extra options

relating to changes in the text.

52 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

The choices in the second and third sections of the menu are:

Ignore

This one instance of the underlined word will be ignored while the document is open. Other

instances, if they exist, will still be underlined. This setting is not stored with the document.

Ignore All

All instances of the word in the document will be ignored, and the word will be added to the

IgnoreAllList user-defined dictionary.

Add to Dictionary

The word is added by default to the Standard dictionary.

Spelling and Grammar

This opens the Spelling and Grammar checker. See the explanations for this below.

Always correct to

Selecting this opens the submenu, which repeats the suggestions for the word from the top

section listing. Selecting a replacement word here stores the word pair in the replacement

table under Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoCorrect Options > Replacement. The underlined

word is replaced with the selected word.

AutoCorrect Options

Opens the AutoCorrect Options dialog (see page 60), where you can add your own

corrections or change those supplied with LibreOffice.

In the fourth section of the context menu, you can set language settings for the text. These settings

can be applied to the selection, or to the paragraph containing the selection.

Spelling and grammar

To perform a combined spelling and grammar check on the document (or a text selection), select

Tools > Spelling and Grammar, or click the Spelling and Grammar button on the Standard

toolbar, or press F7. In order to use this feature, the appropriate dictionaries must be installed.

The Spelling and Grammar tool checks either the document from the cursor point onwards, or the

text selection. It opens the Spelling and Grammar dialog (Figure 24) if any unrecognized words are

found, or if any of the built-in grammar rules are broken. You can choose to restart from the

beginning of the document when the check reaches the end of the document.

Figure 24: Spelling alert using the Spelling and Grammar dialog

Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics | 53

The elements of the Spelling and Grammar dialog are as follows.

Text language

The language to be used for the spelling and grammar checking can be selected from this

list. If the spell check is enabled for this language, a check mark is displayed in front of it.

Not in dictionary

The sentence containing the error is displayed in the pane. If an unrecognized word is found,

it is highlighted.

If the error is grammatical, then it is indicated in a pale colored bar below the Text language

setting (Figure 26). The sentence or the word can be edited in the pane.

Suggestions

The box contains suggested replacements for the highlighted word. Select a word and then

select Correct or Correct All to replace it.

For grammatical errors there is no multiple choice. Select Change to accept the suggestion.

Ignore Once, Ignore All, and Add to Dictionary

Clicking one of these buttons has the same effect as the item in the context menu described

above.

Ignore Rule

When checking grammar, you can choose to ignore the suggested change.

Correct

Replaces the unknown word with the suggested word. If the sentence was edited, the whole

sentence is changed.

For grammar, the suggested replacement is used to correct the text.

Correct All

This replaces all instances of the word with the selected replacement word. Not available for

grammar checking.

Always Correct

This behaves in a similar fashion to AutoCorrect described above.

Undo

This button is enabled when a change has been made to the sentence, so you can reverse

the change. The button is not available if you use a Correct button to replace a word.

Options

Click this to open the Options dialog where you can select user-defined dictionaries and set

the spell checking rules.

Grammar

By default, Check grammar as you type is enabled in Tools > Options > Language Settings >

Writing Aids > Options. Automatic Spell Checking must be enabled for this to work.

If any errors are detected, they are shown underlined by a wavy blue line. Right-clicking on this line

brings up a context menu which may be similar to one of those shown in Figure 25.

The first entry in the menu describes the suspected broken grammatical rule.

The second menu item in the left example is Explanations, which opens your browser to a web

page offering more information about the error. This entry is not always present in the context

menu, as seen in the right example.

In the second section of the menu is the suggested correction. Clicking this changes the text to the

suggestion. The example to the right appears blank, but clicking here removes the extra space

causing the error.

54 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 25: Typical context menus for suspected grammar errors

In the third section of the menu you can choose to ignore the indicated error, or to open the

Spelling and Grammar checker, shown in Figure 26. The example displays the URL that will take

you to more information on the error indicated.

In the final section of the menu, you can set the language for the selection or the paragraph.

Figure 26: Dialog showing the URL for expanded explanation

English sentence checking

Additional grammar checking rules can be selected through Tools > Options > Language

Settings > English sentence checking, or through Tools > Extension Manager > English

spelling dictionaries > Options.

On the Language Settings > English sentence checking page, you can choose which items are

checked for, reported to you, or converted automatically. Select which of the optional features you

wish to check.

After selecting the additional grammar checks, you must restart LibreOffice, or reload the

document, for them to take effect.

Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics | 55

Figure 27: Additional grammar checking options

Grammar checking

Possible mistakes

Checks for errors such as with it's, he don't, this things and so on.

Capitalization

Checks for the capitalization of sentences.

Word duplication

Checks for all word duplication, rather than just the default words 'and', 'or', 'for' and 'the'.

Parentheses

Checks for correct pairing of parentheses and quotation marks.

Punctuation

Word spacing

This option is selected by default. It checks for single spaces between words, indicating

instances of double or triple spaces. To find and correct longer groups of spaces, you need to

run the checker more than once.

Sentence spacing

Checks for a single space between sentences, indicating when one or two extra spaces are

found.

More spaces

Checks word and sentence spacing for more than two extra spaces.

Em dash; En dash

These options force a non-spaced em dash to replace a spaced en dash, or force a spaced

en dash to replace a non-spaced em dash, respectively. This feature provides for different

punctuation conventions.

Quotation marks

This checks that double quotation marks are typographically correct—that is, beginning [“]

and ending [”] quotation marks curve in the correct directions.

Multiplication sign

This option is selected by default. It replaces an 'x' used as a multiplication symbol with the

correct typographical symbol.

Apostrophe

Replaces an apostrophe with the correct (curved) typographical character.

56 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Ellipsis

Replaces three consecutive periods (full stops) with the correct typographical symbol.

Minus sign

Replaces a hyphen with the correct minus typographical character.

Others

Convert to metric; Convert to non-metric

Converts quantities in a given type of unit to quantities in the other type of unit.

Thousands separation of large numbers

Depending on the locale setting for the document, converts a number with five or more

significant digits to either use a comma as a thousands separator or the ISO format, which

uses a narrow space as a separator.

Using synonyms and the thesaurus

You can access a short list of synonyms from a context menu (Figure 28).

1) Right-click a word and point to Synonyms on the context menu. A submenu of alternative

words and phrases is displayed.

2) Click a word or phrase in the submenu to have it replace the highlighted word or phrase in

the document.

Figure 28: Synonyms on the context menu

The thesaurus gives a more extensive list of alternative words and phrases. To use the thesaurus:

1) Right-click a word, point to Synonyms in the content menu, then click Thesaurus from the

Synonyms submenu.

2) In the Thesaurus dialog (shown in Figure 29), click a word or phrase n the list of meanings

to select it.

3) Click Replace to make the substitution.

For example, when given the word house, the thesaurus offers several meanings, including

dwelling, legislature, sign of the zodiac, and others. Select a replacement word from the list under

the relevant meaning, so for dwelling, you will see dwelling, home, domicile, abode, and other

alternatives.

Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics | 57

Note

If the current language does not have a thesaurus installed, this feature is disabled.

Figure 29: The thesaurus offers alternatives to words

Hyphenating words

You have several choices regarding hyphenation: let Writer do it automatically (using its

hyphenation dictionaries), insert conditional hyphens manually where necessary, or don’t

hyphenate at all. Each choice has its pros and cons.

Automatic hyphenation

This option over-rides the Tools > Options choices.

To turn automatic hyphenation of words on or off:

1) Click the Styles and Formatting tab in the Sidebar to open the Styles and Formatting

deck. On the Paragraph Styles page, right-click Default Style and select Modify.

Figure 30: Modifying a paragraph style

58 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

2) On the Paragraph Style dialog, select the Text Flow tab.

Figure 31: Turning on automatic hyphenation

3) Under Hyphenation, select or deselect the Automatically option.

4) Click OK to save.

Note

Turning on hyphenation for the Default Style paragraph style affects all other

paragraph styles that are based on Default Style. You can individually change other

styles so that hyphenation is not active; for example, you might not want headings to

be hyphenated. Any styles that are not based on Default Style are not affected. For

more on paragraph styles, see Chapters 8 and 9 in this book.

You can also set hyphenation choices through Tools > Options > Language Settings > Writing

Aids. In Options, near the bottom of the dialog, scroll down to find the hyphenation settings.

Figure 32: Setting hyphenation options

To change the minimum number of characters for hyphenation, or the minimum number of

characters before or after a line break, select the item, and then click the Edit button in the Options

section.

Hyphenate without inquiry

Specifies that you will never be asked to manually hyphenate words that the hyphenation

dictionary does not recognize. If this box is not selected, when a word is not recognized, a

dialog will open where you can manually enter hyphens.

Hyphenate special regions

Specifies that hyphenation will also be carried out in footnotes, headers, and footers.

Hyphenation options set in the Writing Aids dialog are effective only if hyphenation is turned on

through paragraph styles.

Manual hyphenation

To manually hyphenate words, do not use a normal hyphen, which will remain visible even if the

word is no longer at the end of a line when you add or delete text or change margins or font size.

Instead, use a conditional hyphen, which is visible only when required.

To insert a conditional hyphen inside a word, click where you want the hyphen to appear and press

Ctrl+hyphen or use Insert > Formatting Mark > Optional hyphen. The word will be hyphenated

at this position when it is at the end of the line, even if automatic hyphenation for this paragraph is

switched off.

Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics | 59

Using AutoCorrect

Writer’s AutoCorrect function includes a long list of common misspellings and typing errors, which it

corrects automatically. For example, “hte” will be changed to “the”. It also includes codes for

inserting special characters, emoji, and other symbols..

AutoCorrect is turned on when Writer is installed. You may wish to disable some of its features,

modify others, or turn it off completely.

You can add your own corrections or special characters or change those supplied with LibreOffice.

Select Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoCorrect Options to open the AutoCorrect dialog. On the

Replace tab, you can define what strings of text are corrected and how.

To stop Writer replacing a specific spelling, go to the Replace tab, highlight the word pair, and click

Delete. To add a new spelling to the list, type it into the Replace and With boxes on the Replace

tab, and click New.

To turn AutoCorrect off, uncheck Tools > AutoCorrect > While Typing.

Figure 33: Replace tab of AutoCorrect dialog

See Chapter 4, Formatting Text: Basics, for discussion of the Options and Localized Options pages

of the dialog.

Using Word Completion

If Word Completion is enabled, Writer tries to guess which word you are typing and offers to

complete the word for you. To accept the suggestion, press Enter. Otherwise, continue typing.

To turn off Word Completion, select Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoCorrect Options > Word

Completion and deselect Enable word completion.

60 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 34: Customizing word completion

You can customize word completion from the Word Completion page of the AutoCorrect dialog

(Figure 34):

•Add (append) a space automatically after an accepted word.

•Show the suggested word as a tip (hovering over the word) rather than completing the text

as you type.

•Collect words when working on a document, and then either save them for later use in

other documents or select the option to remove them from the list when closing the

document.

•Change the maximum number of words remembered for word completion and the length of

the smallest words to be remembered.

•Delete specific entries from the word completion list.

•Change the key that accepts a suggested entry; the options are right arrow, End key, Enter

(Return), Space bar, and Tab.

Note

Automatic word completion occurs only after you type a word for the second time in a

document.

Using AutoText

Use AutoText to store text, tables, fields, graphics, and other items for reuse and assign them to a

key combination for easy retrieval. For example, rather than typing “Senior Management” every

time you use that phrase, you can set up an AutoText entry to insert those words when you type

“sm” and press F3.

Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics | 61

AutoText is especially powerful when assigned to fields. For more information, see Chapter 17,

Fields.

Creating AutoText

To store some text as AutoText:

1) Type the text into your document.

2) Select the text.

3) Go to Tools > AutoText (or press Ctrl+F3).

4) In the AutoText dialog (Figure 35), type a name for the AutoText in the Name box. Writer will

suggest a one-letter shortcut, which you can change.

5) Choose the category for the AutoText entry, for example My AutoText.

6) Click the AutoText button at the bottom of the dialog and select from the menu either New

(to have the AutoText retain specific formatting, no matter where it is inserted) or New (text

only) (to have the AutoText take on the existing formatting around the insertion point).

7) Click Close to return to your document.

Tip

If the only option under the AutoText button is Import, either you have not entered a

name for your AutoText or there is no text selected in the document.

Figure 35: Defining a new AutoText entry

To save a table as AutoText:

1) Create a table and format it the way you want.

2) Select the table.

3) Go to Tools > AutoText (or press Ctrl+F3).

4) Type a name for the AutoText, optionally amend the suggested shortcut, and choose the

category for the AutoText entry.

62 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

5) Click the AutoText button and select New (because you want the formatting of the table

preserved).

6) Click Close to return to your document.

Inserting AutoText

To insert AutoText, type the shortcut and press F3.

Printing a list of AutoText entries

To print a list of AutoText entries:

1) Choose Tools > Macros > Organize Macros > LibreOffice Basic.

2) In the Macro from list, expand Gimmicks.

3) Select AutoText and then click Run. A list of the current AutoText entries is generated in a

separate text document. You can then print this document.

Changing the case of selected text

To quickly change the case of text, select it, choose Format > Text from the Menu bar, and then

choose one of the following:

•UPPER CASE, where all letters are capitalized.

•lower case, where no words (except proper nouns) are capitalized.

•Cycle Case, which cycles the selected words through upper case, lower case, and

capitalize every word.

•Sentence case, where only the first word is capitalized (together with any proper nouns).

•Capitalize Every Word, where every word is capitalized.

•tOGGLE cASE, which changes every letter to the opposite case.

There are also several options that are used with Asian text. These are not strictly “case” changes,

but are lumped together in the broader sense of replacing characters with different forms of the

same letter. These options are hidden when Asian language support is not enabled.

Chapter 2 Working with Text: Basics | 63

Writer does not have an automated way to do Title Case, where all words are capitalized except for

certain subsets defined by rules that are not universally standardized. To achieve this affect, you

can use Capitalize Every Word and then restore those words that were incorrectly capitalized.

You can also change the case of text using the Character dialog or a character style. Choose

Format > Character, click the Font Effects tab, then select the type of capitalization in the Effects

box. Capitals capitalizes all letters. Title capitalizes the first letter of each word. Small capitals

capitalizes all letters, but in a reduced font size.

Note

The Format > Text menu also includes several manual formatting options, incuding

bold, italics, superscript, and others. These are discussed elsewhere in this book.

64 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Chapter 3

Working with Text: Advanced

Introduction

This chapter covers the more advanced tools for working with text in Writer:

•The built-in language tools

•Advanced find-and-replace techniques, including wildcards

•Track changes and insert comments

•Footnotes and endnotes

•Linking to other parts of a document

•Line numbering

This chapter assumes that you are familiar with the basic text techniques described in Chapter 2,

Working with Text: Basics. We recommend that you also display formatting aids, such as end-of-

paragraph marks, tabs, breaks, and other items in Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer >

Formatting Aids.

For information on formatting text (characters, paragraphs, lists), see Chapter 4.

Using built-in language tools

Writer provides some tools that make your work easier if you mix multiple languages within the

same document or if you write documents in various languages:

•Paragraph and character styles

•The functions in Tools > Language

•Language settings in Options

•The functions available on the status bar

The main advantage of changing the language for a text selection is that you can then use the

correct dictionaries to check spelling and apply the localized versions of AutoCorrect replacement

tables, thesaurus, and hyphenation rules. A grammar checking dictionary may also be available for

the selected language.

You can also set the language for a paragraph or a group of characters as None (Do not check

spelling). This option is especially useful when you insert text such as web addresses or

programming language snippets that you do not want to check for spelling.

Using paragraph and character styles

Changing the language on the Font tab of the Paragraph Styles dialog (Figure 36) will change the

language for all paragraphs that use that paragraph style. If you will have whole paragraphs in

different languages in a single document, you can use a different paragraph style for each

language. For example, you might define Text Body-EN and Text Body-FR in a document

containing paragraphs in both English and French

You can also set certain paragraphs to be checked in a language that is different from the

language of the rest of the document by putting the cursor in the paragraph and changing the

language on the Task Bar.

See Chapter 9, Working with Styles, for information on how to manage the language settings of a

style.

66 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 36: Setting the language for a paragraph style

Using Tools > Language

You can set the language for the whole document, for individual paragraphs, or even for individual

words and characters, from Tools > Language on the Menu bar.

•For Selection applies a specified language to the selected text. If the language you wish to

apply is not listed in the submenu, choose More... to open the Character dialog.

•For Paragraph applies the specified language to the paragraph where the cursor is

located. If the language you wish to apply is not listed in the submenu, choose More...

•For all Text applies the specified language to all of the document, including text inserted

after making the change. If the language you wish to apply is not listed in the submenu,

choose More...

•More... opens the Character dialog, where you can select the required language on the

Font tab. After a language has been applied to a selection or paragraph in the document,

that language appears on the submenus for selections, paragraphs, and all text.

The Reset to Default Language option on the submenu is the fastest way to return a selection,

paragraph, or all text to the default language set in Tools > Options (described below).

Using language settings in Options

Another way to change the language of a whole document is to use Tools > Options > Language

Settings > Languages. In the Default languages for documents section (Figure 37), you can

choose a different language for all the text that is not explicitly marked as a different language.

Chapter 3 Working with Text: Advanced | 67

Caution

A change in the default language from the Options dialog is a general change of

settings of LibreOffice and will therefore apply to all the documents created in the

future. If you want to change the language for the current document only, be sure to

select the For the current document only option (see Figure 37).

Figure 37: Options available in the Languages settings

Note

The spelling checker works only for those languages in the list that have a checkmark

symbol next to them. If you do not see this symbol next to your preferred language,

you can install the dictionary using Tools > Language > More dictionaries online.

Using the status bar

The language used for checking spelling is also shown in the status bar, next to the page style in

use. You can change the language for the paragraph or the entire document; click the language in

the status bar to pop up a menu of choices.

Figure 38: Language choices on the status bar

The Reset to Default Language option on the menu and submenu is the fastest way to return a

paragraph or the entire document to the default language set in Tools > Options (described

above).

Advanced find and replace techniques

In addition to finding and replacing words and phrases (described in Chapter 2), you can use

Writer’s Find & Replace dialog to find and replace text attributes, formatting, and paragraph styles.

68 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Find and replace text attributes and formatting

A powerful use of Find & Replace takes advantage of the Attributes and Format options. For

example, you might want to replace underlined words with italics.

To find specific text attributes such as alignment, background, font color, line spacing that have

been changed from the default:

1) On the Find & Replace dialog (with Other Options displayed), click the Attributes button.

2) Select the attribute you wish to search for from the list in the Attributes dialog and click OK.

The names of the selected attributes appear under the Find: box. For example, to search

for text that has been changed from the default font color, select the Font Color attribute.

3) Click Find Next or Find All to search the document.

To find specific formatting such as bold, italic, font size:

1) Open the Find & Replace dialog with Other Options displayed.

2) To find text with specific formatting, enter the text in the Find: box. To search for specific

formatting only, delete any text in the Find: box.

3) Click Format to display the Text Format (Search) dialog. The tabs on this dialog are similar

to those on the Paragraph and Paragraph Style dialogs.

4) Choose the formats you want to search for and then click OK. The names of the selected

formats appear under the Find: box. For example, you might search for all text in 14-point

bold Times New Roman. The option Paragraph Styles changes to Including Styles.

5) To replace the format, click in the Replace: box, choose the format to use, and then click

OK. The format selected will be displayed below this text box. To replace text as well as

formatting, type the replacement text in the Replace: box.

To remove specific character formatting, click Format, select the Font tab, then select the

opposite format (for example, No Bold). The No Format button on the Find & Replace

dialog clears all previously selected formats.

6) Click Find Next, Find All, Replace, or Replace All.

Caution

Unless you plan to search for other text using those same attributes, click No Format

to remove the attributes after completing your search. Without this, the next search

may fail to find words you know are in the document.

Find and replace paragraph styles

Combining material from several sources may result in unwanted paragraph styles in your

document. To quickly change all the paragraphs from one (unwanted) style to another (preferred)

style:

1) On the expanded Find & Replace dialog, select Paragraph Styles. The Find: and Replace:

boxes now contain a list of styles in use in the document.

If you have attributes specified, this option is labeled Including Styles. Select No Format to

remove any attributes and return the option to Paragraph Styles.

Chapter 3 Working with Text: Advanced | 69

2) Select the styles you want to search for and replace.

3) Click Find, Find All, Replace, or Replace All.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each style that you want to replace.

Use similarity search

Find terms that are similar to the Find: text. For example, a similarity search can find words that

differ from the Find: text by two characters.

Select Similarity search and click the Similarities button to open a dialog in which you can modify

the text search by length and number of characters different from the search term (see Figure 39).

Exchange characters

Enter the number of characters in the search term that can be exchanged. For example, if

you specify 2 exchanged characters, "black" and "crack" are considered similar.

Add characters

Enter the maximum number of characters by which a word can exceed the number of

characters in the search term.

Remove characters

Enter the number of characters by which a word can be shorter than the search term.

Combine

Searches for a term that matches any combination of the similarity search settings.

Figure 39: Similarity search dialog

Use wildcards and regular expressions

A wildcard is a special character that represents one or more unspecified characters. Wildcards

make text searches more powerful but often less specific. LibreOffice enables you to use

combinations of characters known as regular expressions which are more specific than simple

wildcards but less so than a literal string. Regular expressions are very powerful but not very

intuitive. They can save time and effort by combining multiple finds into one.

Table 5 shows a few of the regular expressions used by LibreOffice.

Tip

The online help describes many more regular expressions and their uses.

70 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

To use wildcards and regular expressions when searching and replacing:

1) On the Find & Replace dialog, click Other Options to see more choices. On this expanded

dialog, select the Regular expressions option.

2) Type the search text, including the wildcards, in the Search for box and the replacement

text (if any) in the Replace with box. Not all regular expressions work as replacement

characters; the line break (\n) is one that does work.

3) Click Find, Find All, Replace, or Replace All (not recommended).

Note

To search for a character that is defined as a wildcard, type a backslash (\) before the

character to indicate that you are using it literally. For example, to find the text $5.00,

you would conduct a search using \$5\.00.

Table 5: Examples of search wildcards (regular expressions)

To find Use this

expression Examples and comments

Any single character . (a period or

full stop)

b.d finds bad, bud, bid, and bed.

One of the specified

characters

[xyz] b[iu]n finds bin and bun.

Any single character in

this range

[x-y] [r-t]eed finds reed, seed, and teed; ranges must be in

alphabetically ascending order.

Any single character

except the characters

inside the brackets

[^x] p[^a]st finds post and pest, but not past.

The beginning of a word \<start \<log finds logbook and logistics, but not catalog.

The end of a word end\> log\> finds catalog, but not logistics.

A paragraph marker $ Does not work as a replacement character. Use \n

instead.

A line break \n Finds a line break that was inserted with Shift+Enter.

When used as a replacement character, it inserts a

paragraph marker.

Tracking changes to a document

You can use several methods to keep track of changes made to a document.

•Make your changes to a copy of the document (stored in a different folder, under a different

name, or both), then use Writer to compare the two files and show the changes you made.

This technique is particularly useful if you are the only person working on the document, as

it avoids the increase in file size and complexity caused by the other methods.

•Save versions that are stored as part of the original file. However, this method can cause

problems with large or complex documents, especially if you save a lot of versions. Avoid

this method if you can.

•Use Writer’s change marks (often called “redlines” or “revision marks”) to show added or

deleted material or changed formatting. Later, you or another person can review and accept

or reject each change.

Chapter 3 Working with Text: Advanced | 71

Note

Not all changes are recorded. For example, changing a tab stop from align left to align

right and changes in formulas (equations) or linked graphics are not recorded.

Preparing a document for review

When you send a document to someone else to review or edit, you may want to prepare it first so

that the editor or reviewer does not have to remember to turn on the revision marks. After you have

protected the document, any subsequent user must enter the correct password in order to turn off

protection or accept or reject changes.

1) Open the document. Check whether it contains multiple versions by clicking File >

Versions. If multiple versions are listed, save the current version as a separate document

with a different name and use this new document as the review copy.

2) With the review copy open, make sure that change recording is turned on. The Edit >

Track Changes > Record Changes menu item has a check mark next to it when recording

is turned on.

3) Click Edit > Track Changes > Protect Changes. On the Enter Password dialog, type a

password (twice) and click OK.

Tip

An alternative to steps 2 and 3 above is to choose File > Properties > Security tab,

select the Record changes option, then click Protect and enter the password.

Recording changes

See Chapter 20, Setting up Writer, for instructions on setting up how changes will be displayed, if

you don’t like the default settings.

1) To begin tracking (recording) changes, click Edit > Track Changes > Record Changes. To

show or hide the display of changes, click Edit > Track Changes > Show Changes.

Tip

Hold the mouse pointer over a marked change; you will see a Help Tip showing the

type of change, the author, date, and time of day for the change. If Extended Tips are

enabled, you will also see any comments recorded for this change.

2) To enter a comment on a marked change, place the cursor in the area of the change and

then click Edit > Track Changes > Comment on Change.

In addition to being displayed as an extended tip, the comment is also shown in the list in

the Manage Changes dialog (Figure 41).

To move from one marked change to the next, use the arrow buttons. If no comment has

been recorded for a change, the Text field is blank.

3) To stop recording changes, click Edit > Track Changes > Record Changes again.

Tip

See also “Adding other comments” on page 75 for a way to annotate text that is not

associated with a recorded change.

72 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 40: Inserting a comment during change recording

Accepting or rejecting changes

To accept or reject recorded changes, use any of these tools:

•Changes toolbar

•Right-click (context) menu

•Manage Changes dialog

•Manage Changes pane in the Sidebar (experimental)

The results of accepting or rejecting a change are as follows:

•Accept: incorporates the alteration into the document and removes the change indication

marking.

•Reject: reverts the document to its original state and removes the change indication

marking.

Changes toolbar

For quick and easy accepting and rejecting of changes, you can use the Changes toolbar, which

includes buttons for the same functions as appear on the Edit > Track Changes submenu. To

enable the Changes toolbar, click View > Toolbars > Changes on the Menu bar. You can dock

this toolbar in a convenient place or leave it floating.

Right-click (context) menu

1) If recorded changes are not showing, click Edit > Track Changes > Show Changes.

2) Hover the mouse pointer over a recorded change. A box appears with information about the

type of change, who made it, and the date and time.

3) Right-click the changed text. In the context menu, choose Accept Change or Reject

Change.

Manage Changes dialog

1) Click Edit > Track Changes > Manage Changes. The Manage Changes dialog (Figure 41)

opens, showing changes that have not yet been accepted or rejected.

2) When you select a change in the dialog, the change itself is highlighted in the document, so

you can see what the editor changed.

3) Click Accept or Reject to accept or reject the selected change. You can also click Accept

All or Reject All if you do not want to review the changes individually.

To show only the changes of certain people or only the changes on specific days or various other

restrictions, use the Filter page (Figure 42) on the Accept or Reject Changes dialog. After

specifying the filter criteria, return to the List page to see those changes that meet your criteria.

Chapter 3 Working with Text: Advanced | 73

Figure 41: The List tab of the Manage Changes dialog

Figure 42: The Filter page of the Manage Changes dialog

Manage Changes pane in the Sidebar

The Manage Changes pane in the Sidebar shows the same information as in the Manage Changes

dialog described above.

Comparing documents

Sometimes reviewers may forget to record the changes they make. You can find the changes if you

compare the original document and the one that is edited. To compare them:

1) Open the edited document. Select Edit > Track Changes > Compare Document.

2) The Insert dialog appears. Select the original document and click Insert.

Writer finds and marks the changes and displays the Manage Changes dialog. From this point, you

can go through and accept or reject changes procedure as described earlier.

Merging modified documents

The processes discussed to this point are effective when you have one reviewer at a time.

Sometimes, however, multiple reviewers all return edited versions of a document. In this case, it

may be quicker to review all of these changes at once, rather than one review at a time. For this

purpose, you can merge documents in Writer.

74 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

To merge documents, all of the edited documents need to have recorded changes in them.

1) Open one copy.

2) Click Edit > Track Changes > Merge Document and select and insert another copy of the

document to be merged with the first.

3) After the documents merge, the Manage Changes dialog opens, as in Figure 41, showing

changes by more than one reviewer. If you want to merge more documents, close the

dialog and then repeat step 2.

4) Repeat until all copies are merged.

All recorded changes are now included in the open copy. Save this file under another name.

Adding other comments

Writer provides another type of comments, which authors and reviewers use to exchange ideas,

ask for suggestions, or mark items needing attention.

You can select a block of text, including multiple paragraphs, to be highlighted for a comment, or

you can insert a comment at a single point. To insert a comment, select the text, or place the

cursor in the place the comment refers to, and choose Insert > Comment or press Ctrl+Alt+C.

The anchor point of the comment is connected by a dotted line to a box on the right-hand side of

the page where you can type the text of the comment. A Comments button is also added to the

right of the horizontal ruler (see Figure 43); you can click this button to toggle the display of the

comments.

Writer automatically adds the author’s name and a time stamp indicating when the comment was

created. Select Tools > Options > LibreOffice > User Data to configure the name you want to

appear in the Author field of the comment, or to change it.

Click somewhere on the page to finish your comment. Otherwise, you will not be able to move

away from this location.

Figure 43: Comments in LibreOffice

If more than one person edits the document, each author is automatically allocated a different

background color. Figure 43 shows an example of text with comments from two different authors. If

an author selects text that overlaps another author’s comments, then the comments from the

second author are nested with those of the first author.

Chapter 3 Working with Text: Advanced | 75

Right-click a comment to open a context menu where you can delete the current comment, all the

comments from the same author, or all the comments in the document. From this menu, you can

also open a dialog to apply some basic formatting to the text of the comment. You can also change

font type, size, and alignment from the Menu bar.

To navigate from one comment to another, open the Navigator (F5), expand the Comments

section, and click the comment text to move the cursor to the anchor point of the comment in the

document. Right-click the comment to quickly edit or delete it.

You can also navigate the comments using the keyboard. Use Ctrl+Alt+Page Down to move to the

next comment and Ctrl+Alt+Page Up to move to the previous comment.

Comments can be printed next to the text in the right margin as they appear on screen. Each page

is scaled down in order to make space for the comments to fit on the underlying paper size.

Using footnotes and endnotes

Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced. Endnotes are collected

at the end of a document.

To work effectively with footnotes and endnotes, you need to:

•Insert footnotes and define their format

•Define the location of footnotes on the page, and the color and line styles for separator

lines, if the defaults do not meet your needs (see Chapter 5, Formatting Pages: Basics).

Inserting footnotes and endnotes

To insert a footnote or an endnote, put the cursor where you want the footnote or endnote marker

to appear. Then select Insert > Footnote and Endnote from the Menu bar and choose Footnote

or Endnote, or click the Insert Footnote or Insert Endnote button on the Standard toolbar.

A footnote or endnote marker is inserted in the text and, depending on your choice, the cursor is

relocated either to the footnote area at the bottom of the page or to the endnote area at the end of

the document. Type the footnote or endnote content in this area.

You can also choose use Insert > Footnote and Endnote > Footnote or Endnote to open the

Insert Footnote/Endnote dialog (Figure 44), where you can choose whether to use the automatic

numbering sequence specified in the footnote settings and whether to insert the item as a footnote

or an endnote.

Figure 44: Inserting a footnote/endnote

If you use Insert Footnote or Insert Endnote, the footnote or endnote automatically takes on the

attributes previously defined in the Footnote Settings dialog.

76 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

You can edit an existing footnote or endnote the same way you edit any other text.

To delete a footnote or endnote, delete the footnote marker. The contents of the footnote or

endnote are deleted automatically, and the numbering of other footnotes or endnotes is adjusted

automatically.

Defining the format of footnotes/endnotes

To format the footnotes themselves, click Tools > Footnotes and Endnotes. On the

Footnotes/Endnotes Settings dialog (Figure 45), choose settings as required.

Figure 45: Defining footnote formatting

Linking to another part of a document

If you type in cross-references to other parts of the document, those references can easily get out

of date if you reorganize the order of topics, add or remove material, or reword a heading. Writer

provides two ways to ensure that references are up to date, by inserting links to other parts of the

same document or to a different document: hyperlinks and cross-references.

The two methods have the same result: if you Ctrl+click the link when the document is open in

Writer, you are taken directly to the cross-referenced item. However, they also have major

differences:

•The text in a hyperlink does not automatically update if you change the text of the linked

item (although you can change it manually), but changed text does automatically update in

a cross-reference.

Chapter 3 Working with Text: Advanced | 77

•When using a hyperlink, you do not have a choice of the content of the link (for example

text or page number), but when using a cross-reference, you have several choices,

including bookmarks.

•To hyperlink to an object such as a graphic, and have the hyperlink show useful text such

as Figure 6, either give such an object a useful name instead of leaving it as the default

name (“Graphics6”) or use the Hyperlink dialog to modify the visible text. In contrast, cross-

references to figures with captions automatically show useful text, and you have a choice of

several variations of the name.

•If you save a Writer document to HTML, hyperlinks remain active but cross-references do

not. (Both remain active when the document is exported to PDF.)

Using cross-references

To ensure that references update if you reword a heading, caption, or other linked item, use

automatic cross-references. For details, see “Using automatic cross-references” in Chapter 17,

Fields.

Using bookmarks

Bookmarks are listed in the Navigator and can be accessed directly from there with a single mouse

click. In HTML documents, bookmarks are converted to anchors that you can jump to by hyperlink.

For more about bookmarks, see “Using bookmarks” in Chapter 17, Fields.

Using hyperlinks

When you type text (such as website addresses or URL) that can be used as a hyperlink, and then

press the spacebar or the Enter key, Writer automatically creates the hyperlink and applies

formatting to the text (usually a color and underlining).

If this does not happen, you can enable this feature using Tools > AutoCorrect Options >

Options and selecting the URL Recognition option.

If you do not want Writer to convert a specific URL to a hyperlink, choose Edit > Undo Insert from

the Menu bar or press Ctrl+Z immediately after the formatting has been applied.

You can also insert hyperlinks using the Navigator and the Hyperlink dialog, and you can modify all

hyperlinks using the Hyperlink dialog, as described in this section.

Note

Hyperlinks between documents can be set as relative or absolute, using the Save

URLs relative to option in Tools > Options > Load/Save > General.

Relative linking is only possible when the document you are working on and the link

destination are on the same drive, and you need to create the same directory structure

on your hard disk as will apply on the destination website.

LibreOffice uses absolute path names internally, so when you move your mouse

cursor over a hyperlink, the tooltip displays the absolute reference even when it is set

to be a relative link.

Inserting hyperlinks using the Navigator

The easiest way to insert a hyperlink to another part of the same document is by using the

Navigator:

1) Open the document containing the items you want to cross-reference.

78 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

2) Open the Navigator (by clicking its icon, choosing View > Navigator, pressing F5, or

selecting the Navigator Tab on the open Sidebar).

3) Click the arrow next to the Drag Mode icon, and select Insert as Hyperlink.

4) In the list at the bottom of the Navigator, select the document containing the item that you

want to cross-reference.

5) In the Navigator list, select the item that you want to insert as a hyperlink.

6) Drag the item to where you want to insert the hyperlink in the document. The name of the

item is inserted in the document as an active hyperlink.

Figure 46: Inserting a hyperlink using the Navigator

Inserting hyperlinks using a dialog

To display the Hyperlink dialog (Figure 47), click the Hyperlink icon on the Standard Toolbar or

choose Insert > Hyperlink from the Menu bar. To turn existing text into a link, select it before

opening the dialog.

Figure 47: Hyperlink dialog showing details for Internet links

On the left hand side, select one of the four types of hyperlink:

•Internet: a web address, normally starting with http://

•Mail: an email address.

•Document: another document or to another place in the presentation.

•New document: the hyperlink creates a new document.www.libreoffice.org

Chapter 3 Working with Text: Advanced | 79

The top right part of the dialog changes according to your choice for the hyperlink type. A full

description of all the choices, and their interactions, is beyond the scope of this chapter. The most

common choices used in Writer documents are as follows.

For an Internet hyperlink, choose the type of hyperlink (choose between Web, FTP or Telnet), and

enter the required web address (URL).

For a Mail hyperlink, specify the receiver address and the subject.

For a Document hyperlink, specify the document path (the Open File button opens a file browser);

leave this blank if you want to link to a target in the same presentation. Optionally specify the target

in the document (for example a specific slide). Click the Target icon to open the Navigator where

you can select the target, or if you know the name of the target, you can type it into the box.

For a New Document hyperlink, specify whether to edit the newly created document immediately or

just create it (Edit later) and the type of document to create (text, spreadsheet, and so on). For a

text document, Edit now is the more likely choice. The Select Path button opens a folder picker.

The Further settings section in the bottom right part of the dialog is common to all the hyperlink

types, although some choices are more relevant to some types of links.

•Set the value of Frame to determine how the hyperlink will open. This applies to documents

that open in a Web browser.

•Form specifies if the link is to be presented as text or as a button.

•Text specifies the text that will be visible to the user.

•Name is applicable to HTML documents. It specifies text that will be added as a NAME

attribute in the HTML code behind the hyperlink.

•Event button: this button will be activated to allow LibreOffice to react to events for which

the user has written some code (macro). This function is not covered in this book.

Editing hyperlinks

To edit a hyperlink, click anywhere in the link text and then open the Hyperlink dialog by clicking

the Hyperlink icon on the Standard Toolbar or choosing Edit > Hyperlink from the Menu bar.

Make your changes and click Apply. If you need to edit several hyperlinks, you can leave the

Hyperlink dialog open until you have edited all of them. Be sure to click Apply after each one.

When you are finished, click Close.

The standard (default) behavior for activating hyperlinks within LibreOffice is to use Ctrl+click. This

behavior can be changed in Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Security > Options, by deselecting

the option Ctrl-click required to follow hyperlinks. If clicking in your links activates them, check

that page to see if the option has been deselected.

To change the color of hyperlinks, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Appearance, scroll to

Unvisited links and/or Visited links, select those options, pick the new colors and click OK. Caution:

this will change the color for all hyperlinks in all components of LibreOffice—this may not be what

you want.

In Writer and Calc (but not Draw or Impress), you can also change the Internet link character style

or define and apply new styles to selected links.

Line numbering

Line numbering puts line numbers in the margin. It is often used in legal documents, poetry, and

lists of programming code. Writer can insert line numbers in an entire document or in selected

paragraphs. Line numbers are included when you print the document. You can also add a

separator between line numbers. Figure 48 shows an example with numbering on every line.

80 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

You can choose how many lines are numbered (for example, every line or every tenth line), the

numbering type, and whether numbers restart on each page. In addition, a text separator (any text

you choose) can be set on a different numbering scheme (one every 12 lines, for example).

Figure 48: Line numbering example

To add line numbers to an entire document:

1) Click Tools > Line Numbering and select the Show numbering option in the top left

corner of the Line Numbering dialog (Figure 49).

2) Then select any options you want and click OK.

Figure 49: The Line Numbering dialog

To add line numbers to specific paragraphs, first disable the feature for the document and then

enable it for specific paragraphs or paragraph styles.

To disable line numbering for the document, edit the Default Style paragraph style (because all

paragraph styles are based on the Default Style):

1) In the Sidebar, go to the Styles and Formatting pane and click the Paragraph Styles icon.

2) Right-click the Default Style paragraph style and choose Modify.

3) Click the Outline & Numbering tab (see Figure 50).

Chapter 3 Working with Text: Advanced | 81

4) In the Line Numbering area, clear the Include this paragraph in line numbering

checkbox.

5) Click OK.

Figure 50: Disabling line numbering for a document

To enable line numbering for specific paragraphs:

1) Select the paragraphs where you want to add the line numbers.

2) Choose Format > Paragraph, and then click the Outline & Numbering tab.

3) Select Include this paragraph in line numbering.

4) Click OK.

You can also create a paragraph style that includes line numbering, and apply it to the paragraphs

that you want to add line numbers to. For example, to number the lines of example code in a

document, you will probably want to use a font or indentation that is different from normal text.

To specify the starting line number:

1) Click in the paragraph and choose Format > Paragraph.

2) On the Outline & Numbering tab, make sure Include this paragraph in line numbering is

selected.

3) Select Restart at this paragraph and enter a line number in the Start with box.

4) Click OK.

82 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Chapter 4

Formatting Text

Introduction

This chapter covers the basics of formatting text in Writer, the word-processing component of

LibreOffice:

•Formatting paragraphs and characters

•Using autoformatting

•Creating bulleted, numbered, and outline lists

It assumes that you are familiar with the text techniques described in Chapter 2, Working with Text:

Basics and Chapter 3, Working with Text: Advanced.

We recommend that you also follow the suggestions in Chapter 20, Setting up Writer, about

displaying formatting aids, such as end-of-paragraph marks, and selecting other setup options.

Page formatting is covered in Chapters 5 and 6.

Using styles is recommended

Styles are central to using Writer. Styles enable you to easily format your documents consistently,

and to change the format with minimal effort. A style is a named set of formatting options. When

you apply a style, you apply a whole group of formats at the same time.

In addition, styles are used by LibreOffice for many processes, even if you are not aware of them.

For example, Writer relies on heading styles (or other styles you specify) when it compiles a table

of contents. Therefore, the use of paragraph styles is highly recommended as an alternative to

manually formatting paragraphs, especially for long or standardized documents. The use of

character styles instead of manually formatting individual words is also highly recommended.

For information on styles and how to use them, see Chapters 8 and 9 in this book.

Applying styles is quick and easy using the Styles and Formatting deck of the Sidebar.

Caution

Manual formatting (also called direct formatting) overrides styles, and you cannot get

rid of the manual formatting by applying a style to it.

Removing manual formatting

To remove manual formatting, select the text and choose Format > Clear Direct Formatting from

the Menu bar, or click the Clear Direct Formatting icon on the Formatting toolbar, or use Ctrl+M

from the keyboard.

Note

When clearing direct formatting, the text format returns to the applied paragraph style

and not the default paragraph style.

Formatting paragraphs

You can apply many formats to paragraphs using the icons on the Formatting toolbar and on the

Paragraph panel of the Sidebar’s Properties deck (View > Sidebar). Not all toolbar icons are

visible in a standard installation, but you can customize the toolbar to include those you use

regularly (see Chapter 1, Introducing Writer). Other formatting options are provided in the

Paragraph dialog (see page 89).

84 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

On the Formatting toolbar, the icons and formats include:

•Apply Paragraph Style (Styles drop-down on the Properties deck of the Sidebar).

•Bullets On/Off (with a palette of bullet styles) — see page 99.

•Numbering On/Off (with a palette of numbering styles) — see page 99.

•Align Left, Center Horizontally, Align Right, or Justified.

•Align Top, Center Vertically, Align Bottom.

•Line Spacing (choose from 1, 1.15, 1.5, 2, or custom spacing.

•Increase Paragraph Spacing, Decrease Paragraph Spacing.

•Increase Indent, Decrease Indent.

•Paragraph (to open the Paragraph dialog).

The Sidebar opens with the Properties deck selected by default. Click the expansion symbol (+ or

triangle) to open the panels if necessary.

The Paragraph panel of the Properties deck (Figure 51) contains most of the formatting controls,

including several that are not found on the Formatting toolbar. Clicking the down-arrow by a button

opens the control for further choices, such as fixed line spacing or color palette.

Click the More Options button to open the Paragraph dialog, where other settings are available

(see page 89). Changing the values of any of these settings affects only the paragraph where the

insertion point (cursor) is located, or several paragraphs if more than one are selected. If you wish

to change the values for many paragraphs of that type, you should use a paragraph style.

1 Align Left 8 Increase Spacing 15 Indent From Left

2 Align Center 9 Decrease Spacing 16 Indent From Right

3 Align Right 10 Increase Indent 17 Indent First Line

4 Align Justified 11 Decrease Indent 18 Line Spacing

5 Bullets 12 Hanging Indent 19 More Options – opens

Paragraph dialog

6 Numbering 13 Above Paragraph Spacing

7 Background Color 14 Below Paragraph Spacing

Figure 51: Paragraph panel of the Properties deck in the Sidebar

Chapter 4 Formatting Text | 85

1 2 3 4

8 9 10 11 12

13 15

14 16

Alignment options

You can use the buttons labelled 1–4 in Figure 51 to choose the alignment of a paragraph: Left,

Right, Centered, or Justified. Figure 52 shows examples of the alignment options applied to text.

Left aligned text.

Center aligned text.

Right aligned text.

Justified text inserts spacing between words to force the text to reach

from margin to margin, if the text is longer than a single line.

Figure 52: Text alignment options

When using justified text, the last line is by default aligned to the left. However, you can also align

the last line to the center of the paragraph area or justify it so that spaces are inserted between the

words in order to fill the whole line. If you select the Expand single word option, then whenever

the last line of a justified paragraph consists of a single word, this word is stretched by inserting

spaces between characters so that it occupies the full length of the line.

Figure 53 shows an example of the effect obtained when choosing each of these options for a

typical text font. In most cases, leave the setting on the default (left-aligned); but for some dramatic

purposes (such as a very large font on a poster), you might prefer one of the other choices.

Three options are available for the alignment of the last line of a justified paragraph. This

is an example of a left-aligned last line.

Three options are available for the alignment of the last line of a justified paragraph. This

is an example of a centered last line.

Three options are available for the alignment of the last line of a justified paragraph. This

is an example of a justified last line.

When the last line of a justified paragraph contains a single word, you can stretch the

word to fill the entire line. This is an example with the Expand single word option

s e l e c t e d .

Figure 53: Examples of choices for the last line of a justified paragraph

These options are controlled in the Alignment page of the Paragraph dialog (Figure 54), reached

by choosing Format > Paragraph from the Menu bar, or by right-clicking in the paragraph and

selecting Paragraph from the context menu, or by clicking the More Options button on the

Paragraph panel in the Properties deck of the Sidebar.

Figure 54: Options for the last line of a justified paragraph

86 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Line and paragraph spacing

Line spacing (button 18, Figure 51) refers to the distance from one baseline (the imaginary line at

the bottom of a letter like “n” or “m”) to the next baseline. It is determined by the size of the font.

Figure 55: Line spacing is the distance between two baselines

The Line Spacing submenu is shown in Figure 56. Here you can choose among standard spacings

or define a custom value: Proportional (for example, 110%), At least (the amount specified in the

Value box), Leading, or Fixed. To see the differences between these choices, do a few sample

paragraphs and change the selections.

Note

All options except Fixed or At Least use the font’s default. These two allow you to set

your own spacing, which is especially useful at small font sizes to increase readability.

Figure 56: Line spacing submenu

Paragraph spacing refers to the vertical spacing between one paragraph and the paragraphs

above and below it. As shown in Figure 51, the current values are shown in the Above Paragraph

Spacing box (13) and the Below Paragraph Spacing box (14). You can change either or both of

these settings independently.

Tip

Paragraph spacing is often used in computer documentation, such as this book.

Paragraph indentation (see next topic) is more commonly used in other documents.

For good design, use paragraph spacing or paragraph indentation, never both.

Chapter 4 Formatting Text | 87

Paragraph indentation

You can use the buttons labelled 10, 11, and 12 in Figure 51 to increase the amount of space to

leave between the left and right page margins and the paragraph.

The distances are determined by settings 15 (Before Text Indent; that is, from the left margin), 16

(After Text Indent; that is, from the right margin), and 17 (First Line Indent, which indents the first

line from the left margin, or from the specified indentation from the margin).

Button 12, Switch to Hanging Indent, leaves the first line at the left margin (or the specified

indentation from the margin) and indents all the other lines of the paragraph by the amount

specified by button 17 or in the Paragraph dialog.

This paragraph is an example of a paragraph with a first line indent. It is typical of

paragraphs in books.

This paragraph is an example of a paragraph with a hanging indent. It is often used

for numbered paragraphs or those with an icon or other image on the left.

Note

In right-to-left languages, the behavior of the Before Text and After Text indents is the

opposite: “before” is on the right margin; “after” is on the left margin.

Paragraph background color

Click the button labelled 7 in Figure 51 to open a palette from which you can choose a color for the

background of the paragraph. From this palette, you can also click Custom Color to open the Pick

a Color dialog, where you can define new colors to be added to the palette.

Figure 57: Selecting a background color for a paragraph

Note

If the paragraph has been indented from the right or left margin, the background color

is not applied to the area of the indent. To extend the color to the margin, use a frame,

table, or other method; see Chapter 6, Formatting Pages: Advanced.

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Settings on the Paragraph dialog

The paragraph dialog includes several more pages: Tabs (covered in next section, “Setting tab

stops and indents”), Borders, Drop Caps, Area (more choices than just color), Transparency, Text

Flow, and Outline & Numbering. For more information, see Chapter 8, Introduction to Styles, and

Chapter 9, Working with Styles.

Borders

Borders are useful for setting a paragraph off from the surrounding text, to include digressions from

the main topic. For example, the Tips, Notes, and Cautions in this book use a border below the

text.

You can add borders to any combination of top, bottom, and sides of paragraphs. You can choose

the style (solid, dotted, dashed, doubled), width, and color of the lines; these choices apply to all

borders on a paragraph. The spacing from each line to the paragraph’s contents can be set

individually for the top, bottom, left, and right.

On this dialog you can also choose to apply a shadow to a paragraph; “distance” refers to the width

of the shadow.

Select the Merge with next paragraph option to suppress top or bottom lines when the indent,

border, and shadow styles of the next paragraph are the same as the current paragraph.

Figure 58: Options for paragraph borders

Drop caps

Drop capitals are enlarged letters that mark the start of a new chapter or section. To improve

consistency, they are best set up in a paragraph style that you apply to the relevant paragraphs.

See Chapter 9, Working with Styles, for details.

Area

Area (also called “fill” and “background” in some parts of LibreOffice) includes five types of fill

(background): color, gradient, bitmap, pattern, and hatching. Select a fill type to display the choices

available for that type. These choices are covered in more detail in Chapter 5, Formatting Pages:

Basics. You can also create your own fills.

Chapter 4 Formatting Text | 89

Figure 59: Types of fill for paragraph backgrounds

Transparency

Transparency affects the paragraph’s background. It is useful for creating watermarks and making

colors or images more pale (for more contrast with the text). The available choices are shown in

Chapter 5, Formatting Pages: Basics, and are covered in detail in the Draw Guide.

Text Flow

The Text Flow page (Figure 60) has several sections. Hyphenation is covered in Chapter 2,

Working with Text: Basics, and breaks are covered in Chapter 5, Formatting Pages: Basics.

In the Options section, you can specify how paragraphs are treated at the bottom of a page. Do

not split paragraph and Keep with next paragraph should be self-explanatory. The other options

allow you to avoid a single line at the bottom of a page (called an orphan) or a single line at the top

of a page (a widow).

Figure 60: Options for text flow: hyphenation, breaks, and keeping text together

Outline & Numbering

The Outline & Numbering page on the Paragraph dialog provides options for choosing the outline

level of the paragraph and its numbering (list) style. If the paragraph is part of a numbered list, you

can specify that list numbering restarts at the paragraph, and what number to restart with.

This page does not cover the same functions as the Outline Numbering dialog (Tools > Outline

Numbering), but the Outline level selected here is related to the outline defined there. See

Chapter 8, Introduction to Styles, and Chapter 9, Working with Styles, for a discussion of these

features. Line numbering is discussed in Chapter 3, Working with Text: Advanced.

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Figure 61: Selecting outline level, paragraph numbering, and line numbering

Setting tab stops and indents

The horizontal ruler shows the tab stops. Any tab stops that you have defined will overwrite the

default tab stops. Tab settings affect indentation of full paragraphs (using the Increase Indent and

Decrease Indent buttons on the Formatting toolbar or the Paragraph panel of the Properties deck

in the Sidebar) as well as indentation of parts of a paragraph (by pressing the Tab key on the

keyboard).

Tip

Many indents, for example at the beginning of a paragraph, can be set in the

paragraph style, so you don’t need to use the Tab key to activate them.

Changing the default tab spacing can cause formatting problems if you share documents with other

people. If you use the default tab spacing and then send the document to someone else who has

chosen a different default tab spacing, tabbed material will change to use the other person’s

settings. Instead of using the defaults, define your own tab settings, as described in this section.

Figure 62: Specifying tab stops and fill characters

To define indents and tab settings for one or more selected paragraphs, right-click a paragraph and

choose Paragraph... to open the Paragraph dialog; then select either the Tabs page (Figure 62) or

Chapter 4 Formatting Text | 91

the Indents & Spacing page of the dialog. Alternatively, you can double-click the horizontal ruler to

open the Indents & Spacing page of the Paragraph dialog.

A better strategy is to define tabs for the paragraph style. Refer to Chapters 8 and 9 for more about

paragraph styles.

Tip

Using tabs to space out material on a page is not recommended. Depending on what

you are trying to accomplish, a table is usually a better choice.

Changing the default tab stop interval

Caution

Any changes to the default tab setting will affect the existing default tab stops in any

document you open afterward, as well as tab stops you insert after making the change.

To set the measurement unit and the spacing of default tab stop intervals, go to Tools > Options >

LibreOffice Writer > General.

Figure 63: Selecting a default tab stop interval

You can also set or change the measurement unit for rulers in the current document by right-

clicking on the ruler to open a list of units, as shown in Figure 64 for the horizontal ruler. Click one

of them to change the ruler to that unit. The selected setting applies only to that ruler.

Figure 64: Changing the measurement unit for a ruler

Formatting characters

You can apply many formats to characters using the buttons on the Formatting toolbar and by

using the Characters panel of the Properties deck of the Sidebar. Not all toolbar buttons are visible

in a standard installation, but you can customize the toolbar to include those you use regularly; see

Chapter 1, Introducing Writer. These formats include:

•Font Name, Font Size (in points)

•Bold, Italic, Underline, Double Underline, Overline, Strikethrough, Outline

•Superscript, Subscript

•Uppercase, Lowercase

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•Increase Font Size, Decrease Font Size

•Font Color (with a palette of colors)

•Background Color (with a palette of colors)

•Highlighting (with a palette of colors)

•Character (to open the Character dialog)

To change the characteristics of an entire paragraph (for example the font name, size, or color),

and for many other purposes, it is highly recommended that you use styles rather than manually

formatting characters. For information on styles and how to use them, see Chapters 8 and 9.

Applying styles is quick and easy using the Styles and Formatting deck of the Sidebar.

Figure 65 shows the Character panel in the Properties deck of the Sidebar. Clicking the down-

arrow next to a button opens the control for further choices, such as font color or character

spacing. The appearance of the buttons may vary with your operating system and the selection of

icon size and style in Tools > Options > LibreOffice > View.

Click the More Options button (15) to open the Character dialog, which includes more choices

than are available through the Formatting toolbar or the Sidebar.

Font name, size, and effects

To change the font name and size used for selected characters, you can use the drop-down

menus on the Formatting toolbar, the Character panel in the Sidebar, or the Character dialog.

Similarly, you can apply bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, or shadow effects to selected

characters from the Formatting toolbar, the Character panel in the Sidebar, or the Character dialog.

The Underline effect has a drop-down menu of line types (Figure 66). The Formatting toolbar

includes other effects that are not in the Sidebar: overline and double underline; these buttons

may not be visible in a default installation.

1 Font Name 6 Strikethrough 11 Highlight Color

2 Font Size 7 Shadow 12 Character Spacing

3 Bold 8 Increase Font Size 13 Superscript

4 Italic 9 Decrease Font Size 14 Subscript

5 Underline 10 Font Color 15 More Options – opens Character dialog

Figure 65: Character panel in the Properties deck of the Sidebar

To choose the color of the font or its highlighting, open the appropriate color palette (10 or 11;

similar to the one shown in Figure 57). The highlighting selection over-rides any background color

that has been applied to the paragraph.

Chapter 4 Formatting Text | 93

1 2 15

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14

To increase or decrease the font size of selected characters, you can click the relevant buttons

on the Formatting toolbar or the Character panel in the Sidebar; however, you have no control over

the amount of the increase or decrease, which is usually 2 points. For finer control, use the Font

Size drop-down list instead.

Figure 66: Selecting the line

style for the Underline effect

To change characters into subscripts or superscripts (using the default values for size and

position), select them and click the relevant buttons on the Formatting toolbar or the Character

panel in the Sidebar. For more control, use the Character dialog.

To quickly change the spacing between characters, select them and choose from the Character

Spacing drop-down menu in the Sidebar (Figure 67).

Figure 67: Changing character spacing

Settings on the Character dialog

The Character dialog has six pages, shown in this section. Most of these pages are the same as

the pages on the Character Style dialog (see Chapter 9, Working with Styles).

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Font and Font Effects

On the Font page (Figure 68), you can specify the font’s family, typeface (choices vary with the

font, but typically include regular, bold, and italic), and size; and the language for the paragraph, if

it differs from the language for the document. The box at the bottom shows a preview of the

selections.

Figure 68: Font page of the Character dialog

On the Font Effects page (Figure 69), you can choose the color of the font and a range of effects,

many of which are not suitable for formal documents. Figures 70 and 71 show the choices in some

of the drop-down lists.

Figure 69: Font Effects page of the Character dialog

Chapter 4 Formatting Text | 95

Figure 70:Choices for capitalization, relief, and strikethrough effects

Figure 71: Choices for overlining and underlining are the same

Position

The Position page collects the options that affect the position of text on the page. This page is

divided into three sections: Position, Rotation/Scaling, and Spacing.

Figure 72: Position page of the Character dialog

The Position section controls the appearance of superscripts and subscripts.

The Rotation/Scaling section controls the rotation of the characters. The Scale width box controls

the percentage of the font width by which to compress or stretch the rotated text.

The Spacing section controls the spacing between individual characters. The Pair Kerning option

(selected by default) automatically adjusts the character spacing for specific letter combinations.

Kerning is only available for certain font types and, for printed documents, works only if your printer

supports it.

Hyperlink

The Hyperlink page of the Character dialog is an alternative to using the Hyperlink dialog (Insert >

Hyperlink). It includes fewer choices and is specifically for text (not button) links. Hyperlinks can

be to other parts of the same document, to other documents, or to web pages.

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Figure 73: Hyperlink page of the Character dialog

When LibreOffice recognizes a string of characters that may be a URL (internet address), it

replaces the characters with a hyperlink and formats the hyperlink as specified in the Internet Link

character style. On this dialog you can choose a different character style (if the style has been

defined previously) or replace the URL with other text. To turn off this feature, choose Tools >

AutoCorrect > AutoCorrect Options > Options page and deselect URL Recognition.

For more about creating and editing hyperlinks, see the Help system or Chapter 12 in the Getting

Started Guide.

Highlighting

The Highlighting page controls the background color for selected characters. It is similar to the

Highlighting drop-down palette.

Borders

The Borders page is the same as the Borders page on the Paragraph dialog; see page 89.

Autoformatting

You can set Writer to automatically format parts of a document according to the choices made on

the Options and Localized Options pages of the AutoCorrect dialog (Tools > AutoCorrect >

AutoCorrect Options).

Tip

If you notice unexpected formatting changes occurring in your document, this is the

first place to look for the cause.

The Help describes each of these choices and how to activate the autoformats. Some common

unwanted or unexpected formatting changes include:

•Horizontal lines. If you type three or more hyphens (---), underscores (_ _ _) or equal signs

(===) on a line and then press Enter the paragraph is replaced by a horizontal line as wide

as the page. The line is actually the lower border of the preceding paragraph.

•Bulleted and numbered lists. A bulleted list is created when you type a hyphen (-), asterisk

(*), or plus sign (+), followed by a space or tab at the beginning of a paragraph. A numbered

list is created when you type a number followed by a period (.), followed by a space or tab

Chapter 4 Formatting Text | 97

at the beginning of a paragraph. Automatic numbering is only applied to paragraphs

formatted with the Default, Text body or Text body indent paragraph styles.

To automatically format the file according to the options you have set, choose Tools >

AutoCorrect and select or deselect the items on the submenu.

While Typing

Automatically formats the document while you type.

Apply

Automatically formats the document.

Apply and Edit Changes

Automatically formats the file and then opens a dialog where you can accept or reject the

changes.

AutoCorrect Options

Opens the AutoCorrect dialog (Figures 74 and 75).

Figure 74: Autoformat choices on the Options page of the AutoCorrect dialog

The Localized Options page (Figure 75) controls the formatting of quotation marks and

apostrophes (which look like a closing single quote). Most fonts include curly quotation marks (also

known as “smart quotes”), but for some purposes (such as marking minutes and seconds of

latitude and longitude) you may wish to format them as straight quotes.

Straight quotes Smart quotes

' ' " " ‘ ’ “ ”

Tip

Most people keep the AutoCorrect setting for smart quotes and use the Special

Characters dialog to insert straight quotes when needed. See Chapter 2, Working with

Text: Basics.

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Figure 75: Autoformatting quotation marks

Formatting numbered or bulleted lists

You can format numbered or bulleted lists in several ways:

•Use autoformatting, as described above.

•Use list (numbering) styles, as described in Chapters 8, 9, and 12 in this book.

•Use the Bullets and Numbering toolbar (see Figure 76).

•Use the Numbering and Bullets buttons on the Formatting toolbar or on the Paragraph

panel of the Properties deck of the Sidebar (see Figure 77).

•Use the Bullets and Numbering dialog (see Figures 78 and 79).

To produce a simple numbered or bulleted list, select the paragraphs in the list and then click the

appropriate icon on the Paragraph panel on the toolbar.

Notes

It is a matter of personal preference whether you type your information first, then apply

numbering/bullets or apply these as you type.

If numbering or bullets are being applied automatically in a way that you find

inappropriate, you can switch them off temporarily by unchecking Format >

AutoCorrect > While Typing.

Using the Bullets and Numbering toolbar

You can create a nested list (where one or more list items has a sub-list under it, as in an outline)

by using the buttons on the Bullets and Numbering toolbar (Figure 76). You can move items up or

down the list, create subpoints, change the style of bullets, add paragraphs without numbers or

bullets (for list items that include more than one paragraph), and access the Bullets and Numbering

dialog, which contains more detailed controls.

Use View > Toolbars > Bullets and Numbering to display the toolbar.

Chapter 4 Formatting Text | 99

1Demote One Level 5Move Down 9Insert Unnumbered Entry

2Promote One Level 6Move Up 10 Restart Numbering

3Demote One Level with Subpoints 7Move Down with Subpoints 11 Open the Bullets and

Numbering dialog

4Promote One Level with Subpoints 8Move Up with Subpoints

Figure 76: Bullets and Numbering toolbar

Tip

You can use keyboard shortcuts to move paragraphs up or down the outline levels.

Place the cursor at the beginning of the numbered paragraph and press:

Tab = Down a level

Shift+Tab = Up a level

To insert a tab stop at the beginning of a numbered paragraph (that is, after the

number but before the text), press Ctrl+Tab.

If you create a nested list using the buttons on the Bullets and Numbering toolbar, all the levels of

the list (up to 10) initially apply the same numbering (or bullet) format. If you want to use a

combination of numbering formats and bullets when creating nested lists, you can use these ways:

•Click in each list item and then select one of the choices in the drop-down palettes under

the Bullets and Numbering buttons on the Formatting toolbar or the Properties deck of the

Sidebar, as described in “Using the Bullets and Numbering palettes on the Sidebar” below.

•Use the Bullets and Numbering dialog, as described in “Using the Bullets and Numbering

dialog” below.

However, a much better strategy is to define and apply a list style, as discussed in Chapter 12,

Lists: Tips and Tricks.

Using the Bullets and Numbering palettes on the Sidebar

The Bullets and Numbering palettes on the Paragraph panel on the Properties deck of the Sidebar

can be used to create nested lists and access the Bullets and Numbering dialog. The Sidebar does

not include tools for promoting and demoting items in the list, as found on the Bullets and

Numbering toolbar.

Figure 77: Bullets and Numbering choices on the Properties deck of the Sidebar

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Using the Bullets and Numbering dialog

The Bullets and Numbering dialog has six pages. Four pages provide pre-defined symbols and

sequences to choose from: Bullets, Numbering Type, Outline (choose from eight standard outline

sequences), and Image (choose a bullet image). Two pages provide detailed options for defining

your own lists: Position (Figure 78) and Options (Figure 79). These are the same as the pages

provided for list styles, discussed in Chapter 12, Lists: Tips and Tricks.

Figure 78: Position page of the Bullets and Numbering dialog

Figure 79: Options page of the Bullets and Numbering dialog

Chapter 4 Formatting Text | 101

More information

For more information about topics in this chapter and the next chapter, you may find this book

useful: Designing with LibreOffice, by Bruce Byfield. You can download a PDF free from

http://designingwithlibreoffice.com or buy a printed copy.

102 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Chapter 5

Formatting Pages: Basics

Page styles and related features

Introduction

Writer provides several ways for you to control page layouts.

This chapter describes the use of page styles and some associated functions:

•Headers and footers

•Page numbering

•Title pages

•Footnotes and endnotes

•Borders and backgrounds

Chapter 6 covers the use of columns, frames, tables, and sections, as well as changing page

orientation within a document.

Note

All pages in a Writer document are based on page styles. The other layout

methods (described in Chapter 6) build upon the underlying page style.

Tip

Page layout is usually easier if you select the options to show text, object, table, and

section boundaries in Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Application Colors and the

options for paragraph ends, tabs, breaks, and other items in Tools > Options >

LibreOffice Writer > Formatting Aids.

Setting up basic page layout using styles

In Writer, page styles define the basic layout of all pages, including page size, margins, the

placement of headers and footers, borders and backgrounds, number of columns, page numbers,

and so on.

Writer comes with several page styles, which you can build on or modify, and you can define new

(custom) page styles. You can have one or many page styles in a single document. If you do not

specify a page style, Writer uses the Default Style.

To change the layout of individual pages, either define a new page style or use one of the

techniques (sections, frames, or tables) described later in this chapter.

Note

For some documents, all layout changes (such as the position of page numbers and

other elements in a header or footer on facing pages) can be defined in a single page

style.

This chapter describes some uses of page styles. Some other uses are discussed in Chapter 8,

Introduction to Styles. The Page Style dialog is covered in detail in Chapter 9, Working with Styles.

Tip

Any modifications of page styles, including the Default page style, apply only to the

document you are working on. If you want the changes to be the default for all

documents, you need to put the changes into a template and make that template the

default template. See Chapter 10, Working with Templates, for details.

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Inserting a page break without changing the page style

In many documents (for example, a multi-page report), you want the text to flow from one page to

the next as you add or delete information. Writer does this automatically, unless you override the

text flow using one of the techniques described in this chapter.

If you want a page break in a particular place—for example, to put a heading at the top of a new

page—you can position the cursor at the point where you want to start the new page and select

Insert > Page Break from the Menu bar.

However, there are other methods to put a heading at the top of a page. For example, you can

define the paragraph style for a heading to include a page break; see “Text flow options for

paragraph styles” in Chapter 9, Working with Styles, for more information.

Inserting a page break and changing to a new page style

If you want the new page to have a different page style—for example, to change from a Default

page style to a First Page style—use either of these methods.

Caution

Do not try to change a page style for a single page without inserting a page break. If

you do, the page style of some or all of the other pages may also change.

Method 1

1) Position the cursor at the point you want to start the next page. Select Insert > Manual

Break.

2) In the Type section of the Insert Break dialog (Figure 80), Page break is preselected, and

Style is set at [None]. From the Style drop-down list, select the page style for the next

page. Click OK.

Method 2

1) Position the cursor in the paragraph you want to be at the start of the next page. Right-click

and choose Paragraph in the context menu.

2) On the Text Flow page of the Paragraph dialog (Figure 81), in the Breaks section, select

Insert and With page style. From the Style drop-down list, select the page style for the next

page. Click OK.

Figure 80: Inserting a manual page break and changing the page style

Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics | 105

Figure 81: Inserting a manual page break using the Paragraph dialog

Tip

See “Restarting page numbering“ on page 114 for information on the use of the page

number fields in these dialogs.

Changing page margins

You can change page margins in these ways:

•Using the page rulers—quick and easy, but does not have fine control.

•Using the Page Style dialog—can specify margins to two (fractional) decimal places.

•Using the Page panel of the Properties deck in the Sidebar.

Note

If you change the margins using the rulers or the Sidebar, the new margins affect the

page style and all pages that use that style. The new margins will be shown in the

Page Style dialog the next time you open it.

If you want to change the margins on some pages, but not others, you must use

different page styles.

To change margins using the rulers:

1) The shaded sections of the rulers are the margins (see Figure 82). Put the mouse cursor

over the line between the gray and white sections. The pointer turns into a double-headed

arrow and displays the current setting in a tooltip.

2) Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to move the margin.

Caution

The small arrows on the ruler are used for indenting paragraphs. They are often in the

same place as the page margins, so you need to be careful to move the margin

marker, not the arrows. The double-headed arrows shown in Figure 82 are actual

mouse cursors placed in the correct position.

Figure 82: Moving the margins

106 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Tip

After making a change, passing the mouse over the new margin will show its new

measurement.

To change margins using the Page Style dialog (Figure 94):

1) Right-click anywhere on the page and select Page from the context menu.

2) On the Page page of the dialog, type the required distances in the Margins boxes.

To change margins using the Page panel of the Properties deck of the Sidebar:

1) On the open Sidebar (View > Sidebar) select the Properties tab.

2) Open the Page panel if is not open by clicking the plus (+) symbol in the panel title.

3) Click the Margin icon to open the sub-panel and enter the required dimensions in the

Custom size boxes (clicking the More Options button will open the Page Style dialog).

Creating headers and footers

Headers are portions of a document that appear at the top of every page; footers appear at the

bottom of a page. They typically include a page number and sometimes document information

such as the title. In Writer, headers and footers are specified in page styles; therefore, all the pages

with the same page style will display the same header and footer, although the contents of the

header/footer may vary. For example, the header/footer on the first page of a section, chapter, or

document may contain different information, even though the page style is the same.

Chapter 9 describes how to format a header as part of the page style formatting. This example

shows how to insert a header in the Default pages using manual formatting.

Terminology

A heading is a paragraph that introduces a chapter or section of a document, for

example “Creating headers and footers” above. A header (also known as a running

header) appears on each page and typically displays information about the document.

There are two ways to insert a header. The simplest method is to click above the top of the text

area, then when the Header marker appears, click the +. (To insert a footer, click below the bottom

of the text area to display the Footer marker, and then click the +.)

Figure 83: Header marker at top of text area

Headers can also be inserted from the Menu bar by selecting Insert > Header and Footer >

Header > [Page Style]. The submenu lists the page styles used in your document. In addition, the

submenu includes the entry All, which activates headers on all the pages of the document

regardless of their page style. Similarly, to insert a footer, choose Insert > Header and Footer >

Footer > [Page Style].

For our example, select the Default menu item to activate the headers only on the pages that use

the Default page style. An area will appear at the top or bottom of the page (Figure 84).

Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics | 107

Figure 84: A page with a page header

Using fields in headers and footers

You can type information into headers and footers, but some items such as document titles and

chapter titles are best added as fields. That way, if something changes, the headers and footers

are all updated automatically.

Fields are covered in Chapter 17, Fields, but one example here may be useful. To insert the

document title into the header on a Default page style:

1) Select File > Properties > Description, enter a title for your document in the Title area,

and click OK to close the dialog.

2) Add a header (Insert > Header > Default).

3) Place the cursor in the header part of the page.

4) Select Insert > Fields > Title. The title should appear on a gray background (which does

not show when printed and can be turned off).

5) To change the title of the document, reselect File > Properties > Description and edit.

Also, you must use a field for the page number so it changes from one page to the next. See

“Numbering pages” on page 109.

Formatting headers and footers

In Writer, headers and footers are paragraphs; therefore, you can format the header or footer text

using the same techniques you use for formatting text in the main body of the document. See

Chapter 4, Formatting Text.

You can also add images to headers and footers using any of the techniques described in Chapter

11, Images and Graphics, and you can line up information using tables as described in Chapter 6.

Tip

Writer provides paragraph styles for headers and footers, which you can modify and

use in the same way as other paragraph styles. See Chapters 8 and 9.

To format the layout of headers and footers manually:

1) Use any of these methods to open the relevant page style dialog:

–Click anywhere on the page and choose Format > Page from the Menu bar.

–Right-click anywhere on the page and choose Page from the context menu.

–Click the top of the page. When the Header marker appears, click the plus sign or down

arrow and select Format Header.

2) On the Header or Footer tab of the page style dialog (Figure 85), you can change the

margins, spacing, and height.

108 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

3) Click More to open the Border/Background dialog (Figure 86), where you can add borders,

background colors, and background images to the header or footer.

Caution

Do not attempt to use the Area or Borders tabs on the Page Style dialog itself to format

headers or footers. Style choices selected from those tabs apply to the entire page.

Figure 85: Footer tab of Page Style dialog

Figure 86: Border / Background page for header or footer

Numbering pages

This section describes techniques to insert page numbers and related information in headers or

footers of a document.

If you place a page number field in a header or footer, the number appears on every page and

changes from one page to the next. The page number appears with a gray background. This gray

background denotes a field; although it is visible on screen, it is not printed.

Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics | 109

Tips

If you wish to turn off the gray background, choose View > Field Shadings (or press

Ctrl+F8).

If you see the words “Page number” instead of a number, press Ctrl+F9. This shortcut

key toggles Writer between displaying the Field Name and the actual page number.

Simple page numbering

The simplest case is to have the page number at the top of every page and nothing more. To do

this, put the cursor on the header and choose Insert > Page Number.

Figure 87: Page number inserted in the header

Combining header text and page number

You can apply a lot of interesting variations without further knowledge of page styles. Here are

some suggestions:

•Right-align the header to make the page number appear on the top-right.

•Type the word page before the page number field so the header reads page 1, page 2, and

so on.

•Add the document title so the header reads, for example: Peter’s Favourite Poems, left

justified, and page x with right justification, where x is the value of the Page Number field.

Consider using a (right-aligned) tab to separate the title from the page number.

•LibreOffice also has a Page Count field (Insert > Fields > Page Count). Using it and the

page number field, you could, for example, have a header that reads page 2 of 12.

These variations are all illustrated in Figure 88.

Figure 88: Variations on the simple page numbering method

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Changing the number format

Many more variations are possible. For example, you can set the page number to display in

Roman numerals. One way to do that is to double-click the page number and select the desired

format; a better choice is to specify the format of numbers in the page style as explained here.

Right-click in the text area of the page and select Page from the context menu.

On the Page page of the Page Style dialog, in the Layout settings section, select i, ii, iii, …. from

the Format drop-down list to use lowercase numerals.

Figure 89: Changing format of page numbers

Any change in the number format affects the page numbers on all pages using that page style,

regardless of the method used to change the format.

Numbering pages by chapter

Technical documents often include the chapter number with the page number in the header or

footer. For example, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, ...; 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, ... To set up this type of page numbering in

Writer, you need to do three things:

1) Ensure that your chapter titles are all identified by the same paragraph style, for example,

the Heading 1 style.

2) Use Tools > Outline Numbering to tell Writer what paragraph style you are using for Level

1 in your outline, and specify “1,2,3” in the Number box.

Figure 90: Specifying paragraph style and numbering for chapter titles

3) Insert the chapter number in the document. To do this:

a) Place the cursor in the header or footer just before the page number you inserted

earlier, and choose Insert > Field > More Fields from the Menu bar.

Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics | 111

b) On the Fields dialog (Figure 91), go to the Document page. Select Chapter in the Type

list, Chapter number in the Format list, and 1 in the Level box. Click Insert.

c) Type a hyphen or other punctuation between the chapter number and the page number.

Figure 91: Inserting a chapter number field

Numbering the first page something other than 1

Sometimes you may want to start a document with a page number greater than 1. Follow these

instructions to do that. (These instructions are for a page number in a footer, but you could use a

header instead.)

1) Click in the footer. To insert the page number, choose Insert > Fields > Page Number. The

page number will be 1.

2) Click in the first paragraph in the text area. Choose Format > Paragraph (or right-click and

choose Paragraph from the context menu), to display the Paragraph dialog.

3) On the Text Flow page, in the Breaks section (Figure 92), select Insert and select Page in

the Type drop-down list. Select With Page Style and the page style you are using for the

first page of the document.

4) Select Page number to make the field active. Type the page number you want to start with.

Click OK to close the Paragraph dialog.

Figure 92: The Breaks section of the Text Flow page of the Page Style dialog

Tip

If you set a starting page number that is an even number, you will end up with a blank

page before the first page. However, you can suppress this blank page when you print

the file or export it as a PDF. See Chapter 7, Printing, Exporting, E-mailing, for more

information.

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Defining a different first page for a document

Many documents, such as letters and memos, have a first page that is different from the other

pages in the document. For example, the first page of a letterhead typically has a different header,

as shown in Figure 93, or the first page of a report might have no header or footer, while the other

pages do.

Using the Default (or any other) page style for your document, you can add a header/footer as you

wish to the first page by deselecting the Same content on first page option on the header/footer

pages in the Page Style dialog, and then adding the header/footer. You can then add a different

header/footer to the other pages of the document. See “Creating headers and footers” on page

107 for more information.

Figure 93: Letterhead with different headers for first and following pages

Adding title pages

Writer provides a fast and convenient way to add one or more title pages to a document and

optionally to restart the page number at 1 for the body of the document.

To begin, choose Format > Title Page from the Menu bar. On the Title Page dialog (Figure 94),

you can make the following choices:

•Convert existing pages to title pages, or insert new title pages.

•How many pages to convert or insert.

•Where those pages are located.

•If and where to restart page numbering, and what number to start with.

•What page style to use for the title page.

Using this technique, you can insert several “title pages” at different points in your document, for

example to add decorative pages between chapters as well as title, copyright, and other pages at

the beginning of a book.

Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics | 113

Figure 94: Adding title pages to a document

Restarting page numbering

Often you will want to restart the page numbering at 1, for example, on the page following a title

page or a table of contents. In addition, many documents have the front matter (such as the table

of contents) numbered with Roman numerals and the main body of the document numbered in

Arabic numerals, starting with 1.

If you chose not to add title pages as described above, you can restart page numbering in two

ways.

Method 1:

1) Place the cursor in the first paragraph of the new page (a heading is a paragraph).

2) Choose Format > Paragraph.

3) On the Text Flow page of the Paragraph dialog, select Insert in the Breaks area (Figure 92

on page 112).

4) In the Type drop-down list, select Page.

5) In the Position drop-down list, select Before or After to position where you want to insert

the page numbering break.

6) Select With Page Style and specify the page style to use.

7) Specify the page number to start from and then click OK. This does not insert a new page.

Method 2:

1) Place the cursor in the first paragraph of the new page.

2) Choose Insert > Manual break.

3) Page break is the default selected on the Insert Break dialog (Figure 95).

4) Choose the required page in the Style drop-down list.

5) Select Change page number.

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6) Specify the page number to start from and then click OK. This does insert a new page.

Figure 95: Restarting page numbering after a manual page break

Example: Restart page numbering: a preface

A standard book preface has the following properties:

•Page numbers are displayed in Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, …).

•After the preface, the page number resets to 1, and the number format becomes Arabic (1,

2, 3, 4, …).

Resetting the page number requires page breaks.

First, do the preliminary work for the Preface style:

1) Create a new page style and name it Preface.

2) Set its Next Style to Preface because a preface could span multiple pages.

3) Add a header to Preface and insert the Page Number field. Make the page numbers display

as Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, …):

4) Open the page style window for Preface (if not already open) and click the Header tab.

Select Header on under Header.

5) Click the Page tab (Figure 96). Under Layout settings, in the Format drop-down list, set the

format to i, ii, iii, …. Click OK to close the dialog.

After the preface is written, we are ready to restart the page numbering in the main body of the

document to Arabic numerals. Follow these steps:

1) Make an empty paragraph at the very end of the preface.

2) Put the cursor on the blank line.

3) Choose Insert > Manual Break.

4) Select Page break and choose the Default Style.

5) Select the Change page number option and set the new value to 1. Click OK to close the

dialog.

These settings are shown in Figure 95.

Note

You cannot assign an odd page number to a left page or an even page number to a

right page. LibreOffice strongly adheres to the convention that odd page numbers go

on right-hand pages and even page numbers on left-hand pages.

Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics | 115

Figure 96: Set page number format to Roman numerals

Formatting footnotes and endnotes

Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced. Endnotes are collected

at the end of a document.

To work effectively with footnotes and endnotes, you need to:

•Insert footnotes and define their format, if the default does not meet your needs (see

Chapter 3, Working with Text: Advanced).

•Define the location of footnotes on the page, and the color and line styles for separator

lines, if the defaults do not meet your needs.

Defining footnote location and separator line

The location of footnotes on the page, and the color and style of the line that separates the

footnotes from the text, are defined in the page style. If you are using several page styles, and may

have footnotes on any of them, you need to define the footnote location and separator line on each

of the page styles.

Choose Format > Page from the Menu bar or right-click a page and choose Page from the context

menu, to display the Page Style dialog. Go to the Footnote tab (Figure 97) and make your

selections, then click OK to save the changes.

Keeping the default setting Not larger than page area, the footnotes area is calculated

automatically on the basis of the number of footnotes. If you prefer to control manually the

maximum space that footnotes can take, select the Maximum footnote height option and enter

the value in the preferred unit of measurement. A footnote higher than the maximum height will spill

over on to the next page. Use the second section of the page to customize the separator between

the footnotes and the main text area.

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Figure 97: Defining footnote location and separator line

Defining borders and backgrounds

You can apply borders and backgrounds to many elements in Writer. Paragraphs, pages, frames,

sections, page styles, paragraph styles, character styles, and frame styles can include both

borders and backgrounds; tables of contents and indexes can include backgrounds only. Text can

have a border applied, either to individual characters or to selected text.

The dialog pages for borders and backgrounds are similar in each case. To illustrate their use, we

will define a border and background for a frame.

Tip

Page backgrounds fill only the area within the margins, including the header or footer

(if any). To extend the background color or graphic into the margins, define a frame of

appropriate size and position, anchor it to the page or to a paragraph, and send it to

the background. For more about frames, see Chapter 6.

Adding a border

To begin, select the frame, right-click, and choose Object from the context menu. Select the

Borders tab (Figure 98).

Borders have three components: where they go, what they look like, and how much space is left

around them.

•Line Arrangement specifies where the borders go. Writer provides five default

arrangements but you can click the line you want to customize in the User-defined area to

get exactly what you want. Each line can be individually formatted.

•Line specifies what the border looks like: the style, width, and color. Each parameter has a

number of attributes to choose from. The attributes selected will apply to those borders

highlighted by a pair of black arrows in the User-defined thumbnail on the left side of the

dialog.

Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics | 117

•Spacing to Contents specifies how much space to leave between the border and the

contents of the element. Spaces can be specified to the left, right, above, and below. Select

Synchronize to have the same spacing for all four sides.

•Shadow Style properties always apply to the whole element. A shadow has three

components: where it is (Position), how far from the element it is cast (Distance), and what

color it is.

Figure 98: Frame dialog: Borders page

Adding a color to the background

To begin, select the frame, right-click, and choose Object from the context menu. In the Frame

dialog, select the Area tab (Figure 99), then choose Color. Select from the color grid or create a

new color to use for this frame, and then click OK to apply it to the background.

Figure 99: Frame dialog: Area page showing color choices

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Adding a gradient to the background

To add a gradient to the background, choose the Area page, then choose Gradient. The page now

displays the gradient options (Figure 100), with an example in the preview pane to the right. Select

the required gradient from the list or create a new gradient to use for this frame. Click OK to apply

it to the background.

Figure 100: Frame dialog: Area page showing gradient choices

Adding a bitmap (i,age) to the background

“Bitmap” is a term that covers photos and other images that are made up of dots of color; the

image may be in several formats. To add a bitmap to the background, choose the Area page, then

choose Bitmap. The page now displays the bitmap options, as shown in Figure 101.

Figure 101: Frame dialog: Area page showing bitmap choices

You can choose one of the supplied bitmaps from the list on the left, or you can add your own.

Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics | 119

To add a bitmap:

1) Click the Add/Import button. The Import dialog opens.

2) Find the file you want and then click the Open button. The Import dialog closes, and the

selected bitmap appears in the list of thumbnails on the left and in the preview box on the

right of the Area page.

3) Choose the new bitmap in the list on the left.

In the Options area, choose how you want the bitmap to appear, then click OK to apply it to the

background.

Adding a pattern or hatching to the background

Adding a pattern or hatching is similar to adding a gradient.

Figure 102: Frame dialog: Area page showing pattern choices

Figure 103: Frame dialog: Area page showing pattern choices

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Deleting a color, gradient, bitmap, or other background

To delete a color, gradient, bitmap, or other background, select None near the top of the Area page

of the Frame dialog.

Adjusting the transparency of the background

Transparency is useful for creating watermarks (a logo or text in the background of a page,

typically showing the company name or a statement such as Draft) and making colors or

images more pale (for more contrast with the text). The available choices are covered in detail in

the Draw Guide.

Figure 104: Transparency options

Chapter 5 Formatting Pages: Basics | 121

Chapter 6

Formatting Pages: Advanced

Using columns, frames, tables, and sections

Introduction

Writer provides several ways to control page layouts. Chapter 5 described the use of page styles

and some associated functions. This chapter covers the use of:

•Columns

•Frames

•Tables

•Sections

•Changing page orientation within a document

Note

All pages in a Writer document are based on page styles. The other layout

methods described in this chapter build upon the underlying page style.

Tip

Page layout is usually easier if you select the options to show text, object, table, and

section boundaries in Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Application Colors and the

options for paragraph ends, tabs, breaks, and other items in Tools > Options >

LibreOffice Writer > Formatting Aids.

Choosing a layout method

The best layout method depends on what the final document should look like, what sort of

information will be in the document, and whether the document will be published in a fixed format

(print, PDF) or a variable format (HTML, ePub) or more than one format. Here are some examples.

The techniques mentioned are all described in this chapter.

•For a book similar to this user guide with one column of text, some figures without text

beside them, and some other figures with descriptive text, use page styles for basic layout,

and use tables to place figures beside descriptive text, where necessary.

•Use sections (with two or more columns) for an index or other document with two columns

of text where the text continues from the left-hand column to the right-hand column and

then to the next page, all in sequence. If the title of the document (on the first page) is full-

page width, put it in a single-column section.

•For a newsletter with a complex layout, two or three columns on the page, and some

articles that continue from one page to some place several pages later, use page styles for

basic layout, then place articles in linked frames. If necessary, anchor graphics to fixed

positions on the page.

Tip

For a document to be published in HTML, ePub, or other format that is not fixed, use

minimal layout techniques. Some methods (columns, frames, wide tables) often do not

export well to those formats.

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 123

Using columns to define the page layout

It is a good idea to define your basic page style (such as Default) with the most common layout to

be used in your document, either single-column or multiple-column. You can then define extra page

styles for pages with different numbers of columns.

Note

If you wish to combine different numbers of columns on a single page, you must use

sections, as described in “Using sections for page layout” starting on page 132.

To define the number of columns for a page style:

1) Choose Format > Page from the Menu bar, or click the More Options button in the Format

section of the Page panel of the Properties deck of the Sidebar, to open the Page Style

dialog. Go to the Columns tab (see Figure 105).

2) In the Settings section, choose the number of columns and specify any spacing between

the columns and whether you want a vertical separator line to appear between the

columns. You can use one of Writer’s predefined column layouts, or you can create a

customized column layout. The preview pane on the right of the Settings section shows

how the column layout will look.

3) Click OK to save the changes.

Figure 105: Defining the number of columns on a page

Formatting column width and spacing

Select the AutoWidth option in the Width and spacing section to create columns of equal or preset

width.

To customize the width and spacing of the columns:

1) In the Width and spacing section, deselect the AutoWidth option.

124 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

2) In the Width selection boxes, enter a width for each column.

3) On the Spacing line, enter the amount of space that you want between each pair of

columns.

If you specify more than three columns, use the arrow keys on the Column line to scroll among the

columns.

Formatting separator lines

Usually white space is all that is needed between columns, but if you wish to display separator

lines:

1) Using the Style drop-down list, select the line style from the three styles available.

2) Using the Width control, select the width of line to use, settable from 0.25pt to 9.0pt.

(1 point = 1/12 pica = 1/72 inch = 127/360 mm = 0.3527 mm.)

3) Using the Height control, select the height of line required, as a percentage of the column

height. You can choose from the supplied values or type in measurements.

4) If you entered a height of less than 100%, use the Position drop-down list to select a

vertical alignment for the separator lines. The vertical-positioning options are Top,

Centered, or Bottom.

5) The line color can be selected from the Color drop-down list.

Distributing text across columns

As you add text to a column, the text flows from one column to the next. The last column may be

shorter than the others.

To distribute text evenly, so that all the columns are approximately the same height, use a multi-

column section instead; see “Formatting a section into columns” on page 135.

Tip

Choose View > Formatting Marks (or press Ctrl+F10) to display end of paragraph

markers (¶). Often, unexpected behavior of columns is due to extra paragraphs that

are normally invisible but are taking up space.

Using frames for page layout

Frames can be very useful when producing newsletters or other layout-intensive documents.

Frames can contain text, tables, multiple columns, pictures, and other objects.

Use frames to:

•Position something in a particular place on a page, for example, a logo or a “stop press”

news box in one corner of a page.

•Allow text on one page to continue on another page, somewhere more distant than the next

one, by linking the content of one frame to another so the contents flow between them as

you edit the text.

•Wrap text around an object, such as a photograph.

Because LibreOffice does not allow you to define page styles with recurring frames (unless

anchored in a header or footer), consider doing some quick sketches of the basic page layouts you

need, indicating the approximate positions of different frames and their purposes. Keep the number

of different page layouts as low as possible to avoid chaos in your design.

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 125

Pay special attention to the positioning of frames. A visually effective way to position a frame is to

align its left margin with that of the paragraph above it. To do this, insert the frame in a blank

paragraph of the same style as the paragraph above. Select Insert > Frame; in the Position

section of the Type page, select From Left in the Horizontal selection box to position the frame

exactly where you want it.

Also, think about the type of wrap and the spacing between the frame and text. Instead of placing a

frame close to the text, use the Wrap page to place some white space between them.

You can format frames individually or define and apply frame styles; see Chapter 9, Working with

Styles.

Creating frames

You can create a frame in several ways:

•Choose Insert > Frame > Frame... to create an empty frame. The Frame dialog (Figure

106) opens. You can set the frame’s characteristics at this stage or click OK and come back

to customize it later.

•Select text and choose Insert > Frame > Frame... to open the Frame dialog. Customize

the frame (for example, to add space between the frame and the text) and click OK. The

selected text is removed from the normal text flow and inserted into the frame.

•Choose Insert > Frame > Interactively or click the Insert Frame Interactively icon on the

Insert toolbar to quickly draw an empty frame.The mouse cursor changes to a plus (+)

symbol. Click and drag the mouse to draw an empty frame. To customize the frame, right-

click it and choose Properties.

•Insert a formula or OLE object by selecting Insert > Object > [type of object]. The item is

inserted and appears in a frame. To customize the frame, right-click it and choose

Properties.

To add content to a frame, first deselect the frame by clicking in an empty space somewhere else

on the page. Then, click inside the frame to place the text cursor there. Now add content as you

would on the main page. When you are done, deselect the frame.

Note

The menu item Insert > Frame > Floating Frame is for use with HTML documents.

Moving, resizing, and changing frame attributes

When an object is added to Writer, it is automatically enclosed in a frame of a predetermined type.

The frame sets how the object is placed on the page, as well as how it interacts with other

elements in the document. You can edit the frame by modifying the frame style it uses or by

manually formatting it when you add it to the document. Frame styles are discussed in Chapter 9,

Working with Styles.

To change the size or location of a frame, first select the frame, then use either the mouse or the

Frame dialog (Figure 106). Using the mouse is faster but less accurate.

Tip

You might want to use the mouse for gross layout and the dialog for fine-tuning.

126 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 106: Frame dialog

You can re-size the frame manually by clicking on the green squares (sizing handles) and dragging

to the appropriate size, or start adding content to it (the frame will re-size automatically if, for

example, you add a large picture to it), or go back to the Frame dialog and set the size and other

characteristics.

To change the location of the frame using the mouse, drag and drop one of the edges or put the

cursor anywhere within the frame. (The cursor changes to a four-headed arrow when properly

positioned for a drag-and-drop move.)

To change the size of the frame, drag one of the sizing handles. Drag a handle on one of the sides

to enlarge or reduce the text frame in one dimension only; drag a corner handle to enlarge or

reduce it in both dimensions.

These resizing actions distort the proportions of the frame. Holding down the Shift key while

dragging one of the handles makes the frame keep the same proportions.

To open the Frame dialog, select the frame, right-click, and choose Properties from the context

menu.

To remove a border from a frame, open the Frame dialog, go to the Borders page (Figure 107),

and in the Line Arrangement secion, select the first Preset (None). Alternatively, you can assign a

borderless style to the frame; see Chapter 9, Working with Styles, for information on frame styles.

Note

Do not confuse a frame’s border with the text boundaries that are made visible using

the View menu (by selecting View > Text Boundaries).

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 127

Figure 107: Removing the border from a frame

Anchoring frames

Use the Frame dialog (or right-click and point to Anchor) to anchor a frame to a page, paragraph,

or character, or to anchor it as a character.

To Page

The frame keeps the same position in relation to the page margins. It does not move as you

add or delete text. This method is useful when the frame does not need to be visually

associated with a particular piece of text. It is often used when producing newsletters or other

documents that are very layout-intensive. This method is also used to center text on a page.

To Paragraph

The frame is associated with a paragraph and moves with the paragraph. It may be placed in

the margin or another location. It is also used to center text on a page in documents which

will be used in a master document (frames anchored to pages will disappear from the master

document).

To Character

The frame is associated with a character but is not in the text sequence. It moves with the

paragraph but may be placed in the margin or another location. This method is similar to

anchoring to a paragraph.

As Character

The frame is placed in the document like any other character and, therefore, affects the

height of the text line and the line break. The frame moves with the paragraph as you add or

delete text before the paragraph. This method is useful for adding a small icon in sequence in

a sentence. It is also the best method for anchoring an image to an empty paragraph so it

does not move around the page in unexpected ways.

Linking frames

You can link frames to each other even when they are on different pages of a document. The

contents will automatically flow from one to the next. This technique is very useful when designing

newsletters, where articles may need to be continued on a different page.

Note

Text can only flow into a frame from one other frame, and flow on to one other frame.

You can not link from a frame to more than one other frame.

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To link one frame to another:

1) Select the frame to be linked from.

2) Click the Link Frames icon on the Frames toolbar.

3) Click the next frame in the series (which must be empty).

When a linked frame is selected, any existing links are indicated by a faint connecting line, as

shown in Figure 108. Frames can be unlinked by selecting the Unlink Frames icon on the Frames

toolbar.

Figure 108: Linked frames

The height of a frame that is being linked from is fixed; you can change this height manually or by

using the Frame dialog, but it does not automatically adjust to the size of the contents (that is, the

AutoHeight attribute is disabled). Only the last frame of a chain can adapt its height to the content.

The Options page of the Frame dialog (Figure 109) shows the names of the selected frame and

any frames it is linked to or from. You can change this information here. On this page, you can also

select options to protect the contents, position, and size of the frame.

Figure 109: Options page of the Frame dialog

The Wrap, Borders, Area, Columns, Transparency, and Macro pages of the Frame dialog are the

same as those for frame styles. Refer to Chapter 9, Working with Styles, for details.

Using tables for page layout

Writer’s tables can serve several purposes, such as holding data as you might see it in a

spreadsheet, lining up material, and creating more complex page layouts. For information about

using tables of data, see Chapter 13.

This topic describes how to achieve some common layouts by using tables.

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 129

Positioning information in headers or footers

Instead of using tabs or frames, you can use a table in a header or footer to position different

elements such a page number, document title, author, and so on. These elements are often

inserted using fields, as described in Chapter 17, Fields.

Creating sideheads using tables

Sideheads and marginal notes are commonly used in documents from resumes to computer user

guides. The main body of the text is offset to leave white space (usually on the left-hand side) in

which the sideheads or notes are placed. The first paragraph is aligned beside the sidehead, as in

Figure 110.

Example of a

sidehead

In some cases you may want to put only one or two paragraphs in the table

itself and the rest of the text and graphics in ordinary paragraphs (formatted to

line up with the paragraphs in the table) so that text and graphics will flow

more easily from one page to another when you add or delete material.

In other cases, you might put each paragraph in a separate row of the table

and allow the table to break between pages.

Figure 110: Example of a sidehead

Note

Sideheads can also be created by placing text in a frame using the Marginalia frame

style, as described in Chapter 9, Working with Styles.

Example

To create a table for use with a sidehead:

1) Place the cursor where you want the table to appear and choose Table > Insert Table

(Ctrl+F12).

2) In the Insert Table dialog, define a one-row, two-column table with no border and no

heading. Click Insert to create the table.

Figure 111: Defining a two-column

borderless table with no header

3) Right-click the table and choose Table Properties from the context menu. On the Columns

page of the Table Properties dialog, make the columns the required width.

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Figure 112: Defining a two-column table to line up with text offset at 3.3cm

4) On the Table page of the Table Format dialog (Figure 113), in the Spacing section, make

the Above and Below values the same as the Top and Bottom spacing you have defined for

ordinary paragraphs of text. In the Properties section, optionally give this table a name.

Click OK to save your settings.

Figure 113: Defining the space above and below a table

Tip

To check the top and bottom spacing for a paragraph: position the cursor in the

paragraph and open the Properties pane in the Sidebar. In the Paragraph section, look

in the Spacing section for the values in Above Paragraph Spacing and Below

Paragraph Spacing.

You may also want to turn off number recognition so that Writer will not try to format numbers if you

want them to be plain text. To turn number recognition off:

1) Right-click in the table and then click Number Format on the context menu.

2) On the Format Number dialog, make sure the Category is set to Text. Click OK.

Figure 114: Setting number format to Text

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 131

Tip

If you use this table format often, you may want to save it as a table style, using Table

> AutoFormat Styles. See “Creating table styles” in Chapter 13, Tables of Data.

Using sections for page layout

A section is a block of text that has special attributes and formatting. You can use sections to:

•Write-protect text.

•Hide text.

•Dynamically insert the contents of another document.

•Add columns, margin indents, a background color, or a background graphic to a portion of

your document.

•Customize the footnotes and endnotes for a portion of your document.

Creating sections

To create a section:

1) Place the cursor at the point in your document where you want to insert the new section.

Or, select the text that you want to place in the new section.

2) From the Menu bar, choose Insert > Section. The Insert Section dialog (Figure 115)

opens.

3) Choose settings for each page of the dialog as required.

4) Click Insert.

Figure 115: Inserting a section using the Insert Section dialog

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The Insert Section dialog has five pages:

•Use the Section page to set the section’s attributes.

•Use the Columns page to format the section into columns.

•Use the Indents page to set indents from the right and left margins of the section.

•Use the Background page to add color or a graphic to the section’s background.

•Use the Footnotes/Endnotes page to customize the section’s footnotes and endnotes.

At any time before closing the dialog, you can reset a tabbed page other than the Section

page to its default settings by clicking the Reset button. (However, if you wish to undo

changes to the Section page, you must do so manually).

Naming sections

Writer automatically enters a name for the section in the name box of the New section list box. To

change the name, select it and type over it. The name is displayed in the Sections category of the

Navigator window. Navigation is easier if you give your sections meaningful names.

Linking sections

You can insert the contents of another document into the section and then have Writer update it

whenever the other document is updated.

Note

If you want to insert only a part of the other document, be sure that part exists as a

section in the document.

To link the section to another document, follow these steps:

1) In the Link section of the dialog, select the Link option.

Figure 116: Linking sections

2) Click the (...) button to the right of the File name field. The Insert dialog opens.

3) Find and select the document you want to insert and then click the Insert button. The Insert

dialog closes and the name of the selected document appears in the File name field.

4) If you want to insert only a section of the selected document, select the desired section

from the Section drop-down list.

You can update links automatically or manually. See “Updating links” on page 138.

Write-protecting sections

To write-protect the section so that its contents cannot be edited, select the Protect option in the

Write protection area (Figure 117).

Note

Write-protection protects only the section’s contents, not its attributes or format.

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 133

Figure 117: Write-protecting sections

Password-protecting sections

Caution

Be very careful to remember or safely store the password, because it cannot be

retrieved without advanced tools.

To prevent others from editing the section’s attributes or format, you can additionally protect the

section with a password, as follows:

1) Select the With password option. The Enter Password dialog opens.

2) Type a password in the Password field and then confirm the password by typing it again in

the Confirm field.

3) Click OK. The Enter Password dialog closes. Anyone who tries to edit the section’s

attributes or format will be prompted to enter the password.

Figure 118: Password-protecting a section

Hiding sections

You can hide the section so that it will not be displayed on the screen or printed. You can also

specify conditions for hiding the section. For example, you can hide the section only from certain

users. Hiding is very useful for creating a single source document containing students’ and

teachers’ copies of a document such as a test.

Note

You cannot hide a section if it is the only content on the page or if the section is in a

header, footer, footnote, endnote, frame, or table cell.

To hide a section, select the Hide option in the Hide section of the dialog.

Figure 119: Hiding sections

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To hide the section only under certain conditions, enter the desired conditions in the With Condition

field. The syntax and operators that you use to enter conditions are the same ones that you use to

enter formulas. For syntax and a list of operators, see the Help under Conditions. See also Chapter

17, Fields.

If the section is write-protected with a password, the password must be entered to hide or reveal

the text.

Formatting a section into columns

You can give some parts of a page one column and other parts of the page two or more columns.

For example, you might have a page-width headline over a three-column news story.

Tip

You cannot select text on a multi-column formatted page and change it to a single

column using this method. Instead, you need to define a single-column page style and

then select the text you want to be in a two-column section on that page.

Use the Columns page of the Insert Section dialog (Figure 120) to format the section into columns.

Figure 120: Choosing evenly distributed columns

As you add text to the section, the text flows from one column to the next. You can distribute text

across the columns in one of two ways, as shown in Figure 121.

Figure 121: (Left) Evenly distributed columns; (Right) Newspaper-style columns

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 135

•Evenly: Writer adjusts the length of the columns to the amount of text, so that all the

columns are approximately the same height. As you add or delete text, the columns

readjust.

•Newspaper-style: Writer fills the columns one at a time, beginning with the first column.

The last column may be shorter than the others.

To distribute text evenly, select Evenly distribute contents to all columns in the Settings area

(Figure 120). Deselect this option if you want to distribute text newspaper-style.

Indenting the section from margins

Use the Indents page (Figure 122), to set indents from the right and left margins of the section.

Figure 122: Indenting sections

Enter the desired left-margin indent in the Before section box. Enter the desired right-margin indent

in the After section box. The preview box on the right-hand side of the page shows you how the

section will look with the indents applied.

Changing the background of the section

Use the Background page to add color or a graphic to the background of the current section. This

page is similar to the Background pages for paragraphs, frames, tables, and other objects in

LibreOffice. For more information, refer to Chapter 9, Working with Styles.

Customizing footnotes and endnotes in a section

Use the Footnotes/Endnotes page to customize the current section’s footnotes and endnotes.

Figure 123: Setting footnotes and endnotes for sections

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Customizing footnotes

To number the section’s footnotes separately from the other footnotes in the document, and format

the numbering, follow these steps:

1) In the Footnotes section of the page, make sure that Collect at end of text is selected.

2) Select Restart numbering.

3) To start the section’s footnotes at a number other than 1, enter the desired starting number

in the Start at number box.

4) Select the Custom format option.

5) From the drop-down list of the Custom format option, select a numbering format for the

footnotes.

To add text to the selected numbering format, use the Before and After text input boxes. For

example, if you want the footnote numbers to be preceded by the word “Note” and followed by a

colon, fill the Before and After fields as shown in Figure 123.

Customizing endnotes

If you want the section’s endnotes to appear at the end of the section rather than at the end of the

document, select the Collect at end of section option in the Endnotes area.

To number the current section’s endnotes separately from the other endnotes in the document, and

format the numbering, apply the procedures described above to the Endnotes settings.

Editing and deleting sections

To edit a section, choose Format > Sections from the Menu bar. In the Edit Sections dialog

(Figure 124), select the section you want to edit by clicking its name in the list box.

Figure 124: Edit Sections dialog

Editing section attributes

To rename the selected section, type over its name in the Section name box.

From the Edit Sections dialog, you can also edit the selected section’s link, write-protect, and hide

attributes. To learn how to edit these attributes, see “Linking sections” on page 133, “Write-

protecting sections” on page 133, and “Hiding sections” on page 134.

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Editing the format of a section

To edit the format of the selected section, click the Options button.

The Options dialog has four pages: Columns, Indents, Background, and Footnotes/Endnotes. The

use of these pages is described earlier in this topic.

To reset a page to the conditions in place when the dialog opened, click the Reset button. To save

the Options settings and return to the Edit Sections dialog, click OK.

Removing sections

To remove the selected section, click the Remove button. This does not delete the contents of the

section; the contents become part of the main document. If the contents were linked, they are now

embedded.

Updating links

You can set Writer to update linked sections automatically, and you can also update links manually.

Updating links automatically

To set Writer to update links without prompting you, or to turn off automatic updating, follow these

steps:

1) Choose Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > General. The dialog displays general text

document settings.

2) In the Update section of the dialog, under Update links when loading, select one of the

following three options:

–Always if you want Writer to update links automatically, without prompting you,

whenever you open a document that contains links.

–On request if you want Writer to prompt you before updating links.

–Never if you do not want Writer to update links.

3) Click OK to save your settings.

Updating links manually

A protected section cannot be updated manually. It must first be unprotected.

To update a link manually:

1) Open the document that contains the link.

2) Choose Edit > Links to External Files. The Edit Links dialog (Figure 125) opens.

3) The list in the Edit Links dialog displays the names of all the files that are linked to the

current document. Click the file that corresponds to the link that you want to update.

4) Click the Update button. The most recently saved contents of the linked file appear in the

current document.

5) To close the Edit Links dialog, click Close.

Removing links

To remove a linked file, go to the Edit Links dialog (see above), click the file that corresponds to the

link you want to remove, and click the Break Link button. This action embeds the contents of the

linked file.

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Figure 125: Edit Links dialog

Changing page orientation within a document

A document can contain pages in more than one orientation. A common scenario is to have a

landscape page in the middle of a document, whereas the other pages are in a portrait orientation.

Here are the steps to achieve it.

Setting up a landscape page style

1) If you wish to keep the margins the same as on other pages, then note the margin settings

of the current page style. (You can find the margin settings on the Page Style dialog, by

selecting the Page tab as shown in Figure 127.)

2) In the Styles and Formatting window, right-click Landscape in the list of page styles and

choose Modify from the pop-up menu.

3) On the Organizer page of the Page Style dialog (Figure 126), make sure the Next Style

property is set to Landscape (to allow for having more than one sequential landscape

page).

Figure 126: Set the next page style to Landscape

4) On the Page page of the Page Style dialog (Figure 127), make sure the Orientation is set to

Landscape. Change the margins so that they correspond with the margins of the portrait

page. That is, the portrait top margin becomes the landscape left margin, and so on.

5) Click OK to save the changes.

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 139

Figure 127: Set orientation and margins for a landscape page

Inserting a landscape page into a portrait document

Now that you have defined the Landscape page style, here is how to apply it:

1) Position the cursor in the paragraph or table at the start of the page that is to be set to

landscape. Right-click and choose Paragraph or Table Properties, respectively, in the

context menu.

2) On the Text Flow page of the Paragraph dialog (Figure 128) or the Table Properties dialog

(Figure 129), select Insert (or Break for a table) and With Page Style. Set the Page Style

property to Landscape. Click OK to close the dialog and to apply the new page style.

Figure 128: Specifying a page break before a paragraph

Figure 129: Specifying a page break before a table

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3) Position the cursor in the paragraph or table where the page is to return to portrait

orientation and change the paragraph properties or table properties so that With Page Style

is the portrait page style that was used before the Landscape page style.

4) Click OK to return to the previous portrait page style.

Portrait headers on landscape pages

When you define a header and footer on a landscape page, they will be aligned with the long side

of the page. If your landscape pages are inserted between portrait pages, you might want the

headers and footers to be on the short sides of the landscape pages, so the final printed product

looks like the contents of the landscape pages have been rotated 90 degrees on portrait pages.

You can set up portrait headers and footers on landscape pages by using a trick involving frames.

These are a bit tedious to set up, but once you have done so, you can copy and paste them to

other landscape pages. This cannot be made part of the landscape page style. In the following

example we want to insert a landscape page into our printed document, to have the same header

and footer, and margins, as our portrait pages. We will use an A4 page size.

To set up portrait headers and footers on landscape pages:

1) Note the margin settings for the portrait page which is the same as the landscape page will

be, that is to say, for a right landscape page, the settings from a right portrait page (see the

table).

We now need to make the landscape right and left margins 1 cm larger than the portrait top

and bottom margins, respectively. This difference allows for the extra space used by the

portrait header and footer (0.5 cm for the height of the header or footer and a 0.5 cm gap

between the header or footer and the main text).

2) Set the frame for the footer in the same way as for the header. Apply these margin settings

in the Landscape page style.

Portrait page (right page) Landscape page (right page)

Top margin 1.5 cm Right margin 2.5 cm

Bottom margin 1.5 cm Left margin 2.5 cm

Left (inner) margin 2.8 cm Top margin 2.8 cm

Right (outer) margin 1.8 cm Bottom margin 1.8 cm

3) Copy and paste the footer from the portrait page into a blank paragraph in the text. Paste or

move it into the landscape page. This text will then have the Footer style so the typeface,

font size, and tab settings will match.

Figure 130: Copy the footer, paste, and select it

4) Select the text (including the fields) you just entered. Choose Format > Character. On the

Character dialog, choose the Position tab and set Rotation / scaling to 270 degrees

(counterclockwise). Click OK.

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 141

Figure 131: Rotating the footer text 270 degrees

5) With the text still selected, choose Insert > Frame. In the Frame dialog (Figure 132), select

the Type tab and enter the width, height, and horizontal and vertical position for the footer.

Deselect the Automatic options in Width and Height if they are selected.

–The width is the footer height taken from the Footer page of the portrait page style

dialog.

–The frame height is obtained by simple arithmetic. The A4 page-width is 21cm, minus

the sum of the top and bottom margins of 2.8cm and 1.8cm resulting in a frame height

of 16.4cm.

–The horizontal position is the portrait page bottom margin.

–The vertical position is the landscape page top margin.

Figure 132: Defining the size and position of the footer frame

6) If your footer has a line above the text, as in this book, on the Borders page, select a right

border and specify the line width and spacing to the frame’s contents.

7) Click OK to save these settings. The footer will now appear in the required position and

orientation. Any fields will update.

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8) Because tabs have been removed, insert the cursor in the frame, at the end of the text

where the tab was, and insert as many spaces using the keyboard space bar, as you

require for the layout to match that on the portrait page.

Repeat these steps (using appropriate settings) to set up a portrait header on the landscape page.

Caution

Make sure to return to the paragraph in the document from which you rotated the text,

and return it to 0 degrees, or any text typed in this location will rotate.

Figure 133: Footers in place for both page styles

Chapter 6 Formatting Pages: Advanced | 143

Chapter 7

Printing, Exporting, E-mailing

Introduction

This chapter describes several ways to print or export documents from Writer in paper or electronic

form and the options for each of them.

Quick printing

Click the Print icon to send the entire document to the default printer defined for your

computer.

Note

You can change the action of the Print icon to send the document to the printer defined

for the document instead of the default printer for the computer. Go to Tools > Options

> Load/Save > General and select Load printer settings with the document.

Controlling printing

For more control over printing, use the Print dialog (File > Print or Ctrl+P).

Figure 134: The Print dialog

Note

The options selected on the Print dialog apply to this printing of this document only.

To specify default printing settings for LibreOffice, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice

> Print and Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Print. See Chapter 20, Setting Up

Writer, for more details.

The Print dialog has four pages, from which you can choose a range of options, as described in the

following sections.

Chapter 7 Printing, Exporting, E-mailing | 145

Selecting general printing options

On the General page of the Print dialog, you can choose:

•The printer (from the list of printers available).

•Which pages to print, the number of copies to print, and whether to collate multiple copies

(Range and copies section).

•Whether to print in reverse page order (useful on some printers to make the pages come

out in page order).

•Whether to print any comments that are in the document, and where to print the comments.

If the document contains no comments, the Print Comments drop-down list does not work.

Figure 135: Choosing whether and where to print comments

Click the Properties button to display the selected printer’s properties dialog, where you can

choose portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) orientation, which paper tray to use, and the

paper size to print on.

On the Options page of the Print dialog, you can choose other options for printing.

Figure 136: General print options

Printing multiple pages on a single sheet of paper

You can print multiple pages of a document on one sheet of paper. To do this:

1) In the Print dialog, select the Page Layout page (Figure 137).

2) In the Layout section, select from the drop-down list the number of pages to print per sheet.

The preview panel on the left of the Print dialog shows how the printed document will look.

3) When printing more than two pages per sheet, you can choose the order in which they are

printed across and down the paper. Figure 138 shows the difference.

4) In the Page sides section, select whether to print all pages or only some pages.

5) Click OK.

Tip

To print two pages per sheet in “facing pages” (book layout) style, print from Print

Preview instead. See page 150.

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Figure 137: Printing multiple page per sheet of paper

Figure 138: Choosing the order in which to print multiple pages

Selecting what to print

In addition to printing a full document, you can choose to print individual pages, ranges of pages,

or a selection of a document, as described in this section.

Printing an individual page:

1) Choose File > Print from the Menu bar, or press Ctrl+P.

2) On the Print dialog, select the page to print.

3) In the Range and copies section of the General page, select the Pages option.

4) Enter the sequence number of the page you want to print. The preview box changes to

show the selected page.

5) Click OK.

Chapter 7 Printing, Exporting, E-mailing | 147

Printing a range of pages:

1) Choose File > Print from the Menu bar, or press Ctrl+P.

2) On the Print dialog, select the range of pages to print.

3) In the Ranges and copies section of the General page, select the Pages option.

4) Enter the sequence numbers of the pages to print (for example, 1–4 or 1,3,7,11, or a

combination like 3–6,8,12).

5) Click OK.

Printing a selection of text:

1) In the document, select the material (text and images) to print.

2) Choose File > Print from the Menu bar, or press Ctrl+P.

3) The Ranges and copies section of the Print dialog now includes a Selection option and the

preview box shows the selected material. See Figure 139.

4) Click OK.

Figure 139: Printing a selection of text

Printing a brochure

In Writer, you can print a document with two pages on each side of a sheet of paper, arranged so

that when the printed pages are folded in half, the pages are in the correct order to form a booklet

or brochure.

Tip

Plan your document so it will look good when printed half size; choose appropriate

margins, font sizes, and so on. You may need to experiment.

To print a brochure on a single-sided printer:

1) Choose File > Print, or press Ctrl+P.

2) On the General page of the Print dialog, click Properties.

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3) Check that the printer is set to the same orientation (portrait or landscape) as specified in

the page setup for your document. Usually the orientation does not matter, but it does for

brochures. Click OK to return to the Print dialog.

4) Select the Page layout page in the Print dialog.

5) Select the Brochure option.

6) In the Page sides section, select Back sides / left pages from the Include drop-down list.

(See Figure 140.) Click OK.

Figure 140: Selecting which pages to print

7) Take the printed pages out of the printer, turn the pages over, and put them back into the

printer in the correct orientation to print on the blank side. You may need to experiment a bit

to find out what the correct arrangement is for your printer.

8) On the Print dialog, in the Page sides section, select Front sides / right pages from the

Include drop-down box. Click OK.

Tip

If your printer can print double-sided automatically, choose All pages.

Printing in black and white (on a color printer)

You may wish to print documents in black and white on a color printer. Several choices are

available.

Note

Some color printers may print in color regardless of the settings you choose.

Change the printer settings to print in black and white or grayscale:

1) Choose File > Print, or press Ctrl+P, to open the Print dialog.

2) Click Properties to open the Properties dialog for the printer. The available choices vary

from one printer to another, but you should find options for the Color settings. See your

printer’s help or user manual for more information.

3) The choices for color might include black and white or grayscale. Choose the required

setting.

4) Click OK to confirm your choice and return to the Print dialog,

5) Click OK to print the document.

Chapter 7 Printing, Exporting, E-mailing | 149

Tip

Grayscale is better than black-and-white if you have images in the document.

Change the LibreOffice settings to print all color text and images as grayscale:

1) Choose Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Print.

2) Select the Convert colors to grayscale option. Click OK to save the change.

3) Open the Print dialog (File > Print or press Ctrl+P).

4) Click OK to print the document.

Change the LibreOffice Writer settings to print all color text as black, and all images as grayscale:

1) Choose Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Print.

2) Under Contents, select the Print text in black option. Click OK to save the change.

3) Open the Print dialog (File > Print), or press Ctrl+P.

4) Click OK to print the document.

Previewing pages before printing

The normal page view in Writer shows what each page will look like when printed; you can edit the

pages in that view. If you are designing a document to be printed double-sided, you may want to

see what facing pages look like. Writer provides two ways to do this:

•View Layout (editable view): use the Facing Pages (Book View) button on the status bar

and (usually) zoom out.

•Print Preview (read-only view).

To use Print Preview:

1) Choose File > Print Preview (or click the Print Preview icon on the Standard toolbar).

Writer now displays the Print Preview toolbar instead of the Formatting toolbar.

2) Select the required preview icon: Two Pages, Book Preview, or Multiple Pages.

3) To print the document from this view, click the Print icon to open the Print dialog.

4) Choose the print options and click OK.

Printing envelopes

Printing envelopes involves two steps: setup and printing.

To set up an envelope to be printed by itself or with a document:

1) Click Insert > Envelope from the Menu bar.

2) In the Envelope dialog, start with the Envelope page. Verify, add, or edit the information in

the Addressee and Sender (the “from” on the envelope) boxes.

You can type information directly into the Addressee and Sender boxes, or use the right-

hand drop-down lists to select the database or table from which you can draw the envelope

information, if desired. See Chapter 14, Mail Merge, for details on how to print envelopes

from a database.

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Figure 141: Choosing addressee and sender information for an envelope

3) On the Format page (Figure 142), verify or edit the positioning of the addressee and the

sender information. The preview area on the lower right illustrates your choices.

4) To format the text of these blocks, click the Edit icon to the right. In the drop-down list you

have two choices for each button: Character and Paragraph.

–Select Character to open a Character dialog, similar to the standard Character dialog,

but omitting Borders, where you can set the formatting of the text.

–Select Paragraph to open a Paragraph dialog, similar to the standard Paragraph dialog,

but omitting Outline & Numbering, where you to can set the paragraph's attributes.

5) In the lower left of this page, the Size section, choose the envelope format from the drop-

down list. The width and height of the selected envelope then show in the boxes below the

selected format. If you chose a pre-existing format, just verify these sizes. If you chose

User defined in the Format list, then you can edit the sizes.

Tip

At this stage it is only possible to vary the position of the origin points (upper left

corners) of the frames that will hold the Sender and Addressee information, but once

the envelope has been created, full adjustment of size and position becomes possible.

Chapter 7 Printing, Exporting, E-mailing | 151

Figure 142: Choosing positioning and size of elements for an envelope

6) After formatting, go to the Printer page (Figure 143) to choose the printer to use, its setup—

for example, specification of the tray holding envelopes—and other printer options such as

envelope orientation and shifting. You may need to experiment to see what options work

best for your printer, as well as how the envelopes need to be positioned in the printer.

Figure 143: Choosing printer options for an envelope

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7) When you have finished formatting and are ready to print, click either the New Document

or Insert button to finish. New Document makes only an envelope or starts a new

document with the envelope. Insert puts the envelope into your existing document as

page 1.

To not proceed with this envelope, click Cancel or press the Esc key. To remove your

changes and return to the original settings when the dialog opened. click Reset.

The document now has the envelope in the same file as the document. Save this file before you do

anything else.

To print the envelope:

1) Choose File > Print from the Menu bar.

2) On the Print dialog, under Print range, choose Pages and type 1 in the box. Click OK to

print.

Printing labels

Labels are commonly used for printing address lists (where each label shows a different address),

but they can also be used for making multiple copies of one label only, for example return-address

stickers, or labels for CDs/DVDs or other items.

Printing labels, like printing envelopes, has two steps: setup and printing. This topic is covered in

detail in Chapter 14, Mail Merge.

Exporting to PDF

LibreOffice can export documents to PDF (Portable Document Format). This standard file format is

ideal for sending the file to someone else to view using Adobe Reader or other PDF viewers.

Tip

Unlike Save As, the Export command writes a copy of the current document in a new

file with the chosen format, but keeps the current document and format open in your

session.

Quick export to PDF

Click the Export as PDF icon to export the entire document using the PDF settings you most

recently selected in the PDF Options dialog. You are asked to enter the file name and location for

the PDF, but you do not get a chance to choose a page range, the image compression, or other

options.

Controlling PDF content and quality

For more control over the content and quality of the resulting PDF, use File > Export as PDF. The

PDF Options dialog opens. This dialog has six pages (General, Initial View, User Interface, Links,

Security, and Digital Signatures). Select the appropriate settings, and then click Export. Then you

are asked to enter the location and file name of the PDF to be created, and click Export.

Note

Another choice is to use File > Export. This opens the Export dialog. Select the PDF

file format, file name and location, and click Export. This then opens the PDF Options

dialog. Click Export when all the selections have been made. The only difference

between the two export methods is the sequence in which steps occur.

Chapter 7 Printing, Exporting, E-mailing | 153

General page of PDF Options dialog

On the General page (Figure 144), you can choose which pages to include in the PDF, the type of

compression to use for images (which affects the quality of images in the PDF), and other options.

Figure 144: General page of PDF Options dialog

Range section

•All: Exports the entire document.

•Pages: Exports a subset of pages, for example 1–4, or 1,3,7,11, or 3–6,8,12.

•Selection: Exports whatever material is selected.

Images section

•Lossless compression: Images are stored without any loss of quality. Tends to make

large files when used with photographs. Recommended for other kinds of images or

graphics.

•JPEG compression: Allows for varying degrees of quality. A setting of 90% works well with

photographs (small file size, little perceptible loss of quality).

•Reduce image resolution: Lower-DPI (dots per inch) images have lower quality. For

viewing on a computer screen generally a resolution of 72dpi (for Windows) or 96dpi (GNU/

Linux) is sufficient, while for printing it is generally preferable to use at least 300 or 600 dpi,

depending on the capability of the printer. Higher dpi settings increase the size of the

exported file.

Note

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) images with embedded previews are exported only as

previews. EPS images without embedded previews are exported as empty

placeholders.

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Watermark section

•Sign with Watermark: When this option is selected, a transparent overlay of the text you

enter into the Watermark Text box will appear on each page of the PDF.

General section

•Hybrid PDF (embed ODF file): Use this setting to export the document as a PDF file

containing two file formats: PDF and ODF. In PDF viewers it behaves like a normal PDF

file, and it remains fully editable in LibreOffice.

•Archive PDF/A-1a (ISO 19005-1): PDF/A is an ISO standard for long-term preservation of

documents, by embedding all the information necessary for faithful reproduction (such as

fonts) while forbidding other elements (including forms, security, and encryption). PDF tags

are written. If you select PDF/A-1a, the forbidden elements are grayed-out (not available).

•Tagged PDF: Tagged PDF contains information about the structure of the document’s

contents. This can help to display the document on devices with different screens, and

when using screen reader software. Some tags that are exported are table of contents,

hyperlinks, and controls. This option can increase file sizes significantly.

•Create PDF form – Submit format: Choose the format of submitting forms from within the

PDF file. This setting overrides the control’s URL property that you set in the document.

There is only one common setting valid for the whole PDF document: PDF (sends the

whole document), FDF (sends the control contents), HTML, and XML. Most often you will

choose the PDF format.

Allow duplicate field names: If enabled, the same field name can be used for multiple

fields in the generated PDF file. With this option enabled, you can enter data in the first

occurrence of the named field in the PDF document and all fields with the same name will

carry your entry. If disabled, field names will be exported using generated unique names.

•Export bookmarks: Creates PDF bookmarks (a table of contents list displayed by most

PDF viewers, including Adobe Reader) for all headings in the document.

•Export placeholders: Exports placeholder text instead of a blank placeholder.

•Export comments: Exports comments as PDF notes. You may not want this!

•Export automatically inserted blank pages: If selected, automatically inserted blank

pages are exported to the PDF. This is best if you are printing the PDF double-sided. For

example, books usually have chapters set to always start on an odd-numbered (right-hand)

page. When the previous chapter ends on an odd page, Writer inserts a blank page

between the two odd pages. This option controls whether to export that blank page.

•View PDF after export: Your default PDF viewer will open and display the newly exported

PDF immediately after it is generated.

Initial View page of PDF Options dialog

On the Initial View page, you can choose how the PDF opens by default in a PDF viewer. The

selections should be self-explanatory.

If you have Complex Text Layout enabled (in Tools > Options > Language settings >

Languages), an additional selection is available under Continuous facing: First page is left

(normally, the first page is on the right when using the Continuous facing option).

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Figure 145: Initial View page of PDF Options dialog

User Interface page of PDF Options dialog

On the User Interface page, you can choose more settings to control how a PDF viewer displays

the file. Some of these choices are particularly useful when you are creating a PDF to be used as a

presentation or a kiosk-type display.

Figure 146: User Interface page of PDF Options dialog

Window options section

•Resize window to initial page. Causes the PDF viewer window to resize to fit the first

page of the PDF.

•Center window on screen. Causes the PDF viewer window to be centered on the

computer screen.

•Open in full screen mode. Causes the PDF viewer to open full-screen instead of in a

smaller window.

•Display document title. Causes the PDF viewer to display the document’s title in the title

bar.

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User interface options section

•Hide menubar. Causes the PDF viewer to hide the Menu bar.

•Hide toolbar. Causes the PDF viewer to hide the toolbar.

•Hide window controls. Causes the PDF viewer to hide other window controls.

Bookmarks

Select how many heading levels are displayed as bookmarks, if Export bookmarks is

selected on the General page.

Links page of PDF Options dialog

On the Links page, you can choose how links in documents are exported to PDF.

Figure 147: Links page of PDF Options dialog

Export bookmarks as named destinations

If you have defined Writer bookmarks, this option exports them as “named destinations” to

which Web pages and PDF documents can link.

Convert document references to PDF targets

If you have defined links to other documents with OpenDocument extensions (such

as .odt, .ods, and .odp), this option converts the files names to .pdf in the exported PDF

document.

Export URLs relative to the file system

If you have defined relative links in a document, this option exports those links to the PDF.

Cross-document links

Set up the behavior of the PDF links to other files. Select one among the following alternatives:

•Default mode: The PDF links will be handled as specified in your operating system.

•Open with PDF reader application: Use the same application used to display the PDF

document to open linked PDF documents.

•Open with Internet browser: Use the default Internet browser to display linked PDF

documents.

Security page of PDF Options dialog

PDF export includes options to encrypt the PDF (so it cannot be opened without a password) and

apply some digital rights management (DRM) features.

•With an open password set, the PDF can only be opened with the password. Once opened,

there are no restrictions on what the user can do with the document (for example, print,

copy, or change it).

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•With a permissions password set, the PDF can be opened by anyone, but its permissions

can be restricted. See Figure 148. After you set a password for permissions, the other

choices on the Security page become available.

•With both the open password and permission password set, the PDF can only be opened

with the correct password, and its permissions can be restricted.

Note

Permissions settings are effective only if the user’s PDF viewer respects the settings.

Figure 148: Security page of PDF Options dialog with passwords set

Figure 149 shows the pop-up dialog displayed when you click the Set passwords button on the

Security page of the PDF Options dialog.

Figure 149: Setting a password to encrypt a PDF

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Digital Signatures page of PDF Options dialog

The Digital Signatures page contains the options related to exporting a digitally signed PDF.

Digital signatures are used to ensure that the PDF was really created by the original author (that is,

you), and that the document has not been modified since it was signed.

The signed PDF export uses the keys and X.509 certificates already stored in your default key

store location or on a smartcard. The key store to be used can be selected under Tools > Options

> LibreOffice > Security > Certificate Path. When using a smartcard, it must already be

configured for use by your key store. This is usually done during installation of the smartcard

software. Details about using these features is outside the scope of this chapter.

Figure 150: Digital Signatures page of PDF Options dialog

•Use this certificate to digitally sign PDF documents: Click Select to open the Select

Certificate dialog, where all certificates found in your selected key store are displayed. If the

key store is protected by a password, you are prompted for it. When using a smartcard that

is protected by a PIN, you are also prompted for that.

Select the certificate to use for digitally signing the exported PDF, then click OK. All other

fields on the Digital Signatures page are accessible only after a certificate has been

selected.

•Certificate password: Enter the password used for protecting the private key associated

with the selected certificate. Usually this is the key store password. If the key store

password has already been entered in the Select Certificate dialog, the key store may

already be unlocked and not require the password again.

When using a smartcard, enter the PIN here. Some smartcard software will prompt you for

the PIN again before signing.

•Location, Contact information, Reason: Optionally enter additional information about the

digital signature that will be applied to the PDF. This information will be embedded in the

appropriate PDF fields and will be visible to anyone viewing the PDF. Any or all of the three

fields may be left blank.

•Time Stamp Authority: Optionally select a Time Stamping Authority (TSA) URL. During the

PDF signing process, the TSA will be used to obtain a digitally signed timestamp that is

then embedded in the signature. Anyone viewing the PDF can use this timestamp to verify

when the document was signed.

The list of TSA URLs that can be selected is maintained under Tools > Options >

LibreOffice > Security > TSAs. If no TSA URL is selected (the default), the signature will

not be timestamped, but will use the current time from your local computer.

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Exporting to ePub

ePub is an e-book file format that can be downloaded and read on devices like smartphones,

tablets, computers, or e-readers. It is the most widely supported vendor-independent XML-based

(as opposed to PDF) e-book format.

Export to ePub is limited in LibreOffice 6.0. A text-only document generally exports well, but some

contents (such as illustrations, tables, and cross references) may not export correctly. These

functions are expected to be added or greatly improved in later releases of LibreOffice.

Use File > Export As > Export as EPUB to start the process.

Tip

Other ways to export to ePub from Writer (.odt) files include Calibre, an open-source

e-book manager that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Calibre provides many

e-book conversion facilities and allows editing of the result. https://calibre-ebook.com/

Exporting to other formats

LibreOffice uses the term “export” for some file operations involving a change of file type. Writer

can export files to XHTML, ePub and other formats, as shown in Figure 151.

Choose File > Export. On the Export dialog, specify a file name for the exported document, then

select the required file format and click Export.

Figure 151: Export file formats

E-mailing Writer documents

LibreOffice provides several ways to quickly and easily send a Writer document as an e-mail

attachment in one of three formats: .odt (OpenDocument Text, Writer’s default format), .doc

(Microsoft Word format), or .pdf.

To send the current document in .odt format, choose:

1) File > Send > E-mail Document, or File > Send > E-mail as OpenDocument Text. Writer

opens your default e-mail program. The document is attached.

2) In your e-mail program, enter the recipient, subject, and any text you want to add, then

send the e-mail.

If you choose E-mail as Microsoft Word, Writer first creates a .doc file and then opens your

e-mail program with the .doc file attached. Similarly, if you choose E-mail as PDF, Writer opens

the PDF Options dialog where you can select the settings you want, then creates a PDF, and then

opens your email program with the .pdf file attached.

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E-mailing a document to several recipients

To e-mail a document to several recipients, you can use the features in your e-mail program or you

can use Writer’s mail merge facilities to extract email addresses from an address book.

You can use Writer’s mail merge to send e-mail in two ways:

•Use the Mail Merge Wizard to create the document and send it. See Chapter 14, Mail

Merge, for details.

•Create the document in Writer without using the Wizard, then use the Wizard to send it.

This method is described here.

To use the Mail Merge Wizard to send a previously-created Writer document:

1) Open the document in Writer. Click Tools > Mail Merge Wizard. On the first page of the

wizard, select Use the current document and click Next.

Figure 152: Select starting document

2) On the second page, select E-mail message and click Next.

Figure 153: Select document type

3) On the third page, click the Select Address List button. Select the required address list

(even if only one is shown) and then click OK. (If the address list you need is not shown

here, you can click Add to find and add it to the list.)

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Figure 154: Selecting an address list

4) Back on the Select address list page, click Next. On the Create salutation page, deselect

the checkbox by This document should contain a salutation.

Figure 155: Deselecting a salutation

5) In the left-hand list, click Step 8. Save, print or send. Writer displays a “Creating

documents” message and then displays the Save, print or send page of the Wizard

(Figure 156).

6) Select Send merged document as E-Mail. The lower part of the page changes to show

e-mail settings choices.

7) Type a subject for your email and click Send documents. Writer sends the e-mails.

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Figure 156: Sending a document as an email message

Sending a fax

To send a fax directly from Writer, you need a fax modem and a fax driver that allows applications

to communicate with the fax modem.

1) Open the Print dialog (Figure 134) by choosing File > Print (or Ctrl+P) and select the fax

driver in the Printer list.

2) Click OK to open the dialog for your fax driver, where you can select the fax recipient.

You can set up a toolbar button so that a single click sends the current document as a fax. To add

a button for this purpose to a toolbar, see Chapter 21, Customizing Writer.

Digital signing of documents

To sign a document digitally, you need a personal key, also known as a certificate. A personal key

is stored on your computer as a combination of a private key, which must be kept secret, and a

public key, which you add to your documents when you sign them. You can get a certificate from a

certification authority, which may be a private company or a governmental institution.

When you apply a digital signature to a document, a kind of checksum is computed from the

document’s content plus your personal key. The checksum and your public key are stored together

with the document.

When someone later opens the document on any computer with a recent version of LibreOffice,

the program will compute the checksum again and compare it with the stored checksum. If both

are the same, the program will signal that you see the original, unchanged document. In addition,

the program can show you the public key information from the certificate. You can compare the

public key with the public key that is published on the web site of the certificate authority.

Whenever someone changes something in the document, this change breaks the digital signature.

On Windows operating systems, the Windows features of validating a signature are used. On Linux

systems, files that are supplied by Thunderbird, Mozilla, or Firefox are used. For a more detailed

description of how to get and manage a certificate, and signature validation, see “About Digital

Signatures” and “Applying Digital Signatures” in the LibreOffice Help.

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To sign a document:

1) Choose File > Digital Signatures > Digital Signatures. If you have set LibreOffice to warn

you when the document contains notes (comments) or recorded changes, you may see a

message box asking whether you want to continue signing the document.

2) If you have not saved the document since the last change, a message box appears. Click

Yes to save the file.

3) The Digital Signatures dialog opens. Click Sign Document to add a public key to the

document.

4) In the Select Certificate dialog, select your certificate and click OK to return to the Digital

Signatures dialog.

5) The certificate used is displayed in the dialog with an icon next to its name.

This icon indicates the status of the digital signature.

–An icon with a red seal indicates that the document was signed and the certificate was

validated.

–An icon with a yellow caution triangle overlaying the red seal indicates that the

document is signed but that the certificate could not be validated.

–An icon of a yellow caution triangle indicates an invalid digital signature.

6) Click Close to apply the digital signature.

A signed document shows an icon in the status bar. You can double-click the icon to view the

certificate. More than one signature can be added to a document.

Signing multiple times with same signature

In the past, LibreOffice prohibited multiple signatures by the same author on a document, but a

signature description is now provided, so an author can now sign a document more than once.

When you select File > Digital Signatures, the dialog (Figure 157) lists existing signatures

together with their description (if they have any).

Figure 157: Signatures of the document

When you click the Sign Document button, the dialog (Figure 158) for certificate selection also

asks for an optional description.

Changing an existing description invalidates the signature.

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Figure 158: Signatures can now have a description

Removing personal data

You may wish to ensure that personal data, versions, comments, hidden information, or recorded

changes are removed from files before you send them to other people or create PDFs from them.

In Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Security > Options, you can set LibreOffice to remind (warn)

you automatically when saving files containing certain information and optionally remove personal

information.

Figure 159: Set security warnings and options

To remove personal and some other data from a file, go to File > Properties. On the General

page, uncheck Apply user data and click the Reset Properties button. This removes any names

in the created and modified fields, deletes the modification and printing dates, and resets the

editing time to zero, the creation date to the current date and time, and the version number to 1.

To remove version information, either (a) go to File > Versions, select the versions from the list

and click Delete, or (b) use Save As and save the file with a different name.

Chapter 7 Printing, Exporting, E-mailing | 165

Chapter 8

Introduction to Styles

What are styles?

Most people are used to writing documents according to physical attributes. For example, you

might specify the font family, font size, and weight (for example: Helvetica 12pt, bold). In contrast,

styles are logical attributes. For example, you can define a set of font characteristics and call it

“Title” or “Heading 1”. In other words, styles mean that you shift the emphasis from what the text

looks like to what the text is.

Why use styles?

Styles help improve consistency in a document. They also make major formatting changes easy.

For example, you might decide to change the indentation of all paragraphs or change the font of all

titles. For a long document, this simple task could be prohibitive. Styles make the task easy. In

addition, Writer uses styles for other purposes, such as compiling a table of contents; see “Using

paragraph styles to define a hierarchy of headings” on page 185.

Style categories

LibreOffice Writer has six style categories:

•Paragraph styles affect entire paragraphs and are also used for purposes such as

compiling a table of contents.

•Character styles affect a block of text inside a paragraph; they provide exceptions to

paragraph styles.

•Page styles affect page formatting (page size, margin, and the like).

•Frame styles affect frames and graphics.

•List styles affect outlines, numbered lists, and bulleted lists.

•Table styles affect the appearance of tables of data.

Paragraphs are the building blocks of every document: headings are paragraphs; headers, footers,

and items in numbered lists are also paragraphs. Paragraph styles are, therefore, the most

frequently used styles and are the ones treated in most detail in this chapter.

Caution

Manual formatting (also called direct formatting) overrides styles. You cannot get rid of

manual formatting by applying a style to it.

To remove manual formatting, select the text and choose Format > Clear Direct

Formatting from the Menu bar, or select the text and press Ctrl+M.

The Styles deck in the sidebar

Styles management is primarily available through the Styles deck (called Styles and Formatting in

some installations) in the Sidebar (Figure 160). Here you can apply styles, modify styles, and

create new styles.

To begin, do any of the following:

•Click the Styles and Formatting icon on the Sidebar.

•Choose Styles > Manage Styles from the Menu bar.

•Press F11 (⌘+T on Mac).

The first six icons at the top of the Styles and Formatting deck select the category of styles. Click

one of these icons to display a list of styles in that category, such as paragraph or character styles.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 167

Select the Show Previews option to display the style names as examples of their formatting.

Figure 160: The Styles and Formatting deck, showing paragraph styles and filter

Filtering the visible styles

At the bottom of the Styles and Formatting deck, use the drop-down menu to select a filter for the

list of styles. Normally, you will need only a few styles in any document, so it’s useful to have only

these styles shown.

At the beginning of the writing process, you may want to have access to all the available styles (by

selecting All Styles), and then hide some of them (Ctrl+click to select each style to be excluded

and finally right-click one of these styles and select Hide from the context menu). As the document

develops, it is quicker to reduce the list displayed to only the styles already in use (by selecting

Applied Styles). If you work on a document where you want to apply custom styles only, select

instead Custom Styles. The Hierarchical Styles view is most useful when modifying styles as it

reveals which styles are linked together. This topic is discussed in Chapter 9, Working with Styles.

In the Paragraph Styles view, the drop-down menu contains several more filtering options so you

can view, for example, only Text Styles, Special Styles, and so on.

Applying styles

Styles can be applied easily using the Styles and Formatting deck. In addition, you can apply

certain styles using other methods, as explained in this section.

Applying paragraph styles

When drafting a document, the most used style is the paragraph style. LibreOffice offers three

quick alternatives to the Styles and Formatting deck to apply this category of style: the Styles

menu (with a limited selection of commonly used styles), the Set Paragraph Style list, and the Fill

Formatting icon.

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Paragraph Styles

Frame Styles

Page Styles

List Styles

Table Styles

New Style from Selection

Update Style

Load Styles

Character Styles

Fill Format Mode

Using the Styles and Formatting deck

Put the cursor in the paragraph and double-click the name of the style in the Paragraph Styles

section of the Styles and Formatting deck. You can select more than one paragraph and apply the

same style to all of them at the same time.

Using the Styles menu

The Styles menu on the Menu bar (Figure 161) provides the most commonly used paragraph and

character styles, plus quick links to create and edit styles. To apply a paragraph style, put the

cursor in the paragraph and click Styles > [name of paragraph style] on the Menu bar.

Figure 161: The Styles menu

Note

You cannot add styles to the Styles menu.

Using the Set Paragraph Style list

When a paragraph style is in use in a document, the style name appears on the Set Paragraph

Style list near the left end of the Formatting bar (see Figure 162).

To apply a style from this menu, put the cursor in the paragraph to change, and then click the arrow

to drop down the list of styles and click the desired style to apply it; or drop down the list and use

the up or down arrow keys to move through the list, then press Enter to apply the highlighted style.

Tip

Select More at the bottom of the list (not shown in illustration) to open the Styles and

Formatting deck.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 169

Figure 162: The Set Paragraph

Style list on the Formatting bar

Using Fill Format mode

You can use Fill Format mode to apply a style to many areas quickly without having to go back to

the Styles and Formatting deck and double-click each time. This method is useful for formatting

scattered paragraphs, words, or other items with the same style, and it may be easier to use than

making multiple selections first and then applying a style to all of them.

1) Open the Styles and Formatting deck (Figure 160) and select a style.

2) Click the Fill Format Mode icon.

3) To apply a paragraph, page, or frame style, hover the mouse over the paragraph, page, or

frame and click. To apply a character style, hold down the mouse button while selecting the

characters. Clicking on a word applies the character style to that word.

4) Repeat step 3 until you have made all the changes for that style.

5) To quit Fill Format mode, click the icon again or press the Esc key.

Caution

When this mode is active, a right-click anywhere in the document undoes the last Fill

Format action. Be careful not to accidentally right-click and undo actions you want to

keep.

Using keyboard shortcuts

Some keyboard shortcuts for applying styles are predefined. For example, Ctrl+0 applies the Text

body style, Ctrl+1 applies the Heading 1 style, and Ctrl+2 applies the Heading 2 style. You can

modify these shortcuts and create your own; see Chapter 21, Customizing Writer, for instructions.

Applying character styles

Writer provides two ways to apply character styles, as described in this section.

You may need to remove direct formatting before applying character styles. Select the text, then

choose Format > Clear Direct Formatting from the Menu bar.

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Using the Styles and Formatting deck

Open the Styles and Formatting deck and click the second icon in the top bar. The list of available

character styles is displayed. To apply a character style:

1) Select the block of text, or put the cursor into the single word, where you wish to apply the

style.

2) Double-click the appropriate character style in the Styles and Formatting deck.

Note

To apply a character style to more than a single word, you need to select all of the text

to be changed. To apply the style to a single word, you only have to place the cursor in

the word. In contrast, paragraph styles are applied to the whole of the paragraph in

which the cursor is placed.

Removing or replacing character styles

Sometimes, you will want to remove the character style formatting from some text, or change the

character style to a different style. To do this:

1) Select the text.

2) On the Styles and Formatting deck, click the Character Styles icon in the top bar.

3) Double-click the required character style, or double-click Default Style to remove the

character style.

Applying frame styles

When you insert an object (such as a graphic) into a document, it will automatically have an

invisible frame around it. Some designers like to add frame styles to introduce variety. For

example, you could have one frame style for photographs and a different frame style for other

graphics such as line drawings. The one for photographs might have a border with a drop shadow,

while the one for drawings might have only a border.

To apply a style to a frame:

1) Select the frame.

2) Open the Styles and Formatting deck.

3) Click the Frame Styles icon (the third one from the left).

4) Double-click the frame style you want.

Having applied a style to a frame, you can now modify the frame to be just how you want it. Most of

a frame’s design can be set in a style, but the following options must be set manually:

•Anchoring: how the frame is positioned in relation to the rest of the page’s contents

(Format > Anchor).

•Arrangement: the frame’s position in a stack of objects (Format > Arrange).

•Adding a hyperlink: so that a click on the frame opens a Web page or another document

(Insert > Hyperlink).

When a frame is selected, the Frame toolbar replaces the Formatting toolbar, and the right-click

(context) menu has items for anchoring, arrangement, wrap, and alignment.

Applying page styles

Put the cursor anywhere on the page. The applied page style is shown on the status bar.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 171

Figure 163: The current page style is displayed on the status bar

To apply a different style, either right-click the style in the status bar and select a style from the

context menu, or open the Styles and Formatting deck, select the page style icon at the top (fourth

icon), and then double-click the desired page style.

Caution

Changing a page style may also cause the style of subsequent pages to change. The

results may not be what you want. To change the style of only one page, you may

need to insert a manual page break, as described below.

As discussed in Chapter 9, Working with Styles, a correctly set up page style will, in most cases,

contain information on what the page style of the next page should be. For example, when you

apply a Left page style to a page, you can indicate in the page style settings that the next page has

to apply a Right page style, a First page style could be followed by either a Left page style or a

Default page style, and so on.

Another way to change the page style is to insert a manual page break and specify the style of the

subsequent page. The idea is simple: you break a sequence of page styles and start a new

sequence. To insert a page break, choose Insert > Manual Break and choose Page break. This

section illustrates two common scenarios where page breaks are useful.

Example: Chapters

A possible scenario: You are writing a book that is divided into chapters. Each chapter starts with a

page style called First Page. The following pages use the Default page style. At the end of each

(except the last) chapter, we return to the First Page style for the next chapter.

Figure 164 illustrates the flow of page styles when using page breaks.

Figure 164: Dividing a document into chapters using page styles

At some point, you will want to start a new chapter. Follow these steps:

1) Put the cursor at the end of the chapter, on a blank line (empty paragraph) of its own.

2) Choose Insert > Manual Break. The Insert Break dialog (Figure 165) appears.

3) Under Type, choose Page break and under Style, select First Page.

Tip

You can automate these breaks by defining the paragraph style of the chapter’s title

(usually Heading 1) to include a page break.

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Figure 165: Choose Page break and select the First Page style

Example: Page with special formatting

Sometimes you may need to insert a page with special formatting, for example a landscape page

or a page with more columns. This can also be done with page breaks. Suppose that the current

page has the Default Style page style.

1) Choose Insert > Manual Break.

2) Select the desired page style (say, Special Page) in the Insert Break dialog.

3) Type something on this page. Then insert another page break, selecting Default Style

again.

This concept is illustrated in Figure 166.

Figure 166: Inserting a page with special formatting

Example: A book chapter sequence of pages

Book chapters typically start on a right-hand page, with the first page of the chapter having a

different layout from the rest of the pages. The other pages in the chapter are “mirrored” for

double-sided printing. For example, page numbers in the header or footer may be positioned on

the outside edge of pages and in this instance a wider margin (allowing for binding) is placed on

the inside edge.

Table 6 shows the properties of two page styles (First Page and Default) set up for a typical book

chapter’s sequence of pages.

Table 6: Properties of customized page styles for a book chapter

Page Style Desired effect Property: setting

First Page First page always on the right (an

odd-numbered page)

Page > Page layout > Only right

No header or footer Header > Header on: Not selected

Top margin of page larger than on

other pages

Page > Margins > Top: 6.00cm

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 173

Page Style Desired effect Property: setting

Default Mirrored margins Page > Page layout: Mirrored

Header with page number on the top

outside of the page and chapter title

in the top middle center of the page

Header > Header on: Selected

Header > Header > Same content left/right:

Not selected

Figure 167 illustrates the transitions from the First Page to Default page styles, with the change of

header between left and right pages shown by the # symbol.

Figure 167: First Page and then the Default page

style with different headers for alternate pages

Step 1. Set up the First Page style.

1) On the Styles and Formatting deck, click the Page Styles icon to display a list of page

styles.

2) Right-click First Page and select Modify from the pop-up menu.

3) On the Organizer page of the Page Style: First Page dialog, change Next Style to Default.

Figure 168: Specifying the next style after the first page of a chapter

4) On the Page page, specify a larger left margin for binding, and a larger top margin to move

the chapter title down the page.

Figure 169: Setting page margins and layout for the First Page style

5) On the Header and Footer pages, be sure the Header on and Footer on options are not

selected. Click OK to save your changes.

Step 2. Set up the Default page style.

1) On the Styles and Formatting deck, in the list of page styles, right-click Default and select

Modify from the pop-up menu.

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2) On the Organizer page of the Page Style: Default dialog, be sure Next Style is set to

Default.

3) On the Page page of the Page Style: Default dialog, select Mirrored for Page layout and

set the Inner and Outer margins to the same width as the Left and Right margins,

respectively, on the First Page style.

Figure 170: Setting page margins and layout for the Default page style

4) On the Header page of the Page Style: Default dialog, select the Header on option and

deselect the Same content left/right option. Click OK to save your changes.

Figure 171: Setting up the header properties for the Default page style

Step 3. Set up the Heading 1 paragraph style to start on a new first page.

1) In the Styles and Formatting deck, on the Paragraph Styles page, right-click Heading 1 and

select Modify.

2) On the Text Flow page of the Paragraph Style dialog, in the Breaks section, select Insert,

With Page Style, and First Page. Click OK to save your changes.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 175

Figure 172: Setting a paragraph style to start on a page of a selected style

Step 4. Start a new chapter.

Apply the Heading 1 paragraph style to the first paragraph, which is the title of the chapter.

Note

By default, the Heading 1 paragraph style is assigned to Outline Level 1. The

assignment of paragraph styles to outline levels is done through Tools > Chapter

Numbering.

Step 5. Set up the page headers.

1) On a left page, put the cursor in the header and insert a page number field on the left

(Insert > Fields > Page Number).

2) Press Tab to put the cursor in the middle and insert a Chapter reference:

Press Ctrl+F2 (or choose Insert > Fields > Other from the Menu bar) to display the Fields

dialog (Figure 173).

On the Document page, for Type, select Chapter and for Format, select Chapter name.

Make sure that Level is set to 1 and then click Insert.

Figure 173: Inserting a chapter title into the header of a page

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3) On a right page, put the cursor in the header, press the Tab key, insert a Chapter reference,

press Tab again, and insert a page number field.

4) If you need to adjust the tab stops for the header, modify the Header paragraph style. Do

not manually adjust the tab stops.

Applying list styles

List styles define properties such as indentation, numbering style (for example, 1,2,3; a,b,c; or

bullets), and punctuation after the number, but they do not by themselves define properties such as

font, borders, text flow, and so on. The latter are properties of paragraph styles.

Writer has two series of predefined list styles, named List and Numbering. List styles are for bullet

points by default; Numbering styles for numbered lists by default. Each series contains five list

styles, intended for the different levels of a nested list. As with any style, you can redefine the

properties of these styles, for example the numbering or bullet symbol and the indentation. You can

also define other list styles in these series or create your own series.

Each of the list styles predefined in Writer has four associated paragraph styles. For more

information, see Chapter 9, Working with Styles. Much more information about list styles is in

Chapter 12, Lists: Tips and Tricks.

If you only want to apply a list style (that is, the numbering or bullet symbol and the indentation),

then place the cursor in the paragraph and double-click the desired list style in the List Styles

section of the Styles and Formatting tab in the sidebar. However, a better strategy is to embed the

list style into one or more paragraph styles, as explained in Chapter 9. You can then create a list by

applying paragraph styles alone.

List styles can have up to ten levels, used for nested lists. To switch from one level to another, use

the Promote One Level or Demote One Level icons on the Bullets and Numbering toolbar, or

press the Tab key (one level down) or Shift+Tab keys (one level up), or right-click the list element

and select Promote One Level or Demote One Level from the context menu.

Restarting or continuing the numbering

When creating more than one numbered list of the same type within the same chapter, Writer

applies sequential numbering to all the lists. Sometimes this is what you want (for example, when

placing illustrations between the numbered paragraphs), while at other times you want to restart

the numbering.

To restart numbering from 1, you can do any of the following:

•Click the Restart numbering icon on the Bullets and Numbering toolbar.

•Right-click the first element of the list and choose Restart numbering from the context

menu.

•Right-click the first element of the list, choose Paragraph from the context menu, and go to

the Outline & Numbering tab of the Paragraph dialog. In the Numbering section, select the

options Restart at this paragraph and Start with, and set the number (see Figure 174).

If you find that the numbering does not restart as intended using the first or second method, or if

you want to restart from a number greater than 1, use the third method.

When editing a document, you may want to change from restarting numbering to continuing the

numbering from a previous list. To do so, right-click the list element and choose Continue

previous numbering from the context menu.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 177

Figure 174: Restarting numbering

Applying table styles

Table styles define properties such as the font, paragraph spacing, number of columns, borders,

and background color.

To apply a table style, position the cursor anywhere in the table, go to the Styles and Formatting

deck on the Sidebar, choose Table Styles, then double-click the name of a style on the list.

See Chapter 13, Tables of Data, for information on creating a table style.

Assigning styles to shortcut keys

You can configure shortcut keys to quickly assign styles in your document. Some shortcuts are

predefined, such as Ctrl+1 for the Heading 1 paragraph style and Ctrl+2 for Heading 2. You can

modify these shortcuts and create your own. See Chapter 21, Customizing Writer, for details.

Creating and modifying styles

Writer provides many predefined styles, which are useful when sharing a document to another

machine, especially one with a different language version of LibreOffice, but you may find that they

do not fit your preferences. You can modify the predefined styles or build your own library of

custom styles to use in addition to or in place of the predefined ones.

Writer offers these mechanisms to modify both both predefined and custom (user-created) styles:

•Update a style from a selection.

•Load or copy styles from another document or template.

•Change a style using the Style dialog.

•Use AutoUpdate (paragraph and frame styles only).

•Use AutoFormat (table styles only). See Chapter 13, Tables of Data.

Using New Style from Selection, Update Style, and Load Styles

Styles are part of the document properties, therefore new styles you create or formatting changes

you make to an existing style are available only within the document they belong to. Styles always

stay with a document.

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Tip

If you want to reuse modified or new styles in other documents, either save the styles

in a template (see Chapter 10, Working with Templates) or copy the styles into the

other documents, as described in “Load Styles (from a template or document)” on

page 180.

The last icon at the top of the Styles and Formatting deck gives access to a menu of three

functions: New Style from Selection, Update Style, and Load Styles.

New Style from Selection

Use New Style to create a new style from the formatting of an item in the current document. For

example, you can change the formatting of a paragraph until it appears as you like, and then you

can turn that formatting into a new style. This procedure can save time because you do not have to

remember all the formatting settings you want, as is necessary when creating a new style with the

Style dialog. In addition, you can immediately see how the item will look when formatted with the

style you are creating.

Follow these steps to create a new style from a selection:

1) Change the formatting of the object (paragraph, frame, and so on) to your liking.

2) From the icons at the top of the window, choose the category of style to create (paragraph,

character, and so on).

3) In the document, select the item to save as a style.

4) Go back to the Styles and Formatting deck and click the New Style from Selection icon,

then select New Style from the menu.

5) The Create Style dialog opens. Type a name for the new style. The list shows the names of

existing custom styles of the selected type, if any. Click OK to save the new style.

Update Style (from a selection)

Let’s use paragraph styles as an example.

1) Create a new paragraph (or select an existing paragraph) and edit all the properties you

want to alter in the style (such as indentation, font properties, alignment, and others).

Caution

Make sure that theproperties in this paragraph are uniform. For example, if there are

two different font sizes in the paragraph, that property will not be updated.

2) Select the paragraph by clicking anywhere in the paragraph.

3) In the Styles and Formatting deck, select the style you want to update (single-click, not

double-click) and then click the New Style from Selection icon and select Update Style.

The procedure to update another category of style (character, page, or frame styles) is the

same: select the item in question, modify it, select the style you want to update, and

choose Update Style.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 179

Figure 175: Updating a style from a selection

Load Styles (from a template or document)

The last option under the New Style from Selection icon is used to copy styles into the current

document by loading them from a template or another document. Using this method, you can copy

all styles, or groups of styles, at one time.

1) Open the document to copy styles into.

2) In the Styles and Formatting deck, click the New Style from Selection icon and then on

Load Styles (see Figure 175).

3) In the Load Styles dialog (Figure 176), find and select the template or document to copy

styles from.

Figure 176: Loading styles from a template

Click the From File button if the styles you want are contained in a text document rather

than a template. In this case, a standard file selection dialog opens up, where you can

select the desired document.

4) Select the options for the types of styles to be copied: Text (Paragraph and Character

styles), Frame, Pages, Numbering (List styles). If you select Overwrite, the styles being

copied will replace any styles of the same names in the target document.

5) Click OK to copy the styles.

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Drag-and-drop a selection to create a style

Another way to create a new style is to drag-and-drop a text selection into the Styles and

Formatting deck.

1) Open the Styles and Formatting deck.

2) Select the style category you are going to create (for example a character style) using one

of the icons near the top of the deck.

3) Select the object on which you want to base the style and drag it to the Styles and

Formatting deck. The cursor changes to indicate whether the operation is possible.

4) In the Create Style dialog, type a name for the new style and click OK to save the style.

Note

You cannot use the drag-and-drop method to create a new page style or table style.

Changing a style using the Style dialog

To change an existing style (but not a table style) using the Style dialog, right-click the style in the

Styles and Formatting deck and select Modify from the pop-up menu.

The dialog displayed depends on the type of style selected. Each style’s dialog has several tabs.

The properties on these dialogs are described in Chapter 9.

You can click the Help button at any time to bring up the online help where all the options of the

current page are briefly described. When you are done, click OK to close the dialog.

Using AutoUpdate

On the Organizer page of the Paragraph Style and Frame Style dialogs is an AutoUpdate option. If

this option is selected, then LibreOffice will apply to the style any modification made manually to a

paragraph formatted with that style.

Caution

If you are in the habit of manually overriding styles in your document, be sure that

AutoUpdate is not enabled, or you will suddenly find whole sections of your document

reformatting unexpectedly.

Figure 177: The Organizer page of the Paragraph Style dialog

Deleting styles

It is not possible to delete LibreOffice’s predefined styles from a document or template, even if they

are not in use. However, custom styles can be deleted.

To delete any unwanted styles, in the Styles and Formatting deck select each one to be deleted

(hold Ctrl while selecting multiple styles), and then right-click a selected style and select Delete in

the context menu. If the style is in use, a message appears warning you that the style is in use and

asking you to verify that you really want to delete the style.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 181

If the style is not in use, it is deleted immediately without confirmation.

Caution

If you delete a style that is in use, all objects with that style will return to the style it was

based on (inherited from) but may retain some of the deleted style’s formatting as

manual formatting.

Tip

If an unwanted paragraph style is in use, you can use Find & Replace to replace it with

a substitute style before deleting it. See Chapter 3, Working with Text: Advanced, for

more information.

Example: creating and modifying paragraph styles

This section provides an example of a typical use of custom paragraph styles. We will create a

Poem paragraph style and a Poem Header paragraph style, with the following properties:

•Poem: Centered, with a font size of 10pt.

•Poem Heading: Centered, bold, with a 12pt font size.

In addition, a Poem Heading style is to be followed by a Poem style. In other words, when you

press Enter, the next paragraph style in the document changes to Poem.

Note

You may have noticed this behavior already. After you enter a heading using a

Heading paragraph style and press Enter, the next style switches to Text body.

Creating the Poem paragraph style

We will use the Default style as a starting point.

1) In the Styles and Formatting deck, click the Paragraph Styles icon.

2) Right-click Default Style and choose New.

The Paragraph Style dialog opens, with the Organizer page selected. To create a custom style, you

need to configure the top three entries.

Style fields Description

Name The name of the style itself, like Heading 1 or Text body.

Type the name Poem.

Next Style The style of a paragraph that follows the paragraph that is in Poem style. When you

press Enter while typing text in the Poem style, this style is automatically applied to

the new paragraph.

Set this value to Poem. When you press Enter, the text of the new paragraph will

remain in the Poem style.

Inherit from If the properties of the Poem style are inherited from another style, say Default Style,

then any change in Default will affect Poem.

For our example, this is not the behavior we want. Set this entry to – None –. This

means that Poem is not inherited from any other style.

Select the Custom Styles category for new styles. Do not select the AutoUpdate option.

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After making these changes, your dialog should look like Figure 178.

Figure 178: Initial configuration for the Poem style. Set the first three entries as shown.

The next step is to configure the alignment and font properties of this style.

•On the Alignment page, select the Center option.

•On the Font page, select the 12pt font size.

Click OK to save the new Poem style.

Creating the Poem Heading style

To create a new Poem Heading style, use the same procedure as above, with these changes:

•Next Style: Select Poem, not Poem Heading. When you press Enter while typing text in the

PoemHeading style, this Poem style is automatically applied to the new paragraph.

•Inherit from: Heading.

The dialog should look like Figure 179.

Figure 179: Settings for the PoemHeading style

Now set the settings of the new style:

1) On the Alignment page, select Center.

2) On the Font page, choose Bold and size 14pt.

Click OK to save the new PoemHeading style.

Sample poem

It is a good idea to test out your new styles and see if you are happy with them. Typing a poem

using the styles we have just defined should produce the results in Figure 180.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 183

Figure 180: Sample poem

Changing the formatting of your styles

One of the main advantages of styles is that they allow the document formatting to be changed

after the content has been written. For example, suppose you have written a 100-page book of

poetry. Then you (or your publisher) decide you don’t like the way the poems look.

To learn about reconfiguring styles, we add an indentation to the Poem style instead of centering it.

First, set the Poem style to left alignment:

1) In the Styles and Formatting deck, right-click Poem and select Modify.

2) On the Alignment page, select Left.

Set the indentation:

1) Select the Indents & Spacing tab.

2) Under Indent, set the indentation before the text to 0.5in.

Click OK, and you should see the text change. The poem should now look similar to Figure 181.

Note in the figure that a third style has been created for the author of the poem.

Figure 181: Final result, using three custom styles

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Using paragraph styles to define a hierarchy of headings

Paragraph styles are the key to Writer’s table of contents feature. Tools > Chapter Numbering

defines the hierarchy of headings in a document. The default paragraph styles assigned to heading

levels are the heading styles supplied with Writer: Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on. However, you

can substitute any styles you wish, including custom (user-defined) styles.

The headings defined using the chapter numbering feature can be used for more than the table of

contents (described in Chapter 15). For example, fields are commonly used to display headings in

headers and footers of pages (see Chapter 17, Fields).

Choosing paragraph styles for heading levels

If you are using the default heading styles for the headings in your outline, and you do not want to

use heading numbering, you do not need to do anything on the Chapter Numbering dialog. The

default outline numbering scheme uses the default heading styles.

To use custom styles in place of one or more of the default heading styles:

1) Choose Tools > Chapter Numbering to open the Chapter Numbering dialog.

2) Click the number in the Level box corresponding to the heading for which you want to

change the paragraph style.

Figure 182: Choosing paragraph styles for numbering levels

3) In the Numbering: Paragraph Style section, choose from the drop-down list the paragraph

style you want to assign to that heading level. In this example, you might choose

My Heading 1 to replace Heading 1 and for Level 2, My Heading 2 to replace Heading 2.

4) Repeat for each numbering level that you want to change. Click OK when done.

Assigning outline levels to other styles

In Writer, you can assign an outline level to any paragraph style. This feature enables you to create

a table of contents that includes those headings along with the headings using styles listed in the

Chapter Numbering dialog. For example, you might use a different sequence of styles for

appendixes, but you want the appendix headings and subheadings to appear in the table of

contents at the same levels as the chapter headings and subheadings.

To assign an outline level to a paragraph style, go to the Outline & Numbering page for the style,

and select the required outline level from the drop-down list. Click OK to save this change.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 185

Figure 183: Specifying an outline level for a paragraph style

Setting up heading numbering

If you want one or more heading levels to be numbered, many choices are available; this example

defines a scheme to create headings that look like those in the illustration below.

Figure 184: The numbering scheme to be set up

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Use the Numbering page of the Chapter Numbering dialog to define the numbering scheme and its

appearance. Figure 185 shows the default settings.

Figure 185: Default settings on the Chapter Numbering dialog

1) In the Level list, choose 1. In the Number list, choose 1, 2, 3, …. The result is shown in the

preview box on the right in Figure 186.

Figure 186: Specifying numbering of Level 1 headings

2) In the Level list, choose 2. In the Number list, choose 1, 2, 3, …. The Show sublevels list is

now active; it should show 2 (if not, choose 2). The result is shown in Figure 187.

Figure 187: Specifying numbering of Level 2 headings

3) In the Level list, choose 3. In the Number list, choose 1, 2, 3, …. The Show sublevels list

should show 3 (if not, choose 3). The result is shown in Figure 188.

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 187

Figure 188: Specifying numbering of Level 3 headings

These choices produce the layout shown in Figure 189.

Figure 189: Results of numbering choices for headings

Setting up the indentation of headings

Whether or not the headings are numbered, you may want to change some of their formatting. For

example, you may want the second-level and third-level headings to be indented from the margin.

For numbered headings, you may also want the second line of long headings to line up with the

first word of the heading, not the number. For these changes, use the Position page of the Chapter

Numbering dialog.

As an example, we will change the position and wrapping of a Heading 2:

1) In the Level list on the left, choose 2. Change the values for Numbering followed by, at and

Aligned at, as shown in Figure 190. You may want to use a different value. This indents the

entire heading but does not affect the way long headings wrap around (see Figure 191).

Figure 190: Indenting Level 2 headings

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Figure 191: Result of changes to indentation of Level 2 headings

2) To change the wrapping behavior of long headings, change Indent at to a larger value, as

shown in Figure 192. The result is shown in Figure 193.

Figure 192: Wrapping long headings

Figure 193: Result of changing Indent at value

Chapter 8 Introduction to Styles | 189

Chapter 9

Working with Styles

Introduction

Chapter 8, Introduction to Styles, describes the basics of how to use, apply, and manage styles.

This chapter gives a more detailed description of how to create or modify some styles, using the

many options available on the various pages of the Style dialog. It explains how these options

affect the appearance of the style and how to use them efficiently.

The Style dialogs share many of the same pages as the manual formatting dialogs, so this chapter

can also help you apply manual formatting (though you do not need that if you use styles).

Creating custom (new) styles

In addition to using the predefined styles provided by LibreOffice, you can add new custom (user-

defined) styles. In Chapter 8, three methods are given for creating a new style: drag-and-drop, the

New Style from Selection icon in the Styles and Formatting deck, and the Style dialog.

The first two of these methods are convenient because you can check the visual effects that the

style produces before creating it. However, for full control over the style (and its relationship to

other styles, you need to use the Style dialog, as described in this chapter.

Note

Table styles are created in a different way, as described in Chapter 13, Tables of Data.

Style dialog

Open the Styles and Formatting deck in the Sidebar. Select the category of style you want to

create by clicking on the appropriate icon in the top part of the Styles and Formatting deck.

Right-click in the window and select New from the context menu. The dialog that is displayed

depends on the type of style you selected. Many of the pages are the same as those used when

applying manual formatting. Therefore, if you are familiar with manual formatting, you may already

know how to use most of the options.

Tip

The dialogs used to create a new style and to modify an existing style are mostly the

same, but with one exception: conditional styles have a different dialog. See “Using

conditional paragraph styles” on page 203.

Organizer page

The Organizer page, shown in Figure 194, is common to all style categories (except Table styles),

with only small differences between them. Therefore, it is described only once.

Depending on the style you are creating, you will find the following fields on this page:

•Name: present on all the categories. Use this field to name the style you are creating.

•AutoUpdate: only present for paragraph and frame styles. If this option is selected, then

Writer will apply any manual modification to a paragraph or frame formatted with that style

to the style itself.

Caution

If you are in the habit of manually overriding styles in your document, be sure that

AutoUpdate is not enabled, or you may suddenly find whole sections of your document

reformatted unexpectedly.

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 191

Figure 194: The Organizer page displayed when a new Paragraph style is created

•Next Style: only available for paragraph and page styles. Use it to specify which style will

be applied to the next element of the same type. For example, a left page style is usually

followed by a right page style, a first page style followed by a left page style, a heading

followed by body text, and so on.

•Inherit from: available for paragraph, character, and frame styles; it determines the

position of the style in the hierarchy. All the starting properties of the new style are inherited

(copied) from the style specified here; see below for more information.

•Category: available for all styles; use it to associate the new style with one of the

categories. Note that you cannot change the category of the predefined styles. Setting this

field is useful when filtering the contents of the Styles and Formatting deck.

•Contains: shows a summary of the properties of the style.

Style inheritance

When creating a new paragraph style or a new character style,

you can use an existing style as a starting point for its settings. In

this sense, LibreOffice links the styles together.

When style settings are inherited, a change in the parent style

affects every style inherited from it. To see the connections

between styles, switch to the Hierarchical view in the Styles and

Formatting deck filter. For example, every Heading style (such as

Heading 1, Heading 2) is inherited from a style called Heading.

This relationship is illustrated in Figure 195.

Figure 195: Hierarchical

view of inheritance in styles

Inheritance is a method to create “families” of styles in which you can change their properties

simultaneously. For example, if you decide that all the headings should be green (such as in this

guide), you only need to change the font color of the parent style to achieve the desired result.

However, changes made to a parameter of the parent style do not override changes previously

made to the same parameter in the child styles. For example, if you change the Heading 2 font

color to green, a change of the font color of the Heading style (the parent style) to red will not affect

the Heading 2 font color.

You can easily check which properties are specific to a style by looking at the Contains section of

the Organizer page. If you want to reset the properties of a child style to that of the parent style,

click the Standard button located at the bottom of each Paragraph and Character style dialog.

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Example: Changing a property of a parent style

Suppose that you want to change the font of not only Heading 1 or Heading 2, but all headings.

Open the Styles and Formatting deck, select the Paragraph Styles category, right-click Heading,

then select Modify to open the Paragraph Style dialog for the Heading style.

Select the Font tab, then select a font and click OK.

Figure 196: Select the Heading font

Now, the fonts of all the heading styles (Heading 1 through Heading 10) are changed in a single

operation. Figure 197 shows on the left a document using the headings 1, 2 and 3 and on the right

the same document after changes have been made to the Heading style.

Figure 197: Effect of changing the Heading style font

Working with paragraph styles

Although this section describes most of the parameters scattered over the tabbed pages shown in

Figure 196, you do not need to configure them all. In most cases, you need to modify only a few

attributes, particularly if you link styles or base the new style on a similar one.

Indents & Spacing page

On the Indents & Spacing page (Figure 198), you can set up the indentation of the paragraph and

the spacing between lines and between one paragraph and the paragraphs above and below.

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 193

Figure 198: Settings on the Indents and Spacing page of a paragraph style dialog

Use the Indent section of the page to set up the indentation, using these parameters:

•Before text: controls the space in the selected unit of measurement between the left

margin of the page and the leftmost part of the paragraph area. Entering a negative value

results in the text starting on the left of the margin. This may be useful in situations where

your left margin is quite wide, but you want the headings to be centered in the page.

•After text: controls the space in the selected unit of measurement between the right margin

of the page and the rightmost part of the paragraph area. Entering a negative value results

in the text extending into the right margin of the page.

•First line: enter the offset in this box (either positive or negative) of the first line of the

paragraph relative to the paragraph area. A positive value increases the indentation of the

first line, while a negative value makes the first line start to the left of the paragraph area.

•Automatic: select this box to allow Writer to automatically control the indentation of the first

line. The value is calculated by Writer on the basis of the font size and other parameters.

Use the Spacing section of the page to determine the amount of vertical space above and below

the paragraph. It is customary to include some “space above” in heading styles so that they are

separated from the text body of the previous section without the need to insert empty paragraphs.

Spacing between paragraphs is also normal in certain types of documents. The body text style of

this guide is configured to leave some space between consecutive paragraphs. You can select the

option to remove space between paragraphs of the same style.

Note

An option in Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Compatibility controls whether

space above and space below are added together (the default) or if the larger space is

the only one that applies. See Chapter 21 for more information.

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The spacing between paragraphs does not affect the spacing between lines within a paragraph,

which is controlled in the Line spacing section. You can select one of the following values:

•Single: the default setting—applies a single line spacing to the paragraph. This is

calculated automatically based on the font size.

•1.15 lines: sets the line spacing to 1.15 lines. This small increase often improves the

appearance of text without using a lot of vertical space.

•1.5 lines: sets the line spacing to 1.5 lines.

•Double: sets the line spacing to 2 lines.

•Proportional: activates the edit box next to the drop-down list where you can enter a

percentage value. 100% means a single line spacing, 200% double line spacing and so on.

•At least: this choice activates the edit box next to the drop-down list, where you can enter

the minimum value (in your selected unit of measurement) to be used for the line spacing.

•Leading: if this is selected, you can control the height of the vertical space between the

base lines of two successive lines of text, by entering a value, which is summed with the

value of single line spacing, into the edit box.

•Fixed: this choice activates the edit box next to the drop-down list, where you can enter the

exact value of the line spacing.

Tip

When using different font sizes in the same paragraph, the line spacing may be

uneven. To obtain evenly spaced lines, select Fixed or At least in the drop-down list

and a value that is large enough to create a spacing between the lines sufficient to

account for the largest font size used.

The last parameter on this page is Register-true. This is a typography term used in printing; it

refers to the congruent imprint of the lines within a type area on the front and the back side of book

pages, newspaper pages, and magazine pages. The register-true feature make these pages easier

to read by preventing gray shadows from appearing through between the lines of text. The register-

true term also refers to lines in adjacent text columns that are of the same height.

When you define a paragraph, ]aragraph style, or page style as register-true, the base lines of the

affected characters are aligned to an invisible vertical page grid, regardless of font size or of the

presence of graphics. This aligns the baseline of each line of text to a vertical document grid, so

that each line is the same height.

To use this feature, you must first activate the Register-true option for the current page style (refer

to “General settings for the page style” on page 207). Then the Reference style and all the styles

hierarchically dependent on it will have the Activate Register-True box selected. If you also want to

activate the vertical grid for other styles (or not apply it to styles dependent on the reference style),

you can specify that here.

Alignment page

Use the Alignment page to modify the horizontal alignment of the text, choosing between Left,

Right, Center, and Justified. The results of the selection are shown in a preview window on the

right-hand side of the page.

When selecting Justified alignment, you can also decide how Writer should treat the last line of the

paragraph. By default, Writer aligns the last line to the left, but you can choose to align it to the

center or to justify it (meaning that the words on the last line will be spaced in order to occupy it

fully). If you have selected to justify the last line and select the Expand single word option, then

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 195

when the last line of a justified paragraph consists of a single word, this word is stretched by

inserting spaces between characters so that it occupies the full length of the line.

The alignment page is also used to control the Text to Text vertical alignment, useful when you

have mixed font sizes on the same row. Choose the element of the fonts on the line that will be

aligned between Automatic, Baseline, Top, Middle, Bottom. Refer to Figure 199 for a visual

representation of these reference points.

Figure 199: Text to text vertical alignment: Baseline, Top, Middle, Bottom

Text flow options for paragraph styles

The Text Flow page (Figure 200), has three parts: Hyphenation, Breaks, and Options.

Figure 200: The options on the Text Flow page of the Paragraph Style dialog

With Hyphenation selected, three parameters are available:

•Characters at line end: controls the minimum number of characters to be left on a line

before inserting a hyphen.

•Characters at line begin: controls the minimum number of characters that can be placed

at the beginning of a new line following a hyphen.

•Maximum number of consecutive hyphens: controls the number of consecutive lines

that terminate with a hyphen. The typographical standard is 2.

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If you prefer Writer to automatically control the hyphenation, select the Automatically option.

In the Breaks section, you can require a paragraph to start on a new page or column, as well as

specify the position of the break, the style of the new page, and the new page number. A typical

use for this option is to ensure that the first page of a new chapter always starts on a new (usually

right-hand) page.

To always start a new page with a particular style (useful for starting chapters on a new page),

choose the following settings:

•In the Breaks section, select Insert. Make sure that Type is set to Page and Position is set

to Before.

•Select With Page Style and choose the page style from the list.

•To continue page numbering from the previous chapter, leave Page number set at 0. To

restart each chapter’s page numbering at 1, set Page number to 1. Click OK.

Note

If you want the first page of a new chapter to always start on a right page, make sure

that the page style for the first chapter page is set for the right page only by making

this selection in the Layout settings field on the Page tab of the Page Style dialog.

The Options section of the Text Flow page provides settings to control what happens when a

paragraph does not fit on the bottom of a page:

•Do not split paragraph: If a paragraph does not fit on the bottom of one page, the entire

paragraph moves to the top of the next page. This could cause a large blank space at the

bottom on the page.

•Keep with next paragraph: Use for headings or the lead-in sentence to a list, to ensure

that it is not the last paragraph on a page.

•Orphan control and Widow control: Widows and orphans are typographic terms. An

orphan is the first line of a paragraph alone at the bottom of a page or column. A widow is

the last line of a paragraph that appears alone at the top of the next page or column. Use

these options to allow paragraphs to split across pages or columns but require at least two

or more lines to remain together at the bottom or top of a page or column. You can specify

how many lines must remain together.

Font options for the paragraph style

Three pages of the Paragraph Style dialog are dedicated to settings controlling the appearance of

the typeface: the Font, Font Effects, and Position pages. The use of the first two pages is

straightforward. Many of the options used when creating a character style are discussed in

“Creating a new character style” on page 205. Options that can be used when creating a

paragraph style are described here.

Specifying a relative font size

If you are creating a style based on another style (linked style), you can specify a font size relative

to that other style—either as a percentage or as a plus or minus point value (–2pt or +5pt). Relative

font sizes are commonly used for Web pages.

For example, the paragraph style Heading 1 is based on the paragraph style Heading. The font

size of the paragraph style Heading is 14pt, and the font size of paragraph style Heading 1 is

specified as 130%. Thus, the resultant font size of text in a paragraph formatted with the Heading 1

paragraph style is 14pt times 130% = 18.2pt.

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 197

To specify a percentage font size: in the Paragraph Style dialog, select the Font tab. In the Size

box, enter the percentage amount followed by the symbol % (see Figure 201). Similarly, you can

enter a plus or minus sign followed by the number of points to be added or subtracted from the

base font size.

To change from a relative font size back to an absolute font size, enter the desired font size in a

specific measurement, such as points (denoted by the letters pt).

It is also possible to use a percentage font size for character styles.

Figure 201: Selecting a type size based on a percentage

Selecting a language for a paragraph style

The language selected for a document (on Tools > Options > Language Settings > Languages)

determines the dictionary used for spell checking, thesaurus, hyphenation, the decimal and

thousands delimiter used, and the default currency format. You can only use a language whose

dictionary is installed.

Within the document, you can apply a separate language to any paragraph style. This setting has

priority over the language of the whole document.

On the Font page of the Paragraph Style dialog, languages with installed dictionaries are marked

in the Language list by a small icon (Figure 202). When checking spelling, Writer will use the

correct dictionary for paragraphs with this style.

If you write documents in multiple languages, you can use the linked styles to create two

paragraph styles that differ only in the language option. If you then want to change some of the

other properties of the paragraph style, all you need do is to change the parent style.

To insert occasional words in a different language and avoid their being picked by mistake with the

spelling checker, it is more convenient to use a character style, as discussed in “Creating a new

character style” on page 205.

Tip

The selection [None] is useful when a paragraph includes text you don’t want checked,

like URLs and programming code.

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Figure 202: Selecting a language for a paragraph style

Options for positioning text

The Position page of the Paragraph Style dialog collects all the options that affect the position of

the text on the screen or printed page.

Figure 203: The position page of the Paragraph Style dialog

Use the Position section to control the appearance of superscripts and subscripts (characters

above or below the normal line of type, as in H2O). However, you will normally apply superscript

and subscripts to groups of characters rather than to entire paragraphs. Therefore, it is strongly

recommended to change these parameters only when defining a character style and, instead,

leave the default settings for the paragraph styles.

The second section of the Position page controls the rotation of the paragraph area. Two common

uses for rotated paragraphs are to put portrait headers and footers on a landscape page and to fit

headings above narrow table columns (as shown in Figure 204).

Tip

Rotated table headings are usually more readable if they are angled, not vertical. To

produce angled text, you need to create a text object from the Drawing toolbar and

rotate it to any angle you wish. See Chapter 11, Images and Graphics.

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 199

Figure 204: A table with rotated headings

The Scale width box controls the percentage of the font width by which to compress or stretch the

rotated text horizontally; that is, from the first character to the last.

Chapter 6, Formatting Pages: Advanced, describes how to create portrait headers and footers on

landscape pages by rotating characters. You can achieve the same effect by defining a separate

header or footer paragraph style specifically for landscape pages.

Example: Rotating the text in a paragraph style

As an example, we will apply rotated table headings to a pre-existing table.

1) Create a new paragraph style. Name it Table Heading Rotated.

2) On the Position page of the Paragraph Style dialog, in the Rotation / scaling section, select

90 degrees. Click OK to save the new style.

3) Select the heading row of the table and apply the new style. Any text in the cells of the

heading row is now rotated.

4) If the headings are aligned to the top of the cells, you may want to change the alignment to

the bottom of the cells, as shown in Figure 204. To do this, click the Bottom icon on the

Table toolbar or select Format > Alignment > Bottom from the Menu bar.

Spacing options

Use the Spacing section of the Position page to control the spacing between individual characters

in the paragraph. When selecting an option other than default in the drop-down menu, use the edit

box to enter the value in points by which you want to expand or condense the text.

The Pair Kerning option (selected by

default) increases or decreases the amount

of space between certain pairs of letters to

improve the overall appearance of the text.

Kerning automatically adjusts the character

spacing for specific letter combinations.

Kerning is only available for certain font types

and, for printed documents, only works if your

printer supports it.

Figure 205: Kerning disabled (left) and enabled

(right)

Controlling tab stops

Although borderless tables are generally considered a much better solution to space out material

across a page, in some situations tabs are sufficient to do what you need, with the added

advantages of being simpler to manage and quicker to apply.

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Caution

If you need to use tabs, and you will be sending a document to other people, do not

use the default tab stops. If the recipients of the document have defined default tab

stops that are not the same as the ones you are using, the paragraph may look very

different on their machines. Instead, define the tab stops explicitly in the paragraph or

the paragraph style; then you can be sure that everyone will see the same layout.

To define tab stops in your paragraph style, use the Tabs page, shown in Figure 206. Here you can

choose the type of tab: left, right, centered, or decimal; the character to be used as a decimal point;

and the fill character—the characters that appear between the end of the text before the tab and

the beginning of the text after the tab. You can also create a custom fill character by entering it in

the corresponding box. Common use of a fill character is adding dots between a heading and a

page number in a table of contents or underscore character when creating a form to fill in.

Figure 206: Specifying tab stops for a paragraph style

To create a new tab stop, specify its position relative to the left margin, the type of tab, and the fill

character and click the New button. The new tab stop is then listed in the Position box on the left.

Unfortunately, the only way to modify the position of a tab stop is to create a new one in the

desired position and delete the old one using the buttons on the right-hand side of the page.

It is not possible to define tabs that exceed the page margin. In the rare cases where that may be

needed, use a borderless table instead.

Outline & Numbering page

Use the Outline & Numbering page to assign an outline level to any paragraph style, as described

in “Assigning outline levels to other styles” in Chapter 8. This feature enables you to create a table

of contents that includes those paragraphs along with the headings using styles listed in Tools >

Chapter Numbering.

You can also use this page to associate a paragraph style with a list style. Refer to Chapter 12,

Lists: Tips and Tricks, for additional information, as well as an example.

Setting up a drop cap

If you want your paragraph to use drop caps (usually this is suitable for a first paragraph style),

then you can predefine the properties in the Drop Caps page of the paragraph style dialog. Select

the Display drop caps option to enable the other choices: the number of lines occupied, the

number of characters to enlarge (if you want the whole first word, check the corresponding box),

and the space between the drop caps and the text.

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 201

Figure 207: Options for adding a drop cap to the paragraph style

Drop caps use the same font and have the same properties as the rest of the paragraph; however,

you can easily modify their appearance by creating a specific character style and using it. For

example, you may want the drop caps to be of a different color or apply an outline effect. Select the

character style you want to use in the corresponding drop-down menu.

Background (area), highlighting, and transparency

Adding a background color or graphic to a paragraph is a good way to make it stand out without

having to insert a frame. You can customize the background using the Area page of the Paragraph

Style dialog. The choices are described in “Defining borders and backgrounds” in Chapter 5,

Formatting Pages: Basics.

Figure 208: Types of fill for paragraph backgrounds

You may want to pay attention to the following points when working with the Area page:

•If you do not find the desired color in the list of predefined ones, you can define your own

as described in Chapter 21, Customizing Writer.

•You can use a bitmap, hatching, pattern, or gradient instead of a solid color as background.

•Different backgrounds can be selected for the paragraph area and for the text in the

paragraph. Use the Highlighting page for the text. Figure 209 shows the difference.

•The area treatment is only applied to the paragraph area. If you have defined an indented

paragraph, the space between the paragraph and the margin does not have the

paragraph’s background color.

Figure 209: Different Area and Highlighting colors

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On the Transparency page, you can choose the transparency options for the selected background.

Values range from 0% (fully opaque) to +100% (fully transparent).

Borders

Borders are often used to set off paragraphs from the text without using a frame, or to separate

header and footer areas from the main text area (such as in this guide), and to provide decorative

elements in some heading styles. Consider the following points:

•Watch out for the effects that the spacing between borders and paragraph area produces

on indentations and tabulations.

•If you want the border to be drawn around multiple paragraphs, leave the Merge with next

paragraph option at the bottom of the page selected.

•Often, white space can have the same effect.

See Chapter 4, Formatting Text, for more about the Borders page.

Using conditional paragraph styles

Making a paragraph style conditional means it changes its formatting depending on where it is

used. For example, you may want the style MyTextBody to be black by default but turn white when

inside a frame with a blue background.

Probably the most common use for conditional formatting is with single-style outlining. Single-style

outlining is a type of outline numbering designed with a Numbering style. Instead of using different

styles for the various outline levels, it changes the number formatting when you press the Tab key

to create a subordinate heading.

The only trouble with single-style outlining is that all levels look the same. This is where a

conditional paragraph style comes in handy. Assign the paragraph style to an outline numbering

style in the Outline & Numbering page and then open the Condition page. There, you can assign

the levels of the outline numbering style to other paragraph styles. Then, when you press the Tab

key while using the paragraph style, each level of the outline takes on different formatting, making

single-style outlining even more convenient than it is on its own.

When you create a conditional style, you are saying “in this condition make this style look like that

other style”. For example, “When typing into a footer, make this style look like the my_footer

paragraph style; when typing into a table, make this style look like the table_text paragraph style”.

In addition to setting the normal (unconditional) properties of the style, you need to define which

other style it will look like in different situations. You do this on the Condition page.

Note

Predefined styles (other than Text body) such as Default, Heading 1, and Heading 2

cannot be set to be conditional.

Caution

If you want to create a new style and make it conditional, you have to do it while the

style dialog is still open for the first time. After the dialog closes, the Condition tab no

longer appears in the dialog when it is reopened.

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 203

Figure 210: Condition page for paragraph styles

To set up a conditional paragraph style:

1) Define a new paragraph style.

2) Select all the paragraph properties for the style. Do not click OK!

3) Click the Condition tab.

4) Select the Conditional Style option.

5) Select the first condition in the Context list (left side of the dialog) and select the style you

want for this condition in the Paragraph Styles list on the right-hand side.

6) Click Apply. The name of the paragraph style appears in the middle list.

7) Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each condition you want to have linked to a different style.

8) Click OK.

When the style is selected, you will see that the formatting of your text depends on the context.

Working with character styles

Character styles provide exceptions to the formatting in a paragraph style. They are applied to

groups of characters, rather than whole paragraphs. They are mainly used when you want to

change the appearance or attributes of parts of a paragraph without affecting other parts.

Examples of effects that can be obtained by means of character styles are bold or italic typeface

or colored words.

Two of the character styles used in this document are:

•Keystrokes use a custom KeyStroke style. For example:

To set Writer to full screen, press Control+Shift+J.

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•Menu paths use a custom MenuPath style. For example:

To turn field shadings on or off, choose View > Field Shadings.

Other ways of using character styles are described elsewhere in this book. These uses include

making chapter numbers, page numbers, or list numbers larger than the surrounding text and

formatting hyperlinks. When inserting words in different language or words you do not want the

spelling checker to detect as mistakes, you can define the language (if any) to be applied in the

character style’s properties.

Creating a new character style

This section illustrates the use of the Character Styles dialog. The pages used to configure the

style are described in the previous section on paragraph styles.

•Use the Organizer page to set up the hierarchical level of the new character style (if

needed) and to give it a name.

•Use the Font page to determine the font, style, and size for the new character style. As with

paragraph styles, you can specify the font size as a percentage or as an absolute value.

You can also specify the language of the text to which a certain character style is applied,

so you can insert words in a different language and have them spell checked using the

correct dictionary.

•Use the Font Effects page to set up attributes such as font color, underlining, relief, or

other effects. If you frequently use hidden text, for example, it is convenient to define a

character style where the Hidden option is marked. Relief effects may be appropriate for a

drop cap or to give more emphasis to the chapter number or other parts of the title.

•Use the Highlighting page to apply a colored background to the text. This yields the same

effect as using the Highlighting tool on the Standard toolbar.

•Use the Borders page to apply a border and a shadow to the text, if so desired.

•Use the Position page to create a subscript in case you are not satisfied with the default

one or even a sub-subscript which may be useful for certain scientific publications. In the

same page, you can create rotated, condensed, or expanded text.

Note

When rotating a group of characters, you also need to specify whether the rotated text

should fit in the line or if, instead, it is allowed to expand above and below the line.

This property only becomes active for character styles.

Working with frame styles

Frames are often used as containers for text or graphics. To provide consistency in the appearance

of frames used for similar purposes, it is a good idea to define styles for frames. For example, you

might want photographs to be enclosed in a frame with a drop-shadowed border, line drawings in a

frame with a plain border, marginal notes in a frame without a border but with a shaded

background, and so on.

Writer provides several predefined frame styles, which you can modify as needed, and you can

define new frame styles. The technique for defining and applying frame styles is similar to that for

other styles.

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 205

Tip

There is considerable overlap between the uses of frames and sections for some page

layout purposes. You may find it useful to take a look at Chapter 6, Formatting Pages:

Advanced, for information about the use of frames and sections.

How frame styles work

When an object is added to Writer, it is automatically enclosed in a frame of a predetermined type.

The frame sets how the object is placed on the page, as well as how it interacts with other

elements in the document. You can edit the frame by modifying the frame style it uses or by using

a manual override when a frame is added to the document.

Because frames and objects are used together, it is sometimes easy to forget they are separate

elements. In some cases, such as charts, you can edit the frame and object separately.

Unlike other elements that use styles, frames can be defined only partly by their style because their

use can vary so much. Several elements of frames, such as the anchor and protected elements,

need to be defined manually for individual frames.

You can format a frame manually when you select Insert > Frame. The dialog that opens contains

all the settings available when frame styles are set up, as well as some that are only available

when the frame is inserted.

Planning the styles

If you are using a mix of graphics, you may want to define two related styles, one with a border line

for graphics with white backgrounds and one without a border for all other backgrounds. You also

may want to design one or more frames for text only.

Otherwise, the default frame styles (listed in Table 7) cover most users’ needs. The only significant

addition that you might need is one or more styles for text frames.

Table 7: Various frame styles and their uses

Style Comments and Use

Formula The frame style used for formulas. The default includes AutoSize, which adjusts

the size of the frame to the formula.

Frame The default frame style.

Graphics The default style for graphics. The defaults include autosizing to fit the graphic, no

text wrap, and a thin border around the frame. These are reasonable defaults,

except for the border. Unless the background of the graphic is white and the

document’s background also is white, the border usually is unnecessary.

Labels The default style for use with File > New > Labels. It seems to be used by

LibreOffice automatically and is not intended for users at all.

Marginalia A style for placing a frame beside the left margin. As the name suggests, the

Marginalia style is intended for comments added in the margin of text. The style

also is useful for creating sideheads—headings against the left margin, which

often are used in technical documentation.

OLE The default style for OLE objects and floating frames. The default places the

frame at the top and center of a body of text.

Watermark The default style for a watermark, a graphic placed as the background to a body

of text. The default is a Through wrap, with text passing over the frame and

anything in it. The graphic should be faint enough that text still is readable over

top of it.

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Creating new frame styles

You can access frame settings by selecting New or Modify in the Styles and Formatting deck for a

frame style.

•Type page: sets the size and position of the frame. One of the most useful options here is

AutoSize, which automatically adjusts the frame to the object it contains. If the frame style

is used automatically, then this option should be selected.

•Options page: sets whether the contents of the frame are printed and able to be edited in a

read-only document. This page also sets the text direction, which is useful if you are using

the frame for contents in a language that uses right-to-left text direction.

•Wrap page: sets how text is positioned in relation to the frame and how close text comes to

a frame. If you want the frame contents to stand out from the paragraphs around it, set the

wrap to None. This probably is the single most important page for frames.

•Area page: sets the background color, bitmap, hatching, gradient, or pattern. This page is

useful mostly for text frames in complex page layouts, in which a text frame has an

appearance different from the general background of the page.

•Transparency page: sets the transparency options for the selected background. Values

can range from 0% (fully opaque) to +100% (fully transparent).

•Borders page: sets the attribute for a line around the frame, if any.

•Columns page: this page can be ignored unless the frame is being used for text. The page

is the same as is used to set up a page style, as described in Chapter 6, Formatting Pages:

Advanced.

•Macro page: sets a macro to use with the frame in order to trigger an action when the user

interacts with the frame. These options are useful for an on-line Writer or HTML document.

Working with page styles

Page styles control page properties (margins, page size, header and footer, among others).

However, unlike paragraphs, which can have directly applied properties, pages only have a page

style and no directly applied properties.

This section describes how to create a new page style, explains the meaning of some of the

options in the Page style dialog, and illustrates their usage.

Creating a new page style

To create a new page style, open the Styles and Formatting deck and click the Page Styles icon.

Right-click anywhere in the window and select New.

The Page Style dialog contains nine pages.

Organizer page

The Organizer page is described on page 191.

General settings for the page style

The Page page of the Page Style dialog is where you can control the general settings of the page.

The page consists of three sections, plus a preview area in the top right.

In the Paper format section, you can specify the size of the paper, choosing from one of the many

predefined formats. Select User to define your own paper size using the Width and Height fields.

Select the orientation of the paper: Portrait or Landscape. If your printer has more than one tray,

you can specify the tray from which to print pages in the new page style.

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 207

Figure 211: The Page page for the Page Style dialog

In the Margins section, specify the size of the margins in your preferred unit of measurement. If you

select Mirrored for Page layout in the Layout settings section, then the names of the margins

change from Left and Right to Inner and Outer.

In the Layout settings section, choose the desired Page layout from the four available options.

Decide whether the page style being defined applies to both left and right pages (default), or

applies to right or left only. Some considerations:

•If you plan to bind the printed pages using this style like a book, select a mirrored layout.

Use the Format drop-down menu to determine the page numbering style to apply to this

page style.

•A common practice in page layouts is to have asymmetrical page margins—both for left and

right margins and for top and bottom margins. The most common scheme follows these two

general rules for printed page layouts: (a) The outer margin (right margin on a right-hand

page) would be wider than an inner margin (left margin on a right-hand page); (b) The

bottom margin would be larger than a top margin. The rationale for an asymmetrical page

layout is allowing more space for readers to place their hands while holding the books or

other printed documents. See Bruce Byfield’s book, Designing with LibreOffice, for more

information. You can download a PDF free from http://designingwithlibreoffice.com.

•If you want the first page of a new chapter to always start on a right page, make sure that

the page style for the first chapter page is set for the right page only by making this

selection in the Layout settings field. The typical procedure for the rest of a chapter is to

define a single “mirrored” page style for both left and right pages. A mirrored page can have

different headers and footers. If done this way, every chapter will use two page styles.

•You can choose to define separate page styles for left and right pages, if you want the

pages to be very different in appearance (for example, different margins or headers and

footers only on right pages but not on left pages; imagine a book with a full-page

photograph on the left pages and text on the right pages). In that case, make sure that the

Next Style field for the first page style is set for a left-only page, which, in turn, is set to be

followed by a right-only page style. If done this way, every chapter will use three page

styles. A hypothetical case might have these page-style names: First page, Left, and Right.

If you check the Register-true box, Writer will create an invisible vertical grid on the page with a

spacing between grid points that depends on the selected Reference Style. The vertical grid makes

sure that text printed on adjacent columns, opposite pages, or even both sides of the same sheet

of paper, is aligned—making it easier to read as well as being more pleasant to see.

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Area and Border pages

The Area and Border pages are described in detail in Chapter 5, Formatting Pages: Basics. Use

the Area page to apply a background or the Border page to draw a border around the text area of

the page (the margins). You can also add a shadow to the text area. You can choose between a

solid color or a graphic image for the background and several styles of line for the borders. The

page area affected by these changes does not include the area outside the margins.

If you plan to print on colored paper and want to have an idea of the final result or want to use a

light color for the font, rather than changing the background, then go to Tools > Options >

LibreOffice > Applications Colors and in the General section, change the Document background

color. This will affect the entire page, including the area outside the margins, but the background

color will not print or be exported to PDF.

Header and Footer pages

You can associate a different header or footer with each page style. This property makes it easy to

have different headers on left and right pages, to avoid headers on pages at the start of a new

chapter, and so on. You can also have a different header or footer on the same page style where it

is used for the first page of a document.

You can specify a different header for left or right pages even if you use a single style for both. This

option is not available on the predefined Left and Right page styles or on any other page style

defined to be a left or right page only.

The Header and Footer pages are described in detail in Chapter 5, Formatting Pages: Basics.

Figure 212: Different content on left and right pages

Columns page

Use the Columns page to create the column layout for the page style. It has three sections:

Settings, Width and Spacing, and Separator Line. Choose the desired number of columns. If you

select more than one column, the Width and Spacing section and the Separator LIne section

become active. You can use the predefined settings (equally spaced columns) or deselect the

AutoWidth option and enter the parameters manually. When you work with multiple columns per

page, you can also fine tune the position and size of a separator line between the columns.

Footnote page

Use the Footnote page to adjust the appearance of the footnotes. See Chapter 5, Formatting

Pages: Basics, for details.

Working with list styles

List styles (also called numbering styles) work together with paragraph styles. They define

indentation, alignment, and the numbering or bullet characters used for list items. You can define

many list styles, from simple bulleted lists to complex multi-level (nested) lists.

As with other styles, the main reasons for using list styles are consistency and speeding up your

work. Although you can create simple lists quickly by clicking the Numbering On/Off or Bullets On/

Off icons on the Formatting toolbar, and create quite complex nested lists using the icons on the

Bullets and Numbering toolbar, the appearance of the resulting lists may not be what you want,

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 209

and you might want to have more than one style of list. You can use the Bullets and Numbering

choice on the Format menu to manually format the appearance of some or all of the lists, but if you

later need to change their appearance, you will have a lot of manual work to do.

See Chapter 12, Lists: Tips and Tricks, for details on how list styles and paragraph styles work

together.

Note

LibreOffice uses the terms “numbering style” and “list style” inconsistently, but they are

the same thing. For example, the tooltip in the Styles and Formatting deck says List

Styles, but its style dialog says Numbering Style.

Creating a new list style

The dialog to create a new list style includes six pages in addition to the usual Organizer page

discussed on page 191.

Bullets, Numbering Styles, and Image pages

The Bullets, Numbering Style, and Image pages contain predefined formatting for list item symbols

(bullets or numbers). To use one of them for your style, click the image. A thick border indicates the

selection. The bullets on the Bullets page are font characters; those on the Image page are

graphics.

Outline page

Use the Outline page to select from eight predefined nested lists. You can also select one and use

it as a starting point for your own style, customizing the list using the Position page and the

Customize page, as described below.

Position page

Use the Position page (Figure 213) to fine tune the indentation and spacing of the list item symbol

and the text of the list item. This page is particularly effective when used in combination with the

Customize page.

You can adjust the following settings for each individual level or all levels at once (to make them all

the same). It is generally easier to adjust the settings in the order given below, instead of the order

on the dialog. That is, start from the overall indentation for the list elements, then fix the position of

the symbols, and finally adjust the alignment of the symbols.

•Numbering followed by: the character to follow the numbering symbol (plus any

characters—for example a punctuation mark—chosen on the Customize page to appear

after the number). Choose between a tab stop, a space, or nothing. If you select the tab

stop, you can specify the position of the tab.

•Indent at: how much space is reserved for the numbering symbol, measured from the left

page margin. The alignment of the first line of the list is also affected by any tab you may

have set to follow the numbering.

•Aligned at: the position of the numbering symbol, measured from the left margin of the

page.

•Numbering alignment: how the numbering (including any text before or after as set in the

Customize page) will be aligned. The Aligned at value determines the symbol alignment.

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Tip

In most circumstances, setting the Numbering followed by distance to be equal to the

Indent at distance works well. See Figure 214 for a graphic representation of the

effects of the above parameters.

Figure 213: Position settings for a List style

Tip

To fully appreciate how the Numbering alignment works, try to create a numbered list

with more than ten elements and make sure that enough room has been made for

numbers with two or more digits. You may also wish to right-align numbers 10 or

greater, as in Figure 214.

Figure 214: A numbered list of CD tracks highlighting the various elements

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 211

Customize page

Use the Customize page (Figure 215) to define the style of the outline levels. The options available

on this page depend on the type of marker selected for the list. First, on the left side, select the

level you want to modify. To modify all ten levels at once, select 1 – 10 as the level. If you started

from a predefined outline, some of the levels will already have settings.

Figure 215: The Customize page for a list style

Depending on the numbering style selected in the Number box (bullet, graphic, numbering), some

of the following options become available on the page (not all are shown in the illustration):

•Show sublevels: The number of previous levels to include in the numbering style. For

example, if you enter "2" and the previous level uses the "A, B, C..." numbering style, the

numbering scheme for the current level becomes: "A.1".

•Before: any text to appear before the number (for example, Step).

•After: any text to appear after the number (for example, a punctuation mark).

•Start at: the first value of the list (for example, to start the list at 4 instead of 1).

•Character Style: the style to be used for the number or bullet.

•Character button: click to select the character for the bullet.

•Graphics Select button: opens a list of available graphics (Gallery) or allows the selection

of a file on the hard disk to be used as the list marker.

•Width and Height: the dimensions of the graphic marker.

•Keep ratio option: fixes the ratio between the width and the height of the graphic marker.

•Alignment: the alignment of the graphic object.

The right-hand side of the dialog shows a preview of the modifications made.

If you choose the Link Graphics option in the Number list, the graphic object is linked rather than

embedded in the document. The bullet will not be displayed when the document is opened on a

different computer (unless the same graphic file is located in the same location on both computers)

or if the graphic file used is moved to a different location on the computer.

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To revert to the default values, click the Reset button in the bottom right corner. Finally, if you wish

to use consecutive numbers regardless of the outline level, select the Consecutive numbering

box at the bottom of the page.

Example: Creating a simple list style

In this example, we will create a numbered list that is used to number the songs on a CD. The

numbers are right-aligned, and some space is left between the number and the title of the track.

As we want to reuse the same numbered list for other CDs, we will define a new list style and then

apply it to the tracks list.

Creating the CDTracks numbered list

As for the previous example, start by clicking the List Styles icon (fifth from the left) in the Styles

and Formatting deck. Then right-click anywhere in the list box and choose New.

The Numbering style dialog is displayed. For the CDTracks style, we need to customize fields in

the Organizer, the Options, and the Position pages.

Style fields Description

Name Enter CDTrack

Category Custom styles will be OK for us.

Modify the options of the Customize page as follows:

1) In the Level box, choose 1.

2) In the Number list, choose 1, 2, 3,....

3) Leave the Before and After boxes empty.

4) Leave the Character Style field as None.

5) Show sublevels should be grayed out.

6) Make sure Start at is set to 1.

7) Do not select Consecutive numbering.

As discussed above, the numbered list will adopt the settings of the underlying paragraph style. If

you want to use a special font, size or color for the numbering, you can create a character style

and apply it in the Customize page.

If you want the word Track to appear before the number, add it to the Before field on the

Customize page. Do not forget to add a space character to separate the word from the number.

Set up the final parameters of the CDTracks list style on the Position page.

1) In the Level box, choose 1.

2) For Numbering followed by, choose Tab stop and set it at 4.0cm.

3) For Numbering alignment, choose Right.

4) For Aligned at, choose 1.5cm. (this refers to the alignment of the numbers)

5) For Indent at, choose 4.0cm. (This sets the indentation of the whole list.) Click OK to finish.

Applying the list style

Now that the list style is available, it can be quickly applied to any list in the document:

1) If you are starting a new list, before pressing Enter to start a new line, double-click the

desired list style name in the Styles and Formatting deck.

2) If you already have a list, select it and then double-click the desired list style name in the

Styles and Formatting deck.

Chapter 9 Working with Styles | 213

Note

Remember that applying a list style does not affect the characteristics of the underlying

paragraph; therefore you may want to check if you are satisfied with the paragraph

style before applying the list style.

If you have more than one list in a document, the second and subsequent lists with the same style

continue their numbering from the previous list. To restart at 1, place the cursor anywhere in the

paragraph you want numbered 1, right-click, and choose Restart numbering.

To stop using numbering, click the Numbering On/Off icon on the Standard toolbar. The final

result is illustrated in Figure 214 on page 211.

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Chapter 10

Working with Templates

Introduction

A template is a document model that you use to create other documents. For example, you can

create a template for business reports that has your company’s logo on the first page. New

documents created from this template will all have your company’s logo on the first page.

Templates can contain anything that regular documents can contain, such as text, graphics, a set

of styles, and user-specific setup information such as measurement units, language, the default

printer, and toolbar and menu customization.

All documents in LibreOffice are based on templates. If you do not specify a template when you

start a new Writer document, then the document is based on the default template for text

documents. If you have not specified a default template, Writer uses the blank template for text

documents that is installed with LibreOffice. See “Setting a default template” on page 220.

LibreOffice supplies only a few user-selectable templates. You can add templates from other

sources (see page 219) as well as creating your own templates (see page 217).

Using a template to create a document

Creating a document from the Templates dialog

To use a template to create a document:

1) From the Menu bar, choose File > New > Templates, or click the small arrow next to the

New icon on the Standard toolbar and select Templates.

Figure 216: Templates dialog

2) From the Filters list at the top of the Templates dialog, optionally select a category.

3) Find and double-click the required template. A new document based on the selected

template opens in Writer. You can then edit and save the new document just as you would

any other document.

The template the document is based upon is listed in File > Properties > General.

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Note

The connection between a template and a document remains until the template is

modified and, the next time that the document is opened, you choose not to update it

to match the template.

If you copy or move the document to a different computer, which does not have a copy

of that template installed, the connection is broken, even though it continues to be

listed in the document’s properties. See “Associating a document with a different

template” on page 221 for a way to reconnect a template to a document, if required.

Creating a document from a template in the Start Center

You can create a document from the template view of the Start Center, which is visible when no

other document is open.

To open the Templates dialog from the Start Center, click the Templates icon in the left pane. The

icon is also a drop-down list to select the templates of a given type of document. The Manage

Templates option on the list opens the Templates dialog.

Creating a template

You can create templates in two ways: by saving a document as a template or by using a wizard.

Creating a template from a document

In addition to formatting, any settings that can be added to or modified in a document can be saved

within a template. For example:

•Printer settings.

•General behaviors set from Tools > Options, such as Paths.

•Menu and toolbar customizations; see Chapter 21.

Templates can also contain predefined text, saving you from having to type it every time you create

a new document. For example, a letter template may contain your name, address, and salutation.

Tip

You can save a template from the usual Save dialog, but it won’t be listed with other

templates. You might want to do this to share a template easily with others.

To create a template from a document and save it to My Templates:

1) Open a new or existing document of the type you want to make into a template (text

document, spreadsheet, drawing, or presentation).

2) Add any content that you want to appear in any document you create from the new

template, for example company logo, copyright statement, and so on.

3) Create or modify any styles or other formatting, such as Autotext. that you want to use in

the new template.

4) From the Menu bar, choose File > Templates > Save as Template. The Save as Template

dialog (Figure 217) displays the existing categories and a textbox to enter a name for the

new template.

5) Select the required category and click Save.

Chapter 10 Working with Templates | 217

Figure 217: Save as Template dialog

Creating a template using a wizard

You can use wizards to create templates for letters, faxes, and agendas, and to create

presentations and Web pages.

For example, the Fax Wizard guides you through the following choices:

•Type of fax (business or personal).

•Document elements like the date, subject line (business fax), salutation, and complimentary

close.

•Options for sender and recipient information (business fax).

•Text to include in the footer (business fax).

To create a template using a wizard:

1) From the Menu bar, choose File > Wizards > [type of template required].

2) Follow the instructions on the pages of the wizard. This process is slightly different for each

type of template, but the format is similar.

3) In the last section of the wizard, you can specify the template name that will show in the

Templates dialog, and also the name and location for saving the template. The two names

can be different but this may later cause confusion. The default location is your user

templates folder, but you can choose a different location.

4) To set the file name or change the folder, select the Path icon (the three dots to the right of

the location). On the Save As dialog, make your selections and click Save.

5) Finally, you can choose whether to create a new document from the template immediately,

or manually change the template, and then click Finish to save the template. For future

documents, you can re-use the template created by the wizard, just like any other template.

Editing a template

You can edit a template’s styles and content, and then, if you wish, you can reapply the template’s

styles to documents that were created from that template. You cannot reapply content.

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To edit a template:

1) From the Menu bar, choose File > Templates > Manage Templates or press Ctrl+Shift+N.

The Templates dialog opens. You can also open the Templates dialog from the Start Center.

2) Navigate to the template that you want to edit. Click once on it to activate the file handling

controls. Right-click to open the context menu and click Edit. The template opens in

LibreOffice.

3) Edit the template as you would edit any other document. To save your changes, choose

File > Save from the Menu bar.

Updating a document from a changed template

If you make any changes to a template and its styles, the next time you open a document that was

created from the template before the changes, a confirmation message is displayed.

To update the document:

1) Select Update Styles to apply the changed styles in the template to the document.

2) Select Keep Old Styles if you do not want to apply the changed styles in the template to

the document (but see the Caution notice below).

Caution

If you choose Keep Old Styles, the document is no longer connected to the template,

even though the template is still listed under File > Properties > General. To

reconnect the document to the template, you will have to copy it into an empty

document based on the template, as described in “Associating a document with a

different template” on page 221.

Adding templates obtained from other sources

LibreOffice refers to sources for templates as repositories. A repository can be local (a directory on

your computer to which you have downloaded templates) or remote (a URL from which you can

download templates).

You can get to the official template repository by using the Browse online templates icon in the

lower left of the Templates dialog, as shown in Figure 218, or by visting

https://extensions.libreoffice.org/templates.

On other websites, you may find collections of templates that have been packaged into extension

(.oxt) files. These are installed a little differently, as described below.

Figure 218: Getting more templates for LibreOffice

Installing individual templates

To install a template:

1) Download the template and save it anywhere on your computer.

2) Import the template into a template folder by following the instructions in “Importing a

template” on page 223.

Chapter 10 Working with Templates | 219

Tip

(For advanced users) You can manually copy new templates into the template folders.

The location varies with your computer’s operating system. To learn where the template

folders are stored on your computer, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Paths.

Installing collections of templates

The Extension Manager provides an easy way to install collections of templates that have been

packaged as extensions. Follow these steps:

1) Download the extension package (.oxt or .zip file) and save it anywhere on your computer.

2) In LibreOffice, select Tools > Extension Manager from the Menu bar. In the Extension

Manager dialog, click Add to open a file browser window.

3) Find and select the package of templates you want to install and click Open. The package

begins installing. You may be asked to accept a license agreement.

4) When the package installation is complete, the templates are available for use through File

> Templates > Manage Templates and File > New > Templates and the extension is

listed in the Extension Manager.

See Chapter 21, Customizing Writer, for more about the Extension Manager.

Setting a default template

If you create a document by choosing File > New > Text Document from the Menu bar, Writer

creates the document from the default template for text documents. You can, however, set a

custom template to be the default. You can reset the default later, if you choose.

Note for Microsoft Word users

You may know that Microsoft Word employs a normal.dot or normal.dotx file for

its default template and how to regenerate it.

LibreOffice does not have a similar default template file; the “factory defaults” are

embedded within the software.

Setting a template as the default

Most default settings, such as page size and page margins, can be changed in Tools > Options,

but those changes apply only to the document you are working on. To make those changes the

default settings for that document type, you need to replace the default template with a new one.

You can set any template in the Templates dialog to be the default for that document type:

1) From the Menu bar, choose File > Templates > Manage Templates.

2) In the Templates dialog, open the category containing the template that you want to set as

the default, then select the template.

3) Right-click the selected template and select Set as default from the context menu (see

Figure 219).

The next time that you create a document of that type by choosing File > New, the document will

be created from this template.

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Figure 219: Setting a template as the default template for documents

Resetting Writer’s default template as the default

To re-enable Writer’s original default template as the default:

1) From the Menu bar, choose File > Templates > Manage Templates.

2) In the Templates dialog (Figure 220), click the Settings icon on the bottom left.

3) Point to Reset Default Template on the drop-down menu, and click Text Document.

This choice does not appear unless a custom template had been set as the default, as

described in the previous section.

Figure 220: Resetting the default template for text documents

The next time that you create a document by choosing File > New > Text Document, the

document will be created from Writer’s default template.

Associating a document with a different template

At times you might want to associate a document with a different template, or perhaps you’re

working with a document that did not start from a template.

One of the major advantages of using templates is the ease of updating styles in more than one

document, as described in Chapter 9, Working with Styles. If you update styles in a document by

loading a new set of styles from a different template (as described in Chapter 9), the document has

no association with the template from which the styles were loaded. Instead, you need to associate

the document with the different template.

For best results, the names of styles should be the same in the existing document and the new

template. If they are not, you need to use Edit > Find & Replace to replace old styles with new

ones. See Chapter 2, Working with Text: Basics, for more about replacing styles.

Chapter 10 Working with Templates | 221

1) Use File > New > Templates. In the Templates dialog, double-click the template you want

to use. A new document opens, containing any text or graphics that were in the template.

2) Delete any unwanted text or graphics from this new document.

3) Open the document you want to change. (It opens in a new window.)

4) Use Edit > Select All, or press Ctrl+A, to select everything in the document.

5) Use Edit > Copy, or press Ctrl+C, to copy the contents of the document to the clipboard.

6) Click in the blank document created in step 1. Use Edit > Paste, or press Ctrl+V, to paste

the contents from the old document into the new one.

7) Update the table of contents, if there is one. Close the old file without saving. Use File >

Save As to save this new file with the name of the file from which content was taken. When

asked, confirm you wish to overwrite the old file. Or, you may prefer to save the new file

under a new name and preserve the old file under its original name.

Caution

Any changes recorded (tracked) in the document will be lost during this process. The

resulting document will contain only the changed text.

Organizing templates

Writer can only lists templates that are in LibreOffice template categories. You can create new

template categories and use them to organize your templates. For example, you might have one

category for report templates and another for letter templates. You can also import and export

templates.

To begin, choose File > Templates > Manage Templates to open the Templates dialog.

Creating a template category

To create a template category:

1) Click the Settings icon on the Templates dialog.

2) Click New category on the context menu (see Figure 221).

3) In the pop-up dialog, type a name for the new category and click OK.

Note

You cannot create a sub-category inside a template category in LibreOffice.

Figure 221: Creating a new category

Deleting a template category

To delete a category, click the Settings icon select the catgory from the pop-up Category list, and

then click OK. When a message box appears asking you to confirm the deletion, click Yes.

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Moving a template

To move a template from one template category to another, select it in the Templates dialog, and

click the Move icon in the bottom center of the dialog (see Figure 222). In the popup dialog, select

the required category and click OK.

Figure 222: Moving templates to another category

Deleting a template

To delete a template:

1) In the Templates dialog, select the category that contains the template you want to delete.

2) Select the template to delete.

3) Right-click to open the context menu of the template and click Delete. A message box

appears and asks you to confirm the deletion. Click Yes.

Importing a template

Before you can use a template in LibreOffice, it must be in one of the folders listed for the Template

path in Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Paths:

1) In the Templates dialog, click the Import icon on the bottom right. The Select Category

dialog appears.

2) Find and select the category where you want to import the template and click OK. A

standard file browser window opens.

3) Find and select the template that you want to import and click Open. The file browser

window closes and the template appears in the selected category.

Exporting a template

To export a template to another location in your computer or network:

1) In the Templates dialog, locate the category that contains the template to export.

2) Select the template that you want to export.

3) Click the Export icon in the bottom right of the dialog. The Save As window opens.

4) Find the folder into which you want to export the template and select Save.

Chapter 10 Working with Templates | 223

Chapter 11

Images and Graphics

Pictures, Drawing Tools, Gallery, Fontwork

Images (graphics) in Writer

You can add graphic and image files, including photos, drawings, and scanned images, to Writer

documents. Writer can import various vector (line drawing) and raster (bitmap) file formats.

Images in Writer are of these basic types:

•Image files, such as photos, drawings, and scanned images

•Diagrams created using LibreOffice’s drawing tools

•Artwork created using clip art or Fontwork

•Charts created using LibreOffice’s Chart facility

This chapter covers images, diagrams, and artwork. Instructions on how to create charts are given

in Chapter 19, Spreadsheets, Charts, other Objects. For more detailed descriptions on working

with drawing tools, see the Draw Guide.

Creating and editing images

You might create images (also called ‘pictures’ in LibreOffice) using a graphics program, scan

them, or download them from the Internet (make sure you have permission to use them), or use

photos taken with a digital camera. Writer can import various vector (line drawing) images, and can

rotate and flip such images. Writer also supports raster (bitmap) file formats, the most common of

which are GIF, JPG, PNG, and BMP. See the Help for a full list.

Writer can also import SmartArt images from Microsoft Office files. For example, Writer can open a

Microsoft Word file that contains SmartArt, and you can use Writer to edit the images.

Some things to consider when choosing or creating pictures include image quality and whether the

picture will be printed in color or black and white (grayscale).

To edit photos and other bitmap images, use a bitmap editor. To edit line drawings, use a vector

drawing program. You do not need to buy expensive programs. For many graphics, LibreOffice

Draw is sufficient. Open-source (and usually no-cost) tools such as GIMP (bitmap editor) and

Inkscape (vector drawing program) are excellent. These and many other programs work on

Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

For best results:

•Create images that have the exact dimensions required for the document, or use an

appropriate graphics package to scale photographs and large drawings to the required

dimensions. Do not scale images with Writer, even though Writer has tools for doing this,

because the results might not be as clear as you would like.

•Do any other required image manipulation (brightness and contrast, color balance,

cropping, conversion to grayscale, and so on) in a graphics package, not in Writer, even

though Writer has the tools to do a lot of these things too.

•If the document is meant for screen use only, there is no need to use high resolution

images of 300 or more dpi (dots per inch). Most computer monitors work at between 72 and

96 dpi; reducing the resolution (and the file size) has no negative impact on what is

displayed.

Preparing images for black-and-white printing

If color images are to be printed in grayscale, check that any adjacent colors have good contrast

and print dark enough. Test by printing on a black-and-white printer using a grayscale setting.

Better still: change the “mode” of the image to grayscale, either in a photo editor or in Writer itself

(see “Image mode” on page 230).

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 225

For example, the following diagram looks good in color. The circle is dark red and the square is

dark blue. In grayscale, the difference between the two is not so clear. A third element in the

diagram is a yellow arrow, which is almost invisible in grayscale.

Original drawing in color Drawing printed in grayscale

Changing the colors of the circle and the arrow improves the contrast and visibility of the resulting

grayscale image.

Original drawing in color Drawing printed in grayscale

If the document will be available in black-and-white print only, a better result can often be obtained

by choosing grayscale fills, not color fills.

Adding images to a document

Images can be added to a document in several ways: by inserting an image file stored on your

computer, directly from a graphics program or a scanner, by dragging them from the clip art internal

gallery, or by copying and pasting from a source being viewed on your computer.

Inserting an image file

When the image is in a file stored on the computer, you can insert it into a LibreOffice document

using any of the following methods.

Drag and drop

1) Open a file browser window and locate the image you want to insert.

2) Drag the image into the Writer document and drop it where you want it to appear. A faint

vertical line marks where the image will be dropped.

This method embeds (saves a copy of) the image file in the Writer document. To link the file

instead of embedding it, hold down the Ctrl+Shift keys while dragging the image.

Insert Image dialog

1) Click in the LibreOffice document where you want the image to appear.

2) Choose Insert > Image from the Menu bar.

3) On the Insert Image dialog, navigate to the file to be inserted, and select it.

At the bottom of the dialog (Figure 223) are one or two options. See “Linking an image file”

on page 227 for the use of Link. Select Preview (not available on all installations) to view a

thumbnail of the selected image on the right (as shown in the example).

4) Click Open.

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Figure 223: Insert Image dialog

Note

If you choose the Link option, a message box appears when you click Open. It asks if

you want to embed the graphic instead. Choose Keep Link if you want the link, or

Embed Graphic if you do not. To prevent this message from appearing again,

deselect the option Ask when linking a graphic at the bottom of the message.

Copy and paste

Using the clipboard, you can copy images into a LibreOffice document from another LibreOffice

document and from other programs. To do this:

1) Open both the source document and the target document.

2) In the source document, select the image to be copied.

3) Press Ctrl+C (or right-click and select Copy from the context menu) to copy the image to

the clipboard.

4) Switch to the target document.

5) Click to place the cursor where the image is to be inserted.

6) Press Ctrl+V (or right-click and select Paste from the context menu) to insert the image.

Caution

If the application from which the image was copied is closed before the image is

pasted into the target, the image stored on the clipboard could be lost.

Linking an image file

If the Link option in the Insert Image dialog is selected, Writer creates a link to the file containing

the image instead of saving a copy of the image in the document. The result is that the image is

displayed in the document, but when the document is saved, it contains only a reference to the

image file, not the image itself. The document and the image remain as two separate files, and

they are merged together only when you open the document again.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 227

Linking an image has two advantages and one disadvantage:

•Advantage – You can modify the image file separately without changing the document

because the link to the file remains valid, and the modified image will appear when you next

open the document. This can be a big advantage if you (or someone else, perhaps a

graphic artist) is updating images.

•Advantage – Linking can reduce the size of the document when it is saved, because the

image file itself is not included. File size is usually not a problem on a modern computer

with a reasonable amount of memory, unless the document includes many large images

files; LibreOffice can handle quite large files.

•Disadvantage – If you send the document to someone else, or move it to a different

computer, you must also include the image files, or the recipient will not be able to see the

linked images. You need to keep track of the location of the images and make sure the

recipient knows where to put them on another machine, so the document can find them.

For example, you might keep images in a subfolder named Images (under the folder

containing the document); the recipient of the file needs to put the images in a subfolder

with the same name and in the same place relative to the document.

Note

When inserting the same image several times in a document, LibreOffice embeds only

one copy of the image file.

Embedding linked images

If you originally linked the images, you can easily embed one or more of them later if you wish. To

do so:

1) Open the document in LibreOffice and choose Edit > Links.

2) The Edit Links dialog shows all the linked files. In the Source file list, select the files you

want to change from linked to embedded.

3) Click the Break Link button.

Note

Going the other way, from embedded to linked, is not so easy—you must delete and

reinsert each image, one at a time, selecting the Link option when you do so.

Figure 224: The Edit Links dialog

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Scanning

If a scanner is connected to your computer, Writer can call the scanning application and insert the

scanned item into your document as an image. To start this procedure, click where you want the

image to be inserted and choose Insert > Media > Scan > Select Source.

Select the scan source from the list of available devices, then choose Insert > Media > Scan >

Request to open the imaging software where you can adjust settings for picture quality, size, and

other attributes. This practice is quick and easy, but may not result in a high-quality image of the

correct size. You may get better results by scanning material into a graphics program and cleaning

it up there before inserting the resulting image into Writer.

Inserting an image from the Gallery

The Gallery (Figure 225) provides a convenient way to group reusable objects such as graphics

and sounds that you can insert into your documents. The Gallery is available in all components of

LibreOffice. See “Managing the LibreOffice Gallery” on page 250. You can copy or link an object

from the Gallery into a document.

Figure 225: The Gallery in the Sidebar

To insert an object:

1) Click the Gallery icon in the Sidebar.

2) Select a theme.

3) Select an object with a single click.

4) Drag and drop the image into the document, or right-click the object and choose Insert.

To insert an object as a link, hold down the Shift and Ctrl keys and drag and drop the object into

the document.

Inserting an image as a background

To insert an image as the background to a page or paragraph, right-click the image in the Gallery

and choose Insert as Background > Page or > Paragraph.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 229

Modifying, handling, and positioning images

When you insert a new image, you may need to modify it to suit the document. The placement of

the picture relative to the text is discussed in “Positioning images within the text” on page 238. This

section describes the use of the Picture toolbar, resizing, cropping, and rotating an image.

Writer provides many tools for working with images. These tools are sufficient for most people’s

everyday requirements. However, for professional results it is generally better to use an image

manipulation program such as GIMP to modify images (for example, to crop, resize, rotate, and

change color values) and then insert the result into Writer.

Using the Picture toolbar

When you insert an image or select one already present in the document, the Picture toolbar

appears. You can set it to always be present (View > Toolbars > Picture) and choose whether to

float or dock it. Two other toolbars can be opened from this one: the Image Filter toolbar, which can

be torn off and placed elsewhere on the window, and the Color toolbar, which opens as a separate

floating toolbar.

From these three toolbars, you can apply small corrections to the image or obtain special effects.

Picture control buttons from the Picture toolbar can also be added to the Standard toolbar. See

Chapter 21, Customizing Writer, for more information.

1 Filter 10 Color 19 Sharpen

2 Image mode 11 Red 20 Remove Noise

3 Crop 12 Green 21 Solarization

4 Flip Vertically 13 Blue 22 Aging

5 Flip Horizontally 14 Brightness 23 Posterize

6 Rotate 90° Left 15 Contrast 24 Pop Art

7 Rotate 90° Right 16 Gamma 25 Charcoal Sketch

8 Frame Properties 17 Invert 26 Relief

9 Transparency 18 Smooth 27 Mosaic

Figure 226: Picture toolbar plus Color toolbar and Image Filter toolbar

Image mode

You can change color images to grayscale, to black and white, or to a

watermark by selecting the image and then selecting the relevant item from

the Image Mode list.

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Transparency

Modify the percentage value in the Transparency box on the Picture toolbar to make the image

more transparent. This is particularly useful when creating a watermark or when placing the image

in the background.

Color

Use this toolbar to modify the individual RGB color components of the image (red, green, blue) as

well as the brightness, contrast, and gamma of the image. If the result is not satisfactory, you can

press Ctrl+Z to restore the default values.

Flip vertically, horizontally or in 90° rotations

To flip an image vertically horizontally or rotate it by ninety degrees, select the image, and then

click the relevant button.

Image filters

Table 8 provides a short description of the available filters. The best way to understand them is to

see them in action. Experiment with the different filters and filter settings, remembering that you

can undo all the changes by pressing Ctrl+Z or Alt+Backspace or by selecting Edit > Undo.

Table 8: Image filters and their effects

Name Effect

Invert Inverts the color values of a color image or the brightness values of a grayscale

image.

Smooth Softens the contrast of an image.

Sharpen Increases the contrast of an image.

Remove noise Removes single pixels from an image.

Solarization Mimics the effects of too much light in a picture. A further dialog opens to adjust

the parameters.

Aging Simulates the effects of time on a picture. Can be applied several times. A further

dialog opens to adjust the aging level.

Posterize Makes a picture appear like a painting by reducing the number of colors used.

Pop Art Modifies the picture dramatically.

Charcoal Sketch Displays the image as a charcoal sketch.

Relief A dialog is displayed to adjust the light source that will create the shadow and,

hence, the relief effect.

Mosaic Joins groups of pixels into a single area of one color.

Using the Formatting toolbar and Image dialog

When an image is selected, you can customize some aspects of its appearance using the tools

available on the Formatting toolbar and in the dialog opened by right-clicking on the image and

selecting Properties. You can, for example, create a border around the image, selecting style and

color; or you can (on the Borders page of the Image dialog) add a shadow to the image.

Cropping images

When you are only interested in a section of the image for the purpose of your document, you may

wish to crop (cut off) parts of it. Writer provides two ways to crop an image: the Crop tool and the

Crop page of the Image dialog. The Crop tool provides a quick and easy way to crop an image; but

for more control, use the Image dialog.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 231

Note

If you crop an image in Writer, the image itself is not changed. Writer hides, not cuts

off, part of the image. If you export the document to HTML, the original image is

exported, not the cropped image. For export, crop images in an external editor.

Using the Crop tool

To use the Crop tool, right-click the image and select Crop from the context menu. Cropping

handles appear at the corners and mid-points of the sides of the image (see Figure 227). Drag a

handle to cut off part of the image. Click outside the image to turn off cropping mode.

Figure 227: Cropping handles on an image

Using the Crop page of the Image dialog

To use the Image dialog, right-click the image and select Properties from the context menu, then

select the Crop page of the Image dialog.

Figure 228: Result on image size of cropping using Keep scale option

The units of measurement shown on the Crop page are those set in Tools > Options >

LibreOffice Writer > General.

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Two options are available in the crop section for cropping an image: Keep scale and Keep image

size. Keep scale maintains the proportions of the image; Keep image size may result in distortion

of the image.

As the values for Left, Right, Top, and Bottom are altered, the boundaries of the image in the

preview box change to show the crop area on the image, and the Width and Height fields under

either Scale or Image size change. This results in either an image size change (Figure 228), or a

scale change for a fixed image size (Figure 229).

The original image size is indicated above the Original Size button.

Figure 229: Result using Keep image scale option

Resizing an image

To perfectly fit the image into your document, you may have to resize it. There are a number of

options available in Writer to do this.

A quick and easy way to resize is by dragging the image’s sizing handles:

1) Click the image, if necessary, to show the green sizing handles.

2) Position the pointer over one of the green sizing handles. The pointer changes shape,

giving a graphical representation of the direction of the resizing.

3) Click and drag to resize the image.

4) Release the mouse button when satisfied with the new size.

Tip

The corner handles resize both the width and the height of the image simultaneously,

while the other four handles resize only one dimension at a time. To retain the original

proportions of the image, hold down the Shift key while dragging one of these handles.

For more accurate resizing of images, use either the Crop page (Figure 228) or the Type page of

the Image dialog.

On the Crop page you can adjust the following settings:

•Scale Width and Height: specify in percentages the scaling of the image. The size of the

image changes accordingly. For a symmetrical resizing, both values need to be identical.

•Image size: specify the size of the image in your preferred unit of measurement. The

image enlarges or shrinks accordingly.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 233

•Original size button: when clicked, restores the image to its original size. This will be the

size resulting after any cropping was carried out.

On the Type page of the Image dialog, select the Relative option to toggle between percentage

and actual dimension. For a symmetrical resizing, select the Keep ratio option. Clicking on the

Original Size button restores the original image size, but the scale dimensions are altered if the

image has been cropped.

Rotating or flipping an image

To quickly rotate an image 90 or 180 degrees, or flip it vertically or horizontally, right-click the

image and select Rotate or Flip on the context menu, then choose the desired result.

Figure 230: Quickly rotating or flipping an image

Previous versions of Writer did not provide a way to use other rotation angles. With version 6, you

can rotate images at any required angle, using either of these methods:

•Interactively. Select the image and click the Rotate icon on the Image toolbar. Rotation

handles appear around the object. Hover the mouse cursor over a handle; when the cursor

changes shape, click and drag it to the required angle.

•Properties dialog. Right-click the image and select Properties. On the Image dialog, select

the Image page. In the Rotation Angle field, specify the rotation required.

Other settings

The Image dialog (Figure 228) consists of ten pages. The Crop page was described on page 231;

the Type and Wrap pages are explained in “Positioning images within the text” on page 238. The

other pages serve the following purposes:

•Options: give the image a descriptive name (as you want it to appear in the Navigator),

display alternative text when the mouse hovers over the image in a web browser, protect

some of the image settings from accidental changes, and prevent the image from being

printed.

•Borders: create borders around the image. The Borders dialog is the same as the one

used for defining table or paragraph borders. You can also add a shadow to the image if so

desired.

•Area: change the background color of the image. This setting produces the desired results

only for images with a transparent color.

•Hyperlink: associate a hyperlink to the image, or create an image map (see page 248).

•Image: flip or rotate the image, and display the original location of the file in case the image

is linked rather than embedded.

•Transparency: set the transparency options for the image.

•Macro: associate a macro to the image. You can choose among the predefined macros or

write your own.

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Deleting an image

To delete an image, click it to show the green resizing handles, then press the Delete key.

Exporting images

To make complex adjustments to the image, or to save it for use in another document, you can

export it directly from the document. Right-click the image to select it and open the context menu.

Then choose Save to open the Image Export dialog. Depending on the original format of the

image, Writer will let you save the picture in many different formats. Give a name to the image,

select the desired image format in the Filter list, and click Save.

Compressing images

If you insert a large image in your document and resize it to fit into the layout of the page, the

complete original image is stored in the document file to preserve its content, resulting in a large

document file to store or send by mail.

If you can accept some loss of quality of the image rendering, you can compress or resize the

image object to reduce its data volume while preserving its display in the page layout. You probably

don’t want to compress something that will be professionally printed.

Right-click to select the image and open the context menu. Then choose Compress to open the

Compress Image dialog (Figure 231). Note that the Calculate button updates the image

information on the dialog on each parameter set you change. Click OK to apply the compression

settings. If the resulting image is not acceptable, press Ctrl+Z to undo and choose another

compression setting. For more information, see the Help.

Figure 231: Compressing an image

Saving modified images

In previous versions of LibreOffice, if you saved an embedded image (by right-clicking and

choosing Save on the context menu), the saved image was the original one; modifications like

rotations, cropping, and color effects were not included in the saved image.

Starting from LibreOffice 6, you can choose whether to save the original image or the modified

image through a dialog that pops up when you choose Save.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 235

Using Writer’s drawing tools

You can use Writer’s drawing tools to create graphics such as simple diagrams using rectangles,

circles, lines, text, and other predefined shapes. You can also group several drawing objects to

make sure they maintain their relative position and proportion.

You can place the drawing objects directly on a page in the document or insert them into a frame.

You can also use the drawing tools to annotate photographs, screen captures, or other illustrations

produced by other programs, but this is not recommended because:

•You cannot include images in a group with drawing objects, so they may get out of

alignment in your document.

•If you convert a Writer document to another format, such as HTML, the drawing objects and

the images will not remain associated; they are saved separately.

In general, if you need to create complex drawings, it is recommended you use LibreOffice Draw,

which includes many more features such as layers and styles.

Creating drawing objects

To begin using the drawing tools, display the Drawing toolbar (Figure 232) by clicking View >

Toolbars > Drawing or by clicking on the Show Draw Functions icon on the standard toolbar.

The Drawing toolbar may appear at the bottom or left side of the workspace. You can move it to

another location and dock it, or float it and move it to a convenient place on the screen.

1 Select 6 Polygon 11 Stars 15 Text Box

2 Insert Line 7 Quick Shapes 12 Callouts 16 Fontwork

3 Lines & Arrows 8 Basic Shapes 13 Flowcharts 17 Points

4 Curve/Freeform Line 9 Symbols 14 Callouts 18 Toggle Extrusion

5 Curve 10 Arrows

Figure 232: The Drawing toolbar

To use a drawing tool:

1) Click in the document where you want the drawing to be anchored. You can change the

anchor later, if necessary.

2) Select the tool from the Drawing toolbar (Figure 232). The mouse pointer changes to a

drawing-functions pointer and the normal Formatting toolbar changes to the Drawing Object

Properties toolbar (Figure 233).

3) Move the cross-hair pointer to the place in the document where you want the image to

appear and then click-and-drag to create the drawing object. Release the mouse button.

The selected drawing function remains active, so that you can draw another object of the

same type.

4) To cancel the selected drawing function, press the Esc key or click the Select icon (the

arrow) on the Drawing toolbar.

5) You can now change the properties (fill color, line type and weight, anchoring, and others)

of the drawing object using either the Drawing Object Properties toolbar (Figure 233) or the

choices and dialog reached by right-clicking on the drawing object.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Setting or changing properties for drawing objects

To set the properties for a drawing object before you draw it:

1) On the Drawing toolbar (Figure 232), click the Select tool.

2) On the Drawing Object Properties toolbar (Figure 233), click the icon for each property and

select the value you want for that property.

3) For more control, or to define new attributes, you can click the Area or Line icons on the

toolbar to display detailed dialogs.

The default you set applies to the current document and session. It is not retained when you close

the document or close Writer, and it does not apply to any other document you open. The defaults

apply to all the drawing objects except text objects.

To change the properties for an existing drawing object, select the object, then continue as

described above.

1 Line Color 4 Line Width 7 Anchor 10 Align

2 Arrow Style 5 Area Color 8 Wrap 11 Arrange

3 Line Style 6 Area Style / Filling 9 Rotate 12 Group

13 Insert Caption

Figure 233: Drawing Object Properties toolbar

You can also specify the position and size, rotation, and slant and corner radius properties of the

drawing object: right-click the drawing object and select Position and Size from the context menu.

Choose any properties, as required.

Resizing a drawing object

An object is resized in a similar way to an image. Select the object, click one of the eight handles

around it and drag it to its new size. The object will be scaled up or down.

When you grab the corner handle of an object and drag it, LibreOffice will resize proportionately. If

you also press the Shift key, the resizing will not keep object proportions. Conversely, if you grab

one of the edges, LibreOffice will scale unproportionally in the direction perpendicular to the edge;

if you also press the Shift key, LibreOffice will scale proportionately.

For more sophisticated control of the size of the object, choose Format > Frame and Object >

Properties from the Menu bar. Use the Type tab to set the position and size independently. If the

Keep ratio option is selected, then the two dimensions change so that the proportion is maintained,

resulting in a scaled resizing.

Grouping drawing objects

Grouping drawing objects makes it easier to handle several objects as a single entity, while

preserving their relative sizes and positions. When objects are grouped, any editing operations

carried out on that group are applied to all members of the group. If you click on one member of

the group, the whole group is selected.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 237

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13

To group drawing objects:

1) Select one object, then hold down the Shift key and select the others you want to include in

the group. The bounding box expands to include all the selected objects.

2) With the objects selected, hover the mouse pointer over one of the objects and choose

Format > Group > Group from the Menu bar or right-click and choose Group > Group

from the context menu.

Note

You cannot include an embedded or linked image in a group with drawing objects.

You can edit an individual member of a group without ungrouping or breaking the group. Select the

group and go to Format > Group > Enter Group on the Menu bar, or right-click and select Group

> Enter Group from the context menu. When you have finished editing an individual member of a

group, go to Format > Group > Exit Group on the Menu bar, or right-click and select Group >

Exit Group from the context menu.

To ungroup or break apart a group of objects, select the group then go to Format > Group >

Ungroup on the Menu bar, or right-click and select Group > Ungroup from the context menu.

Rotating drawing objects

You can rotate a drawing object in a similar way to rotating images (page 234). To rotate a drawing

object to any required angle, use either of these methods:

•Interactively. Select the drawing object and click the Rotate icon on the Drawing Object

Properties toolbar. Rotation handles appear around the object. Hover the mouse cursor

over a handle; when the cursor changes shape, click and drag it to the required angle.

•Position and Size dialog. Right-click the object and select Position and Size. On the

dialog, select the Rotation page. In the Rotation Angle field, specify the rotation required.

By default, rotation is around the center of the object, but you can choose a different pivot

point.

Tip

Of particular interest to Writer is the Text drawing object. Ordinary text can only be

rotated to 90, 180, or 270 degrees, as described in Chapter 9, but a Text object can be

rotated to any desired angle.

Positioning images within the text

When you add an image to a text document, you need to choose how to position it with respect to

the text and other images. The positioning of images is often rather time-consuming and may be

very frustrating for both inexperienced and experienced users. As Writer is a word processor rather

than a desktop publishing program, there are some limitations to the flexibility in positioning images

and it takes time to get things exactly as you would like them.

Positioning of an image is controlled by four settings:

•Arrangement refers to the placement of an image on an imaginary vertical axis.

Arrangement controls how images are stacked upon each other or relative to the text.

•Alignment refers to the vertical or horizontal placement of an image in relation to the

chosen anchor point.

238 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

•Anchoring refers to the reference point for the images. This point could be the page, or

frame where the object is, a paragraph, or even a character. An image always has an

anchor point.

•Text wrapping refers to the relation of images to the surrounding text, which may wrap

around the graphic on one or both sides, be overprinted behind or in front of the graphic, or

treat the graphic as a separate paragraph or character.

The settings can be accessed in a number of ways, depending on the nature of the images:

•From the Format menu, where you can find Anchor, Wrap, and Arrange (both for images

and drawing objects).

•From the context menu displayed when you right-click the graphic; this menu also includes

Alignment.

•For images, from the Type and Wrap pages of the Image dialog. Note that you cannot

control the arrangement using the dialog. To open the Image dialog, click the image to

select it and then choose Format > Image > Properties or right-click the image and

choose Properties on the context menu.

•For drawing objects, from the Position and Size page of the Position and Size dialog. To

open the dialog, right-click the drawing object and choose Position and Size on the

context menu.

•For an embedded object (such as a Calc spreadsheet or Draw document), from the OLE-

Object toolbar.

Note

While all the positioning techniques discussed in this section apply equally to frames,

contour wrapping is not possible for frames.

Arranging images

Arranging an image means to determine its position relative to other images or text. Arranging is

only relevant when objects are overlapping. You can choose between four common settings, plus a

fifth special setting for drawing objects:

Bring to Front

Places the image on top of any other images or text.

Forward One

Brings the image one level up in the stack. Depending on the number of overlapping objects,

you may need to apply this option several times to obtain the desired result.

Back One

Sends the image one level down in the object stack.

Send to Back

Sends the image to the bottom of the stack.

To Background / To Foreground

Only available for drawing objects; moves the drawing object behind or in front of the text

respectively.

Tip

To select an object that is covered by other objects, press the Tab key to move through

the objects until you reach the object you want.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 239

Anchoring images

You can anchor images as a character or to a page, paragraph, or character. You can also place

images in a frame and anchor the frame to a page, paragraph, or character. Which method you

choose depends on what you are trying to achieve.

To Page

The graphic keeps the same position in relation to the page margins. It does not move as

you add or delete text or other images. This method is useful when the graphic does not

need to be visually associated with a particular piece of text. It is often used when producing

newsletters or other documents that are very layout intensive, or for placing logos in

letterheads.

Caution

If you plan to use a document within a master document, do not anchor images To

Page because the images will disappear from the master document. See Chapter 16,

Master Documents, for more information.

To Paragraph

The graphic is associated with a paragraph and moves with the paragraph. It may be placed

in the margin or another location. This method is useful as an alternative to a table for placing

icons beside paragraphs.

To Character

The graphic is associated with a character but is not in the text sequence. It moves with the

paragraph but may be placed in the margin or another location. This method is similar to

anchoring to a paragraph but cannot be used with drawing objects.

As Character

The graphic is placed in the document like any other character and, therefore, affects the

height of the text line and the line break. The graphic moves with the paragraph as you add

or delete text before the paragraph. This method is useful for keeping screen-shots in

sequence in a procedure (by anchoring them as a character in a blank paragraph) or for

adding a small (inline) icon in sequence in a sentence.

To Frame

If the graphic has been placed in a frame, you can anchor the graphic in a fixed position

inside the frame. The frame can then be anchored to the page, a paragraph, or a character,

as required.

Aligning images

Once you have established the anchor point of the graphic, you can decide the position of the

graphic relative to this anchor: this is called aligning the images. Choose from six options: three for

aligning the graphic horizontally (left, center, right) and three for aligning the graphic vertically (top,

center, bottom). Horizontal alignment is not available for images anchored As Character.

For finer control of the alignment, use the Position options on the Type page of the Image dialog,

shown in Figure 234.

For both the horizontal and vertical position, start by picking the reference point in the right hand

side drop-down menu, then select in the first drop-down menu among Left, Right, or Center. If you

select the value From left (or From top for the vertical positioning), you can specify the amount in

your selected unit of measurement. In the example in Figure 234, the upper-left corner of the

image will be placed at 3 cm from the left margin of the page horizontally and on the top margin

vertically.

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Figure 234: Fine tuning the alignment

A visual representation of the area to which the image is anchored is shown in the preview pane to

the right of the page, indicated by a red bordered area. The graphic position is indicated by a green

bordered area.

Wrapping text around images

The Wrap setting determines the relation between the text and the graphic. Several choices are

available from the context menu:

No Wrap

With this option the text is placed above and below the image but not to either side of it. This

is the wrapping type used for most of the figures in this guide. The advantage of No Wrap is

that it doesn’t need much tweaking.

Page Wrap or Optimal Page Wrap

The text flows around the image. Moving the image around the page causes the text to be

rearranged to fill the space to the left and right of it. Optimal Page Wrap prevents text from

being placed to the side of the image if the spacing between the image and the margin is

less than 2 cm.

Wrap Through

Superimposes the image on the text. That is, the image is in front of the text. This option

must be used in conjunction with the image-transparency setting in order to make the text

under the picture visible.

In Background

Similar to Wrap Through, but the image is placed behind the text so there may be no need to

change the transparency to make the text visible. Best used only for images without a lot of

contrast or different colors.

Note

The No Wrap option found in the context menu of a picture is equivalent to the Wrap

Off menu item in the Format > Wrap menu.

The wrap format is normally selected after anchoring and alignment of the image. To set the

position of an image to the desired wrap format, right-click the image to display the context menu

and move the mouse pointer to Wrap to display the available wrap formats. Alternatively, select

Format > Wrap from the Menu bar. Select the desired wrap format.

Note

When anchoring an image as character, you can only adjust the distance between the

image and the text, but no wrapping option is displayed.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 241

To fine-tune the wrapping options, open the Image dialog and select the Wrap page.

Figure 235: The advanced wrap format options

For images, you can open this dialog by selecting Format > Image > Properties from the Menu

bar or right-click and select Properties from the context menu. For drawing objects, you can

access the Wrap page by selecting Format > Wrap > Edit in the Menu bar or right-click and select

Wrap > Edit from the context menu.

This page is divided into three sections. In the top part you can select from the wrap types

mentioned above, plus two additional wrap formats that prevent the text from filling the area to the

left (After) or to the right (Before) of the picture. Use the Spacing section of the page to adjust the

spacing between the image and the text. The contents of the Options section of the page may

change depending on the selected wrap format.

First paragraph

Select this box if you want LibreOffice to start a new paragraph after the image even if it

could still wrap around the image.

In background

This option becomes available if Through Wrap is selected; it moves the image to the

background.

Contour

Wraps the text around a custom contour rather than around the edge of the picture. This

option is only available for Page or Optimal Page Wrap.

Outside only

Forces the text to wrap on the outside of the image, even if the contour contains open areas

within the shape.

Editing the contour

If you select wrapping around a drawing object, LibreOffice automatically creates a contour. The

Edit Contour option is only available for image wrapping. To create a contour, right-click the image

and select Edit Contour from the context menu, or access the Contour Editor by selecting Format

> Wrap > Contour.

The dialog shown in Figure 236 opens with the image loaded in the main window. Use the tools to

draw the region of the image you do not want to be covered by the text; this area will be shaded.

242 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 236: The Contour Editor in action with AutoContour

Four tools are available in the Contour Editor window: Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, and

AutoContour. Some familiarity with drawing tools is required to create complex contours; however,

in most circumstances there is no need for high accuracy. Figure 236 shows the actual contour

used for “Example 2: Simple contour wrapping in action” on page 244 when using AutoContour; the

shape of the line around the edge of the apple is quite acceptable.

When you are done, click the Apply button to save the contour. If you are not satisfied with the

result, you can select the contour line and press the Delete key to restart, or click the Workspace

icon and then click inside the contour. You can also undo the previous steps or you can select the

Edit Points button and adjust the contour shape point by point. Be aware that any of the graphic

outside the contour line is not shown in the document.

Example 1: Page wrapping

Figure 237 shows an example of page wrapping in action.

To achieve this:

1) Insert the image into the document, then anchor it to the paragraph of your choice. To move

the anchor, select the image or the anchor, and move it until the anchor symbol is at the

beginning of the chosen paragraph.

2) Align the image so that the left margin of the image is where you want it to be. This can be

done with the mouse or using the advanced settings. The taskbar shows the location of the

upper left corner and the image size.

3) Change the wrap to Page Wrap. We now wish to increase the space between the image

and the text. To do this, access the Wrap page of the Picture dialog and set the gap

between the image and text to 0.1” in all the boxes.

4) The last touch is to change the position so that the image has our chosen number of lines

of the paragraph above it. Again, you can use the mouse to drag the image or use the

advanced settings, which require a bit of trial and error. Moving with the mouse is the

simplest method.

Tip

When adjusting white space in a wrap, consider also the white space in the image.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 243

Figure 237: Example of image with Page Wrap formatting

Example 2: Simple contour wrapping in action

In this example we again apply page wrapping as in Example 1, enabling this time the contour

option. We will work on an image and on a drawing object as the contour option works slightly

differently in each case.

The example in Figure 238 was created following the steps below.

Figure 238: Image and drawing objects with contour wrapping

1) Create some text.

2) Insert an image of your choice and anchor it to the first paragraph. Adjust the alignment as

desired, then change the wrap type to Page Wrap. Right-click the picture and select Wrap

> Edit Contour from the context menu.

3) Use the technique discussed in “Editing the contour” on page 242 to create a custom

contour and click Apply. If needed, adjust the spacing between the edge of the image and

the text using the Wrap page of the Image dialog.

4) Insert an AutoShape of your choice (a triangle in the example) and proceed as in step 2

above.

5) Enable the contour wrap by selecting Format > Wrap > Contour from the Menu bar. As

discussed previously, LibreOffice automatically generates the contour. You may need to

adjust the distance between the drawing object and the text using Format > Wrap > Edit.

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Example 3: Wrap Through and In Background

This example shows how to use an image as a watermark by wrapping the text through it and

adjusting the transparency. This is not the best way to create watermarks and it is presented here

only for illustration purposes. If you need to create a watermark, it is best to use a Fontworks object

wrapped in the background and, if possible, add it to a page style.

Selecting the Wrap Through option for an inserted image causes the image to overlap the text,

which as a result will be hidden. To make the text appear, change the transparency of the picture;

although the words under the image become visible, they may be difficult to read and will appear

lighter than the rest of the text.

To reproduce the example in Figure 239, create some dummy text, then insert the image of your

choice. Anchor the image (to the page in the example) and select the wrap through option from the

Format > Wrap menu or right-click the image and select Wrap > Wrap Through from the context

menu. Move the image into the desired position. The Picture toolbar should be displayed when the

image is selected. Change the transparency to a suitable value (40% in the example) so that the

text can be read.

Figure 239: Transparent image added over the text

You can obtain a better result if you set an image’s wrap to In Background. With this selection all

the text will be clearly readable, with all characters having the same intensity, as long as the

background is not too dark. You may still need to adjust the transparency of the image.

Adding captions to images

You can add captions to images in three ways: automatically, by using the Caption dialog, or

manually.

Adding captions automatically

You can set up LibreOffice to add captions automatically whenever you insert an image, a table, or

other objects into a document. You can choose which objects are captioned automatically, what the

sequence name is for each caption (for example, Table or Figure), and the position of the caption.

To set up automatic captions, choose Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > AutoCaption. At

the right of the dialog, choose which objects you want to be automatically captioned and specify

the characteristics of the captions.

When you insert an image, if automatic captioning is enabled, the graphic is placed in a frame

along with a caption containing the default sequence name for images: Illustration. Position the

cursor in the caption area and type the text for the caption. You can change the sequence name by

selecting one from the drop-down Category list or typing in your own.

A common sequence name—Figure—is not one of the names provided: <None>, Drawing,

Illustration, Table, and Text. If you want the name “Figure” or any other custom name for your

images, do the following:

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 245

1) Open the AutoCaption dialog, as described above.

2) In the Add captions automatically when inserting section, select LibreOffice Writer Image.

This activates the Caption area in the dialog for images.

3) Under the Category drop-down list, enter the name that you want added (say, Figure), by

overwriting any sequence name in the list. (Overwriting a term does not delete it from the

drop-down list.) You can also set some options for the number style and for a separator

between the name and the number, if desired. Click OK to save the changes.

Adding captions using the Caption dialog

To add captions using the Caption dialog:

1) Insert the graphic, then either right-click it and select Insert Caption from the context

menu, or select it and choose Insert > Caption from the Menu bar.

Figure 240: Defining the caption for an illustration

2) Under Properties on the Caption dialog (Figure 240), make your selections for the

Category, Numbering, and Separator fields [Illustration, Arabic (1 2 3), and a colon (:),

respectively, for the example in Figure 240] and type your caption text in the Caption text

box at the top. Whatever text you enter for the caption appears in the box at the bottom,

after the sequence name, number, and separator.

3) Click OK. The graphic and its caption are placed in a frame.

Tip

In the Category box, you can type any name you want (for example, Figure) if the

drop-down list does not include it. Writer will create a numbering sequence using that

name, as it does when using the AutoCaption feature.

Numbering images by chapter

Additional options for numbering captions are available under the Options button in the Captions

dialog (Figure 241). Some of these settings, which refer to the outline level, will have an effect only

if you are using outline level paragraph styles on the chapter headings within your document.

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Figure 241: Options for numbering figures

When chapter numbering is set up, Writer will restart the caption numbering for each chapter it

encounters. For example, if the last figure caption you create in chapter 1 is Figure 1.15, and the

next figure caption you create is in chapter 2, the numbering will start over at Figure 2.1.

Options available to chapter numbering for captions include the following:

•Use Level to specify the outline level that triggers a restart of the numbering as well as how

many levels of outline numbering are shown before the table number. For example, if the

document uses Heading 1 style for chapters and Heading 2 style for sub-headings, if you

want all the tables in a chapter (that is, between two Heading 1 paragraphs) to be

numbered sequentially independently of the sub-heading they are under, select 1 as Level.

If instead you want to restart the numbering at each sub-heading, select level 2.

•Use the Separator field to establish the separator between the chapter number and figure

number.

•Use Character style to set a character style for the caption. This is useful if the separator

of your choice is not a symbol included in the default font type of your document or if you

want the caption to have a special color, size and so on.

•The Apply border and shadow option does not apply to table captions. LibreOffice

normally wraps the objects you can add a caption to in a frame, but not for tables.

•Use Caption order to specify whether you want the category or numbering to appear first

in the caption.

Adding captions manually

If you save as *.docx files or export in other formats, you may find that captions applied as

described above (either automatically or using the Caption dialog) are lost during the export.

To avoid export problems, or as another way to put captions above pictures or below them (the

usual case), you can add a caption manually, in either of two ways:

•Place the graphic and its caption in separate paragraphs.

•Use a table.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 247

Place the graphic and its caption in separate paragraphs

Insert the graphic and anchor it to its paragraph as a character. Press Enter to create a new

paragraph for the caption.

1) In the caption paragraph, type, for example, Figure and add a space.

2) To insert the figure number automatically, click Insert > Fields > Other (Ctrl+F2) and select

the Variables tab.

3) Select Number range in the Type list. Select Figure in the Selection list and choose, for

example, Arabic (1 2 3) in the Format drop-down list. Click the Insert button.

4) A number will appear after the word “Figure” in the caption. Now, type the text of the

caption.

Tip

If you are manually adding captions to a lot of figures using this method, you might

want to make an AutoText entry containing, for example, Figure and a space, the

figure-number field, and an optional separator and a space after it.

To ensure the picture and its caption stay together on the page, create a new

paragraph style, for example Figure. If the picture is going above the caption, define

the text flow of the Figure paragraph style as Keep with next paragraph and the next

style as Caption. Conversely, if the caption is going above, define the Caption

paragraph style as Keep with next paragraph and the next style as Figure.

Use a table

Create a one-column, two-row table. Place the picture in one row and type the caption in the other

row—or use two or more rows for the caption and other text. This method can be especially useful

for pictures with numbered legends, such as Figure 232 on page 236.

Creating an image map

An image map defines areas of an image (called hotspots) with hyperlinks to web addresses, other

files on the computer, or parts of the same document. Hotspots are the graphic equivalent of text

hyperlinks. Clicking on a hotspot causes LibreOffice to open the linked page in the appropriate

program (for example, the default browser for an HTML page; LibreOffice Calc for a ODS file; a

PDF viewer for a PDF file). You can create hotspots of various shapes and include several

hotspots in the same image.

To use the image map editor (Figure 242):

1) In the Writer document, select the image in which you want to define the hotspots.

2) Choose Edit > ImageMap from the Menu bar. The ImageMap Editor (Figure 242) opens.

3) Use the tools and fields in the dialog (described below) to define the hotspots and links

necessary.

4) Click the Apply icon to apply the settings.

5) When done, click the Save icon to save the image map to a file, then close the dialog.

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Figure 242: The dialog to create or edit an image map

The main part of the dialog shows the image on which the hotspots are defined. A hotspot is

identified by a line indicating its shape.

The toolbar at the top of the dialog contains the following tools:

•Apply icon: applies the changes.

•Open, Save, and Select icons.

•Tools for drawing a hotspot shape: these tools work in exactly the same way as the

corresponding tools in the Drawing toolbar.

•Edit, Move, Insert, Delete Points: advanced editing tools to manipulate the shape of a

polygon hotspot. Select the Edit Points tool to activate the other tools.

•Active icon: toggles the status of a selected hotspot between active and inactive.

•Macro: associates a macro with the hotspot instead of just associating a hyperlink.

•Properties: sets the hyperlink properties and adds the Name attribute to the hyperlink.

Below the toolbar, specify for the selected hotspot:

•Address: the address pointed by the hyperlink. You can also point to an anchor in a

document; to do this, write the address in this format:

file:///<path>/document_name#anchor_name

•Text: type the text that you want to be displayed when the mouse pointer is moved over the

hotspot.

•Frame: where the target of the hyperlink will open: pick among _blank (opens in a new

browser window), _self (opens in the active browser window), _top or _parent.

Tip

The value _self for the target frame will work in the vast majority of occasions. It is

therefore not recommended to use the other choices unless absolutely necessary.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 249

Managing the LibreOffice Gallery

Graphics in the Gallery are grouped by themes, such as Arrows, Diagrams, and People. You can

create other groups or themes and add your own pictures or find extensions containing more

graphics. Click a theme to see its contents displayed in the Gallery window.

You can display the Gallery in Icon View (Figure 224) or Detailed View (Figure 243), and you can

hide or show the Gallery by clicking on the Sidebar’s Hide button.

Note

In some installations, only the My themes theme is customizable, although new themes

can be added as explained in “Adding a new theme to the Gallery” on page 251. The

locked themes are easily recognizable by right-clicking on them; the only available

option in the context menu is Properties.

By default, the Gallery is opened in the Sidebar. You can float the Gallery as you can other Sidebar

panes; see Chapter 1, Introducing Writer, for more information.

Figure 243: Gallery in Detailed View

Adding objects to the Gallery

You may wish to add to the My Theme folder in the Gallery any images that you use frequently, for

example, a company logo. You can then easily insert these graphics into a document later.

1) Right-click the My Theme folder and select Properties from the context menu.

2) In the theme’s Properties dialog, click the Files tab (Figure 244).

To add a single file:

1) In the Properties of My Theme dialog, click Add to open the Gallery dialog.

2) Use the navigation controls to locate the image to add to the theme. Select it and then click

Open to add it to the theme.

3) Click OK on the Properties dialog to close it.

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Figure 244: Gallery Properties dialog

To add several files at once:

1) In the Properties of My Theme dialog, click the Find Files button.

2) The Select path dialog (not shown) opens. You can enter the path for the file’s folder in the

Path text box, or you can navigate to locate the file’s directory.

3) Click the Select button to start the search. A list of graphic files is then displayed in the

Properties dialog. You can use the File type drop-down list to limit the files displayed.To add

all of the files shown in the list, click Add All. Otherwise, select the files to add and then

click Add (hold down either the Shift key or the Ctrl key while clicking on the files).

4) Click OK on the Properties dialog to close it.

Deleting images from the Gallery

To delete an image from a theme:

1) Right-click the name of the image file or its thumbnail in the Gallery.

2) Click Delete in the context menu. A confirmation message appears; click Yes.

Note

Deleting the name of a file from the list in the Gallery does not delete the file from the

hard disk or other location.

Adding a new theme to the Gallery

To add a new theme to the Gallery:

1) Click the New Theme button above the list of themes (Figure 243).

2) In the Properties of New Theme dialog, click the General tab and type a name for the new

theme.

3) Click the Files tab and add images to the theme, as described earlier.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 251

Deleting a theme from the Gallery

To delete a theme from the Gallery:

1) Go to Insert > Media > Gallery.

2) Select from the list of themes the theme you wish to delete.

3) Right-click the theme, then click Delete on the context menu.

Location of the Gallery and the objects in it

Graphics and other objects shown in the Gallery can be located anywhere on your computer’s hard

disk, on a network drive, or other removable media. When you add graphics to the Gallery, the files

are not moved or copied; the location of each new object is simply added as a reference.

In a workgroup, you may have access to a shared Gallery (where you cannot change the contents

unless authorized to do so) and a user Gallery, where you can add, change, or delete objects.

The location of the user Gallery is specified in Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Paths. You can

change this location, and you can copy your gallery files (SDV) to other computers.

Gallery contents provided with LibreOffice are stored in a different location. You cannot change this

location.

Note

Gallery themes can be packed for distribution through the LibreOffice extensions

framework. In that case, the location of the graphic files is determined by the extension

settings. To get more gallery themes, visit the LibreOffice extensions website at

http://extensions.libreoffice.org.

Using Fontwork

With Fontwork you can create graphical text art objects to make your work more attractive. There

are many different settings for text art objects (line, area, position, size, and more), so you have a

large choice.

Fontwork is available with each component of LibreOffice, but you will notice small differences in

the way that each component displays it.

Creating a Fontwork object

1) Choose Insert > FontWork from the Menu bar. Or, click the Fontwork Gallery icon on

the Fontwork toolbar (View > Toolbars > Fontwork) or the Drawing toolbar (View >

Toolbars > Drawing).

2) In the Fontwork Gallery (Figure 245), select a Fontwork style, then click OK. The Fontwork

object will appear in your document.

3) Notice the colored squares around the edge (indicating that the object is selected) and the

yellow dot; these are discussed in “Moving and resizing Fontwork objects” on page 255.

Resize the object using one of the corner handles (hold down the Shift key to keep the

sides proportional), or right-click and choose Position and Size from the context menu for

more precise sizing.

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Figure 245: The Fontwork Gallery

4) Double-click the object to edit the Fontwork text (see Figure 246). Select the text and type

your own text in place of the black Fontwork text that appears over the object.

Figure 246: Editing Fontwork text

5) Click anywhere in a free space or press Esc to apply your changes.

Editing a Fontwork object

Now that the Fontwork object is created, you can edit some of its attributes. To do this, you can use

the Fontwork toolbar, the Formatting toolbar, or menu options as described in this section. If the

selected Fontwork object is a 3-D object, you can also use the 3D-Settings toolbar.

Using the Fontwork toolbar

Make sure that the Fontwork toolbar, shown in Figure 247, is visible. If you do not see it, go to

View > Toolbars > Fontwork. Click the different icons to edit Fontwork objects.

Figure 247: The floating Fontwork toolbar

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 253

Fontwork Shape: Edits the shape of the selected object.

You can choose from a palette of shapes.

Figure 248: Fontwork toolbar

showing palette of shapes

Fontwork Same Letter Heights: Changes the height of characters in the object. Toggles

between normal height (some characters taller than others, for example capital letters, d,

h, l and others) and all letters the same height.

Figure 249: Left: normal letters; right: same letter heights

Fontwork Alignment: Changes the alignment of characters.

Choices are left align, center, right align, word justify, and

stretch justify. The effects of the text alignment can only be

seen if the text spans over two or more lines. In the stretch

justify mode, all the lines are filled completely.

Fontwork Character Spacing: Changes the character spacing

and kerning in the object. Select from the choices in the drop-

down list.

Using the Formatting toolbar

You can customize the Fontwork object with several more attributes. Click on the object; the

Formatting toolbar changes to show the options for customizing the object. These choices are the

same as the ones for other drawing objects, described earlier in this chapter. See also the Draw

Guide for details.

Using menu options

You can use some the choices on the Format menu to anchor, align, arrange, and group selected

Fontwork objects, wrap text around them, and flip them horizontally and vertically.

You can also right-click a Fontwork object and choose many of the same options from the context

menu. The context menu also provides quick access to the Line, Area, Text, and Position and Size

dialogs. For more information on all of these menu options, see the Draw Guide.

254 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Using the 3D-Settings toolbar

If the selected Fontwork object is a 3-D object, you can also use the options on the 3D-Settings

toolbar. You can also change a 2-D Fontwork object into a 3-D object (or change a 3-D object into

a 2-D object) by clicking the Extrusion On/Off icon on the 3D-Settings toolbar. For more

information, see the Draw Guide.

Moving and resizing Fontwork objects

When you select a Fontwork object, eight colored squares (known as handles) appear around the

edge of the object, as shown below. You can drag these handles to resize the object.

A yellow dot also appears on the object. This dot may be

along an edge of the object, or it may be somewhere else; in

the example on the right. If you hover the pointer over this

yellow dot, the pointer turns into a hand symbol. You can drag

the dot in different directions to distort the object.

Hovering the pointer over other parts of the object turns the

pointer into the usual symbol for dragging the object to

another part of the page.

For precise control of the location and size of the object, use the Position and Size areas of the

Type tab in the Properties dialog.

Chapter 11 Images and Graphics | 255

Chapter 12

Lists: Tips and Tricks

Introduction

This chapter expands on information given in Chapter 9, Working with Styles, and provides some

extra examples.

In many word processors, list options are included in paragraph styles, but Writer treats them as a

separate type of style.

Writer’s separate list styles have two major advantages:

•The same list style can be used with multiple paragraph styles, avoiding duplication of

design work.

•A paragraph’s associated list style can be changed with a single selection.

Tip

You cannot change the style used by the default toolbar icons for lists. You can create

new toolbar buttons that apply list styles to paragraphs, but a better strategy is to

create paragraph styles for lists and, if you wish, create toolbar icons for them. See

Chapter 21, Customizing Writer, for information on creating toolbar buttons.

Types of list

With list styles, you can create three types of list:

•Bullet lists: Unordered lists whose items start with a bullet, special character, dingbat, or

graphic.

•Numbered lists: Ordered lists whose items start with a number, upper or lower case letters,

or upper and lower case Roman numerals.

•Outline lists: Hierarchical summaries of an argument or piece of writing, in which each level

has its own numbering system.

All these types of list are in common use today, especially online.

Each type of list has its own set of conventions about how they are structured and used, as

described in this section.

Bullet lists

Bullet lists are popular in technical documents, presentations, many web sites, and other online

documents. Writer provides several pre-defined bullet list styles (see Figure 250), and you can

select others from the Gallery or create your own bullets.

Figure 250: Writer’s pre-defined bullet types

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 257

Tip

Bullet list styles can be used for other purposes in addition to normal lists, especially if

you choose a graphic for the bullet. See “Example: Styling the Tips, Notes, and

Cautions in this book” on page 272.

The conventions for bullet lists

The use of bullet lists follows well-defined conventions:

•Are used only when the order of the points is irrelevant. You might want to arrange points

for rhetorical effect, starting with one fairly important point and ending with your strongest

point, but readers do not actually need to know one point before another.

•Have three points or more. If you have two points, they both stay in the body of the text.

•Are introduced in the last sentence in the body text above them either without any

punctuation, or with a colon.

•Consist of points that are all grammatical completions of the last sentence in the paragraph

before them. That means that each point has a similar grammatical structure to the others.

In this bullet list, for instance, each point starts with a present tense verb.

•May be sentence fragments, but should be consistent with each other. For example, they

could be all nouns or participles.

•Start with a bullet on, or indented from, the left margin, then indent for the text. If they are

lists within lists, then the bullet has the same indent as the text in the top level list.

•Can start with either an upper or lower case letter, so long as the convention is consistent

throughout the list and the document.

•End each point with the same punctuation. Commas, semi-colons, periods, or no

punctuation are all valid choices. What matters is the consistency of list items and of all lists

within the document.

•Are generally no more than 6–8 items long. Much longer, and the ease of reading is lost.

•Do not use an “and,” “or,” or any other word to introduce the last point in the list, even

though that would be grammatically correct.

•Are sometimes considered too informal to use. When in doubt, avoid them.

Numbered lists

While people number lists all the time, the convention is that numbered lists should only be used

when the order of the information matters. For instance, in a procedure in a technical manual, one

step might be impossible – or even dangerous – without doing another one first.

Writer provides several pre-defined numbered list styles (see Figure 251), and you can define

others.

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Figure 251: Writer’s pre-defined numbered lists

The conventions for numbered lists

Numbered lists have fewer conventions than bullet lists, but they do have a few:

•They are used when the order of items is important. If the order is irrelevant, use bullet lists

instead.

•Like bullet lists, they are used only for three items or more. Two-step procedures stay in the

body of the text.

•They are generally introduced in the body text by a summary of the overall task they

describe that ends in a colon. For example, “To install the software update, follow these

steps:” or, simply “To install:”

•Each step can have multiple paragraphs, most of them unnumbered, describing what

happens when it is performed or the alternatives.

•The steps in a procedure should be less than a dozen (some suggest 6–8).

Tip

If each step has multiple paragraphs or you have more than about a dozen steps, you

may need to break down the list into smaller lists or else present the points as ordinary

body text.

Outline lists

Outline lists summarize the structure of a much longer, typically unwritten document. In finished

technical and legal documents, they are used in headings to make the structure obvious, although

this use is becoming less common than it was a few decades ago.

Writer gives several options for outline lists (see Figure 252). List styles create an outline method

that uses a single paragraph style. When such a paragraph style is in use, you change the level

and the numbering by pressing the Tab key to descend a level, and Shift+Tab to ascend a level.

This single style outlining is by far the quickest to apply and learn.

You can choose to use outline lists when writing a document and then, before publication, remove

the letters and numbers of the outline by changing or removing the numbering style associated

with the paragraph style.

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 259

Figure 252: Writer’s pre-defined outline list styles

The conventions for outline lists

The conventions for outline lists are:

•Usually, a different numbering system is used for each level to help distinguish them.

•Levels can be ordered using Arabic numerals, upper and lower case Roman numerals, and

upper and lower case letters.

•Upper case Roman numerals are usually reserved for the top level, and upper case letters

are used before lower case ones. Another alternative is Arabic numbers followed by lower

case letters. However, these rules are not fixed.

•In technical manuals, multiple levels used to be common in headings (for instance, I.A.2 or

1.1.1). This style has largely fallen out of practice except in a few specialized cases such as

legal documents, for the obvious reason that they are hard to remember. Also, if each

heading is indented, after two or three levels almost no space is left for text.

Combining list and paragraph styles

Paragraph styles are essential to lists and outlining. When applying a list style, the underlying

paragraph style remains unchanged. If your list must also have a certain font size, indentations,

and so on, you might expect to first apply a paragraph style and then a list style (or the other way

around). However, you can embed a list style in a paragraph style using the Outline & Numbering

page of the Paragraph Style dialog, and then apply only the paragraph style to the list.

This section gives an example of combining list and paragraph styles:

1) Create a list style you want to use for the paragraph. For example: MyNumberedList.

2) Create a new paragraph style.

3) On the Organizer page of the Paragraph Style dialog:

a) Give the new paragraph style a name, say NumberedParagraph.

b) For the Next Style, choose NumberedParagraph (this will make the following paragraph

also be in this style, until you choose a different style).

c) In Inherited from, choose None.

4) Set up this paragraph style to your liking. Because the indentation is controlled by the List

style, to avoid undesired interactions do not change the indent settings on the Indents &

Spacing page. (You might want to change the spacing above and below the paragraph.)

5) On the Outline & Numbering page (Figure 253), choose the MyNumberedList style created

in step 1. See FIgure 253.

6) Click OK to save this style.

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Figure 253: Assigning a List style to a Paragraph style

To have full control, it is common practice to define three base paragraph styles for lists: List Start

for the first element of the list, List Continue for the subsequent elements of the list, and List End

for the last element of the list. You could also define a paragraph style to be used for unnumbered

list items (one for each nested level you intend to use) as well as an introductory style for the

paragraph preceding the start of the list, to allow for keeping the introductory paragraph with the

first list item or for specifying spacing before the first list item that is different from the spacing

between other paragraphs.

Restarting paragraph numbering

To restart the numbering of any numbered list, right-click the paragraph and select Restart

Numbering from the context menu or use the Restart at this paragraph option in the Numbering

section on the Paragraph dialog (Figure 254).

Figure 254: Restarting paragraph numbering

Note

The Restart at this paragraph field in the Line Numbering section of the Outline &

Numbering tab is for line numbering, not paragraph numbering.

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 261

Nesting lists

A nested list – a list within a list – is a numbered or bulleted list with subordinate (usually indented)

numbered or bulleted lists. Rather than being just a list of numbered items (1, 2, 3...), a nested list

may have item 1, then indented items numbered a, b, c or i, ii, iii or some other numbering method

before the main number 2. With numbering styles, you can achieve any combination of numbering

formats you want. A nested list may even combine numbered items with bulleted items.

To nest a list, you have two choices. The first is to create a list style, and set up two or more list

levels with different formatting choices on the Position and Options tabs. The advantage of list

levels is that each level can be formatted separately, but all the levels remain connected. You can

switch to the next level below by pressing the Tab key, or to the one above by pressing Shift+Tab.

The preview pane can help you set up each list level, and the customized list style is associated

with a paragraph style for use.

To switch to a lower list level while using the associated paragraph style, press the Tab key before

entering content; to switch to a higher list level, press Shift+Tab.

The second choice is to create two list styles, then associate each list style with a separate

paragraph style.

Neither choice has any advantage over the other, since you are still dealing with the same options.

However, in both cases, each nested list is typically indented more than the list level above it.

Typically, too, each list level will use a different bullet style or numbering system.

Style names like Bulleted and Bulleted 2 or Nested will help to remind you of the relation between

the two paragraph styles. For convenience, use the same names for both the Paragraph and List

styles, since they cannot be mixed up.

Figure 255: Nested lists created using two separate list styles

Outlining with paragraph styles

LibreOffice has several ways to outline using paragraph styles. With Tools > Chapter Numbering,

you can choose a numbering style for each paragraph style, making it part of the Outline Levels.

Alternatively, you can ignore Tools > Chapter Numbering, and associate each Heading style with

a separate list style using the Styles and Formatting window.

An even easier form of outlining is to create a single list style for outlining. You can manually set up

the different levels on the list style’s Customize tab, or you can get much the same result by

selecting a pre-defined pattern from the list style’s Outline tab instead.

To use the paragraph style, press Enter+Tab to add a sub-level paragraph. The sub-level

paragraph automatically uses the numbering pattern of the list style. To raise the level of a

paragraph style, press Enter+Tab+Shift.

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Creating outlines with a single paragraph style

To set up a single paragraph style for outlining:

1) Create a list style and associate it with one of the pre-defined formats on the Outline tab.

2) Select or make a paragraph style for outlining. You cannot use the Heading 1-10 styles.

Presumably, this restriction prevents confusion between a single paragraph style outline

and the registered outline levels (see next section).

3) On the Organizer tab of the paragraph style, set the style to use itself as the Next style.

4) Assign the list style to the paragraph style using the Numbering field on the paragraph

style’s Outline & Numbering tab.

Adding paragraph styles to outline levels

Outline levels are a concept used throughout LibreOffice to automate advanced features. For

example, outline levels determine which paragraph styles are displayed by default in the Navigator

under Headings, and in a table of contents.

By default, outline levels are mapped to the Heading 1-10 paragraph styles. Outline Level 1 is

mapped to Heading 1, and so on. You can change these mappings, or add another paragraph style

to an outline level in the Outline level field on the Outline & Numbering tab (see Figure 256).

Figure 256: Assigning a paragraph style to an outline level

Tip

You can assign more than one paragraph style to an outline level, but only one

paragraph style displays in Tools > Chapter Numbering.

Skipping a paragraph in a list

In many lists, each paragraph is a list item and is therefore numbered or bulleted. However, you

sometimes need to break up a list with an unnumbered or unbulleted paragraph that gives more

detail about a list item. Without such a paragraph, a list item may turn into a long paragraph,

reducing the readability.

To create a style for such paragraphs, use the paragraph style with a list to create a linked

paragraph that is mostly formatted identically except for on the Outline & Numbering tab, where:

•Outline Level is set to Body Text.

•Numbering Style is set to None.

•This paragraph in line numbering is unchecked.

If you have only a few horizontal indents, this style may be usable with multiple lists. Body Text

Indent is a pre-defined paragraph style that you can use for this purpose.

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 263

Applying list styles

List styles define properties such as indentation, numbering style (for example, 1,2,3; a,b,c; or

bullets), and punctuation after the number, but they do not by themselves define properties such as

font, borders, text flow, and so on. The latter are properties of paragraph styles.

If your list needs to have specific paragraph-style properties, embed the list style into paragraph

styles, as explained in Chapter 9. You can then create a list by applying paragraph styles alone.

Writer has two series of predefined list styles, named List (for bullet lists) and Numbering (for

numbered lists). Each series contains five list styles, intended for the different levels of a nested

list. As with any style, you can redefine the properties of these styles, for example the numbering or

bullet symbol and the indentation. You can also define other list styles in these series or create

your own series.

Each of the list styles predefined in Writer has four associated paragraph styles. For more

information, see Chapter 9. Much more information about list styles is in Chapter 11, Lists.

If you only want to apply a list style (that is, the numbering or bullet symbol and the indentation),

then place the cursor in the paragraph and double-click on the desired list style in the List Styles

section of the Styles and Formatting tab in the sidebar.

List styles can have up to ten levels, used for nested lists. To switch from one level to another, use

the Promote One Level or Demote One Level icons on the Bullets and Numbering toolbar, or

press the Tab key (one level down) or Shift+Tab keys (one level up), or right-click on the list

element and select Promote One Level or Demote One Level from the context menu.

Restarting or continuing the numbering

When creating more than one numbered list of the same type within the same chapter, Writer

applies sequential numbering to all the lists. Sometimes this is what you want (for example, when

placing illustrations between the numbered paragraphs), while at other times you want to restart

the numbering.

To restart numbering from 1, you can do any of the following:

•Click the Restart numbering icon on the Bullets and Numbering toolbar.

•Right-click on the first element of the list and choose Restart Numbering from the context

menu.

•Right-click on the first element of the list, choose Paragraph from the context menu, and go

to the Outline & Numbering tab of the Paragraph dialog. In the Numbering section, select

Restart at this paragraph and Start with, and set the number (see Figure 257).

Figure 257: Restarting numbering

If you find that the numbering does not restart as intended using the first or second method, or if

you want to restart from a number greater than 1, use the third method.

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When editing a document, you may want to change from restarting numbering to continuing the

numbering from a previous list. To do so, right-click on the list element and choose Continue

previous numbering from the context menu.

Naming list styles

LibreOffice uses List 1-5 for default bullet lists, and Numbering 1-5 for numbered lists. However,

you may wish to add your own styles and give them descriptive names like Arabic Numeral Blue or

Lower Case Indented.

Tip

Using the same name for both the list style and the paragraph style with which it is

linked can make working with different types of styles much easier. If you use a

character style to define the bullet or number, give it the same name, too.

Along with each basic paragraph style, LibreOffice also includes list styles ending in Cont.

(Continue), End, and Start. You can use these styles to customize lists. For example, the Start list

style might have extra space above it to separate the list from the body text, and the End list style

extra space below it.

The Cont. style is often used for numbered or bulletted paragraphs paragraphs in a list, where the

spacing between list items is different from the spacing of the first and last items. It is also often

used for unnumbered (or non-bulletted) paragraphs when a list item has more than one paragraph,

by setting the Numbering field to None on the Options tab.

If you decide not to use these styles, you can right-click each of them in the Styles and Formatting

window and hide them. You can go to the Hidden view and unhide them later if you decide you

need them after all.

Figure 258: Give related styles similar names and

you can locate the ones you need more quickly

Formatting list styles

You have two ways of formatting bullets and numbers in list styles.

The quick way is to select a style from the Bullets, Numbering Style, Outline, or Image tabs for a

list style. Each of these tabs give a variety of options, although not an exhaustive list.

Although the choices on the Image tab look old-fashioned, they can be useful; for instance, see

“Example: Styling the Tips, Notes, and Cautions in this book” on page 272.

The second and more practical way is to customize bullets or numbered lists for yourself, using the

Options and Position tabs. Both tabs have ten levels. This setting is mostly useful for creating a

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 265

single outline numbering style, in which the numbering changes each time you press the Tab key

(see “Outline lists” on page 259).For most bulleted and numbered lists, either set the Level to 1, or

leave the Level at the default 1-10.

Figure 259: The bullets on the Image tab

If your design gets muddled, restart by clicking the Default button on the Position tab or the Reset

button on any tab.

Positioning bullets, numbers, and list items

The Position tab sets up the spacing before bullets or numbers, and between the bullet or number

and the text.

When a list style is linked to a paragraph style, editing the fields on the Position tab in the list

number dialog results in changes to the Indent > Before text and Indent > First line settings on the

Indents & Spacing tab for the paragraph style.

Figure 260: The Position tab is one of two tabs in the list style

dialog for customizing lists

The reverse is also true. However, to avoid complications, make all the changes on the Position

tab for the list style. Not only is that the logical place to look for changes on the list style, but

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adjusting the paragraph settings usually involves negative entries for the First Line field, which can

complicate editing immensely.

Understanding position fields

Figure 261: Fields on the Position tab for list styles and what they refer to

When you are defining a new list style, the important fields on the Position tab are:

•Aligned at: The vertical position for numbers, measured from the left margin. In most cases,

you can leave this field at 0 (at the left margin). However, if you use any Numbering

Alignment except Left, numbers set this field to another value.

•Numbering Alignment: How the bullet or number is aligned. Most of the time, you can leave

this field at the default of Left, but if you are having trouble positioning text, changing the

alignment to Center or Right can sometimes solve the problem, especially for lists or levels

that require two-digit numbers.

Figure 262: The dotted line is the margin in this example. If the value of the

Numbering Alignment is 0, then choosing Center or Right can force the numbers

into the left margin.

•Numbering followed by: Sets the space between the number or bullet and the text. Although

the choices include space or nothing, the choice that offers the most control is Tab Stop.

Set the exact tab in the at field directly below the drop-down list.

•Aligned at: Sets where the numbers or bullets are on the line. In many cases, this setting is

0 points – that is, against the left margin.

•Indent at: Sets the start of the text. This setting should be equal or greater to the tab stop

set for Numbering followed by.

Formatting ordered (numbered) lists

To create a numbered list, select a numbering style from the Number field on the Options tab. The

selections in the drop-down list begin with typical choices for Western European languages: Arabic,

upper and lower case letters, and upper and lower case Roman numerals. Scroll down, and

options for Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian, and Greek are available.

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 267

Figure 263: Select a numbering style from the Options tab

Adding characters before and after numbers

You can set up to 40 characters before or after the actual number using the Before and After fields.

These characters are added automatically whenever the list style they are attached to is applied.

Common characters after a number might be a period, a parenthesis, or both. Alternatively, you

might put a parenthesis both before or after the number, or text such as Step # in the Before field.

In a List Cont. style, you might add (Continued) before.

More elaborately, you might set a paragraph style to start at the top of the page, then attach to it a

list style with text so that the paragraph style will automatically add text.

In a numbered list, you can choose the number of outline levels in the list by adjusting the Show

sublevels field. For example, if you decided to show three sublevels, the first use of the third

sublevel would be numbered 1.1.1.

Note

Using the Before, After, and/or Show sublevels fields means that the settings on the

Position tab need to be adjusted so there is enough space between the number and

the text.

Setting the character style

By default, the Character Style field for numbered lists is set to the Numbering Symbol character

style, and for bulleted lists to the Bullets character style.

For most purposes, you probably have no reason to change these defaults. Unless modified, these

character styles use the same font and font size as the Default Style character style, and apply to

both the number and any text in the Before or After fields.

Common modifications include making the numbers or bullets larger, giving them a corporate color,

making them bold, or using a condensed version of a font.

Note

You may need to change the text indent if you use a larger font, especially for two or

three digit numbers. The line height may also need to be increased.

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Example: Formatting large list numbers

You may want to have the numbers in a larger or different font, or a different color, from the text of

the list. To create this effect, follow these steps:

1) Create a new character style for the numbers, or modify an existing character style. For this

example, the new style is named Numbers Large.

On the Font page of the character style dialog, increase the font size. To change the color

of the number, go to the Font Effect page. Click OK to save the new or modified character

style.

2) Create a new list style, or modify an existing list style. On the Customize page of the

numbering style dialog (Figure 264), choose the character style you created or modified.

For this example, choose Numbers Large. Click OK to save the style.

3) Create a new paragraph style, or modify an existing paragraph style. On the Outline &

Numbering page of the paragraph style dialog, choose the numbering style you created or

modified.

4) Apply the paragraph style in the usual way to the items of the list.

Figure 264: Choosing the character style for the numbers of a list

Caution

If you modify an existing character, list, or paragraph style, the changes will affect all

lists in the document that use those styles.

Working with two-digit list numbers

Numbered lists with two digits can displace list items, upsetting your carefully calculated designs

by offsetting the text too much.

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 269

Figure 265: Unless extra spacing is provided, the list items

are displaced when the numbering enters two digits.

You can correct this problem in several ways:

•Never have a list with more than nine items. Rewrite lists that have more, combining steps

or dividing one list into two or more shorter ones. This arrangement may make your

instructions easier to remember.

•Add extra space between the number and the list item using the Indent at field on the xxx

page of the dialog. Do not add so much space that the association between numbers and

list items is lost.

•Adjust the size of the numbers using the Character Style field on the Customize tab.

•Set the Numbering Alignment to Right. Watch that this change does not extend numbers

into the left margin.

Restarting a numbered list

The Customize tab for a numbering style includes a Start at field. However, this field refers to the

first time that the list style is used in a document. It is not a tool for re-starting the numbering.

To restart the numbering in a list, right-click a paragraph with a list and select Restart Numbering

from the menu.

Tip

People occasionally ask for numbered lists that count down from the starting number,

instead of up, presumably for Top 10 lists and other countdowns. Unfortunately,

LibreOffice will not automatically generate numbers for reverse order in lists. A reverse

order list must be entered manually.

Designing unordered (bulleted) lists

The default character style for bullets is Bullets. It gives you a standard bullet for the Default style.

However, you might want to change the symbol using the Character field. Selecting the Character

field opens a dialog from which you can choose any symbol supported by the current font.

To choose a truly unusual bullet, set the character style to use a dingbat font. However, be careful:

too detailed or unusual a dingbat distracts from the contents.

Caution

When you use an unusual character style for bullets, be sure to embed the font used

when you share a file.

If your design includes nested bullets – that is, bullet lists within bullet lists – you might want to

create an additional list style with a name like Bullets2.

However, if you do use more than one bullet list style, make sure their designs are compatible. In

fact, indenting the nested bullets and nothing more is enough to distinguish them from the top level

bullets.

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Example: Making a checklist

Depending on the characters you choose, bulleted list styles can serve as more than unordered

lists. For example, a bullet list can be made into a checklist by selecting the font or character used

for the bullet.

If you want a checklist to be used with a pen, set up the list style in the usual way, using a

character style that uses the OpenSymbol font that ships with LibreOffice, and assign the character

U+E00B (a shaded open box) as the bullet (that is two zeros, not lower case “o”s). Print the list,

and it is immediately ready for use. Add some corporate branding and letterhead, and the To Do list

can be used in business.

Figure 266: With three list styles, you can create

both manual and computer-based checklists.

If you want to use the list on the computer, create two list styles, one that uses the character

U+2752, and one that uses the character U+E531 (a box with a check mark). Create the list using

the first style, then tick off an item by applying the second style to it.

Depending on the purpose of the list, you can also create a third list style that uses the character

U+E532 (an X mark) to indicate items that were not completed.

Using images as bullets

Using an image instead of a standard bullet is a convenient way to add some originality to your

document. However, you are limited by the small size at which most bullets display. Mostly, simple

images with strong contrast work best as a substitute bullet. Often, a black and white image is

more effective.

Images used for bullets are also a way to position an image on a page. In particular, they can be

used to create warning signs and indicate in a technical manual or an informal text.

In either case, select a graphic to use from Position > Number in the dialog for the List style.

Choosing Graphics embeds the picture within the document file. By contrast, Linked graphics only

adds a link to the graphic.

Tip

If the image is cut off, either adjust the image size or else change the line spacing to

At Least so the top half of the characters in a line is not chopped off.

After you choose Graphics or Linked graphics, the dialog lists a set of fields for editing the bullet:

•The Select button opens a file manager to select the picture.

•The Width and Height fields set the size at which the picture displays. They do not affect

the original picture file.

Remember that too large a height requires changing the paragraph Line spacing setting to

At Least so that the letters are not cut off at the top.

•Keep ratio, when selected, ensures that changing either the Width or Height field changes

the other proportionally.

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 271

•Alignment can usually be ignored, but can help when the height of the graphic is greater

than the height of the text, as in the Tips, Notes, and Cautions in this book.

Figure 267: The fields for using a picture as a bullet appear after you

have selected Options > Number > Graphics or Linked Graphics

Example: Styling the Tips, Notes, and Cautions in this book

List styles can be used for more than lists. For example, the Tips, Notes, and Cautions in this book

use list styles to position the graphics and text. Here is how the Tips are created and used. The

others are done in the same way, but with a different logo and text.

Tip

Here is an example of a Tip in this book.

Step 1. Create a paragraph style for the body of a tip, note, or caution.

The body of a tip, note, or caution in this book is indented under the heading and has a line under it

to set it off from the main text.

1) In the Sidebar, go to Styles and Formatting > Paragraph Styles. Right-click and choose

New. Name the new style Text Note.

2) On the Indents & Spacing page (Figure 268), specify the indentation and spacing for the

body of the Tip.

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Figure 268: Choosing indentation and spacing for the body of the Tip

3) On the Borders page (FIgure 269), select a bottom border, increase the thickness, and

specify the spacing between the text and the border. Choose Merge with next paragraph

to cause the border to appear under only the final paragraph if the Tip includes more than

one paragraph.

4) Style the paragraph (font and so on) in the usual way.

5) Click OK to save the paragraph style.

Figure 269: Defining the bottom border of the Tip body text

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 273

Step 2. Create a list style.

1) In the Sidebar, go to Styles and Formatting > List Styles. Right-click and choose New.

Name the new style Heading Tip.

2) On the Image page (Figure 270), select an appropriate image. (Or, skip this step and select

an image on the Customize page.)

Figure 270: Selecting a bullet image

3) On the Customize page (Figure 271), choose Graphics in the Number field. Optionally,

click Select... in the Graphics field and choose an image from a file or from the Gallery.

If the bullet image selected is too large or too small for your design, specify a width and

height. You can use these fields to distort the original image.

In the Alignment field, select where you want the image to line up with the text.

Figure 271: Customizing the size and alignment of the bullet image

4) On the Position page (Figure 272), choose settings as described in “Positioning bullets,

numbers, and list items” on page 266.

5) Click OK to save the list style.

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Figure 272: Choosing position and spacing settings for the bullet image

Step 3. Create a paragraph style for the Heading Tip and connect it to the list style.

1) In the Sidebar, go to Styles and Formatting > Paragraph Styles. Right-click and choose

New. Name the new style Heading Tip.

2) On the Organizer page (Figure 273), specify the Next Style to be the one you created for

the body of the Tip; in this case, Text Note.

Figure 273: Specifying the Next Style for a Heading Tip style

3) Style the paragraph in the usual way, then go to the Outline & Numbering page (Figure 274).

In the Numbering style field, select the list style you created. Click OK to save the style.

Figure 274: Connecting the list style to the paragraph style

Chapter 12 Lists: Tips and Tricks | 275

Step 4. Apply the paragraph styles to the heading and text of the Tip, Note, or Caution.

1) Type the word “Tip” in a new paragraph. (You must enter at least one character or a space,

or else the graphic disappears when you press Enter, leaving the indent but no bullet.)

2) Apply the Heading Tip paragraph style.

3) Press Enter. The next paragraph should automatically have the Text Note paragraph style.

Type the text for the body of the tip. (If you have already typed the text, then apply the style

manually.)

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Chapter 13

Tables of Data

Introduction

Tables are a useful way to organize and present large amounts of information, for example:

•Technical, financial, or statistical reports.

•Product catalogs showing descriptions, prices, characteristics, and photographs of

products.

•Bills or invoices.

•Lists of names with address, age, profession, and other information.

Tables can often be used as an alternative to spreadsheets to organize materials. A well-designed

table can help readers understand better what you are saying. While you would normally use

tables for text or numbers, you could put other objects, such as pictures, in cells. Writer’s tables

provide limited spreadsheet functions; see “Using spreadsheet functions in a table” on page 295.

Tables can also be used as a page-layout tool to position text in areas of a document instead of

using several Tab characters. Another example is in headers and footers to support independent

positioning of different elements, such as page number, document title, and so on. This use of

tables is described in Chapter 6, Formatting Pages: Advanced.

Creating a table

Before you insert a table into a document, it helps to have an idea of the visual result you want to

obtain as well as an estimate of the number of rows and columns required. Every parameter can

be changed at a later stage; however, thinking ahead can save a large amount of time as changes

to fully formatted tables often require a significant effort.

Inserting a new table

To directly insert a table with the default properties, click the Table icon on the

Standard toolbar. On the drop-down graphic, choose the size of the table (up to

fifteen rows and up to ten columns). To create the table, click the cell that you

want to be on the last row of the last column. Holding down the mouse button

over the Table icon will also display the graphic.

To insert a new table using the Insert Table dialog, where you can specify the

properties for the table, position the cursor where you want the table to appear,

then use any of the following methods to open the dialog:

•Choose Table > Insert Table from the Menu bar.

•Press Ctrl+F12.

•On the Standard toolbar, click the Insert Table icon and select More Options at the bottom

of the drop-down graphic.

In the General section of the Insert Table dialog (Figure 275), in the Name box, you can enter a

different name from the Writer-generated default for the table. This might come in handy when

using the Navigator to jump quickly to a table.

In the Columns and Rows boxes, specify the number of columns and rows for the new table. You

can change the size of the table later, if necessary.

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Figure 275: The Insert Table dialog

Under Options, set up the initial table characteristics:

•Heading — Enables a heading to be used in the table and defines the number of rows to

be used as headings. A second (and, occasionally, third) heading row can be useful for sub-

headings in a complex table.

The default Table Heading paragraph style is applied to the heading rows. You can edit the

Table Heading paragraph style in the Styles and Formatting window to change these

default settings.

•Repeat Heading Rows on new pages — Enables the heading rows to be repeated at the

top of subsequent pages if the table spans more than one page.

Heading Rows — Specifies the number of rows to be used for the heading. Default is 1.

•Don’t split table over pages — Prevents the table from spanning more than one page.

This can be useful if the table starts near the end of a page, and would look better if it were

completely located on the following page. If the table starts earlier on the page, this setting

can lead to awkward page breaks. If the table becomes longer than would fit on one page,

either deselect this option or manually split the table.

•Border — Surrounds each cell of the table with a border. This border can be modified or

deleted later.

The AutoFormat button opens a dialog from which you can select one of several predefined table

layouts, also known as table styles. See “Creating and applying table styles” on page 289 for more

information. Click OK after selecting your table layout.

After making your choices, click Insert. Writer creates a table as wide as the text area (from the left

page margin to the right page margin), with all columns the same width and all rows the same

height. You can adjust the columns and rows later to suit your needs.

Creating nested tables

You can create tables within tables, nested to a depth limited only by imagination and practicality.

Nested tables are especially useful for page layout. Figure 276 demonstrates a simple, two-level

example. The shaded table is inside a cell of the larger table. To achieve this, simply click in a cell

of an existing table and use any of the methods mentioned in “Inserting a new table” above.

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 279

Figure 276: Nested table example

Using AutoCorrect to create a table

You can also create a table by typing a series of hyphens (-) or tabs separated by plus signs. Use

the plus signs to indicate column dividers, while hyphens and tabs are used to indicate the width of

a column. When using tabs, the default tab setting determines the width; this setting can be

changed in Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > General.

For example, this character sequence:

+-----------------+---------------+------+

creates a table like this:

Note

This function can be disabled or enabled in Tools > AutoCorrect Options. On the

Options page, deselect or select Create table.

Create a table from formatted text

You can create a table from plain text by using Table > Convert > Text to Table on the Menu bar.

The text to be converted must contain characters to indicate column separators. Paragraph marks

indicate an end of a table row.

Start by editing the text, if necessary, to ensure the column separator character is in place where

you want it. Select the text you want to convert and choose Table > Convert > Text to Table to

open the dialog shown in Figure 277.

Figure 277: Dialog for the text to table conversion

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The Separate text at section has four options for the separator for the columns of text. Select Other

to choose the default comma (useful if you are importing a .csv file) or type any character in the

box. The other options are the same as those in the Insert Table dialog shown in Figure 275.

Click OK to convert the text.

Example

In this example we will convert the following text into a table.

Row 1 Column 1; Row 1 Column 2; Row 1 Column 3

Row 2 Column 1; Row 2 Column 2; Row 2 Column 3

In this case, the separator between elements is a semicolon. Select the text and choose Table >

Convert > Text to Table. We obtain the following result.

Row 1 Column 1 Row 1 Column 2 Row 1 Column 3

Row 2 Column 1 Row 2 Column 2 Row 2 Column 3

Tip

Unlike the creation of a table by other methods, conversion from text to table

preserves the paragraph style and character style applied to the original text.

You can also use the Convert menu to perform the opposite operation, to transform a table into

plain text. This may be useful when you want to export the table contents into a different program.

To transform a table into text, place the cursor anywhere in the table, choose Table > Convert >

Table to Text in the Menu bar, pick the preferred row separator, and click OK to finish.

Formatting the table layout

Formatting a table is, generally speaking, a two-step process: formatting the table layout (the

subject of this section) and formatting the table text (the subject of the next section).

Tip

If you apply similar formatting of table layout and table text to multiple tables, using

table styles can speed up your work and provide consistency. See “Creating and

applying table styles” on page 289.

Formatting the layout normally involves one or more of the following operations: adjusting the size

of the table and its position on the page, adjusting sizes of rows and columns, adding or removing

rows or columns, merging and splitting individual cells, changing borders and background.

Default parameters

If you create a table using the Insert Table dialog or the Table icon on the Standard toolbar, the

following defaults are set:

•The cells use the Table Contents paragraph style, which, in the default template, is identical

to the Default Style paragraph style.

•The default table occupies all the space from margin to margin (text area).

•The default table has thin black borders around each cell (grid).

•If you activate the Heading option, the cells in the heading row (or rows) use the Table

Heading paragraph style.

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 281

Resizing and positioning the table

Using the default settings, any newly created table will occupy the entire width of the text area.

This is sometimes what you want, or you may prefer a smaller table. To quickly resize a table, first

move the mouse to either the left or right edge. When the cursor changes shape into a double

arrow, drag the border to the new position. This operation only changes the size of the first or last

column; it does not change the alignment of the table on the page.

For more precise control over the size and position of the table on the page, open the Table

Properties dialog by choosing Table > Properties or by right-clicking anywhere in the table and

choosing Table Properties from the context menu.

Figure 278: The Table page of the Table Properties dialog

On the Table page of the dialog (Figure 278), you can set the alignment of the table, choosing

among the following options:

•Automatic: the default setting for a table, fills the width of the text area.

•Left: aligns the table with the left margin.

•Right: aligns the table with the right margin.

•From Left: lets you specify under Spacing exactly how far from the left margin the table is

placed.

•Center: aligns the table in the middle between the left and right margins. If the table width

is greater than the margin, the table will extend outside of the margins.

•Manual: lets you specify the distances from both left and right margins under Spacing.

Selecting an alignment option other than Automatic activates the Width field in the Properties

section, where you can enter the desired size of the table. Select Relative to see the width as

percentage of the text area.

In the Spacing section, use the Above and Below boxes to modify the separation between the text

and the table.

When the size of the table is less than the size of the text area, Writer will insert some values in the

Left and Right boxes. You can enter values:

•In both the Left and Right boxes if you select Manual alignment.

•In the Left box when you select the From Left, Right or Center alignment.

•In the Right box if you select Left alignment.

Otherwise these values are not available.

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Resizing rows and columns

You can adjust the height of rows and the width of columns in a table in several ways.

•Move the mouse next to the edge of the cell and when a double-headed arrow appears,

click and hold the left mouse button, drag the border to the desired position, and release

the mouse button.

•On the horizontal ruler, column dividers are marked by a pair of thin gray lines; the vertical

ruler indicates row dividers in the same way. You can resize a row or column by holding the

mouse button down on the appropriate divider and dragging it to the desired location.

•Use the keyboard as described below.

Selecting Table > Size from the Menu bar also offers some resizing options:

•Select Column Width or Row Height to enter a dimension into the size box for each

selectable column or row of the table.

•The Optimal Column Width or Optimal Row Height options make the selected columns or

rows as narrow as possible while still fitting their contents. This option is only available if the

table is selected and has content.

•Distribute Columns/Rows Evenly to quickly bring them back to all being the same width or

height. This option is only available if the table is selected.

For greater control over the width of each column, use the Columns page of the Table Properties

dialog.

Figure 279: Table Properties dialog: Columns page

Right-click the table and choose Table Properties from the context menu or choose Table >

Properties from the Menu bar. On the Table Properties dialog, select the Columns tab.

•Adapt table width: If a table already stretches to the page margins, it cannot stretch any

wider and the Adapt table width option can only be used to reduce the column width. If the

table is narrower, increasing the width of a column will increase the width of the whole

table. This option is not available if Automatic has been selected in the Alignment area of

the Table page.

If the table width already extends past the margins, with the Adapt table width option

checked, attempting to change a column width will automatically decrease that column’s

size so that the table will now shrink to the page margins while keeping the size of any

other column intact.

•Adjust columns proportionally results in all columns changing their widths by the same

percentage when one is changed. For example, if you reduce by half the size of a column,

the sizes of all the other columns will be halved. This option is not available if Automatic has

been selected in the Alignment area of the Table page.

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 283

•Remaining space shows how much further the table can expand before hitting the limit of

the margins. This value cannot be edited and will not be negative in the event that the table

width is already larger than the space between the left and right margins.

•Under Column width, each individual column can be adjusted. If you have more than six

columns, use the arrows at the right and left to view them all. With no options selected, the

column to the right of the one being adjusted will automatically adjust to keep the table

width constant. Adjusting the most right hand column causes the first column to adjust.

Tip

Rather than start from the Table Properties dialog, it is often more efficient to make

rough adjustments to a new table using the mouse, and then fine tune the layout using

the Columns page in conjunction with the Table page of the Table Properties dialog.

It is also possible to resize a table using only the keyboard. This is sometimes easier than using

the mouse.

1) Place the cursor in the cell where you want to make changes.

2) Press and hold the Alt key while using the arrow keys.

–The left and right arrow keys adjust the column width by moving the border on the right

edge of the cell, but not past the margin.

–The up and down arrows adjust the row height (when possible) by moving the border on

the lower edge of the cell.

3) Press and hold the Shift+Alt keys while using the left/right arrow keys.

–Adjusts the column width by moving the border on the left edge of the cell, but not past

the margin.

To adjust the resizing parameters and behavior for keyboard handling, choose Tools > Options >

LibreOffice Writer > Table.

Use the Row and Column values in the Move cells section to determine the amount of change

produced by a single keystroke while resizing. In the Behavior of rows/columns section you can

choose one of the following three strategies when resizing:

•Fixed: select this if you want the resizing to affect only the adjacent cell and not the entire

table. The width of the table does not change when resizing its cells.

•Fixed, proportional: when resizing a cell with this option selected, all the other cells are also

resized proportionally, but in the opposite direction so as to maintain the width of the table.

•Variable: this is the default option. Resizing a cell affects the table size. For example, when

you widen a cell, the width of the table increases.

Resizing individual cells

Place the cursor in the cell you wish to change.

1) Press and hold the Ctrl+Alt keys while using the left/right arrow keys.

Resizes the current cell on its right edge, but not past the margin.

2) Press and hold the Ctrl+Shift+Alt keys while using the left/right arrow keys.

Resizes the current cell on its left edge, but not past the margin.

See also “Merging and splitting cells” on page 286.

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Inserting rows and columns

To quickly insert one row or column, do one of the following:

•Click the Rows Above or Rows Below icons on the Table toolbar to insert one row above

or below the selected one. Click the Columns Left or Columns Right icon on the Table

toolbar to insert a column to the left or right of the selected one.

•Place the cursor in the row or column before or after which you want to add new rows or

columns and choose Table > Insert > Rows Above/Below or Table > Insert > Columns

Above/Below from the Menu bar.

•Place the cursor in the row or column before or after which you want to add new rows or

columns, right-click, and choose Table > Insert > Rows Above/Below or Table > Insert >

Columns Above/Below.

To insert any number of rows or columns:

1) Place the cursor in the row or column where you want to add new rows or columns and

right-click.

2) In the context menu, choose Insert > Rows to display a dialog where you can select the

number of rows or columns to add, and whether they appear before or after the one

selected.

3) Set Number to the number of rows or columns to insert, and Position to Before or After.

4) Click OK to close the dialog.

The Table > Insert > Rows and Table > Insert > Columns choices from the Menu bar provide the

same options.

Note

Regardless of how they are inserted, new rows or columns have the same formatting

as the row or column where the cursor was when the insert command was issued.

You can also quickly insert a row or a column using the keyboard:

1) Place the cursor in the row or column next to the row or column you want to insert.

2) Press Alt+Insert to activate keyboard handling.

3) Use the arrow keys as desired to add a row or column:

–Left to insert a new column to the left of the cell where the cursor is located.

–Right to insert a new column to the right of the cell where the cursor is.

–Down to insert a new row below the cell where the cursor is.

–Up to insert a new row above the cell where the cursor is.

Deleting rows and columns

To quickly delete one or more rows or columns, place the cursor in the row or column you want to

delete and do one of the following:

•Click the Rows or Columns icons on the Table toolbar

•Right-click and choose Delete > Rows or Delete > Columns.

•Press Alt+Delete on the keyboard and use the arrow keys to delete rows or columns as

described above for inserting.

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 285

Merging and splitting cells

A common use for merging cells is to make a heading row that takes up the wntire width of the

table, or a subheading row over more than one column.

To merge a cell or group of cells into one cell:

1) Select the cells to merge.

2) Right-click and choose Merge Cells in the context menu, or choose Table > Merge Cells

from the Menu bar. Any content of the cells appears in the merged cell.

To merge a single cell into an adjacent cell, you can also place the cursor in the cell (origin),

press Alt+Delete, release, then hold down Ctrl, and then press the left or the right arrow

key. Any contents in the origin cell are lost.

To split a cell into multiple cells:

1) Position the cursor inside the cell.

2) Right-click and choose Split Cells in the context menu, or choose Table > Split Cells from

the Menu bar.

3) Select how to split the cell. A cell can be split either horizontally (create more rows) or

vertically (create more columns), and you can specify the total number of cells to create.

To split a single cell, you can also place the cursor in an adjacent cell, press Alt+Insert,

release, then hold down Ctrl, and then press the left or the right arrow key to split the cell to

the left/right.

It is generally a good rule to merge and split cells after completing other layout formatting. This is

because some operations such as deleting a column or a row may produce a result difficult to

predict when applied to a table with merged or split cells.

Specifying table borders

On the Table Properties dialog, select the Borders tab. Here you can set borders for a whole table

or groups of cells within a table. In addition, you can set a shadow for the whole table.

Figure 280: Table Properties dialog: Borders page

286 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Borders have three components: where they go, what they look like, and how much space is left

around them.

•Line arrangement specifies where the borders go. If a group of cells is selected, the

border will be applied only to those cells. You can specify individually the style of the border

for the outside edges of the selected cells as well as for the cell divisions. Writer provides

five default arrangements, but you can click the line you want to customize in the User-

defined area to get exactly what you want. When multiple cells are selected, the User-

defined area allows you to select the edges of the selection as well as the cell dividers.

Note

When the selected cells have different styles of border the User-defined area shows

the border as a gray line. You can click the gray line to choose a new border style (first

click), leave the border as it is (second click) or delete the border (third click).

•Line specifies what the border looks like: the style, width, and color. There are a number of

different styles and colors to choose from. Style, Width, and Color selections apply to those

borders highlighted by a pair of black arrows in the User-defined map on the left-hand side

of the dialog.

•Spacing to contents specifies how much space to leave between the border and the cell

contents. Spacing can be specified for the left, right, above, and below. Choose

Synchronize to have the same spacing on all four sides. This spacing is not factored in

when calculating the text measurements.

•Shadow Style properties always apply to the whole table. A shadow has three

components: where it is (position), how far from the table it is cast (distance), and what

color it is.

•If Merge adjacent line styles is checked, two cells sharing a common border will have

their borders merged, rather than being side by side or above/below each other.

Tip

To reset everything if you are having problems with borders, right-click in the table and

choose Table Properties or choose Table > Properties from the Menu bar. On the

Borders tab, select the Set No Borders icon under Line arrangement Presets (the box

on the left).

Selecting background colors and graphics

A table background can greatly improve the readability of data, visually highlight important parts of

the table (such as the heading or a specific cell), or just make the table more appealing. You can

choose between two types of background: solid color or image. The background can be applied to

the whole table, to a single cell, or to a row.

Tip

You need to consider the color contrast between the background and foreground

(usually text). Background colors and images can also have transparency applied to

help make the text more readable.

The row background option is quite handy when you want to create alternate color

rows or assign a different background to the heading of the table.

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 287

Note

The background selected for a cell will be in front of the row background which in turn

will be in front of (and hide) the table background.

To set the background for a cell, row, or table:

1) Place the cursor anywhere inside the cell, row, or table you want to work with. If you want to

apply a background to a group of cells, select the group.

2) Right-click and choose Table Properties from the context menu, or choose Table >

Properties from the Menu bar.

3) In the Table Properties dialog, select the Background tab (see Figure 281).

4) In the For section, chose whether to apply the settings to cell, row, or table.

–Cell: changes apply only to the selected cells, or the cell where the cursor currently

resides. Even when selecting a group of cells, the background settings are applied to

each cell individually.

–Row: changes affect the entire row where the cursor resides.

–Table: changes will set the background for the entire table, regardless of the cursor

position or selected cells.

5) In the As selection box, choose whether the background is a color or an image.

To apply a color, select the color and click OK.

To apply an image:

a) Use the Browse button to select the image from your computer’s file system.

b) If you choose the Link option, changes to the image (for example, if you edit it in a

different software package) are reflected in your document. However, you also need to

keep the linked image file with the document file. If, for example, you email the

document without the image file, the image will no longer be visible.

c) Under Type, select the type of placement for the image.

Position: select in the position map where the image will be displayed.

Area: the image will be stretched to fill the whole area.

Tile: the image will be tiled (repeated horizontally and vertically) to fill the area.

d) Select the Preview option to display the image in the pane on the right.

e) To apply the image, click OK.

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Figure 281: Table Properties dialog: inserting a graphic background

Figure 282 shows an example of a table set with a background image, and the first row

background colored. As you can see, the row background covers the table background.

Figure 282: Example of table with different row and table backgrounds

Displaying or hiding table boundaries

A table boundary is a set of pale (usually gray) lines around the cells when viewed on-screen in

LibreOffice with no borders enabled. These boundaries are not printed; their only function is to help

you see where the table cells are. They are particularly useful when using tables for page layout.

To display tables the same way on the screen as on the printed page, with no boundary lines, go to

Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Application Colors. On that page, you can display or hide

boundaries around text, pages headers and footers, figures, and other parts of a document, and

you can choose the color of boundary lines.

Note

Turning boundaries off does not hide any borders that the table may have.

Creating and applying table styles

Using table styles, you can apply an elaborate format to your table with just a few clicks. Like other

styles, table styles enable you to produce consistent looking tables in a document.

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 289

Applying a table style

To apply a table style, go to the Table Styles page of the Styles and Formatting deck in the Sidebar.

Then place the cursor anywhere in the table and double-click the name of a style.

Creating a table style

Versions of LibreOffice prior to 5.3 did not include table styles, but they did have AutoFormats for

tables. Now, although the Styles and Formatting window includes a quick way to apply table styles,

they are still created by using the AutoFormat feature. Follow these steps:

1) Create a table. Format it as you wish: font, alignment, borders, background, number format.

2) Put the cursor anywhere in the table. Select Table > AutoFormat Styles on the Menu bar.

3) On the AutoFormat dialog (Figure 283), choose which features you wish to include in the

new table style, and then click Add.

4) In the pop-up dialog, type a name for the new style and click OK. The new style is added to

the list of formats in the AutoFormat dialog and to the list of table styles in the Styles and

Formatting window.

You can rename the selected table format as well as decide which parts of the predefined

formatting you want to apply to your table. You can selectively apply the number format, the font,

the alignment, the border, or the pattern.

Figure 283: Table AutoFormat dialog

Note

You cannot rename or delete the Default Style.

Table styles also include the following table-level properties:

•Break

•Keep with next paragraph

•Repeat heading

•Allow table to split across pages

•Allow rows to break across pages

•Merge adjacent line styles

•Table shadow

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Tip

These styles do not include table and column widths in the table format. To insert a

table with predefined full formatting, save it as AutoText. See “Using AutoText” in

Chapter 2, Working with Text: Basics, for instructions.

Formatting the table text

Once the table layout is satisfactory, you can move on to formatting the text in the individual cells.

You can apply manual formatting as with any other paragraph in the text, but it is highly

recommended, for the sake of consistency and ease of maintenance, that you use paragraph and

character styles.

In addition to paragraph and character styles, other aspects to consider when placing text in a

table cell include text flow, alignment, and orientation.

You can format each cell independently of other cells, or you can simultaneously format a group of

cells by selecting them before applying the desired formatting.

Tip

You can apply basic table text formatting by choosing a table style and then modify

only those cells that you wish to be different.

Specifying text flow

On the Text Flow page of the Table Properties dialog (Figure 284), you can:

•Insert a page or column break either before or after the table. Use the Text Flow: Break

option, combined with the Page or Column and the Before or After buttons. If you insert a

page break before the table (that is, start the table on a new page), you can also change

the page style that will go with it by selecting the With Page Style option and a new page

style. As with any page break, you can also reset the page numbers using the Page

number box.

•Keep a table on one page by deselecting the Allow table to split across pages and

columns option. If this item is deselected, the next item is not active.

•Keep each row on one page by deselecting the Allow row to break across pages and

columns option.

•Use the Keep with next paragraph option to keep the table and an immediately following

paragraph together if you insert a page break.

•Use the Repeat heading option, and its associated numbers box, to select the number of

table heading rows that will be repeated on each page. A complicated table may need two

or three heading rows to be easily read and understood.

•Use the Text orientation list to select the direction for the text in the cells. Select either

Horizontal, Vertical, or Use superordinate object settings (meaning use the default text

flow settings for the page).

•Select the vertical alignment of the text in the table or the selected cells; the choices are to

align with the top of the cell, the center of the cell, or the bottom of the cell. This alignment

is in addition to the Left-Right alignment options available on the Table page of the Table

Properties dialog.

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 291

Figure 284: Table Properties dialog: Text Flow page

Note

A table heading row cannot span two pages, but any other row can. A one-row table

(often used for page layout purposes), if set up with the default of including a heading,

will not break across pages. The cure is to make sure the table is defined without a

heading row.

Vertical alignment

By default, text entered into a table is aligned to the top-left of the cell. You can change the default

for the entire table, as described above, or for individually selected cells.

To vertically align the text in specific cells:

1) Place the cursor in the cell you wish to change, or click and drag to select multiple cells.

2) Right-click in the selected area and click an icon on the Table toolbar: Align Top, Center

Vertically, or Align Bottom.

Number formats

The number format can be set for a whole table or group of cells. For example, cells can be set to

display in a particular currency, to four decimal places, or in a particular date format.

Number recognition specifies that numbers in a text table are recognized and formatted as

numbers. If Number recognition is not selected, numbers are saved in text format and are

automatically left-aligned. To enable Number recognition, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice

Writer > Table and select the option in the Input in Tables section.

To set the number format for one or more cells, select the cells, then either click the icon for one of

the popular formats from the Table toolbar, or right-click and choose Number Format from the

context menu. On the Format Number dialog (Figure 285), set options for various categories of

numerical data.

•In the Category list, select the category you want, such as currency, date, or text.

•In the Format list, choose a format for the category you just selected.

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•For some categories, such as Date, you may wish to change the language using the

Language list, while for other numerical categories you can use the Options section of the

dialog to customize the appearance.

Figure 285: The Format Number dialog

Tip

Writer displays the formatting code for the category and format selected in Format

Code section at the bottom of the dialog. For example, if you select a date format such

as 31 Dec 1999 the corresponding code is D MMM YYYY. Advanced users can easily

customize this formatting code as well as create new user-defined codes.

Rotating text in a table cell

You can rotate text in a table cell by 90 or 270 degrees. Text rotation can be useful when you have

long headings for narrow columns.

•Select the text to be rotated and then choose Format > Character, or right-click and select

Character from the context menu.

•On the Position page, in the Rotation / Scaling section, choose the rotation angle and click

OK.

Figure 286 shows a sample table with rotated headings.

Figure 286: A table with rotated headings

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 293

Note

Text rotation within table cells can also be achieved with the use of paragraph styles,

discussed in detail in Chapter 9, Working with Styles.

Data entry and manipulation in tables

Moving between cells

Within a table, you can use the mouse, the cursor (arrow) keys, or the Tab key to move between

cells.

The cursor keys move the cursor one text character left or right at a time. If a cell is empty,

pressing the cursor key will move the cursor to the adjacent cell.

The Tab key moves directly to the next cell and, if the cursor is in the last cell in the table, creates a

new row. Pressing Shift+Tab moves the cursor back a cell.

Tip

To enter a Tab character as part of the text of the cell, press the Ctrl and Tab keys at

the same time.

To move to the beginning of the table, press Ctrl+Home. If the active cell is empty, the move is to

the beginning of the table. If the cell has content, the first press goes to the beginning of the cell

and the next press goes to the beginning of the table. (Pressing again takes you to the beginning

of the document.)

To move to the end of the table, press Ctrl+End. If the active cell is empty, the move is to the end

of the table. If the cell has content, the first press goes to the end of the cell and the next press

goes to the end of the table. (Pressing again takes you to the end of the document.)

Sorting data in a table

Just as in a spreadsheet, Writer allows data in a table to be sorted. Up to three levels of sorting

can be specified (for example, sort first by age numerically, then alphabetically by name within

each age).

To sort data in a table:

1) Select the table (or part of the table) to be sorted.

2) From the Menu bar, choose Table > Sort, or select the Sort icon from the Table toolbar.

3) In the Sort dialog (Figure 287):

a) Decide whether you want to sort in the direction of rows or columns. The default sorting

direction is by rows, which results in sorting the data in a column.

b) Select up to three keys to sort on, in the correct order.

c) For each key, select which column or row to sort on, whether the sort is Numeric or

Alphanumeric and whether it is Ascending or Descending.

d) Click OK to perform the sort.

Note

You have to select all cells that might be affected by the sorting. For example, if you

select only the cells of one column, the sort affects that column only, while the others

remain unchanged. In such a case, you risk mixing the data of the rows.

294 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 287: Selecting criteria for sorting

Using spreadsheet functions in a table

For many simple mathematical functions, Writer tables can be used as basic spreadsheets. Just as

in a spreadsheet, each table cell is identified by a letter (for the column) and a number (for the

row). For example, cell C4 is the cell in the third column from the left and fourth row from the top.

When the cursor is in a cell, the table name and this cell reference is displayed on the status bar.

Tip

Basic spreadsheet functions in tables are much the same as in LibreOffice Calc. The

main difference is that cell references are formatted differently. Cell A2 (first column,

second row) is referred to in Calc as A2 (or $A$2 for an absolute reference). In Writer

tables, it is referred to as <A2>.

For example, suppose you had two numbers in cells <B1> and <C2> and wanted to display the

sum of the two in cell <A1>, as shown in Figure 288.

Do the following:

1) Click in cell <A1> and press the = key, or choose Table > Formula from the Menu bar, or

press F2. The Formula bar appears automatically, near the top of the screen. In the

leftmost side of the bar, you can see the coordinates of the selected cell.

2) Click in cell <B1>. The identifiers of this cell are automatically displayed in the Formula bar

and inserted into cell <A1>.

3) Press the + key.

4) Click in cell <C2>. You can see the final formula = <B1>+<C2> displayed both in the

selected cell and in the Object bar.

5) Press the Enter key, or click the green tick (check mark) on the Formula Bar, to replace the

formula in the cell with the result of the calculation.

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 295

Figure 288: Using spreadsheet functions in a table

Tip

To display a cell's formula and make it available for editing, choose Table > Formula

from the Menu bar, or press F2.

To display the list of the mathematical functions available for use in a table, display the

Formula toolbar by pressing F2 or by selecting a blank cell and pressing the = key,

and then click the Formula f(x) icon.

In our example, this gives the result 9 in the top left cell. For summing contiguous cells, you can

simply select the cells in the row, column, or the rectangle of rows and columns. Thus, for example,

to add a column of numbers, do this:

1) Type an equals sign = in an empty cell.

2) Select the cells to be added together, in this case the cells from A2 to A5. The formula

should be something like =<A2:A5>.

3) Press the Enter key or click the green check mark on the Formula Bar.

4) The result appears in the cell you have selected.

When using a function, you can type the cell references manually or select them. Thus, to add up

the four numbers that we added above (A2, A3, A4, A5), do this:

1) Type an equals sign = in an empty cell.

2) Type sum or select it from the function list f(x).

3) Select the contiguous cells to be added together. The formula should be something like

=sum<A2:A5>.

4) Press the Enter key or click the green tick (check mark) on the Formula Bar.

5) The answer appears in the cell you have selected.

Caution

Unlike in Calc, formulas are not updated automatically when inserting or deleting rows

or columns of the table, although the results do update when you change a value in a

cell. If you plan to use complex formulas, consider embedding a Calc spreadsheet in

the Writer document. See Chapter 19, Spreadsheets, Charts, other Objects.

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Additional table operations

Protecting cells in a table

You can protect the contents of individual cells of a text table from changes.

Note

This protection is not intended for secure protection. It protects the cells against

accidental changes.

To turn on cell protection, place the cursor in a cell or select cells, then slick the Protect Cells icon

on the Table toolbar or choose Table > Protect Cells from the Menu bar.

To tun off cell protection, place the cursor in the cell or select the cells. First, if necessary, choose

Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Formatting Aids and mark Enable cursor in the

Protected Areas section. Then click the Unprotect Cells icon on the Table toolbar or choose Table

> Unprotect Cells from the Menu bar.

To remove protection for the entire current table or all selected tables, press Shift+Ctrl+T.

Adding a caption

You can easily add a caption to any table. Writer will keep track of all your captioned tables,

automatically number them, and update any links to them. The procedure is the same as for

adding captions to images, described in Chapter 11.

Cross-referencing to a table

You can insert a cross-reference to a captioned table. Clicking on the cross-reference takes the

reader directly to the table. For details, see “Using automatic cross-references” in Chapter 17,

Fields.

Creating a heading row in an existing table

To create a heading row in an existing table that does not have one:

1) Select the first row in the table and from the Menu bar select Table > Insert > Rows.

2) In the dialog that opens, ensure the Before option is selected and click OK.

3) Select the new first row and then from the Styles and Formatting window, double-click the

Table Heading paragraph style to apply it to the heading row.

As an alternative, you could apply a table style that does have a heading defined. (Here is where

having some personalized table styles could come in very handy.) Place the cursor anywhere in

the table, go to Table Styles in the Sidebar, and choose a style.

Merging and splitting tables

One table can be split into two tables, and two tables can be merged into a single table. Tables are

split horizontally: the rows above the split point are put into one table, and the rows below into

another.

To split a table:

1) Place the cursor in a cell that will be in the top row of the second table after the split (the

table splits immediately above the cursor).

2) Choose Table > Split Table from the Menu bar.

3) A Split Table dialog opens. You can select No heading or an alternative formatting for the

heading of the new table.

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 297

4) Click OK. The table is then split into two tables separated by a blank paragraph.

Note

If cells in one table include formulas using data from the other table, those cells will

contain an error message: **Expression is faulty**.

To merge two tables:

1) Delete the blank paragraph between the tables. You must use the Delete key (not the

Backspace key) to do this.

2) Select any cell in one of the tables.

3) Right-click and choose Merge Tables in the context menu. You can also use Table > Merge

Table from the Menu bar.

Tip

To see clearly where the paragraphs are and to delete them easily, choose View >

Formatting Marks (Ctrl+F10) or click the ¶ button in the Standard toolbar.

Deleting a table

To delete a table, do either of the following:

•Click anywhere in the table and choose Table > Delete > Table from the Menu bar.

•Select from the end of the paragraph before the table to the start of the paragraph after the

table, and then press the Delete key or the Backspace key.

Note

The second method also merges the paragraph after the table with the paragraph

before the table, which may not be what you want.

Copying a table

To copy a table from one part of the document and paste it into another part:

1) Click anywhere in the table.

2) From the Menu bar choose Table > Select > Table.

3) Press Ctrl+C or click the Copy icon on the Standard toolbar.

4) Move the cursor to the target position and click to fix the insertion point.

5) Press Ctrl+V or click the Paste icon in the Standard toolbar.

Moving a table

To move a table from one part of a document to another part:

1) Click anywhere in the table.

2) From the Menu bar, choose Table > Select > Table.

3) Press Ctrl+X or click the Cut icon in the Standard toolbar. (This step removes the contents

of the cells but leaves the empty cells, which must be removed in step 6.)

4) Move the cursor to the target position and click to fix the insertion point.

5) Press Ctrl+V or click the Paste icon in the Standard toolbar. (This pastes the cells and their

contents and formatting.)

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6) Return to the original table, click somewhere in it and then choose Table > Delete > Table

from the Menu bar.

Inserting a paragraph before or after a table

To insert a paragraph before a table, position the cursor before any text or other contents in the

first (upper left-hand) cell and press Enter or Alt+Enter. To insert a paragraph after a table, position

the cursor after any text in the last (lower right-hand) cell and press Alt+Enter.

Note

Captions are paragraphs separate from the table itself. If there is a caption below a

table, for example, just position the cursor at the end of the caption and press Enter.

Using tables as a page layout tool

Tables may be used as a page layout tool to position text in a document instead of using tabs or

spaces. For more information and tips about using tables in page layout, see Chapter 6,

Formatting Pages: Advanced.

Tip

When inserting a table used for layout, you may wish to deselect the Heading and

Border options (see “Inserting a new table” on page 278).

To remove the borders from an existing table, right-click the table, choose Table

Properties from the context menu, select the Borders tab, and select the icon for no

borders.

The Table menu and Table toolbar

All of the table commands described in this chapter are conveniently located on the Menu bar

under Table and on the Table toolbar. When you create a table or select an existing table, the Table

toolbar is displayed automatically. You can manually display it at any time by clicking View >

Toolbars > Table. The toolbar can float over the main Writer window, or it can be docked along

any edge of the main window. See Chapter 1, Introducing Writer, for more about docking and

floating toolbars, and how to hide and display specific tools on a toolbar.

Figure 289: The Table toolbar

Chapter 13 Tables of Data | 299

Figure 290: The Table menu

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Chapter 14

Mail Merge

Form Letters, Mailing Labels, and Envelopes

What is mail merge?

Writer’s mail merge provides features to create and print multiple copies of one item (such as

return address labels, promotional stickers, or t-shirt transfers) or to produce copies that include

variable information (for example names, addresses, and amounts due):

•Form letters (a document to send to a list of recipients).

•Mailing labels, labels for physical file folders, and similar purposes.

•Envelopes.

Variable data is typically derived from a data source, as discussed below. If all output is to be the

same (for example, return address labels), the merge can use manually entered text or images.

This chapter describes the mail merge process. The steps include:

1) Create and register a data source.

2) Create and print form letters, mailing labels, and envelopes.

3) Optionally, save the output in an editable file instead of printing it directly.

Creating and registering an address data source

An address data source is a database containing the name and address records from which

mailing labels and envelopes can be derived. LibreOffice can create the database from

spreadsheets, text files including Writer documents, and databases such as MySQL. If the

information to be used in the mail merge is currently in a format that LibreOffice cannot access

directly, you need to convert it, for example by exporting it to a comma-separated values (CSV) file.

For a data source to be directly accessible from within a Writer document, it must be registered.

You need to do this only once.

1) From within a Writer document, or from the LibreOffice Start Center, choose File > Wizards

> Address Data Source.

2) The choices on the first page of the wizard vary with your operating system. Select the

appropriate type of external address book. For a spreadsheet, it is Other external data

source. Click Next.

Figure 291: Select type of external address book

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3) On the next page of the Wizard, click the Settings button.

Figure 292: Starting the Settings part of the Wizard

4) On the Data Source Properties page, select the Database type. In our example, it is

Spreadsheet. Click Next.

Figure 293: Selecting the database type

5) On the next page (Figure 294), click Browse and navigate to the spreadsheet that contains

the address information. Select the spreadsheet and click Open to return to this dialog. To

test that the connection has been correctly established, click the Test Connection button in

the middle of the dialog (not shown in illustration).

Figure 294: Selecting the spreadsheet document

6) Click Finish.

7) At Step 4, click Next. Do not click the Field Assignment button.

Figure 295: For a spreadsheet, do not click the Field Assignment button

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 303

8) Name the new database (.odb) file in the Location field. Optionally change the name in the

Address book name field; this is the registered name, which LibreOffice displays in data

source listings. In our example, the name Points was used for both.

Figure 296: Name the .odb file and the address book

9) Click Finish. The data source is now registered.

Creating a form letter

You can create a form letter manually—the simplest and most comprehensive method, which is

described here—or you can use the Mail Merge wizard starting on page 313.

1) Create a new Writer document (File > New > Text Document) or open a pre-existing form

letter with File > Open.

2) Display the registered data sources: View > Data sources (or press F4).

3) Find the data source that you wish to use for the form letter, in this case Points. Expand the

Points and Tables folders, and select Sheet1. The address data file is displayed.

Figure 297: Selecting the data source

4) Now create or modify the form letter by typing in the text, punctuation, line breaks, and so

on that will be present in all of the letters.

To add the mail-merge fields where needed (such as names and addresses), click in the

field heading and drag it to the appropriate point in the letter.

Note that address lines should be in individual paragraphs, not separated by line breaks as

might seem preferable. The reason for this will be made clear in the next step.

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Figure 298: Dragging fields to the body of the form letter

5) Continue until you have composed the entire document. At this time you can suppress any

blank lines that may appear in the resulting letters (Step 6). Otherwise, go to Step 7.

Figure 299: The completed form letter

6) To suppress blank lines:

a) Click at the end of the first paragraph to be suppressed if empty, and then choose

Insert > Field > More Fields to display the Fields dialog.

b) Select the Functions tab and then click on Hidden Paragraph in the Type column.

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 305

Figure 300: Hidden paragraph insertion

c) Now click in the Condition box and enter the details of the condition that defines a

blank address field. It has the general form of:

![Database.Table.Database field]

where the ‘!’ (NOT) character indicates the negative case and the square brackets

indicate the condition.

For example, in our Points database the condition to test if the Last Name field is empty

would be:

![Points.Sheet1.Last Name] as illustrated in Figure 300.

To test for multiple conditions use the operators AND and/or OR between the

conditional statements, for example:

![Points.Sheet1.Title]AND![Points.Sheet1.Last Name]

d) Click Insert, but do not close the dialog until you have amended all the lines that should

be suppressed.

7) The document is now ready to be printed.

a) Choose File > Print and respond with Yes in the message box.

Figure 301: Mail merge confirmation message

b) In the Mail Merge dialog (Figure 302), you can choose to print all records or selected

records. To select records to be printed, use Ctrl+click to select individual records. To

select a block of records, select the first record in the block, scroll to the last record in

the block, and Shift+click on the last record.

c) Click OK to send the letters directly to the printer. Or, you can save the letters to a file

for further editing or formatting; see “Editing merged documents” below.

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d) If you have not saved the original, prototype form letter document (template) previously,

then you should do so now. Having a form letter template could greatly simplify the

creation of other form letters and is highly recommended.

Figure 302: The Mail Merge dialog

Editing merged documents

You may prefer to save the letters to a file, to allow for proofreading or formatting. To do this:

1) In the Mail Merge dialog (Figure 302), select File in the output section, instead of using the

default Printer selection.

2) This changes the dialog to display the Save merged document section, where Save as

single document is preselected. You can choose to save each letter as an individual

document instead.

3) Click OK. In the Save as dialog, enter a file name for the saved letters and choose a folder

in which to save them. The letters will be saved consecutively as separate pages in the

single document, or numbered consecutively in individual files if saved as individual

documents.

You can now open the letters and edit them individually as you would edit any other document.

Printing mailing labels

Labels are commonly used for printing address lists (where each label shows a different address),

but they can also be used for making multiple copies of one label only, for example return-address

stickers, or labels for CDs/DVDs or other items.

Before beginning this process, note the brand and type of labels you intend to use. You can also

define your own label size; see Step 4.

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 307

Tip

If you are printing the same information on each label, you may find the Business

Cards dialog useful. Access it through File > New > Business Cards. The Labels and

Business Cards dialogs are very similar.

Preparing for printing

To prepare mailing labels for printing:

1) Choose File > New > Labels. The Labels dialog opens.

2) On the Labels page (Figure 303), select the Database and Table.

3) Click the drop-down arrow under Database field. Select the first field to be used in the

label (in this example, Title). Click the left arrow button to move this field to the Label text

area, as shown in Figure 303.

Figure 303: Move fields from Database field list to Label text area

4) Continue adding fields and inserting desired punctuation, spaces, and line breaks until the

label is composed. Figure 304 shows the completed label.

Figure 304: The completed label

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5) Select the label stock in the Brand drop-down list. The types for that brand then appear in

the Type drop-down list. Select the size and type of labels required. Go to Step 7.

If your label sheets are not listed, go to Step 6.

6) You can define the labels you have:

a) Select [User] in the Type box on the Labels page. Then, click the Format page of the

Labels dialog (Figure 305). Measure on your labels those dimensions illustrated in

Figure 306, and enter them into the respective boxes on the left side.

Horizontal pitch is the distance between the left edges of adjacent labels.

Vertical pitch is the distance between the upper edge of a label and the upper edge of

the label directly below.

Figure 305: Specify settings, if necessary

Figure 306: Required information for label set-up

b) You can now save the label template if you are likely to use it again. Click Save.

c) In the Save Label Format dialog that pops up, enter names for your label Brand and

Type. Click OK.

7) On the Options page, select Synchronize contents.

8) Click New Document. You now have a new, single-page document containing a series of

frames, one for each label of the selected type and filled with the data source address fields

that you selected. Quite often some of the fields in your address data source will be

unused, leading to blank lines in your labels. If this is not important, go to “Printing” on page

311; otherwise, continue with “Removing blank lines from labels” below.

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 309

Removing blank lines from labels

1) First ensure that the label frames are showing the field contents (data source headings),

rather than their underlying field names. If this is not the case, then either press Ctrl+F9 or

choose View > Field Names to toggle the view.

2) Next, ensure that you can see non-printing characters, such as paragraph marks and line

breaks. If these are not already visible, choose View > Formatting Marks from the Menu

bar, or press Ctrl+F10, or click on the Formatting Marks icon on the Standard toolbar.

You will now see that address field separation is created by line breaks ( ), rather than

paragraphs ( ). The suppression of blank address fields depends on hiding paragraphs,

not lines, so you need to replace line breaks with paragraphs.

3) Click in the first label, at the end of the last data source address field in the first line of the

label. Press Delete to remove the new line character and then press Return (or the Enter

key) to insert a paragraph marker. Repeat this action for each line in the address.

If the line spacing in the first label is not satisfactory, you may wish to correct this before

proceeding, by modifying the paragraph style associated with the address. Unless you have

changed it, the address uses the Default style.

Caution

The objective of Step 3 is to replace all line breaks at the end of data source address

fields with paragraphs. Sometimes the address data field may be longer than the width

of the label and will wrap to the next physical line: make sure that you are not misled

by this into deleting and replacing anything other than line break characters.

4) Click again at the end of the first paragraph to be conditionally suppressed and then choose

Insert > Fields > More Fields. Select the Functions tab and then click on Hidden

Paragraph in the Type column. Now click in the Condition box and enter the details of the

condition that defines a blank address field. It has the general form of:

![Database.Table.Database field]

where the ‘!’ (NOT) character indicates the negative case and the square brackets indicate

the condition.

For example, in our Points database the condition to test if the Last Name field is empty

would be

![Points.Sheet1.Last Name] as illustrated in Figure 300.

To test for multiple conditions, use the operators AND and/or OR between the conditional

statements, for example:

![Points.Sheet1.Title]AND![Points.Sheet1.Last Name]

Click Insert, but do not close the dialog until all lines have been amended.

5) Repeat for each paragraph to be conditionally suppressed, remembering to place the

cursor at the end of the line before changing the last element of the condition and Inserting

the result.

Caution

The last paragraph of the label address block ends with a special field,

Next record:Database.Table (Next record:Points.Sheet1 in our

example); the Hidden paragraph field must be inserted before this field. This can

generally be accomplished by clicking at the end of the paragraph and then using the

Left Arrow key once to skip back over it. If you omitted this action, you will find that

some records have been skipped and are missing from the final output.

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6) Remembering that we selected Synchronize contents

earlier, you should now see a small window containing

a Synchronize Labels button. Click this button and the

hidden paragraph fields are propagated to all the labels

in your document. (If you do not select Synchronize, then labels can be edited individually.

You now have a template suitable for future use with the same data source and type of

label. If you wish to save it, use File > Templates > Save as Template to save it as an

Open Document Text Template (.ott).

Printing

1) Choose File > Print. The message shown in Figure 301 appears. Click Yes to print.

2) In the Mail Merge dialog (Figure 302), you can choose to print all records or selected

records. To select records to be printed, use Ctrl+click to select individual records. To select

a block of records, select the first record in the block, scroll to the last record in the block,

and Shift+click on the last record.

3) Click OK to send the labels directly to the printer.

Note

If you prefer to save the labels to a file, perhaps to allow later editing such as changing

the typeface or paragraph format, then select File in the output section of the Mail

Merge dialog, not the default Printer selection. This changes the dialog to highlight the

Save merged document section, where Save as single document is preselected.

In this case, clicking OK brings up the Save as dialog, where you can enter a file name

for the saved labels.

If you did not save the prototype label fields document (template) earlier, then you are

prompted to do so now by another Save as dialog.

In either case, whether printing or saving to file, despite there apparently being only

one page of labels, the printed or saved output will be expanded to include all of the

selected records from the data source.

Editing a saved file of mailing labels

To edit a saved file of mailing labels, open the saved label file in the same way as any other Writer

document. You will be prompted to update all links. Choose No: If Synchronize was selected, all

labels will end up containing the same data, which may not be what you want.

You can edit individual records in the normal way, by highlighting and changing the font name, for

example. However, you cannot edit all labels globally (for example, to change the font name for all

records) by the technique of selecting the entire document.

Instead, edit the paragraph style associated with the label records:

1) Right-click in a label record. Select Edit Paragraph Style from the context menu.

2) Then from the Paragraph Style dialog, you can make changes to the font name, the font

size, the indents, and other attributes.

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 311

Printing envelopes

Instead of printing mailing labels, you may wish to print directly onto envelopes. By selecting Insert

> Envelope from the Menu bar, you can select one of two methods for their production: either the

envelope is embedded within a letter, generally as the first page (Insert in the Envelope dialog), or

the envelope is an independent document (New Document in the dialog). In each case the

addressing data may be manually entered, for example by copying and pasting from the letter with

which it is associated, or it may originate within an address data source.

The production of envelopes involves two steps, setup and printing. For general instructions on

setting up envelopes for printing, see “Printing envelopes” in Chapter 7, Printing, Exporting, E-

mailing. This section describes the use of an address data source.

Setting up envelopes for printing

1) Choose Insert > Envelope from the Menu bar.

2) On the Envelope page of the Envelope dialog (Figure 307), choose whether to add Sender

information to the envelope and edit the information in the Sender box (Sender is the “from”

on the envelope).

3) Create the Addressee fields by dragging and dropping from the data source headings (as

described in “Creating a form letter” on page 304, and in particular in Figure 298) or by

using the facilities of the Envelope tab.

4) If you prefer dragging and dropping, then click New Document, drag your data source

headings into the Addressee area on your new envelope and skip to step 10), otherwise

continue with the next step.

5) Verify, add, or edit the information in the Addressee box. You can use the right-hand drop-

down lists to select the database and table from which you can access the Addressee

information, in a similar fashion to that described for “Printing mailing labels” on page 307.

Figure 307: Choosing addressee and sender information for envelopes

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 6) When you have finished formatting, click either the New Document or Insert button to 
finish. New Document creates only the envelope template in a new document, whereas 
Insert inserts the envelope into your current document as page 1.
 7) Quite often some of the fields in your address data source will be unused, leading to blank 
lines in the envelope Addressee area. If this is not important, go straight to “Merging and 
printing the envelopes” on page 313, otherwise continue as described in “Removing blank 
lines from labels” on page 310.
Merging and printing the envelopes
To merge addresses and print the envelopes:
 1) Choose File > Print. A message box appears. Click Yes.
 2) The Mail Merge dialog (Figure 302) appears. As with form letters and mailing labels, you 
can choose to print envelopes for one, several or all address records in the database.
 3) Make your selections and then click OK to print direct to the printer. To check the envelopes
before printing them, see “Editing merged documents” on page 307 for instructions.
Creating an envelope template
When your envelope layout and fields are complete to your satisfaction, you can save the result as 
a template.
 1) Choose File > Templates > Save As Template.
 2) In the Templates dialog, click Save.
 3) Type a name and click OK to save the template.
Using the Mail Merge Wizard to create a form letter
The manual method of creating a form letter described in “Creating a form letter” on page 304 
provides the most control over the result and is therefore recommended. If you prefer to use the 
Mail Merge wizard, the technique is described below.
Open a new document with File > New > Text Document and start the Mail Merge wizard using 
Tools > Mail Merge Wizard. The wizard opens, as shown in Figure 308.
Step 1: Select starting document
The wizard gives several options for the starting document:
•Use the current document.
•Create a new document.
•Start with an existing document.
•Start from a template.
For the purposes of this example, we assume that you opened a new text document.
Select Use the current document and click Next.
Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 313

Figure 308: Select starting document

Step 2: Select document type

The wizard can produce letters or email messages. In this example, we are producing a letter.

Select Letter and click Next.

Figure 309: Choose document type

Step 3: Insert address block

This is the most complex step in the wizard. In this step (Figure 310) you will do three things:

1) Tell the wizard which data source to use. The data source must be an existing file; in this

example it is the “Points” spreadsheet created earlier.

2) Select the address block to use in the document. This means choosing which fields appear

(for example, whether the country is included) and how they look.

3) Make sure that the fields all match correctly. This is very important. For example, the UK

English version of the wizard has a field called <Surname>. If your spreadsheet has a

column called “Last Name”, you need to tell the wizard that <Surname> and “Last Name”

are equivalent. This is described in “Matching the fields” on page 317.

Selecting the data source (address list)

1) If the current address list, identified beneath the Select Different Address List button in

section 1, is not the one you wish to use, click the button to open the Select Address List

dialog (Figure 311) for choosing a data source.

If you have not already created the address list, you may click Create to do so now. This

step will allow you to create a .csv (Comma Separated Values) file with a new list of

address records. If you have an address list that is not registered in LibreOffice, but which

you wish to use, click Add and select the file from the location in which it is saved.

In each of these cases a new data source (.odb file) will be created and registered.

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Figure 310: Insert address block

2) Select the address list and click OK to return to step 3 of the wizard. We retain “Points” as

our address book for this example. The wizard can also exclude certain records; click Filter

to choose them.

Figure 311: Select address list dialog

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 315

Selecting the address block

1) In section 2 (shown in Figure 310), select the address block to appear on the letter, define

its appearance, and choose the fields it contains. The main page gives two choices. Click

More to open the Select Address Block dialog for more choices.

2) The Select Address Block dialog (Figure 312) displays the original two blocks plus other

choices for the format of the address block (you may need to scroll down to see all of the

choices). You can also optionally include or exclude the country (for example, only include

the country if it is not England) in the Address block settings. The formats provided are

relatively common, but they might not exactly match your preference. If this is the case,

select the address block that is closest to what you want and click Edit, which opens the

Edit Address Block dialog.

Figure 312: Select address block

3) In the Edit Address Block dialog, you can add or delete address elements using the arrow

buttons on the left. To move elements around, use the arrow buttons on the right. For

example, to add an extra space between forename and surname in Figure 313, click

<Surname> and then click the right arrow button.

Figure 313: Edit address block

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Matching the fields

Finally, it is time to match the wizard’s fields with the spreadsheet fields, so that items like

<Surname> and “Last Name” match correctly.

1) Look at section 3 of the wizard (shown in Figure 310 on page 315). The box at the bottom

displays one record at a time, using the address block format you specified. Use the right

and left arrow buttons below that address box to step through the addresses, checking that

they display correctly. Do not assume that all the records display correctly, just because one

or two do.

2) If the addresses do not display correctly, click Match Fields.

The Match Fields dialog (Figure 314) has three columns:

–Address Elements are the terms the wizard uses for each field, such as <Forename>

and <Surname>.

–Use the Matches to Field column to select, for each address element, the field from

your data source that matches it.

–The Preview column shows what will be shown for this field from the selected address

block, so you can double-check that the match is correct.

3) When you have matched all the fields, click OK to return to step 3 of the wizard. Now, when

you use the arrow buttons to look at all the addresses, they should all look correct. If not, go

back and change anything you’re not happy with, before clicking Next to move to step 4.

Note that you will not be able to continue until you have correctly matched all the fields in

your chosen address block. If you see <not yet matched> in a field position it indicates that

the field in question is not correctly matched.

Figure 314: Match fields dialog

4) Notice the option for Suppress lines with empty fields in section 2 of Figure 310. Using

the Wizard, you do not have to create your own conditional suppression fields.

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 317

Step 4: Create salutation

It is possible to create just about any salutation you want in this step.

Select This document should contain a salutation to enable the General salutation list box.

Some general texts are available in the list box, or you can enter your own text. A preview pane

displays your choice.

Select Insert personalized salutation to enable further salutation constructs.

You can, for example, use a different greeting for men and women. To do this, Writer must have

some way of knowing whether a person is male or female. In a spreadsheet, you might have a

column called Gender. In the section Address list field indicating a female recipient, set the Field

name to Gender and the Field value to F. The Male salutation is then printed for all men and the

Female salutation for all women. Unfortunately, LibreOffice does not provide for other genders;

however, you can use a non-gendered salutation.

If you do not have such a column in your spreadsheet, or if you do not need to distinguish between

genders in the salutation, then you can leave the Field name and Field value boxes empty and use

the customized content of the Male list box for the salutation to all recipients.

Figure 315: Create a salutation

As an example:

1) Click the New button alongside the Male list box. The Custom Salutation (Male Recipients)

dialog opens (see Figure 316).

2) Select Salutation in the Salutation elements listings.

3) Click the arrow button to add it to box 1.

4) Open the list box choices for box 2, select an appropriate greeting or type your own text

into the list box. Edit it as needed.

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5) Select and move across First Name from the Salutation elements listings into box 1.

6) Type a space and then move Last Name across.

7) Finally, move Punctuation Mark across and select the comma from the choices in box 2.

8) The construct is shown in the Preview box.

9) Carry out any final editing. Click OK.

Figure 316: Customizing the salutation

This method allows you to use gender neutral titles such as Doctor (Dr) and Reverend (Rev), or

titles such as Ms, or omit titles.

Step 5: Adjust layout

In step 5, you can adjust the position of the address block and salutation on the page. You can

place the address block anywhere on the page. The salutation is always on the left, but you can

move it up and down the page. Use the buttons shown in Figure 317 to move the elements.

Figure 317: Adjust layout

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 319

Step 6: Edit document and insert extra fields

In step 6 you have another opportunity to exclude particular recipients from the mail merge, as

shown in Figure 318.

Figure 318: Edit document

You can also edit the body of the document. If you started with a blank document, you can write

the whole letter in this step. Click Edit Document to shrink the wizard to a small window (Figure

319) so you can easily edit the letter.

Figure 319: Minimized mail merge wizard

You need to perform another important task in this step. The wizard only inserts information from

the name and address fields, but you may wish to add additional data. In our example, we want to

tell each person how many points they had accumulated during the year; that information is in the

database. To do this:

1) Click Edit Document in step 6 of the wizard.

2) Choose Insert > Fields > Other Fields. The Fields dialog opens.

3) Click the Database tab.

4) On the left hand side, select Mail merge fields.

5) Under Database selection find your data source (in this example, it is Points). Expand it to

see the fields.

6) Click the field you want to insert (Points), then click Insert to insert the field.

7) You can insert any number of fields any number of times into your mail merge document.

8) Click Close when you are done.

Note

The Database selection lists the data source you selected in Step 3. All the information

you need for the letter must be contained in that data source.

320 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 320: Insert mail merge fields dialog

Step 7: Personalize documents

This step creates all your letters, one per recipient.

Clicking the Edit individual Document button here is similar to step 6. The difference is that you

now edit a long file containing all of the letters, so you can make changes to a particular letter to

one person. In this step of the Mail Merge wizard, click Find to open a dialog that allows searches

within the document, perhaps for an individual addressee.

Figure 321: Personalize document

As with Step 6, when editing the document, the wizard shrinks to a small window (Figure 319).

Click on this window to expand the wizard to its full size.

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 321

Step 8: Save, print or send

You have now completed the mail merge process. In step 8, you can save the original sample

letter, save the merged document, print the letters right away or, if you created email messages,

send them.

You probably want to save the starting (prototype) document and the merged document. To do this,

select Save starting document to reveal the Save starting document section containing the

Save starting document button. This button will be active only if the document has not already

been saved. Clicking on this button brings up the standard Save as dialog. Once you have named

and saved the document you return to the Step 8 dialog as shown in Figure 323.

Figure 322: Step 8: Save, print or send

The merged document can now be saved by selecting Save merged document. This will reveal the

Save merged document settings section, from which you can select to save either as one large file

containing all the individual, generated letters or as a separate file for each letter.

Figure 323: Saving a merged document

When you have saved the merged document, you can print the final letters now or later; and you

can still manually check and edit the letters if necessary. If you elect to print at this stage, the

dialog shown in Figure 324 appears; it should be self-explanatory.

322 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 324: Printing the merged document

Chapter 14 Mail Merge | 323

Chapter 15

Tables of Contents, Indexes,

Bibliographies

Introduction

This chapter describes how to create and maintain a table of contents, an index, and a

bibliography for a text document using LibreOffice Writer. Other types of index are mentioned

briefly. To understand the instructions, you need a basic familiarity with Writer and styles (see

Chapters 8 and 9). Some common usage examples are given.

Tables of contents

Writer’s table of contents (TOC) feature lets you build an automated TOC from the headings in a

document. Whenever changes are made to the text of a heading in the body of the document or

the page on which the heading appears, those changes automatically appear in the table of

contents when it is next updated.

Before you start, make sure that the headings are styled consistently. For example, you can use

the Heading 1 style for chapter titles and the Heading 2 and Heading 3 styles for chapter

subheadings.

This section shows you how to:

•Create a table of contents quickly, using the defaults.

•Customize a table of contents.

Note

You can use any style you want for the different levels to appear in the table of

contents; for simplicity, most of this chapter uses the default Heading [x] styles.

You can specify other text in addition to headings to appear in the TOC, as described

later in this chapter.

Creating a table of contents quickly

Most of the time you will probably find the default table of contents (TOC) to be what you need,

although the formatting may be inelegant. To insert a default TOC:

1) When you create a document, use the following paragraph styles for different heading

levels (such as chapter and section headings): Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3.

These are what will appear in your TOC. Writer can evaluate up to ten levels of headings.

2) Click in the document where you want the TOC to appear.

3) Choose Insert > Table of Contents and Index > Table of Contents, Index or

Bibliography.

4) Click OK. The result will be a typical table of contents with the entries generated as

hyperlinks.

Tips

•If some of your headings do not show up in the table of contents, check that the headings

have been tagged with the correct paragraph style. If a whole level of headings does not

show up, check the settings in Tools > Chapter Numbering. See “Defining a hierarchy of

headings” in Chapter 8, Introduction to Styles, for more information.

•The TOC appears with a gray background. This background is there to remind you that the

TOC is a field; the text you see is generated automatically. The background is not printed

and does not appear if the document is converted to a PDF. To turn off this gray

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 325

background, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Application Colors, then scroll down

to the Text Document section and deselect the option for Index and table shadings.

This change may leave a gray background showing behind the dots between the headings

and the page numbers, because the dots are part of a tab. To turn that shading off, go to

Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Formatting Aids and deselect the option for

Tabs.

•If you cannot place the cursor in the TOC, choose Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer >

Formatting Aids, and then select Enable cursor in the Protected Areas section.

•If you add or delete text (so that headings move to different pages) or you add, delete, or

change headings, you need to update the table of contents. To do this: Right-click

anywhere in the TOC and select Update Index from the context menu.

Caution

If you have Edit > Track Changes > Show enabled when editing a document and you

update the TOC, then errors may occur, as the TOC will still include any deleted

headings and you may find that deleted text causes page numbering in the TOC to be

wrong. To avoid this problem, be sure this option is deselected before updating a TOC.

Customizing a table of contents

Almost every aspect of the table of contents can be customized to suit the style and requirements

of your document. However, with this flexibility also comes some complexity, so it is good to have

in mind the desired end result.

Start by clicking in the document where you want the table of contents to appear and choose

Insert > Table of Contents and Index > Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography to open the

Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog shown in Figure 325.

Figure 325: Type page of Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog

326 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

You can also access this dialog at any time by right-clicking anywhere in an existing table of

contents and choosing Edit Index from the context menu.

The Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog has five pages. Each of them covers a different

aspect of the TOC structure and appearance:

•Use the Type page to set the attributes of the TOC.

•Use the Entries and Styles pages to format the entries in the TOC.

•Use the Columns page to put the TOC into more than one column.

•Use the Background page to add color or an image to the background of the TOC.

You can display a preview box, located on the left-hand side of each page, to show as you work

how the TOC will look: select the Preview option in the lower left-hand corner of the dialog. The

illustrations in this chapter show the dialog as it appears with the preview box hidden.

Note

The preview box shows the appearance from settings made on the Type, Entries, and

Styles pages. It does not show changes made on the Columns and Background pages.

After making all your changes, click OK to apply them. To revert to the default settings for the

Columns and Background pages, select each page in turn and click the Reset button. The settings

on the Entries and Styles pages must be reset manually; the Reset button has no effect.

Type page

Use the Type page, pictured in Figure 325, to set the attributes of the TOC.

Changing the title

To give the table of contents a different title, type it in the Title field. To delete the title, clear

the Title field.

Setting the type

Be sure the Type is set to Table of Contents. See “Alphabetic indexes” on page 334 and

“Other types of indexes” on page 341 for more about creating other types of indexes.

Caution

You can change the type of index only when you first create it. Once you define an

index type (for example, make a table of contents) you cannot change the type.

Protecting against manual changes

By default, to prevent the TOC from being changed accidentally, the Protected against

manual changes option is selected; the TOC can only be changed by using the right-click

menu or the dialog. If the option is not selected, the TOC can be changed directly on the

document page, just like other text. However, any manual changes will be lost when you

update the TOC, so they should be avoided.

Choosing the scope of the table of contents

In the For drop-down list in the Create from area, you can select whether the TOC will cover

all the headings of the document (Entire document) or just the headings of the chapter where

it is inserted. Writer identifies a “chapter” as all the headings between two first level outline

headings (normally Heading 1).

Changing the number of levels included

Writer uses 10 levels of headings when it builds the table of contents (or the number of levels

used in the document, whichever is smaller). To change the number of levels included, enter

the required number in the Evaluate up to level box. For example, the TOC in this book

includes only the first four heading levels.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 327

Creating a table of contents from an outline

The third section of the Type page determines what Writer should use to create the TOC. The

choices (not mutually exclusive) are:

–Outline

–Additional styles

–Index marks

By default Writer uses the outline levels; that is, paragraphs formatted with the paragraph

styles associated with outline levels in Tools > Chapter Numbering.

You can change the paragraph styles included in the outline as described in “Using

paragraph styles to define a hierarchy of headings” in Chapter 8, Introduction to Styles, and

you can include other paragraph styles in the TOC by assigning an outline level to those

styles. To do this, modify the paragraph style definition: go to the Outline & Numbering page

for the style, and select the required outline level. Click OK to save the change.

Figure 326: Specifying an outline level on Outline & Numbering page for a paragraph style

Creating from additional styles

By selecting the Additional Styles option on the Type page, you can add more paragraph

styles to the TOC. This can be useful when you want to include in the TOC the heading of an

annex (appendix). If the Outline option is also selected, the additional styles will be included

in the table of contents together with the ones defined in the outline numbering.

Creating from index marks

This selection adds any index entries that you have inserted into the document by using

Insert > Indexes and Tables > Entry. Normally you would not use this selection for a table

of contents. However, if you do wish to use it, be sure to select Table of Contents from the

drop-down list in the Insert Index Entry dialog (see Figure 332) when you are entering the

index entries for use in a TOC, so that Writer can distinguish between them and any index

entries intended for inclusion in an alphabetic index.

Entries page

Use the Entries page (see Figure 327) to define and format the entries in the TOC. Each outline

level can be styled independently from the other levels by adding and deleting elements.

Figure 327: Entries page of Insert Index/Table dialog

328 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Click a number in the Level column to select the outline level whose elements you want to format.

The Structure line contains the elements included in the entries for that level. Elements that can be

added to the structure line are displayed just below the structure line, and are grayed out if they

cannot be included:

•The E# icon represents the “chapter number”, which means the heading number value

assigned in Tools > Chapter Numbering to a heading style, not just for chapters but also

for other levels of headings. See “Setting up heading numbering” in Chapter 8, Introduction

to Styles.

•The E icon represents the chapter (or sub-chapter) text: That is the text formatted with the

paragraph style used for each level. In Figure 327, Heading 1 is used for Level 1, Heading

2 for Level 2.

•The T icon represents a tab stop.

•The # icon represents the page number.

•The LS icon represents the start of a hyperlink.

•The LE icon represents the end of a hyperlink.

•Each white field on the Structure line represents a blank space where you can add custom

text or another element.

Caution

In the Chapter Numbering dialog (covered in Chapter 8), if you have included any text

in the Separator Before or After boxes for any given level, then that text will be part

of the E# field for that level. Take care when building the structure line not to create

any unwanted effects in the appearance of the TOC.

Adding elements

To add an element to the Structure line:

1) Click in the white field where you want to insert the element.

2) Click one of the active buttons just below the Structure line. For example, to add a tab, click

the Tab Stop button. An icon representing the new element appears on the Structure line.

3) To add custom text, such as the word Chapter, type the text in the white field. Don't forget a

trailing space.

Changing elements

To change an element in the Structure line, click the icon representing that element and then click

a non-grayed out element in the row of buttons just below the Structure line. For example, to

change a chapter number to a tab stop, click the E# icon on the Structure line (it shows then as

being pressed) and then click the Tab stop button in the row of available elements. To cancel

before swapping an element, click in one of the white spaces.

Applying changes to all outline levels

To apply the displayed structure and formatting to all outline levels, click the All button on the right.

Deleting elements

To delete an element from the Structure line, click the button representing that element and then

press the Delete key on your keyboard. For example, to delete the default hyperlink setting, click

the LS icon and then press the Delete key. Repeat this for the LE icon.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 329

Applying character styles

You might want an element to be a bit different from the rest of the line. For example, you might

want the page number to be bold. To apply a character style to an element:

1) Be sure you have previously defined a suitable character style.

2) On the Structure line, click the button representing the element to which you want to apply

a style.

3) From the Character Style drop-down list, select the desired style.

To view or edit the attributes of a character style, select the style from the Character Style drop-

down list and then click the Edit button.

Tip

The default character style for hyperlinks is Internet Link (such as those inserted by

Insert > Hyperlink), which by default is underlined and shown in blue.

The default hyperlinks of TOC entries are set to the Index Link character style, which

may be different in appearance from the Internet Link style. If you want them to appear

the same as internet links, you can select the LS icon on the Structure line and change

the character style selection for TOC entries to Internet Link.

You can also change the attributes for Index Link to what you want.

Tab parameters

Click the Tab stop icon on the structure line to bring up these controls:

•Fill character: select the tab character you wish to use; the first choice is none (blank).

•Tab stop position: specify the distance to leave between the left page margin and the tab

stop. Optionally, select Align right for the tab stop; this selection inactivates the distance.

Tab position relative to paragraph style indent

When this option is selected, entries are indented according to the settings of their individual

formats. Where a paragraph style specifies an indent on the left, tab stops are relative to this

indent. If this option is not selected, tab stops are relative to the left margin position.

Styles page

Use the Styles page (Figure 328) to change which paragraph style is assigned to display the text of

each level in the table of contents. In most cases, the best strategy is to keep the assigned styles

but change their settings as needed to make the TOC appear the way you want.

To apply a custom paragraph style to an outline level:

1) In the Levels list, select the outline level.

2) In the Paragraph Styles list, click the desired paragraph style.

3) Click the < button to apply the selected paragraph style to the selected outline level.

The style assigned to each level appears in square brackets in the Levels list.

To remove paragraph styling from an outline level, select the outline level in the Levels list, and

then click the Default button.

To view or edit the attributes of a paragraph style, click the style in the Paragraph Styles list, and

then click the Edit button.

330 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 328: Styles page of the Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog

Note

Changes to a paragraph style will affect any text in the document that is formatted

using this style, not just the format of the table of contents.

Columns page

Use the Columns page to change the number of columns for the TOC. Multiple columns are more

likely to be used in an index than in a TOC, so this page is described in the section on indexes.

See Figure 336.

Background page

Use the Background page (Figure 329) to add color or an image to the background of the TOC.

Figure 329: Background page, showing Color choices

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 331

Adding color

To add color to the background of the table of contents, select from the color grid.

Adding an image

To add an image to the background of the table of contents:

1) From the As drop-down list, select Image. The Background page now displays the image

options, as shown in Figure 330.

2) Click the Browse button. The Find images dialog opens.

3) Find the image file you want and then click the Open button. The selected image appears

in the preview box. (If you do not see the image, select the Preview option.)

4) To embed the image in your document, clear the Link option. To link the image to the

document but not embed it, select the Link option.

5) In the Type area, choose how you want the background image to appear:

–To position the image in a specific location, select Position and then click the desired

location in the position grid.

–To stretch the image to fill the entire background area, select Area.

–To repeat the image across the entire background area, select Tile.

Figure 330: Image options on the Background page

Deleting a color or an image

To delete color or an image from the table background:

1) From the As drop-down list, select Color.

2) Click No Fill on the color grid.

Editing a table of contents

To edit an existing TOC:

1) Right-click anywhere in the TOC.

332 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

2) From the context menu, choose Edit Index. The Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography

dialog (Figure 325 on page 326) opens. You can edit and save the TOC as described in the

previous section.

Tip

If you cannot click in the TOC, it is probably protected. To disable this protection,

choose Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Formatting Aids, and then select

Enable Cursor in the Protected areas section. If you wish to edit the TOC without

enabling the cursor, you can access it from the Navigator as described below.

To access the Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog from the Navigator:

1) Open the Navigator (press F5).

2) Click the expansion symbol (+ sign or triangle) next to Indexes.

3) Right-click Table of Contents1 and choose Index > Edit.

Figure 331: Access a TOC from the Navigator

Updating a table of contents

Writer does not update the TOC automatically, so after any changes to the headings, you need to

update it manually. Right-click anywhere in the TOC; from the context menu, choose Update

Index.

You can also update the index from the Navigator by expanding Indexes, right-clicking on Table of

Contents1, and choosing Index > Update.

Deleting a table of contents

To delete the TOC from a document, right-click anywhere in the TOC and choose Delete Index

from the context menu. You can also delete the index from the Navigator by choosing Index >

Delete from the menu shown in Figure 331. Writer will not prompt you to confirm the deletion.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 333

Alphabetic indexes

An alphabetical index (referred to as an index) is a list of keywords or phrases used throughout a

document that, if listed in order with page numbers, may help the reader find information quickly.

Generally an index is found in the back of a book or document.

This section describes how to:

•Add index entries manually.

•Use a concordance file.

•Create an alphabetic index quickly.

•Customize the display of index entries.

•Customize the appearance of the index.

•View and edit existing index entries.

Adding index entries

Before you can create an index, you must create some index entries, either manually or by using a

concordance (see page 336). To create index entries manually:

1) To add a word to the index, place the cursor anywhere in that word. To add multiple words

as one entry, select the entire phrase.

2) Choose Insert > Table of Contents and Index > Index Entry to display a dialog similar to

that shown in Figure 332. When the dialog opens, the selected text appears in the Entry

text input box. You can accept the word or phrase shown, or change it to whatever you

want.

3) Click Insert to create the entry.

Note

A cursor placed immediately before the first character of a word, or immediately after

the last character of a word if it is followed by a space, counts as being in that word.

You can create multiple entries without closing the dialog. For each one:

1) Click at the location in the document that you want to index.

2) Click again on the dialog.

3) Change the entry if needed, and click Insert.

4) Repeat steps 1–3 until you have finished with the entries, then click Close.

Figure 332: Inserting an index entry

334 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Below is a brief explanation of the fields in the Insert Index Entry dialog and how to use them.

Index

The type of index this entry is for. The default is Alphabetical Index, but you can use this field

to create extra entries for a table of contents or user-defined indexes or lists of almost

anything. For example, you might want an index containing only the scientific names of

species mentioned in the text, and a separate index containing only the common names of

species. See “Other types of indexes” on page 341.

Entry

The word or phrase to be added to the selected index. This word or phrase does not need to

be in the document itself; you can add synonyms and other terms that you want to appear in

the index.

1st key

An index key is an entry that has no associated page number and has several subentries

that do have page numbers. Using keys is a useful way of grouping related topics. (See

“Example of using an index key” below.)

2nd key

You can have up to a three-level index, where some of the first-level keys have level-2

entries that are also keys (without page numbers). This degree of index complexity is not

often necessary.

Main entry

When the same term is indexed on several pages, often one of those pages has more

important or detailed information on that topic, so you want it to be the main entry. To make

the page number for the main, or most important, entry stand out, select this option and then

define the character style for the page number of a main index entry to be bold, for example.

Apply to all similar texts

Select this option to have Writer automatically identify and mark any other word or phrase

that matches the current selection. The Match case and Whole words only options become

available if this option is selected. Use this option with care, as it may result in many

unwanted page numbers (for minor uses of a word) being listed in the index.

Example of using an index key

An index key is a primary entry under which subentries are grouped. For example, you might want

to create a grouping similar to this:

LibreOffice

Calc, 10

Impress, 15

Writer, 5

In this example, LibreOffice is the 1st key. The subentries (with the page numbers showing) are the

indexed entries. To insert an index entry for the topic Writer, on the Insert Index Entry dialog

(Figure 332 on page 334), type Writer in the Entry box and LibreOffice in the 1st key box.

Note

If field shading is active (Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Application Colors > Text

Document > Field shadings), when a selected word or phrase has been added to the

index, it is shown in the text with a gray background. If the text of an index entry has

been changed from the text of the word selected, the index entry is marked by a small

gray rectangle at the start of that word.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 335

Tip

You can also open the Insert Index Entry dialog by clicking the Entry icon on the Insert

toolbar, as shown in Figure 333.

Figure 333: Index Entry icon on Insert toolbar

Creating a concordance

A concordance is a plain text file that lists words to add to the index. It has one word or phrase

defined on each line. Each line has a strict structure, consisting of seven fields, separated by

semicolons:

Search term;Alternative entry;1st key;2nd key;Match case;Word only

No space is entered between the semicolon and a field’s contents. A key is a higher level heading

that a search term is placed beneath.

If you choose not to have an alternative entry, a first key or a second key, leave those fields blank,

so that one semi-colon immediately follows another.

The last two fields are structured somewhat differently. If you want only entries that have the same

upper or lower case letters as your entries, enter 1 in the second to last field. Similarly, entering 1

in the last field sets the index to only include instances where the entry is a whole word, and not

part of a larger one. You can also leave the last two fields blank, as you can with any of the others.

For example, entering:

Macaw;Ara;Parrots;;0;0

Would produce an entry for macaw with

•A listing under macaw.

•An alternate listing under ara (the scientific name).

•A listing of Parrots, Macaw.

•No second key (notice the two semi-colons).

•Inclusion of instances that start with a lower or upper case letter (both “macaw” and

“Macaw”).

•Inclusion of instances in which the term is a whole word or part of a longer word.

Whether creating a concordance is faster than adding entries manually is debatable, buta

concordance is certainly more systematic. The disadvantage of a concordance is that it can

produce an index that includes instances of common words that are irrelevant for your purposes. In

many cases, a useful index may require a combination of manual entries and a concordance.

Creating an alphabetic index quickly

Now that you have some index entries, you can create the index.

Although indexes can be customized extensively in Writer, most of the time you need to make only

a few choices.

336 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

To create an index quickly:

1) Click in the document where you want to add the index and click Insert > Table of

Contents and Index > Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography to open the Table of

Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog.

2) In the Type box on the Type page (Figure 334), select Alphabetical Index.

3) In the Options section, you may want to deselect Case sensitive (so that capitalized and

lower-case words are treated as the same word) and Combine identical entries with p or

pp.

4) If you are using a concordance, select Concordance file In the Options section, then click

the File button and select the concordance file you created.

5) Click OK. The result will be a typical index.

Customizing an index

To customize an existing index, right-click anywhere in the index and choose Edit Index/Entry from

the context menu.

The Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog (Figure 334) has five pages. Any or all of them

can be used to customize the index.

•Use the Type page to set the attributes of the index.

•Use the Entries and Styles pages to format the entries in the index.

•Use the Columns page to put the index into more than one column.

•Use the Background page to add color or an image to the background of the index.

After making your changes, click OK to save the index so it appears in your document.

Type page

Use the Type page (Figure 334) to set the basic attributes of the index.

Figure 334: Type page for an alphabetic index

To give the index a different title, edit the Title field. To delete the title, clear the Title field.

Be sure the type of index is set to Alphabetical Index.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 337

To prevent the index from being changed accidentally, select Protected against manual changes.

The index can then only be changed using the right-click menu or the Table of Contents, Index or

Bibliography dialog. If the option is not selected, the index can be edited directly on the document

page, just like other text. However, any manual changes to an index are lost when you update it, so

they should be avoided.

From the drop-down list in the Create Index or Table of Contents section, select Entire document.

You can also choose to create an index for just the current chapter.

Other options determine how the index handles entries:

Combine identical entries

Defines how identical entries are dealt with. Normally each page number of an indexed word

or phrase will be shown in the index; however, these can be combined using the Combine

identical entries with p or pp. If you want a page range displayed, select Combine with –

(which will produce something similar to 23–31). If you want different entries based on what

letters are capitalized, select Case sensitive.

AutoCapitalize entries

Automatically capitalizes the first letter of each entry regardless of how they show within the

document itself.

Keys as separate entries

For the keys to have their own page numbers, select this option.

Concordance file

Choose the file to be used, if any. See page 336 for more information.

Sort

Defines how the entries are sorted when displayed. The only option is alphanumeric, but you

can define which language alphabet will be used.

Entries page

Use the Entries page to set exactly how and what will be displayed for each of the entries. The

page is similar to Figure 335.

Note

Hyperlinking from the index to the location of entries in the text is not available.

Figure 335: Entries page for an alphabetical index

338 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

To begin, in the Level column select the index level whose elements you want to format. Level “S”

refers to the single letter headings that divide the index entries alphabetically when the

Alphabetical delimiter option is selected in the Format section. (You will be able to apply your

changes to all index levels later.) The Structure line displays the elements for entries in that level.

Each button on the Structure line represents one element:

•The E icon represents the entry text.

•The T icon represents a tab stop.

•The # icon represents the page number.

•The CI icon represents chapter information. This is not present by default, but can be

added by selecting the Chapter info button.

Each white field on the Structure line represents a blank space. You can add, change, or delete

elements as described on page 329 for a table of contents.

Chapter Info

The Chapter Info button inserts chapter information, such as the chapter heading and number.

The information to be displayed is selected from the Chapter entry list that appears when this

option is selected. This data is determined in the Chapter Numbering dialog (Tools > Chapter

Numbering).

Applying character styles

Each of the elements on the Structure line may be given additional formatting. For example, you

may want the page number to be a different size from the rest of the index text. To do this, apply a

character style to one of the elements in the Structure line, as for a table of contents; see page

330.

Formatting entries

Apply additional formatting using the options in the Format section.

•Alphabetical delimiter. This separates the index entries into blocks that start with the

same first letter, using that letter as a header. For example, if your index begins:

apple, 4

author, 10

break, 2

bus, 4

Then selecting this option will give you:

apple, 4

author, 10

break, 2

bus, 4

•Key separated by commas. Arranges the entries in the index on the same line but

separated by commas.

•Tab position relative to Paragraph Style indent. When selected, entries are indented

according to the settings of their individual formats. Where a paragraph style with an indent

on the left is in use, tab stops will be relative to this indent. If this option is not selected, tab

stops will be relative to the left margin position.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 339

Styles, Columns, and Background pages

Use the Styles page to change which paragraph style is assigned to display the text of each level

in the index. In most cases, the best strategy is to keep the assigned styles but change their

settings as needed to make the index appear the way you want.

The Background page is the same as for TOCs. Refer to “Styles page” on page 330 and

“Background page” on page 331 for detailed information on these pages.

Columns page

Use the Columns page (Figure 336) to change the number of columns for the index.

Figure 336: Columns page of the Insert Index/Table dialog

Adding multiple columns

To display the index in more than one column:

1) Either enter the number of columns desired in the box labeled Columns or select the icon

representing the number of columns.

2) To evenly distribute the columns according to the page width, select the AutoWidth box. If it

is unchecked, you can manually set each of the following:

–Width of each of the columns

–Spacing between the columns

3) You can choose to have a separator line between the columns:

–Style: The default is None, or select from three choices of line style.

–Width: The width (thickness) of the line. The default is 0.25pt.

–Height: The height of the line, as a percentage of the full column height. The default is

100%

–Position: Position of the line relative to the columns (top, centered, or bottom) if the

height is less than 100%.

–Color: Allows the color of the separator line to be set.

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Maintaining an index

To modify the appearance of an index, right-click anywhere in the index and choose Edit Index

from the context menu. The Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog opens and you can edit

and save the index using the five tabs described in the previous section.

To update or delete an index, right-click anywhere in the index and select Update Index or Delete

Index.

Viewing and editing existing index entries

Once you have added the initial entries, you can make some amendments. You can view and edit

these using the following steps:

1) Ensure that field shading is active (View > Field Shadings or Ctrl+F8), so you can locate

index entries more easily.

2) Place the cursor in the field shading of an existing index entry in the body of the document,

right-click, and select Index Entry from the content menu. In the case of a changed-text

entry, the field shading is immediately before the word. Placing the cursor immediately

before a word marked as a text entry will satisfy both selection criteria.

3) A dialog similar to Figure 337 appears. You can move through the various index entries

using the forward and back arrow buttons. If there is more than one entry for a single word

or phrase, a second row of buttons with a vertical bar at the point of the arrow head is

displayed allowing you to scroll through each of these entries.

4) Make the necessary modifications or additions to the index entries, and then click OK.

Figure 337: Viewing and editing index entries

Other types of indexes

An alphabetical index is not the only type of index that you can build with Writer. Other types of

indexes supplied with Writer include those for illustrations, tables, and objects, and you can even

create a user-defined index. This chapter does not give examples of all the possibilities.

To create other indexes:

1) Place the cursor where you want the index created.

2) Select Insert > Table of Contents and Index > Table of Contents, Index or

Bibliography from the Menu bar.

3) On the Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog, in the Type drop-down list, select

the index wanted.

4) Modify the various pages, which are similar to those discussed in previous sections.

5) Select OK when everything has been set.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 341

Example: Creating an index of figures

Creating an index (list) of figures or tables is easy if the figure captions were created using Insert >

Caption or manually using a number range variable as described in Chapter 17, Fields.

1) On the Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog, in the Type drop-down list, choose

Illustration Index. You can change the title of the index to something else; we have used

Table of Figures as our title.

2) Be sure Captions is selected in the Create from section, and choose the category of

caption. The default for Category is Illustration; in our example we have used Figure for the

figure captions.

(The category Figure is not supplied with LibreOffice; however, if you have defined it when

creating a caption in your document, it will appear on this list. See Chapter 11, Images and

Graphics, for more about creating captions.)

3) Under Display, you can choose References (to include the category, number, and caption

text), Category and Number, or Caption Text. We have chosen References.

4) The other pages of this dialog are similar to those described for tables of contents.

Figure 338: Creating other types of indexes

5) Click OK. The result is shown below.

Figure 339: Resulting index of illustrations

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Bibliographies

A bibliography is a list of references used in a document. The references can be stored in a

bibliographic database or within the document itself.

This section shows you how to:

•Create a bibliographic database; add and maintain entries.

•Add a reference (citation) into a document.

•Format the bibliography.

•Update and edit an existing bibliography.

Citations within the text require entries in different fields in the bibliography database, and different

presentations in the text. Before creating a list of references, determine which citation style you

need for a document. The five main styles are:

•APA (American Psychological Association): Psychology, education, and other social

sciences.

•MLA (Modern Languages Association): Literature, art, and humanities.

•Chicago: History and specific publications.

•Turabian: A variation of the Chicago style for general use by university students.

•AMA (American Medical Association): Medicine, Health, and Biology.

All citations use the Identifier field (first on the left) to set the format for a citation in the document.

In this column, you can add the citation in the correct form for the citation style. All necessary

information, including the Identifier field, should be entered before any citation is created in the

document. The Identifer column in the table (Figure 340) and the Short Name field below the table

are the same field.

The bibliography database is the source for citations in the text, no matter what citation style you

use.

Tip

Writer has a single bibliography database for all documents. Since formatting entries

can be tedious, consider creating a template with citations for each type of source

material.

Creating a bibliographic database

Although you can create references within the document itself, creating a bibliographic database

allows reuse in other documents and saves a lot of time.

For most of this section, the database table used is the sample one that comes with Writer. For

information on creating a new table in the bibliographic database, see Chapter 8, Getting Started

with Base, in the Getting Started Guide.

The bibliography database has to cover many different media and circumstances, which is why it

contains so many fields. It also includes fields such as ISBN that no citation style uses, but might

be useful to you as you do research.

Note

Any single entry in the bibliography needs only about half a dozen fields filled in, no

matter what citation format you use. What differs is the fields needed for each type of

source material and the order of the fields in each citation style.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 343

Select Tools > Bibliography Database. The Bibliography Database window, similar to that in

Figure 340, opens. The upper part of the page shows all of the records, in a table layout similar to

that of a spreadsheet. The lower part of the page shows all the fields of the selected record.

Caution

The sample entries in the sample database for both the Identifer column and the Short

Name field are meaningless. Replace them with the proper format for the citation style

you are using.

Figure 340: Bibliography Database main window

Filtering records

To set up a filter for specific records within the bibliographic database, select Tools > Filter from

the Bibliographic Database Menu bar, or click the Standard Filter button on the toolbar near the top

of the window. On the Standard Filter dialog (Figure 341), choose the fields, conditions, and values

for the filter and click OK.

Changing the data source

To change the data source in use (for example, if you have more than one bibliographic database

for different purposes), select Edit > Choose Data Source from the Menu bar, or click the Data

Source button on the toolbar near the top of the window. On the Choose Data Source dialog,

select a data source and click OK.

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Figure 341: Setting up a filter for the bibliographic database

Adding entries to the database

Use the Bibliography Database dialog (Tools > Bibliography Database) to add entries to the

database:

1) You can add records directly into the database using the fields in the lower section of the

dialog shown in Figure 340 on page 344.

2) Select Insert > Record from the Menu bar of the Bibliography Database dialog, or click the

Insert Record icon to the left of the horizontal scroll bar.

3) Enter a name for the entry in the Short Name box. Complete other fields as required. Use

the Tab key to move between fields.

It is best to use a unique name in the Short name field. This field is used when inserting

entries into documents.

4) To complete the entry, move to the last field and press Tab once more.

If your document requires [Author, date] style citations, use the Short name field of the database to

record the information in the required format.

Maintaining entries in the database

To maintain entries in the database, use the Bibliography Database dialog (Tools > Bibliography

Database). Click the appropriate record and modify the fields as appropriate.

Modified entries are saved automatically to the database when the cursor moves off the record.

Advanced: Modifying the bibliographic database

You can modify the bibliography database in several ways, as summarized below.

Note

For more information on how to use LibreOffice’s database features, see Chapter 8,

Getting Started with Base, in the Getting Started Guide.

Column details

To change the details of columns in the bibliographic database, select Edit > Column

Arrangement from the Menu bar, or click the Column Arrangement button on the tolbar near the

top of the window (see Figure 340). On the Column Layout for Table biblio dialog (Figure 342), you

can change which fields are allocated to which columns. As an example, you can select to have

Author data go into the Identifier column, by changing the destination in the drop-down list. The

Short name data column destination sets to None automatically, as you can't set duplicate

destinations for data.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 345

Figure 342: Changing column layout for bibliographic database

Field details

You can make changes to the bibliography database (for example, rename fields or change the

length of fields) by doing the following:

1) In the main document (not the Bibliography Database window), press F4 or click View >

Data Sources to open the data source window, similar to Figure 343.

2) Make sure that the Bibliography database is selected as well as the correct table. You may

have to expand some levels to be able to select the correct ones.

Figure 343: Data Source view of Bibliography database

3) Right-click the table entry (biblio in the example) and select Edit Database File from the

context menu. This opens a window similar to Figure 344, which is the main menu for Base,

the database component of LibreOffice.

4) If Tables (in the Database section on the left) is not selected, select it now.

5) Right-click the biblio table name in the Tables section and select Edit from the context

menu to display a window similar to that shown in Figure 345.

6) You can now select each of the fields. Select the text in the Field Name cell and change

the entry as required. Click in the Field Type cell to open a selection menu to change the

data type in that cell. In the Field Properties section, you can modify the data properties.

For each field selected, a description of that field appears to the right of the section.

7) When finished, you will be asked to confirm that you want the changes saved.

346 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 344: Main window for working with databases

Figure 345: Modify table properties window

Adding references (citations) into a document

Writer supports two methods of adding references to your document:

•From a bibliography database, such as the one built into Writer.

•Directly from the keyboard.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 347

Entering references from a database

To add references from the bibliographic database into a document:

1) Place the cursor where you want the reference to appear.

2) From the main menu, choose Insert > Table of Contents and Index > Bibliography

Entry.

3) In the Insert Bibliographic Entry dialog (Figure 346), choose From bibliography database

at the top of the dialog.

Figure 346: Inserting bibliographic entries into a document

4) Select the reference from the Short name drop-down list near the bottom of the dialog. The

Author and Title of the selected reference are shown in the middle of the dialog, to help you

verify that it is the reference you want.

5) To insert the reference into the document, click Insert.

6) You can keep the dialog open and insert another reference into the document; you don’t

need to close and reopen it.

7) When you have finished inserting all the references, click Close.

Entering references from documents

You may choose to enter your bibliographic entries directly into the document, instead of from an

external database. For example, you may not be working on your own computer.

Click in the document where you want to add the entry.

1) Select Insert > Table of Contents and Index > Bibliography Entry.

2) In the dialog that opens, select the From document content option.

–Select New.

–In the Define Bibliography Entry dialog, complete all the fields which are relevant to your

entry. Type a unique name in the Short name text entry box, because the Insert

Bibliography Entry dialog uses this entry for the citation.

–Select a choice from the menu in the Type box to enable the OK button.

–Click OK when all the fields wanted are completed.

–Click Insert to add the Short name field to the document

–Click in each location you wish to add an entry and repeat this sequence

3) Click Close.

To re-use an entry in your document, restart the sequence above, and then select the Short name

required from the current list of entries, instead of selecting to add a new entry.

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Editing a reference

To edit a reference:

1) Right-click the entry (the cursor then displays to the left of the entry).

2) From the context menu, select Bibliography Entry. The Edit Bibliography Entry dialog

(similar to the Insert Bibliography Entry dialog) opens.

3) To quickly edit only the Short name, click the text box, edit the entry and then click Apply.

4) To edit more of the entry, click Edit to open the Define Bibliography Entry dialog.

Make any changes required and then click OK to return to the Edit Bibliography Entry

dialog.

5) Click Apply to accept the changes and exit the dialog.

Note

Whatever the source of the citation, the modified references are stored only in the

document. If the source is a bibliography database, that database remains unmodified.

Creating the bibliography

1) Place the cursor at the point where you wish to insert the bibliography.

2) Select Insert > Table of Contents and Index > Table of Contents, Index or

Bibliography and change the Type to Bibliography, to display a dialog similar to that

shown in Figure 347.

The Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog has five pages.

Index/Table page

Writer supports two ways of displaying references (citations) in the text of a document:

•Using the text recorded in the Short name field of each bibliographic entry, for example

(Smith, 2001) depending on citation style.

•By numbering the referenced documents in the sequence they occur in the text, for

example [1].

Tip

To specify which citation style is used in the document, use the Type page on the

Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog (Figure 347).

Formatting the bibliography involves choices made in two places:

•Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog, covered in this section.

•Bibliography 1 paragraph style (see page 351).

The basic settings are selected on this page.

1) To give the bibliography a title, enter it in the Title field. (A title is not required.)

2) You can protect the bibliography from being changed accidentally, by selecting Protected

against manual changes. If this option is selected, the bibliography can only be changed

using the right-click menu or the Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog. If the

option is not selected, the bibliography can be changed directly on the document page, just

like other text, but any manual changes will be lost when you update the bibliography.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 349

Figure 347: Inserting a bibliography

3) To have the bibliographic entries (citations) numbered within the body of the document (for

example, [1], [2]...), select Number entries. If, however, you wish to have the Short name

field contents (from the database) appear in the document, deselect this option.

4) Select the type of brackets that you want for the referenced entries shown within the body

of the document.

5) Define the sorting you require. Currently only alphanumeric sorting is supported. Sorting by

the sequence that entries appear in the text is done on the Entries page.

Entries page

The structure of this page (see Figure 348) is similar to that for tables of contents and for indexes.

Figure 348: Entries page for bibliographies

The Type refers to the kind of source, such as a periodical or a web page. Each entry in the Type

list has a default structure format. You can define how the entry will appear, based on its source, by

selecting from the Type list of entries, or simply apply the same format to all entries by selecting

the All button.

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The Structure of the entry is based on the fields available in the bibliographic database. Consult

the citation style required for your document and modify the Structure line as needed.

To remove elements from the Structure line, click the element then click the Remove button.

To add an element, click in the Structure line where it is to be inserted. Select either the Tab stop,

or an element in the drop-down list to the left of the Insert button, and then click Insert. The

elements in the drop-down list are those fields found in the Bibliography Database.

All the elements on the Structure line can be formatted using the Character Style selection list. For

example, you can define a character style so that book and journal titles are in italics or bold.

To determine how entries are sorted, modify the Sort by options. To sort by the sequence that

entries appear in the text, choose Document position. In most modern citation styles, you will want

Content (alphabetical descending order). Use Sort keys to group similar references.

Styles, Columns and Background pages

Refer to “Styles page” on page 330, “Columns page” on page 340 and “Background page” on page

331 for detailed information on these pages.

Defining the paragraph style for the bibliography

You can modify the Bibliography 1 paragraph style to suit your requirements. For example, to

number the entries in the bibliography list, you need to define a numbering style and link that

numbering style to the Bibliography 1 paragraph style. To do this:

1) On the Styles and Formatting window, click the List Styles icon. You can either define a new

list style or modify one of those supplied. In this example, we will modify the Numbering 5

style. Right-click Numbering 5 and choose Modify from the context menu.

2) On the Numbering Style dialog, go to the Customize page. In our example we want to have

the numbers enclosed in square brackets. To do this, type [ in the Before box and ] in the

After box, as shown in Figure 349.

Figure 349: Specifying square brackets before and after the number in a list

3) Now go to the Position page of the Numbering style dialog (Figure 350). In the Spacing to

text box, specify how much indentation you want for the second and following lines of any

item in the bibliography list of your document. Often you will need to experiment a bit to see

what is the best setting. In our example, we have chosen 1 cm.

4) Click OK to save these settings and close the Numbering Style dialog. Return to the Styles

and Formatting window, click the Paragraph Styles icon, choose All Styles from the list at

the bottom of that window, then right-click Bibliography 1 and choose Modify.

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 351

Figure 350: Setting the spacing between the margin and the text

5) On the Paragraph Style dialog, go to the Outline & Numbering tab and select Numbering 5

from the drop-down list. (See Figure 351.) Click OK to save this change to the Bibliography

1 paragraph style.

Figure 351: Applying a numbering style to a paragraph style

Now when you generate the bibliography, the list will look something like the one shown in Figure

352 for a book after removing elements from the structure line (the Short name and colon, for

example).

Figure 352: Result of changing settings for Bibliography 1 paragraph style

352 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Updating, editing, and deleting an existing bibliography

Right-click anywhere in the bibliography. From the context menu, select:

•Update Index to update the bibliography.

•Edit Index to open the Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog so you can edit and

save the bibliography.

•Delete Index to delete the bibliography without a confirmation request.

Tip

If you find Writer’s bibliography feature too limited, you may wish to try Zotero, which is

free and open source, available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. It is reported to work

well with Writer (http://www.zotero.org/).

Chapter 15 Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies | 353

Chapter 16

Master Documents

Why use a master document?

A master document (.odm) is a container that joins separate text documents (.odt) into one larger

document, and unifies the formatting, table of contents (TOC), bibliography, index, and other

material. Master documents are typically used for producing long documents such as a book, a

thesis, or a long report.

A master document is especially useful in these situations:

•When the file size or number of pages is quite large; writing, reviewing, and editing may be

easier when done on subsets of the full document.

•When different people are writing different chapters or other parts of the full document.

•When files will be published as stand-alone documents as well as becoming part of a larger

document. The chapters of this Writer Guide are an example of this usage.

•When subdocuments are used in more than one final document.

•To change templates for a document: add it to a master document with a different template.

To work, this technique needs both the document and the master document to have styles

of the same name.

You can use several methods to create master documents. Each method has its advantages and

disadvantages. Which method you choose depends on what you are trying to accomplish. The

different methods are described in this chapter, along with suggestions on when to use each one.

Tip

A master document is not always the best method to use in any of the situations given

above. You may find that using one big file, or an ordinary document (.odt) containing

sections linked to other files, may do the job just as well. For more about using

sections to combine files, see Chapter 6, Formatting Pages: Advanced.

Using the master document Navigator

In Writer, the Navigator has two forms: one is used in ordinary text documents and the other in

master documents.

In an ordinary text document, the Navigator displays lists of the graphics, tables, index entries,

hyperlinks, references, and other items in the document, as shown on the left in Figure 353.

Figure 353: The Navigator for a text document (left) and for a master document (right)

In a master document, you can toggle between the regular and master views by clicking on the

Toggle icon at the upper left. In the master view, the Navigator lists the subdocuments and text

sections, as shown on the right in Figure 353. The use of the Navigator in a master document is

covered in more detail later in this chapter (see “Step 6. Insert the subdocuments into the master

document” on page 359 and “Cross-referencing between subdocuments” on page 366).

Chapter 16 Master Documents | 355

Styles in master documents and subdocuments

A stand-alone document becomes a subdocument when it is linked into a master document. A

document can be used as a subdocument in several master documents. Each master document

may have different style definitions (font, type size, color, page size, margins, and so on), which

affect the appearance of the final document, but the individual documents retain their original

characteristics.

The relationship between styles in a master document and its subdocuments is as follows:

•Custom styles used in subdocuments, such as paragraph styles, are automatically imported

into the master document.

•If more than one subdocument uses a custom style with the same name (for example,

myBodyText), then only the one in the first subdocument to be linked is imported into the

master document.

•If a style with the same name exists in the master document and in the subdocuments (for

example, Default Style), then the style is applied as defined in the master document.

•The styles in the subdocuments are only changed in the master document, so when a

subdocument is opened for editing the original styles are not affected.

Tip

If you use the same document template for the master document and its

subdocuments, the subdocuments will look the same when they are loaded into the

master document as they do when viewed as individual files. When you modify or

create a style, be sure to make the change in the template (not in the master

document or any of the subdocuments). Then when you reopen the master document

or a subdocument, the styles will update from the template.

Creating a master document: scenarios

Which method you choose from the three most common methods for creating a master document

depends on the current state of your document:

•You have no existing documents but intend to write a long book containing several

chapters, possibly by multiple authors.

•You have several existing documents (chapters) by one or more authors that you want to

combine into one book, controlled by the master document.

•You have one existing document (a book) that you want to split into several subdocuments

(chapters) that will be controlled by the master document.

We will look at each of these scenarios in turn.

Starting with no existing documents

When you start with no existing documents, you can set up everything the way you want from the

beginning. Follow these steps, in the order given. Each step is explained in detail in the following

subsections.

Step 1. Plan the project

Step 2. Create a template

Step 3. Create the master document

Step 4. Create subdocuments

356 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Step 5. Add some pages to the master document

Step 6. Insert the subdocuments into the master document

Step 7. Add table of contents, bibliography, index

Step 1. Plan the project

Although you can make changes at most steps in this process, the more you can plan before you

start, the less work you will have to do to correct any problems later. Here are some things you

need to plan.

Parts of book or report required. What pages will be in the master document and what will be in the

subdocuments?

Consider as an example a book with the parts given in the table below.

Part Location

Title (cover) page In master document

Table of contents (TOC) In master document

Preface (Foreword) Subdocument

Chapters 1 to 7 Subdocuments

Index In master document

Page, paragraph, character, frame, and numbering styles. Determine the styles you wish to

use. See Chapter 8, Introduction to Styles, and Chapter 9, Working with Styles, for instructions on

how to create or modify styles and examples of the use of styles in book design. Pay particular

attention to setting up headings using styles, as described in “Using paragraph styles to define a

hierarchy of headings” in Chapter 8.

Fields and AutoText entries, as required. See Chapter 2, Working with Text: Basics, and

Chapter 17, Fields, for ideas.

One or more templates for master and subdocuments. If you are starting a new project, create

the master document and all the subdocuments from the same template. Not using the same

template can create style inconsistencies that could cause your document not to look as you

expect. For example, if two subdocuments have a style with the same name that is formatted

differently in each document, the master document will use the formatting from the first

subdocument that was added.

Page numbering. In our example, the pages are numbered sequentially from the title page. (The

title page style can be defined not to show the page number, but it will still count as page 1.)

Therefore the first chapter begins on a higher number page, for example page 5. To create a book

in which the page numbering restarts at 1 for the first chapter, you need to do some additional

work. See “Restarting page numbering” on page 364.

Step 2. Create a template

You can create a template from an existing document or template that contains some or all of the

page, paragraph, character, and other styles you want for this document, or you can create the

template from a blank document. For more about templates, see Chapter 10, Working with

Templates. Be sure to use File > Save As Template when creating the template.

Tip

You can also create master document templates; see page 370.

Chapter 16 Master Documents | 357

Step 3. Create the master document

It does not matter in what order you create the master and subdocuments, and you do not have to

create all the subdocuments at the same time, when you are starting the project. You can add new

subdocuments at any time, as you need them.

Follow this process to create the master document:

1) Open a new document from the template you created in Step 2, by choosing File > New >

Templates, then selecting the template you created. Be sure the first page of this new

document is set to the page style you want for the first page of the final document; if it is

not, change it. In our example, the style for the first page is Title page.

2) If any text or page breaks came into this document from the template, delete the text. (The

TOC, index, and any fields in headers and footers can stay.)

3) Click File > Send > Create Master Document. Save the master document in the folder for

this project. We will return to this master document later. For now, you can either leave it

open or close it.

Note

Using File > New > Master Document will create a master document file (.odm)

associated with the default template. If your document is, or will be, based on a

custom template, use the method described above.

Tip

You can also create a master document directly from a master document template.

Step 4. Create subdocuments

A subdocument is no different from any other text document. It becomes a subdocument only when

it is linked into a master document and opened from within the master document. It can still be

used as a stand-alone document. Some settings in the master document will override the settings

in a subdocument, but only when the document is being viewed, manipulated, or printed through

the master document.

Create a subdocument in the same way as you create any ordinary document:

1) Open a blank document based on the project template (very important) by choosing File >

New > Templates, then selecting the required template.

2) Delete any unwanted text or other material that was brought in from the template, and set

the first page to the page style you specified for the first page of a chapter.

3) Click File > Save As. Give the document a suitable name and save it in the folder for this

project.

If you already have some of the chapters written, the files may not be based on the template you

just created for this project. If you want to change the template attached to the existing files, use

the technique described in “Associating a document with a different template” in Chapter 10,

Working with Templates.

Step 5. Add some pages to the master document

To assist you, do the following:

•Make sure paragraph marks are showing. You can set them in Tools > Options >

LibreOffice Writer > Formatting Aids, or click the Fomatting Marks icon on the Standard

toolbar, or press Ctrl+F10.

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•Show text boundaries, table boundaries, and section boundaries (Tools > Options >

LibreOffice > Application Colors).

If your master document does not contain any required “front matter” such as a title page, copyright

page, or TOC page, add them now. The example in this section uses the sequence of page styles

given in “Step 1. Plan the project” on page 357.

1) Type the contents of the title page (or leave placeholders and fill in later). With the insertion

point in the last blank paragraph on the page, click Insert > Manual Break. On the Insert

Break dialog, select Page break and the page style for the second page (Copyright Page in

our example), and leave the Change page number option deselected. Click OK.

Figure 354: Inserting a page break between

the title page and the copyright page

2) Type the contents of the copyright page (or leave placeholders). With the insertion point in

the last blank paragraph on the page, insert another manual page break, this time setting

the page style to Table of Contents page.

3) On the Table of Contents page, leave a blank paragraph or two or insert a TOC (Insert >

Table of Contents and Index > Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography). The TOC will

not have any contents until you add the subdocuments, but a gray mark or box indicates its

location. For more about inserting and formatting TOCs, see Chapter 15, Tables of

Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies.

Note

Depending on the style definitions for the first paragraph (usually a heading) on the

Step 6. Insert the subdocuments into the master document

Now we are ready to add the subdocuments.

Tip

Subdocuments are inserted into a master document before the item highlighted in the

Navigator. If you insert the last subdocument first, and then insert the other

subdocuments before the last one, they will end up in the correct sequence without the

necessity of moving them up or down in the list.

1) Display the Navigator (click View > Navigator, or press F5, or click the Navigator icon on

the Sidebar).

Chapter 16 Master Documents | 359

2) Be sure the Navigator is showing the Master View (see “Using the master document

Navigator” on page 355). If necessary, click the Toggle icon at the upper left to switch

between regular and master views.

3) On the Navigator, select Text, then click Insert > File.

Figure 355: Inserting a subdocument into a

master document using the Navigator

A standard file browser dialog opens. Select the required file (which you created in Step 4)

and click Insert. This example uses seven chapters; we will load Chapter 7 first, as

suggested in the Tip above.

The inserted file is listed in the Navigator before the Text item, as shown in Figure 356.

Figure 356: Navigator after inserting one subdocument

4) Because the Text section contains the title page and other material, highlight it and click the

Move Up icon to move it to the top of the list.

5) Highlight the subdocument you just inserted (Chapter 7), then click Insert > File to insert

the first subdocument; in this example, Chapter 1. Chapter 7 remains highlighted. Repeat

with Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and so on until all the subdocuments have been added to the

list. The Navigator will now look something like Figure 357.

6) Save the master document again.

Figure 357: The Navigator showing a

series of files in a master document

Step 7. Add table of contents, bibliography, index

You can generate a table of contents, bibliography, or index for the book, using the master

document. You must insert these items into a text section in the master document. For more about

these document elements, see Chapter 15, Tables of Contents, Indexes, Bibliographies.

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Put the insertion point on the page in the first text section where the table of contents is to go and

choose Insert > Table of Contents and Index > Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography to

create the table of contents.

If you do not have a Text section at the end of the master document, insert one before the last

subdocument, then move it down so it is after the last subdocument. Now, if you have included

bibliographic entries in your subdocuments, you can put the insertion point on the page in this last

text section where the bibliography is to go and create the bibliography.

If you have included index entries in your subdocuments, put the insertion point on the page in the

last text section where the index is to go and create the index.

Figure 358 shows the Navigator after addition of a TOC and index.

Figure 358: Navigator showing subdocuments, table

of contents, and index in a master document

Combining several documents into a master document

When you have several existing documents, you can combine them into one document controlled

by a master document.

This method works best when all of the documents were created from the same template, but you

can also use it when the documents have been created from different templates. This method is

especially useful when the subdocuments are created or maintained by multiple writers. For

example, you might be creating an anthology of short stories, a book of symposium papers, or a

set of engineering test results with a standard company title page.

We will use a book of engineering test results as an example.

Tip

You could create a master document template (see page 370) and use it as the

starting point for this method. In that case, skip steps 1 and 2 and start with step 3.

1) Open the title page document that you plan to use as the master document. To avoid

creating too many subdocuments when this document is converted to a master document,

have only one level 1 heading present. If there are more, temporarily change them to lower

level headings and note which they are (add, for example, an asterisk at the end of each

heading to remind you which have to revert to level 1 headings later).

2) Select File > Send > Create Master Document, name and save this master document

(see “How to do it:” on page 363).

Chapter 16 Master Documents | 361

Let us assume our original document was named FrontPage with a single Level 1 heading,

and that when we created the master document (.odm file) we named it TestFile.

In this case, the master document is a blank file containing only one section. Also created

at the same time was a subdocument named TestFile1, which is a .odt file containing the

text from the FrontPage file. When opening the .odm file and clicking Yes to update all

links, this file is linked in to the master document to provide the original content.

The original FrontPage file is left intact in its folder.

Figure 359: TestFile documents created from FrontPage

3) Open the master document and click Yes to update links. The master document opens with

the Navigator open by default (see “Using the master document Navigator“ on page 355

and “Step 6. Insert the subdocuments into the master document“ on page 359 for more

detailed information).

4) Click Insert > File and release the button.

Figure 360: Adding files to the master document

5) Navigate to the location of the test results files (Results1.odt, Results2.odt, and so on).

Select the first file to insert, Results1.odt for example, and click Insert. The file is inserted

above the existing entry.

6) Click the Move Up icon to have the TestFile1 text above the Results1 text (file contents are

inserted above the selected file in the master document).

7) Repeat from step 4 as often as required. It does not matter which file is highlighted in the

master document when you insert the next one, just select the inserted file and use the

Move Up or Move Down icons to position it as required.

Figure 361: Moving subdocuments

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8) To edit the master document, to perhaps add a widget serial number and a client's name, in

the master document right-click TestFile1 and select Edit from the context menu. Add the

required content to the file which opens, save and close the file (see “Editing a master

document” on page 365 for more detailed information).

9) Select Tools > Update > Links from the Menu bar, or click Update > Links in the

Navigator. All the edits in the master document will now show.

Splitting a document into master and subdocuments

When you have one existing document that you want to split into a master document and several

subdocuments, you can have Writer split the document automatically at headings with an outline

level of your choice.

Although this method is quick and easy, some cleanup work may be necessary:

•The automatically generated file names for the subdocuments are maindocnameX.odt,

where X is 1, 2, 3, and so on. If you have a Preface or other “chapter” starting with a

Heading 1 before Chapter 1, the file names will not directly correspond to the chapter

numbers. You may wish to rename the subdocuments; see “Adding, deleting, or renaming

subdocuments” on page 366.

•If the original document is associated with a template, the master document (.odm) will also

be associated with that template, but the subdocuments will not. The subdocuments will

inherit the styles in the original document, but their association with the template is lost.

How to do it:

1) Open the document and choose File > Send > Create Master Document.

2) On the Name and Path of Master Document dialog (Figure 362):

a) Navigate to the folder where you want to save the master document and its

subdocuments (or create a new folder).

Figure 362: Splitting a document into master and subdocuments

b) Type a name for the master document in the File name box.

c) In the separated by: list, choose the outline level where the file should be split into

subdocuments. Usually this is Outline: Level 1 for a chapter heading, but your

document may be structured differently. For more information about outline levels, see

Chapter 16 Master Documents | 363

“Using paragraph styles to define a hierarchy of headings” in Chapter 8, Introduction to

Styles.

d) Leave the Automatic file name extension option selected, and click Save to split the

document into subdocuments and create the master document.

If you selected Outline: Level 1 and the paragraph style at that level is Heading 1, each of the

subdocuments begins with a Heading 1 paragraph.

Restarting page numbering

The examples in the previous sections showed a very basic collection of files with sequential page

numbering. This is useful for many documents, including e-books, but a typical printed book has

the following sequence of page numbers:

•No page numbers on cover page or copyright page.

•Lower-case roman numerals in the front matter, starting with i.

•Arabic numerals in the body of the document, starting with 1.

•Page numbering sequential through the rest of the book.

To set up a master document to produce such a book, you need to define a different paragraph

style for the heading of the first chapter and assign two special characteristics to it.

Example

Each chapter may start with a Heading 1 paragraph, set up on the Text Flow page of the

Paragraph Style dialog to start on a new page (Figure 363). The Page number is set to 0, with the

effect that numbering continues from the number of the previous page.

Figure 363: Text Flow tab of Paragraph Style dialog for Heading 1

Look on the Outline & Numbering tab (Figure 364) of this dialog to see what outline level Heading

1 is assigned to. Usually this will be Outline Level 1. The level cannot be changed here because it

has been set in Tools > Chapter Numbering.

Figure 364: Outline & Numbering tab of Paragraph Style dialog for Heading 1

Only one paragraph style can be assigned to Outline Level 1 through Tools > Chapter

Numbering. However, you can assign additional paragraph styles to any outline level by using the

Outline & Numbering tab on the Paragraph Style dialog.

Therefore, you want to define a style called Heading 1 Chapter 1 that is identical in appearance to

Heading 1 but has one essential difference:

1) Right-click Heading 1 in the Paragraph Styles section of the Styles and Formatting tab in

the Sidebar, and select New. On the Organizer page of the Paragraph Style dialog, name

the new style, select the next style, and be sure Inherit from shows Heading 1.

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Figure 365: Organizer page for the new style

2) On the Text Flow tab, in the Breaks section, select Insert, Page, Before, With Page Style,

and Page number 1 (Figure 367).

Figure 366: Set the page number to restart at 1 for this heading style

3) On the Outline & Numbering tab, set the Outline level to Level 1 (Figure 367). This ensures

that the heading will appear in the Table of Contents along with the other chapter headings.

(The Numbering Style for this heading is None, as it was not assigned an outline level

through the Outline Numbering dialog.)

Figure 367: Assign the style to outline level

4) Now, assign the new style to the first paragraph of Chapter 1, and you’re done.

Editing a master document

After creating a master document, you may want to change its appearance or contents.

Changing the appearance of the master document

You can change the styles in the template as your project develops. Do not make changes to

styles in the master document or in any of the subdocuments; make those changes in the

template.

To update the master document (and all of the subdocuments) with changes to the template, open

the master document. You will get two messages: first, to ask if you want to update all links; and

second, if you want to apply the changed styles. Answer Yes to both of these messages.

Editing subdocuments

You cannot edit a subdocument from within the master document. Instead, you must open the

subdocument, either by double-clicking on it in the master document’s Navigator, or by opening it

from outside the master document. Then you can edit it just as you would edit any other document.

If, while editing a subdocument, you want to make changes to the styles that apply to the master

document, follow the recommendations in “Changing the appearance of the master document”

above.

Chapter 16 Master Documents | 365

If you change the contents of any subdocument, you need to manually update the table of

contents, bibliography, and index from within the master document.

Adding, deleting, or renaming subdocuments

To add a subdocument, follow the method described in “Step 6. Insert the subdocuments into the

master document“ on page 359.

To delete a subdocument, right-click its file name in the Navigator and choose Delete.

If you rename a subdocument by changing its file name, the next time you update links in the

master document, that subdocument will show up as a broken link (shown in red). To fix this:

1) Right-click the broken link in the Navigator and choose Edit link.

2) In the Edit Sections dialog (Figure 368), select the renamed file, and edit the name of the

section (which is the name shown in the Navigator).

3) Click OK to save the changes.

Figure 368: Editing a link in a master document

Cross-referencing between subdocuments

The methods described earlier in this chapter are all most writers will need when using master

documents. However, you might want to include automatically updated cross-references between

subdocuments. This section describes how to do this.

The process to create cross-references between subdocuments is time consuming, but it works.

Caution

The method described does not work well if the subdocuments will be used standalone

as well as within a master document. As noted on page 369, the cross-reference will

show as an error in a standalone document, but it will show correctly in the master

document.

Preparing items as targets for cross-referencing

Before you can insert a cross-reference to anything that is not automatically shown on the

Cross-references tab of the Fields dialog, such as a heading, you must prepare that heading as an

item to be referenced. To do this, you can either use bookmarks or set references.

Using bookmarks

Bookmarks are listed in the Navigator and can be accessed directly from there.

To insert a bookmark:

1) Select the text you want to bookmark. Click Insert > Bookmark.

2) On the Insert Bookmark dialog, the larger box lists any previously defined bookmarks. Type

a name for the new bookmark in the top box. Click Insert.

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Figure 369: Inserting a bookmark

Setting references

When you set references, be sure to select the entire text you want to use as the reference, such

as a heading or figure number. Keep a list of your names for the reference fields, and be sure each

name is unique. One way to keep track of this information is to save it in a separate file.

The field names are case-sensitive. You can check the field name by holding the cursor over the

referenced item. In our example (Figure 370), the heading has the field name word count.

Figure 370: Finding the field name for a heading

Open the subdocument in which you want to set references.

1) Click Insert > Cross-reference.

2) On the Cross-references page of the Fields dialog (Figure 371), click Set Reference in the

Type list. The Selection list now shows any references that have been defined. You can

leave this page open while you set many headings as references.

3) Click in the document and highlight the text of the first heading to be used as a target for a

cross-reference. Click on the Fields dialog. The text of the heading will appear in the Value

box in the lower right of the dialog. In the Name box, type some text by which you can

identify this heading.

4) Click Insert. The text you typed in the Name box now appears in the Selection list.

5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 as often as required, keeping a note of your references as needed.

6) Repeat for other subdocuments if wanted. Save and close.

Chapter 16 Master Documents | 367

Figure 371: Setting text to be used as a target for a cross-reference

Inserting the cross-references

1) Open the master document. In the Navigator, select a subdocument, right-click and choose

Edit from the context menu. The subdocument opens for editing.

2) In the subdocument, place the cursor where you want the cross-reference to appear. Click

Insert > Cross Reference.

3) On the Cross-references page of the Fields dialog (Figure 372), select Insert Reference in

the Type list on the left. The Selection list on the right shows only the reference field names

for the subdocument you are using, so ignore that list and check the list you created

manually in “Setting references” above. Select Reference in the Insert reference to list.

4) In the Name field in the lower right, type the name of the reference you set in the

subdocument you are referring to. In our example, the name of the reference is word count.

5) Click Insert, type any text you want to appear between the reference and page number

(such as “on page”), and then insert another reference with Page from the Insert reference

to list. The cross-references will show an error as shown in Figure 373. When you hover

the mouse pointer over one of these fields, you will see the field name.

(You can turn on the display of field codes by clicking View > Field Names. The two error

fields shown in Figure 373 now look like Figure 374.)

6) After you have inserted all the cross-references required in the subdocument, save and

close it and return to the master document window.

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Figure 372: Fields dialog showing manual entry of field name

Figure 373: Viewing the field name

Figure 374: Displaying field codes

Select Tools > Update > Links from the Menu bar, or click Update > Links in the Navigator. All

the edits in the master document will now show. Within the master document, navigate to the page

of the subdocument on which you inserted the cross-reference field. You should now see the text

of the cross-reference appear in the spot where you inserted it. If it does not work, save the master

document, close it, and open it again, updating the links.

Figure 375: Field contents visible

This technique also works if you open a subdocument directly in step 2 (that is, not from within the

master document) and insert a cross-reference field.

Chapter 16 Master Documents | 369

Creating a master document template

A master document template is created in much the same way as any other template:

1) First, create the master document using File > Send > Create Master Document, as

described in earlier sections of this chapter.

2) Then, use File > Templates > Save as Template to create the template (.otm), which will

then be listed in the Templates dialog along with other templates.

Tip

Include in the name you give a master document template some indication that it’s not

an ordinary template.

Creating one file from a master document and its

subdocuments

Master documents are .odm files containing linked subdocuments, which are in .odt format.

Although linked files are very useful when writing and editing a large document such as a book,

sometimes you might need to have a copy of the entire book in one file, for example when sending

it to a publisher.

To export a master document to a .odt file (without affecting the original .odm file):

1) Open the master document and update all links. Choose File > Export from the Menu bar.

2) On the Export dialog (Figure 376), type a name for the exported .odt file and choose ODF

Text Document (.odt) from the File format list (it should be the default choice). Click Export.

This step creates from a write-protected .odt file, with each subdocument in a separate

section.

Figure 376: Exporting a master document to an Open Document Text (.odt) file

3) Close the master document and open the new .odt file, updating all links.

4) To break the links and remove the write protection, go to Format > Sections, select the

first item in the Section list, then press Shift+click the last item in the list in order to select all

the items in the list. Deselect both Link in the Link section and Protected in the Write

protection section.

5) Click OK.

6) If you wish to eliminate some or all of the sections to have a plain text document, select the

sections you wish to remove, and click Remove. The contents of those sections remain in

the document; only the section markers are removed. Click OK.

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Anchoring images

An image (graphic) anchored “to page” in a subdocument is not displayed in the master document

although it always appears correctly in the subdocument.

Because the master document reorganizes the page flow, page numbers, and cross-references

when it collates all the subdocuments together, the absolute reference to a page X in a

subdocument is lost in the master document. The image loses its anchor reference and simply

disappears.

To avoid this problem but keep images positioned precisely on a particular page, anchor the

pictures as follows:

1) Right-click the image and choose Properties from the context menu.

2) On the Type page of the Image dialog (Figure 377), set the anchor to To character or To

paragraph.

3) Under Position, choose suitable horizontal and vertical references to the page. Click OK to

save the changes.

Figure 377: Anchoring a graphic and setting its position on a page

Chapter 16 Master Documents | 371

Chapter 17

Fields

Introduction to fields

Fields are used for a variety of purposes: for example, data that changes (such as the current date

or the total number of pages) or might change (the name of a product or book under development),

user-defined numbering sequences, automatic cross-references, and conditional content (words or

paragraphs that are visible or printed in some conditions but not others). Index entries are also

fields.

This chapter describes some common uses of fields. A full discussion of fields and their use is

beyond the scope of this book. Power users can find more details in the application Help.

Tip

Fields have a gray background when viewed on screen, unless you have deselected the

Field shadings option or changed the color of field shadings in Tools > Options >

LibreOffice > Application Colors. This gray background does not show when you print

the file or export to PDF.

Keyboard shortcuts for fields

Here are some handy keyboard shortcuts to use when working with fields:

Ctrl+F2 Open the Fields dialog.

Ctrl+F8 Turn field shadings on or off.

Ctrl+F9 Show or hide field names.

F9 Update fields.

Quick and easy field entry

To quickly insert common fields into your document, choose Insert > Page Number or Insert >

Field from the Menu bar and selecting the required field from the list.

Figure 378: Inserting common fields

Using document properties to hold metadata and information

that changes

The Properties dialog (File > Properties) for a document has seven tabs. The information on the

General page and the Statistics page is generated by the program. Some information (the name of

the person on the Created and Modified lines of the General page) is derived from the User Data

page in Tools > Options > LibreOffice. The options on the Font and Security pages are

discussed elsewhere in this book. CMIS Properties are outside the scope of this book.

Chapter 17 Fields | 373

Use the Description and Custom Properties pages to hold:

•Metadata to assist in classifying, sorting, storing, and retrieving documents. Some of this

metadata is exported to the closest equivalent in HTML and PDF; some fields have no

equivalent and are not exported.

•Information that changes. You can store data for use in fields in your document; for

example, the title of the document, contact information for a project participant, or the name

of a product might change during the course of a project.

This dialog can be used in a template, where the field names can serve as reminders to writers of

information they need to include. (Placeholders can serve a similar function within the text; see

page 389.)

You can return to this dialog at any time and change the information you entered. When you do so,

all of the references to that information will change wherever they appear in the document. For

example, on the Description page (Figure 379) you might need to change the contents of the Title

field from the draft title to the production title.

Figure 379: The Description page of the document’s Properties dialog

Use the Custom Properties page (Figure 380) to store information that does not fit into the fields

supplied on the other pages of this dialog.

Figure 380: Custom Properties page, showing drop-down lists of names and types

When the Custom Properties page is first opened in a new document, it may be blank. If the new

document is based on a template, this page may contain fields.

Click the Add Property button in the lower right of the page (not shown in illustration) to insert a

row of boxes where you can enter your custom properties.

•The Name box includes a drop-down list of typical choices; scroll down to see all the

choices. If none of the choices meet your needs, you can type a new name into the box.

•In the Type column, you can choose from Text, Date+Time, Date, Duration, Number, or Yes/

no for each field. You cannot create new types.

•In the Value column, type or select what you want to appear in the document where this

field is used. Choices may be limited to specific data types depending on the selection in

the Type column; for example, if the Type selection is Date, the Value for that property is

limited to a date.

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To remove a custom property, click the button at the end of the row.

Tip

To change the format of the Date value, go to Tools > Options > Language Settings

> Languages and change the Locale setting.

Using other fields to hold information that changes

One way that people use fields is to hold information that is likely to change during the course of a

project. For example, the name of a manager, a product, or even your entire company may

change. If you have inserted the changeable information as fields, you can change the information

in one place, and it will automatically change in all the places where that field occurs.

Writer provides several places where you can store the information referred to by a field. We will

look at some of them here.

Seven document properties (Date, Time, Page Number, Page Count, Subject, Title, and Author)

are on the Insert > Field menu (Figure 378). To insert one of these fields, click it in the menu.

Some of these fields get their information from the Document Properties dialog (Figure 379.)

Other document properties are on the DocInformation and Document pages of the Fields dialog

(Figures 381 and 382), reached by choosing Insert > Field > More Fields or pressing Ctrl+F2.

The Custom item in the Type list on the DocInformation page is derived from the Custom

Properties page of the Document Properties dialog (Figure 380); it does not appear on the list if no

custom properties have been defined.

Figure 381: Inserting a Date Modified field using the DocInformation page of the

Fields dialog

Chapter 17 Fields | 375

Figure 382: Inserting a File name field using the Document page of the Fields dialog

Some of these items are picked up from the User Data page of the Tools > Options > LibreOffice

dialog, so make sure the information on that page is correct.

To insert one of these fields, select it in the Type list and then select from the Select and Format

lists if choices appear. Finally, click Insert.

Tip

Although these fields are often used to hold information that changes, you can make

the content unchangeable by selecting the Fixed content option (visible in Figure 381,

lower right) when inserting the field. If necessary, you can come back to this dialog

later and deselect this option to make the field variable again. For example, if you use

a field to insert the creation date of a document, you do not want that date to change.

Using AutoText to insert often-used fields

If you use the same fields often, you can use AutoText as a quick and easy way to insert them. To

define an AutoText entry for a field:

1) Insert a field into your document, as described previously.

2) Select the field you inserted, and then choose Tools > AutoText (or press Ctrl+F3).

3) On the AutoText dialog (Figure 383), choose the group where this new entry will be stored

(in this example, My AutoText), type a name for the entry, and change the suggested

shortcut if you wish.

4) Click the AutoText button and click New to have the entry inserted as a field. Do not

choose New (text only) because the AutoText entry will be plain text, not a field. (The New

selections do not appear until you have selected a group and typed a name for the entry.)

5) Click Close to close the AutoText dialog.

When you want to insert this field at the cursor position, type the shortcut and press F3.

Defining your own numbering sequences

You may want to define your own numbering sequences to use in situations where you do not

always want the number at the start of the paragraph, or where you want more control than the

built-in numbering choices give you, or where list styles don’t do what you want.

This topic describes how to create and use a numbering sequence, using a number range variable

field. The example would be better done with a list style, but it illustrates the technique.

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Figure 383: Creating a new AutoText entry

Create a number range variable

To create a number range variable using Arabic (1 2 3) numbers:

1) Place the insertion point in a blank paragraph in your document.

2) Choose Insert > Field > More Fields or press Ctrl+F2, then select the Variables page

(Figure 384).

Figure 384: Defining a number range variable

3) In the Type list, select Number range. In the Format list, select Arabic (1 2 3). Type

whatever you want in the Name field. (We have used Step in this example.)

Chapter 17 Fields | 377

4) Click Insert. The name of the variable (Step) now appears in the Selection list, and a

number field (showing 1) appears at the insertion point in your document. The Fields dialog

remains open.

5) If you click several more times on the Insert button in the Fields dialog, the numbers 2, 3,

4, and so on will appear in the document.

Now you may want to change the Step sequence to a different number, greater or less than the

current value, so you can use the same sequence name more than once in your document (for

example, to begin each set of instructions). To do that, you need to insert a new field of the same

name, while instructing LibreOffice to force the value to the new choice.

1) Open the Fields dialog to the Variables page. Make sure the variable name Step appears in

the Name box.

2) In the Value box, type 1 (we will illustrate a numbering restart here, but any number will

work), as shown in Figure 385. Click Insert.

3) To continue with the normal sequence (that is, to have the next Step value be 2), you need

to delete the contents of the Value box after inserting at step 2.

Figure 385: Defining a field to restart a number range variable

Use AutoText to insert a number range field

To avoid doing all of that every time you want to put in a Step number, create two AutoText entries,

one for the Step (Value=1) field (call it Step1, for example) and one for the Step = Step+1 field

(StepNext). Then insert the fields in the same way you would insert any other AutoText. See “Using

AutoText to insert often-used fields” on page 376.

You can create similar fields for substeps or other sequences that you want to be numbered with

letters (a, b, c), Roman numerals (i, ii, iii), or some other sequence. In the Fields dialog, choose the

required format in the Format list when creating the field codes.

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Tip

If a user-defined variable is not in use in the document, the X icon next to the Value

box is active. You can delete the variable by clicking this icon. To remove a variable

that is used in the current document, first delete from the document all fields using that

variable, and then remove the variable from the list.

Using automatic cross-references

If you type in cross-references to other parts of the document, those references can easily get out

of date if you reword a heading, add or remove figures, or reorganize topics. Replace any typed

cross-references with automatic ones and, when you update fields, all the references will update

automatically to show the current wording or page numbers.

Tip

Some people use Writer’s Hyperlink feature for cross-references. However, the visible

text of the hyperlink does not change if you change the text of the item to which it links.

For that reason, you are advised to use cross-references in most situations. The

exception is when the document is to be saved as HTML; cross-references do not

become hyperlinks in an HTML document, so you need to use hyperlinks in the Writer

document.

The Cross-references page of the Fields dialog (Figure 386) lists some items, such as headings,

numbered paragraphs, and bookmarks. If figure captions, table captions, user-defined number

range variables, and some other items have been defined in a document, that type also appears in

the list.

Figure 386: The Cross-references page of the Fields dialog

Chapter 17 Fields | 379

Inserting cross-references

To insert a cross-reference to a heading, figure, or other item shown on the Cross-references page:

1) Place the cursor where you want the cross-reference to appear in the document.

2) If the Fields dialog is not open, choose Insert > Cross Reference or press Ctrl+F2. On the

Cross-references page (Figure 386), in the Type list, click the type of item you are

referencing (for example, Heading or Figure).

3) You can leave this page open while you insert many cross-references.

4) Click the required item in the Selection list, which shows both automatically created entries

(for example Headings) as well as user-defined references (for example bookmarks).

5) In the Insert reference to list, choose the type of reference required. The choices vary with

the item being referenced.

For headings, usually you will choose Reference (to insert the full text of the heading) or

Page (to insert the number of the page the heading is on).

For figures, you will usually choose Category and Number (to insert the word “Figure” and

its number), Reference (to insert the word “Figure” with its number and the full text of the

caption), Page (to insert the number of the page the figure is on), or Numbering (to insert

only the figure number).

6) Click Insert.

For a full list of the reference formats available, and their use, consult the Help.

Available formats

For all types of reference, you can select from the following formats:

•Page: the page number of the target.

•Chapter: the number of the chapter where the referenced target is located.

•Reference: the full text set as reference.

•Above/Below: the word above or below depending on the position of the field relative to

the referenced target.

•As Page Style: similar to Page, the page number where the reference is, but using the

formatting specified in the page style. This is very useful when putting a reference to a page

in the front matter where roman numerals are usually employed.

For headings or numbered paragraphs, two additional options are available:

•Number (no context): inserts only the number of the heading or of the numbered

paragraph. For example, if referencing a numbered item 2.4, it inserts 4.

•Number (full context): inserts the full number including higher hierarchical levels. For

example, if referencing a numbered item 2.4, the full numbering (2.4) is inserted.

For objects inserted with captions such as a table or a figure, you can choose:

•Category and Number: inserts both the category and number of the referenced object (for

example, Figure 6). This is the most used formatting for figures and tables.

•Caption Text: inserts the full caption of the referenced object. For example, Figure 6: This

is an example figure.

•Numbering: inserts the sequential number of the referenced object, without the category

(for example, if referencing Table 2, the field will contain only the number 2).

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Preparing items as targets for cross-referencing

Occasionally you might want to insert a cross-reference to something that is not automatically

shown on the Cross-references page: an illustration without a caption or an item in a bullet list, for

example. Before you can insert a cross-reference to such an item, you must prepare the item as a

target to be referenced. To do this, you can either use bookmarks or set references.

After a target has been defined, you can cross-reference to it as described on page 380.

Using bookmarks

Bookmarks are listed in the Navigator and can be accessed directly from there. In HTML

documents, bookmarks are converted to anchors that you can jump to using a hyperlink.

1) Select the text you want to bookmark, or click in the required place in the text. Choose

Insert > Bookmark.

2) On the Insert Bookmark dialog, the larger box lists any previously defined bookmarks. Type

a name for this bookmark in the top box. Click OK.

Setting references

1) Choose Insert > Cross reference or press Ctrl+F2.

2) On the Cross-references page of the Fields dialog (Figure 387), select Set Reference in

the Type list. The Selection list shows any references that have been defined. This dialog

can remain open while you set several items as references.

Figure 387: Setting text to be used as a target for a cross-reference

3) Click in the document and highlight the text of the first item to set as a target for a cross-

reference. Click on the Fields dialog. The text of the item will appear in the Value box in the

lower right. In the Name box, type some text by which you can identify this item.

4) Click Insert. The text you typed in the Name box now appears in the Selection list.

Tip

See Chapter 16 for how to create cross-references to other subdocuments in a master

document.

Chapter 17 Fields | 381

Using fields in headers and footers

You may want to use fields like statistics while writing, and replace them with others like Chapter

when the document is ready for use.

You can insert fields into headers or footers, using techniques described earlier in this chapter:

•To insert a page number, document title, author, creation date and time, current date and

time, or total page count field, use Document Properties (see page 373) or choose Insert >

Field > [item] from the Menu bar.

•To insert a cross-reference to a bookmark, heading, or other item, use Insert > Field >

More Fields > Cross-references.

Figure 388: Inserting the current chapter name and number into your document

•If you have used Heading 1 for your chapter titles, you can use a Document field to insert

the current chapter title, so the header or footer contents change from one chapter to the

next. See Figure 388. (Writer calls chapter titles Chapter names.) If you have used outline

numbering on your Heading 1, you can choose whether to include these numbers in the

field (Chapter number and name). Use Insert > Field > More Fields > Document.

•You can insert cross-references to other heading levels by specifying a value in the Level

box in the lower right of the Document page of the Fields dialog (Figure 388). That is,

Level 1 = Heading 1, Level 2 = Heading 2, and so on.

Note

A cross-reference field in the header of a page picks up the first heading of that level on

the page, and a field in the footer picks up the last heading of that level on the page.

•To include the chapter number with the page number, position the cursor just before the

Page field you inserted. On the Document page of the Fields dialog, select Chapter in the

Type column and Chapter number without separator in the Format column. Click Insert.

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Go to the header or footer where you inserted this field and type the character you want to

appear between the chapter number and the page number; for example, a period or a

dash.

The table of contents will not automatically pick up these chapter numbers, so you need to

make a change on the Entries page of the Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography dialog,

as described in Chapter 15.

•You can add a page count to the footer; for example, Page 9 of 12. Type the word Page

and a space in front of the Page field. Type a space, the word of, and a space after the

Page field. Then choose Insert > Field > Page Count.

Developing conditional content

Conditional content is text and graphics that are included or excluded from a document depending

on a condition you specify.

A simple example is a reminder letter for an overdue account. The first and second reminders

might have a subject line of “Reminder Notice”, but the third reminder letter might have the subject

“Final Notice” and a different final paragraph.

A more complex example is a software manual for a product that comes in two versions, Pro and

Lite. Both product versions have much in common, but the Pro version includes some features that

are not in the Lite version. If you use conditional content, you can maintain one file containing

information for both versions and print (or create online help) customized for each version. You do

not have to maintain two sets of the information that is the same for both versions, so you will not

forget to update both versions when something changes.

Tip

In some cases, the same effect can be obtained by hiding a paragraph or character

style; see Chapter 9, Working with Styles.

Choose the types of conditional content to use

This section describes several Writer features that can help you design and maintain conditional

content. You can use one or any combination of these features in the same document.

Conditional text

With conditional text, you can have two alternative texts (a word, phrase, or sentence). One

text will be displayed and printed if the condition you specify is met, and the other will be

displayed and printed if the condition is not met. You cannot include graphics or edit the text

except in the field dialog (not in the body of the document). You also cannot format part of the

text (for example, bolding one word but not the others), but you can format the field to affect

all of the field contents (for example, bolding all of the words). You cannot include a cross-

reference or other field in the text.

Hidden text

With hidden text (a word, phrase, or sentence), you have only two choices: show or hide. If

the condition you specify is met, the text is hidden; if the condition is not met, the text is

displayed. The disadvantages are the same as for conditional text: you cannot include

graphics, edit the text in the body of the document, format part of the text, or include a field.

Hidden paragraphs

Hidden paragraphs are like any other paragraphs, but you can specify a condition under

which the paragraph is not displayed or printed. A blank paragraph can also be hidden, for

example if a database field has no content for the current record. This is very useful when

merging an address into a letter: if you allow two lines for the street address and the

Chapter 17 Fields | 383

database record uses only one line, you can prevent the blank line from appearing in your

document. You can include graphics, edit the text in the body of the document, format any

part of the text, and include fields.

Hidden sections

Hidden sections are like hidden paragraphs, but they can include more than one paragraph,

for example, a heading plus one or more paragraphs. However, a section cannot contain less

than a paragraph, so you cannot use this method for single words or phrases. The contents

of a hidden section behave just like the contents of any other part of the document, but you

can specify a condition under which the section is not displayed or printed. In addition, you

can password protect a section.

Plan your conditional content

Conditions are what programmers call logical expressions. You must formulate a logical expression

for each condition because a condition is always either true (met) or false (not met). You can use

the same condition in many places in your document, for different types of conditional content.

To make conditional content work, you need to:

1) Choose or define a variable.

2) Define a logical expression (condition) involving the selected variable.

Choose or define a variable

You can use the following variables in your condition:

•User-defined variables.

•Predefined LibreOffice variables, which use statistical values from the document properties.

•User data.

•Database field contents—for example from your address book.

You cannot use internal variables (for example, page number, or chapter name) to formulate

conditions.

The examples in this chapter use user-defined variables.

Define a logical expression (condition) involving the variable

The condition compares a specified fixed value with the contents of a variable or database field.

To formulate a condition, use the same elements as you would to create a formula: operators,

mathematical and statistical functions, number formats, variables, and constants. The possible

operators, and many examples of use, are given in the Help; look in the index under Defining

Conditions and conditional. You can define quite complex expressions, but in most cases a simple

condition will do the job.

Create the variable

To create the variable, you can use choices found on the DocInformation, Variables, and Database

pages of the Fields dialog.

DocInformation fields

“Using document properties to hold metadata and information that changes” on page 373

described how to set up a custom document property. You can use that document property as the

variable in your condition statement.

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User-defined variable field

To set up a variable or user field:

1) Place the cursor where you want the field to be inserted.

2) On the Fields dialog, select the Variables page.

Figure 389: Defining a variable to use with conditional content

3) Select Set variable in the Type list and Text in the Format list. Type a name for the variable

in the Name box, and a value in the Value box. I have chosen ProLite for the name (to

remind me that this variable is related to the two product versions), and I set the value as

Lite because I can remember “If it is the Lite version, then this text should be hidden.”

4) Select Invisible so the field does not show in the document. Click Insert, then click Close.

5) A small gray mark will appear where you inserted the field. We will come back to this later.

Tip

Because the gray mark is so small, you may have trouble finding it again, especially if

you have other fields in the document. You may prefer to leave the variable field visible

while you work, and change it to invisible just before you create final copy.

At any time, you can place the insertion point just before the field and choose Edit >

Fields or right-click the field and choose Fields on the context menu. On the Edit

Fields dialog (Figure 394), select or deselect Invisible.

Apply the condition to the content

Now that you have defined the variable, you can use it in a condition statement. This topic

describes some of the possibilities.

Chapter 17 Fields | 385

Conditional text

First, let us set up some conditional text that will insert the words Great Product Lite into the Lite

version and Great Product Pro into the Pro version of the manual. You would use this field

whenever you want to mention the name of the product.

1) Place the cursor where you want one of these phrases to appear. (You can move or delete

it later, if you wish.)

2) On the Functions page of the Fields dialog, select Conditional text in the Type list.

3) As shown in Figure 390, type ProLite EQ "Lite" in the Condition box, Great

Product Lite in the Then box, and Great Product Pro in the Else box.

Note

These fields are case-sensitive, and quotation marks are required around a text value

such as Lite.

4) Click Insert to insert the field, then click Close. You should see Great Product Lite in the

text.

Figure 390: Inserting conditional text

Tip

If you want to insert this field into your text in many places (as you probably would for

a product name), create an AutoText entry for it. See “Using AutoText to insert often-

used fields” on page 376 for instructions.

Hidden text

You might use hidden text for words or short phrases that describe features of Great Product Pro

that are not found in the Lite version. You can reuse the same field in several places in the

document—for example, by copying and pasting it.

To create a hidden text field:

1) On the Functions page of the Fields dialog, select Hidden text in the Type list, as shown in

Figure 391.

386 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 391: Creating a condition for hidden text

2) Type ProLite EQ "Lite" in the Condition box and type the required text in the Hidden

text box. Remember, this is the text that is hidden if the condition is true.

3) Click Insert to create and insert the field.

Hidden paragraphs

A conditional paragraph is hidden if the condition is true. To hide a paragraph:

1) Click in the paragraph to be hidden.

2) On the Functions page (Figure 392) of the Fields dialog, select Hidden paragraph in the

Type list.

3) For this example, type ProLite EQ "Lite" in the Condition box.

4) Click Insert to create and insert the field. If an extra paragraph mark appears, delete it.

Figure 392: Creating a condition for a a hidden paragraph

To show all hidden paragraphs so you can edit them, do one of the following:

•Choose View > Hidden Paragraphs from the menu bar, so it is checked.

•On the Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Formatting Aids page, select the Fields:

Hidden paragraphs option.

•Double-click in front of the variable that you used to define the condition for hiding the

paragraph, and enter a different value for the variable.

Hidden sections

A conditional section is hidden if the condition is true. To create a conditional section:

1) Select the text that you want to be included in the conditional section. (You can edit this text

later, just as you can edit any other text.)

Chapter 17 Fields | 387

2) Choose Insert > Section. On the Insert Section dialog (Figure 393), select the Section tab,

then select Hide and enter the condition in the With Condition box. You can also give the

section a name, if you wish. This is strongly recommended, so you can find it again easily if

you have several sections in your document.

3) Click Insert to insert the section into your document.

To show a hidden section so you can edit it:

1) Choose Format > Sections.

2) On the Edit Sections dialog (similar to the Insert Section dialog), select the section from the

list.

3) Deselect Hide, and then click OK. You can now edit the contents of the section. Afterwards,

you can choose Format > Sections and select Hide to hide the section again.

Figure 393: Creating a section to be hidden when a specified condition is met

To make the hidden section a normal part of the document (that is, to remove the section markers,

but not the contents of the section):

1) Show the hidden section, as described above.

2) On the Edit Sections dialog, select the section from the list.

3) Click Remove. The contents of the section are now a normal part of the document.

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Change the value of the variable

To change the value of the variable between Lite and Pro:

1) Find the variable field you created in “Choose or define a variable” on page 384.

2) Click once just in front of this field, then right-click and click Fields on the context menu.

3) On the Edit Fields dialog (Figure 394), change the value of the variable to Pro.

4) If you have set fields to update automatically, all of the conditional and hidden text that uses

this variable as a condition will change.

Tip

Conditional text and hidden text can only be edited in the Edit Fields dialog.

Figure 394: Changing the value of the variable

Tip

To turn on automatic updating of fields, choose Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer

> General, and select Fields under Update: Automatically. Lite

Using placeholder fields

A placeholder field prompts you to enter something (text, a table, a frame, an image, or an object).

To insert a placeholder field into a document:

1) On the Functions page of the Fields dialog, select Placeholder in the Type column and

select what the placeholder is for in the Format column.

2) In the Placeholder box, type the text that you want to appear in the placeholder field.

3) In the Reference box, type the text that you want to display as a help tip when you rest the

mouse pointer over the field.

Figure 395 shows the results of inserting a placeholder field for an image.

Chapter 17 Fields | 389

Figure 395: Inserting a placeholder field

Because the <Logo> field is an Image placeholder, when you click the field in the document, the

Insert Image dialog opens, prompting you to select an image. When you select an image and click

Open, the image replaces the field in the document.

Similarly, clicking on a Table placeholder field opens the Insert Table dialog, clicking on a Frame

placeholder field opens the Frame dialog, and clicking on an Object placeholder field opens the

Insert OLE Object dialog. The text placeholder field is different: you simply click it and type some

text in the Placeholder box, which replaces the field.

Using other fields

Other uses of fields, including database fields, are described in various chapters of this book.

LibreOffice provides many other fields that you may find useful, but they are too specialized to

cover in this book. Please refer to the Help system for details, instructions, and examples.

390 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Chapter 18

Forms

Introduction

This chapter covers the use of interactive forms within Writer documents. A form has sections that

are not to be edited, and other sections that are designed for the reader to make changes. For

example, a questionnaire has an introduction and questions (which do not change) and spaces for

the reader to enter answers.

Writer provides several ways to enter information into a form, including check boxes, option

buttons, text boxes, pull-down lists, and other items, collectively known as form controls.

LibreOffice forms include a lot of features; not everything is described here. Notable omissions are

using forms in HTML documents and writing macros to link to form controls.

LibreOffice Calc, Impress, and Draw also support forms in much the same way that Writer does.

When to use forms

Forms are used in three ways:

•To create a simple document for the recipient to complete, such as a questionnaire sent out

to a group of people who fill it in and return it.

•To link into a database or data source and allow the user to enter information. Someone in

a sales department might enter purchasers’ information into a database using a form.

•To view information held in a database or data source. A librarian might call up information

about books.

Using forms to access a database offers a fast and easy way to build complex graphical front ends.

Your form can include not only the fields that link to the data source, but also text, graphics, tables,

drawings and other elements.

A typical way to use a simple form is:

1) You design the form, then save it.

2) You send the form to others (for example, by email).

3) They fill in the form, save it, and send it back to you.

4) You open the form and see what their answers are.

Tip

By using a data source, or setting a form to update over the web, you can gather data

automatically. However, those methods are more complex and are not covered in this

book.

Alternatives to using forms in Writer

LibreOffice Base provides an alternative way to access a data source. There are a lot of similarities

between forms in Base and Writer, but one may be better for a particular task than the other. Base

is appropriate only if the form accesses a data source; you would not use it for simple forms.

Creating a simple form

This section explains how to create a simple form without any links to a data source or database

and without advanced customization.

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Create a document

There is nothing special to be done when creating a document to use as a form, though it’s a good

idea to make sure that the grid is enabled (View > Grid and Helplines) so that controls can be

positioned accurately.

Create a new Writer document with File > New > Text document.

Open the form toolbars

Two toolbars control form creation: Form Controls and Form Design. Select View > Toolbars >

Form Controls and View > Toolbars > Form Design to show them both. The Form Controls

toolbar has an icon for each of the most commonly used types of control.

You can also open the Form Design toolbar from the Form Controls toolbar. Some of the less

commonly used controls are on a third toolbar (More Controls) also opened from the Form Controls

toolbar.

Tip

Many of these controls are also located on the Form menu.

You can dock these toolbars in different places on the Writer window, or leave them floating. Figure

396 shows the three toolbars floating. When they are floating, you can also change them from

vertical to horizontal and change the number of tools on a row; to make these changes, drag a

corner of the toolbar.

See “Form controls reference” on page 395 for descriptions of the tools on these toolbars.

Figure 396: The Form Control, More Controls, and Form Design Toolbars

Activate design mode

Click the Design Mode On/Off icon on the Form Controls toolbar to turn design mode on. (Click it

again to turn it off.) This activates or deactivates the icons for inserting form controls and selects

controls for editing.

When design mode is off, the form behaves as it would for the end user. Buttons can be pressed,

check boxes selected, list items selected, and so on.

Insert form controls

1) To insert a form control into the document, click the control’s icon to select it. The mouse

pointer changes to look like this:

2) Click in the document where you want the control to appear. (You can move it later.)

Chapter 18 Forms | 393

3) Hold the left mouse button down and drag the control to size it. Some controls have a fixed

size symbol followed by the name of the control (for example, Check Box or Option Button).

4) The control icon remains active, so you can insert several controls of the same type without

needing to go back to the toolbar.

5) To change to another tool, click its icon on the toolbar.

6) To stop inserting controls, click the Select icon on the Form Controls toolbar, or click any of

the controls you have just inserted. The mouse pointer changes back to its normal

appearance.

Tip

To make a form control square, hold down the Shift key when creating it. To keep the

proportions of an existing control the same, hold down Shift when resizing it.

Configure controls

After inserting the controls, you need to configure them to look and behave as you want. Right-click

a form control within the document and select Control from the context menu to open the

Properties dialog for the selected control. Double-clicking on a form control also opens this dialog.

The Properties dialog has three pages: General, Data, and Events. For simple forms, only the

General page is needed. Use this page to set the look and feel of the control. See “Configure form

controls” on page 399 and “Form control formatting options” on page 409 for more information, and

the descriptions in the Help for details. Configuration for use with a database is discussed in “Click

OK to exit the Registered databases dialog.” on page 405.

Figure 397: Example of the Properties dialog for a form control

The fields on this dialog vary with the type of control.

To see additional fields, use the scroll bar or enlarge the dialog.

Use the form

To use the form, leave design mode by clicking the Design Mode On/Off icon to deactivate it.

Save the form document.

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Form controls reference

The icons you see in Writer may differ from the ones shown here.

Form Control toolbar

Select Selects a form control to perform some other action on it.

Design mode on/off Toggles between design mode on (to edit forms) and design mode off

(to use forms).

Control Launches form control properties dialog. This dialog can be kept open

as different controls are selected.

Form Launches form properties dialog, controlling properties for the form as

a whole, such as which data source it connects to.

Check Box A box that can be selected or deselected on the form. You can label

the box.

Text Box A control to create a box into which the form’s user can type any text.

Formatted Field

A control allowing numeric formatting options. For example, you can

set maximum and minimum values for the number entered, or the

number type (decimal places, scientific, currency).

Push Button Creates a button that can be linked to a macro. The label is the name

that appears on the button.

Option Button

Creates an option button (also known as a radio button). When

multiple buttons are grouped together, only one can be selected at a

time. The easiest way to group multiple buttons is to use the Group

Box icon on the More Controls toolbar, with wizards enabled.

List Box

Creates a list of options as a pull-down menu that the user can

choose from. If the form is linked to a data source and wizards are on,

creating a list box launches the List Box Wizard.

If the form is not linked to a data source, turn wizards off and create

an empty list box. Then in the List Entries field on the General tab,

enter the options you want to appear on the list.

Combo Box

As with a List Box, you set up a list of choices. In addition, a panel at

the top either displays the choice made or allows the form user to type

in something else. This works the same as the List Box.

Label Field

A text label. The difference between this and just typing on the page is

that, as a control, you can link a label field to macros so, for example,

something happens when the mouse passes over it or clicks on it.

More Controls Launches the More Controls toolbar.

Form Design Launches the Form Design toolbar, which can also be opened with

View > Toolbars > Form Design.

Wizards On/Off

Some form controls (List Box and Combo Box) have optional wizards.

If you do not want the wizard to launch when you create one of these

controls, use the Wizards On/Off icon to switch wizards off.

Chapter 18 Forms | 395

More Controls toolbar

Spin Button

Allows form users to choose a number by cycling through the list of

numbers. You can specify maximum, minimum, default, and the step

between numbers.

This control is not commonly used in Writer.

Scrollbar Creates a scrollbar, with a number of options to define the exact

appearance. This control is not commonly used in Writer.

Image Button

Behaves exactly like a push button, but displays as an image. Choose

the image in the Graphics option on the General tab in the Control

Properties dialog.

Image Control

Only useful when the form is connected to a data source and a field in

the data source exists that can hold images. You can add new images

to the database or retrieve and display images from it.

Date Field

Stores a date. You need to configure the earliest and latest dates the

field will accept, the default date, and the date format. You can add a

spinner.

Time Field Works like a date field but specifies a time.

File Selection

Allows a user to select a file, either by typing the path and name

directly or by clicking on a Browse button and choosing the file from a

dialog.

Numeric Field Displays a number. You need to specify formatting, maximum,

minimum and default values. You can add a spinner.

Currency Field Works like a numeric field; additionally you can add a currency

symbol.

Pattern Field

Useful when the form links into a data source. Specify an Edit Mask to

restrict what a user can enter into the field. Specify a Literal Mask to

restrict which data is displayed from the data source.

Group Box

Group boxes have two different uses.

If wizards are on, creating a group box launches the Group Element

wizard. This creates a group of options buttons (in which only one

may be selected at a time). In most cases, using a group box is the

best way to create a set of option buttons.

If wizards are off, a group box is simply a visual box to group together

different controls. It has no effect on the way the controls operate.

Table Control

Table controls are only useful with a data source. If no data source is

specified, you will be prompted to choose one in the Table Element

Wizard. You then pick the fields to display and, when design mode is

off, the data appears in the table. The table also includes controls to

step through the records.

Records can be added, deleted, and modified in the table.

Navigation Bar

A navigation bar is the same as the Form Navigation toolbar (View >

Toolbars > Form Navigation), but can be placed anywhere in the

document and be resized.

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Form Design toolbar

Select Selects a form control to perform an action on it.

Design mode on/off Toggles between design mode on (to edit forms) and design mode off

(to use forms).

Control Launches form control properties dialog. This dialog can be kept

open whiles different controls are selected.

Form Launches form properties dialog, which controls properties for the

form as a whole, such as which data source it connects to.

Form Navigator

Displays all the forms and controls in the current document and

allows you to edit and delete them easily.

If you use the Form Navigator, give your controls names (in the

properties dialog) you can tell which is which in the navigator.

Add Field

Useful only if you have specified a data source for the form.

Otherwise, an empty box opens.

If you have specified a data source, Add Field opens a list of all the

fields in the specified table, which you can then drag and drop onto

the page. The fields are placed on the page with the name of the field

before them.

This is a quick and easy way to create a form from a data source.

Activation Order

Allows you to specify the order in which focus shifts between

controls. You can test the order by leaving design mode and using

Tab to switch between the controls.

Open in Design Mode Opens the current form in design mode (to edit the form rather than

entering data into it).

Automatic Control

Focus If activated, focus is set to the first form control.

Position and Size

Launches the Position and Size dialog, where you can type precise

values, rather than dragging the control. You can also lock the size or

position, so they do not get changed accidentally. For some controls,

you can rotate and set the slant and corner radius.

Change Anchor

Just as with a frame, any form control can be anchored to page,

paragraph, or character and also anchored as a character (meaning

that it behaves like any other character on the page).

Alignment

Disabled unless the control is anchored as a character. You can align

a control in different ways, for example so the top of the control lines

up with the top of the text or the bottom lines up with the bottom of

the text.

Display Grid Displays a grid of dots on the page, to help you line up controls.

Snap to Grid When a control is brought close to a grid point or line, it will snap to

the grid. This makes it is easier to line up controls.

Guides when Moving When a control is being moved, lines extend from the control

horizontally and vertically to help you position it accurately.

Chapter 18 Forms | 397

Example: a simple form

Create the document

Open a new document (File > New > Text Document). It is a good idea to sketch the final result to

use as a guide when designing the form, although it can easily be changed later.

Figure 398: Initial document without form controls

Add form controls

The next step is to add the form controls to the document. We will have four controls:

•Name is a text box.

•Gender is three option buttons: male, female, or other; user can select one.

•Favorite shape is a list of options.

•All shapes you like is a series of check boxes.

To add these controls:

1) Select View > Toolbars > Form Controls to open the Form Control toolbar.

2) If the tools are not active, click the Design Mode On/Off icon to activate them.

3) Click the Text Box icon, then click in the document and drag the shape of the Name text

box to approximately the size you want. Drag it to line up with the Name: label.

4) Make sure Wizards On/Off is off. Click the Option Button icon. Click and drag to create

three option buttons near the Gender: label in the document. We will configure these in the

next section.

5) Click the List Box icon and draw a list box by Favourite Shape: in the document. This will

just be an empty pane for now.

6) Click the Check Box icon and create four check boxes by All shapes you like, side by side

across the page.

Your document should now look something like Figure 399.

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Figure 399: Document with form controls

Configure form controls

No further configuration is required for the Name field.

For the option buttons, do this:

1) Be sure design mode is on. Right-click the first option button and click Control on the

context menu. In the Properties dialog (Figure 400), on the General tab, type Male in the

Label field and Gender in the Group name field.

2) Repeat for the other two options, using Female and Other, respectively, for the Label and

Gender for the Group name. (Grouping options allows only one to be selected at a time.)

Figure 400: Specifying label and group names for an option button

To add the list of choices to the the list box, do this:

1) Be sure Design Mode is on and Wizards are off. Double-click the List Box control to open

the control’s Properties dialog (Figure 401). Select the General tab.

Chapter 18 Forms | 399

2) Scroll down to find the List Entries text input box. Type the names of the shapes (Circle,

Triangle, Square, Pentagon) one at a time. After each, press Shift+Enter. You should end

up with a line saying "Circle";"Triangle";"Square";"Pentagon".

Figure 401: Properties dialog for a list box

To give the check boxes names (instead of Check Box, Check Box 2, and so forth):

1) Double-click the first Check Box. The Properties dialog stays open but changes to show the

properties for the check box.

2) Change the text in the Label field to Circle and press Enter. The cursor moves to the next

line, and the label on the check box in the document changes immediately.

Figure 402: Top part of Properties dialog for a check box

3) Click each of the other three check boxes in turn. Change the text in the Label text input

box in the Properties dialog to Triangle, Square, and Pentagon in turn.

4) Close the Properties dialog.

5) Turn design mode off and close the two Controls toolbars.

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You have now completed the form, which should look something like Figure 403.

Figure 403: Completed form

Finishing touches

The form is complete, but you are free to make further changes to the document. If you plan to

send this out to other people to complete, you probably want to make the document read-only so

that users would be able to fill in the form but not make any other changes to the document.

To make the document read-only, select File > Properties, select the Security tab and enable

Open file read-only.

Note

If the document is read-only, anyone filling in the form will need to use File > Save as

to save the document.

Accessing data sources

The most common use for a form is to input information into a database. For example, you can

design a form that others can use to enter information into a contacts database. Because it is part

of a Writer document, the form can contain graphics, formatting, tables, and other elements to

make it look just the way you want. Modifying the form is as simple as editing a document.

LibreOffice can access numerous data sources. These include ODBC, MySQL, Oracle JDBC,

spreadsheets and text files. As a general rule, databases can be accessed for reading and writing;

other data sources (such as spreadsheets) are read-only.

Tip

To see the list of supported data source types for your operating system, choose File >

New > Database. On the first page of the Database Wizard (Figure 404), select

Connect to an existing database and then open the drop-down list.

Chapter 18 Forms | 401

Creating a database

Chapter 8, Getting Started with Base, in the Getting Started Guide covers in more detail how to

create a database. Below is a short guide to creating a very simple database.

1) Select File > New > Database to start the Database Wizard.

Figure 404: Database Wizard

2) Select Create a new database and click Next >>.

3) On the next page, select Yes, register the database for me and Open the database for

editing. Registering the database means that it can be accessed from other LibreOffice

components such as Writer and Calc. You need to do this if you want to link forms to it.

4) Click Finish and save your new database, giving it a name. Unlike other documents in

LibreOffice, databases must be saved when you first create them.

After saving the database, you should see the main Base window (Figure 405), which contains

three panels. The left-hand panel is Database, with icons for Tables, Queries, Forms and Reports.

The next step is to create a table:

1) Choose Tables in the left-hand column, then choose Create Table in Design View under

Tasks.

2) Use the Table Design window to tell Base which fields to create. We will have three input

data fields: Name, Address, and Telephone.

3) On the first line, enter under Field Name, ID, and set the Field Type to Integer [INTEGER].

In the box at the left of the line, right-click and select Primary Key, bringing up a key icon in

the box. In the Field Properties at the bottom of the window is an Auto Value option; change

this to Yes. Optionally, type Primary key in the Description column. See Figure 406.

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Figure 405: Main Base window

Caution

Setting up the Primary Key field with Auto Value set to Yes is a critical step. If this is

not done, the form you create later will be much trickier to use and may generate

errors for the user. It could even prevent the user from saving the records in the form.

Make sure you get this step right!

Figure 406: Setting a primary key

4) On the next three lines, enter under Field Name Name, Address and Telephone. Accept the

default Field Type of Text [VARCHAR] and leave Description blank.

5) Save the table (File > Save). You will be prompted to name it. The name can be anything

you like. Click OK.

6) Finally, close the table design window to return to the main Base window. If File > Save is

available, select it to save the whole database.

Chapter 18 Forms | 403

Figure 407: Database table design

Registering an existing data source

If you have an existing data source, such as a spreadsheet or database, you need to register it

with LibreOffice. An example of registering a spreadsheet as a data source is given in Chapter 14,

Mail Merge. To summarize:

1) Select File > New > Database to launch the Database Wizard.

2) Select Connect to an existing database and choose the type from the drop-down list.

3) Click Next >> and follow the instructions to select the database to register. The exact

process varies between different types of data source.

4) In Step 3: Save and proceed, ensure that Yes, register the database for me is selected.

Deselect Open the database for editing; you just need to register it, not edit it through Base.

Deregistering a data source

To remove a registered data source from LibreOffice so that it is no longer available for use, as for

example an obsolete address list, do the following:

1) Open the Data sources window (by selecting View > Data Sources from the Menu bar, or

by pressing F4, or by selecting the Data Sources icon on the Standard toolbar).

2) In the left pane, the Data source explorer, right-click a data source.

3) Select Registered databases from the context menu.

4) In the Registered databases dialog, select the data source to be removed.

5) Click Delete, then click Yes in the confirmation box which opens.

6) Repeat steps 4) and 5) as required.

7) Click OK to close the Registered databases dialog.

This does not delete the database from your system. It can be registered again using the methods

outlined below.

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Re-registering an existing data source

To re-register an existing database file (.odt) of addresses, do the following:

1) Open the Data sources window.

2) In the left pane, the Data source explorer, right-click a data source.

3) Select Registered databases from the context menu.

4) In the Registered databases dialog, click the New button.

5) In the Create Database Link dialog, click the Browse button, and navigate to the database

file location and select it. Click Open to return to the Create Database Link dialog.

6) Change the Registered name if required.

7) Click OK to exit this dialog.

8) Click OK to exit the Registered databases dialog.

Creating a form for data entry

Once a database is registered with LibreOffice, follow these steps to link a form to the data source:

1) Create a new document in Writer (File > New > Text Document).

2) Design your form, without putting in the actual fields (you can always change it later).

3) Show the Form Controls toolbar (View > Toolbars > Form Controls).

4) Click the Design Mode On/Off icon to put the document into design mode, if necessary.

With design mode off, most of the toolbar buttons are grayed out. If the Design Mode icon

is also grayed out, click the Select icon to activate it.

5) Click the Text Box icon. Click in the document and drag to create a text box for the first

form field (for example, Name, if you are linking to the database created above).

6) Click the Text Box icon again and drag the mouse to draw another field. Additional fields, of

any type, can be added in the same way (click and drag).

So far you have followed the same steps used before when creating your first form. To link the form

with the data source you registered:

1) Click the Form icon in the Form Controls toolbar, or right-click any of the fields you inserted

and select Form, to open the Form Properties dialog (Figure 408).

Figure 408: Form properties, connecting to a data source

Chapter 18 Forms | 405

2) In the Form Properties dialog, choose the Data tab.

–Set Data Source to be the data source you registered.

–Set Content Type to be Table.

–Set Content to be the name of the table you want to access.

–Close the dialog.

3) For each form control in turn, click the control to select it (small green boxes appear around

it), then launch the Properties dialog: either right-click and select Control or click the

Control icon on the Form Controls toolbar.

4) In the Properties dialog, click the Data tab (Figure 409). If you set up the form correctly, the

Data Field option will contain a list of the different fields in the data source (for example,

Name, Address and Telephone). Select the field you want.

Figure 409: Form control properties, Data tab

5) Repeat for each control in turn until every control that should be assigned to a field has

been assigned.

Caution

If you created a database in LibreOffice Base and your Primary Key field had Auto

Value set to Yes, that field does not need to be part of the form. If Auto Value was set

to No, you will have to include it and have your users enter a unique value into that

field whenever they make a new entry—not something that is recommended.

Entering data into a form

Once you have created a form and tied it to a database, use it to enter data into the database or

modify data already there:

1) Make sure that the form is not in design mode. (In the Form Controls toolbar, click the

Design Mode On/Off icon. If design mode is off, most of the buttons on the toolbar will be

grayed out.)

2) Make sure that the Form Navigation toolbar is on (View > Toolbars > Form Navigation).

This toolbar normally appears at the bottom of the workspace.

Figure 410: Form Navigation toolbar

3) If there is existing data in the data source, use the control buttons on the Form Navigation

toolbar to look at different records. To amend data in a record, edit the values in the form.

To submit the changes, press Enter with the cursor in the last field. The record is saved and

the next record is displayed.

4) If there is no data in the form, enter information by typing into the fields of the form. To

submit the new record, press Enter with the cursor in the last field.

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5) Other functions can be performed from the Form Navigation toolbar, including deleting a

record and adding a new record.

Note

If a user tries to fill in the form and receives the error “Attempt to insert null into a non-

nullable column”, then the form designer should go back to the database and confirm

that the Primary Key field has the Auto Value set to Yes. This error will prevent the

form user from saving the records.

Advanced form customization

Linking a macro to a form control

You can set any form control (for example, text box or button) to perform an action when triggered

by some event.

To assign a macro to an event:

1) Create the macro. See Chapter 13, Getting Started with Macros, in the Getting Started

Guide.

2) Be sure the form is in design mode. Right-click the form control, select Control and click

the Events tab (Figure 411).

Figure 411: Control properties, Events tab

3) Click the browse icon by any event to open the Assign action dialog (Figure 412).

4) Click the Macro button and select the macro from the list in the Macro Selector dialog (not

shown). You return to the Assign action dialog. Repeat as needed, then click OK to close

the dialog.

Chapter 18 Forms | 407

Figure 412: Assign action dialog

Macros can also be assigned to events relating to the form as a whole. To do this, right-click a form

control in the document, select Form and click the Events tab.

Read-only documents

Having created your form, you want whoever is using it to be able to access the information stored

in the database, or complete the form, without changing the layout. To do this, make the document

read-only by choosing File > Properties > Security and selecting Open file read-only.

Fine-tuning database access permissions

By default, when a database is accessed from a form, any changes can be made to it: records can

be added, deleted, and amended. You may not want that behavior. For example, you may want

users to be able only to add new records or to be prohibited from deleting existing records.

In design mode, right-click a form control and select Form from the context menu. On the Data tab

of the Form Properties dialog are a number of options: Allow additions, Allow deletions, Allow

modifications and Add data only. Set each of these to Yes or No to control the access users have

to the data source.

Individual fields can also be protected. This might be useful if you wanted a user to be able to

modify some parts of a record but only view others, such as a stock list where item descriptions are

fixed and quantities can be modified.

To make an individual field read-only, in design mode, right-click the form control within the

document and select Control from the context menu. Select the General tab (Figure 413) and set

Read-only to Yes.

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Figure 413: Data Properties of a form

Form control formatting options

You can customize the way form controls look and behave in a number of ways. These are all

accessed in design mode. Right-click the form control, select Control from the context menu and

select the General tab in the Properties dialog.

•Set a label for the control in the Label box (not to be confused with the box called Label

Field). Some form controls, such as push buttons and option buttons, have visible labels

that can be set. Others, such as text boxes, do not.

•Set whether the form control will print out if the document is printed with the Print option.

•Use the Font setting to set the font, typeface, and size for a field’s label or for text typed into

a field. This setting does not affect the size of check boxes or option buttons.

•For a text box, you can set the maximum text length. This is very useful when adding

records into a database. Every database text field has a maximum length and, if the data

entered is too long, LibreOffice displays an error message. By setting the maximum text

length of the form control to be the same as that of the database field, this error can be

avoided.

•You can set the default option for a form control. By default, a control is blank, or has every

option unselected. You can set the control to start with a particular option or list item

selected.

•For controls where a password is being entered, setting the Password character (for

example to *) displays only that character, but saves what the user really types.

•You can add additional information and help text for a form control.

•You can use other formatting controls such as background color, 3-D look, text formatting,

scroll bars, and borders to further define how the control appears.

Chapter 18 Forms | 409

Chapter 19

Spreadsheets, Charts, Other

Objects

Introduction: OLE objects

Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) is a way to use information from one application (say, Calc)

in another application (Writer, in this case).

Both linking and embedding insert information from one document into another document, but the

methods store information differently. They are different from directly copying and pasting

information because you can open and edit objects in the applications that created them.

An embedded OLE object is a copy of information from another document. When you embed

objects, there is no link to the source document and any changes made to the source document

are not reflected in the destination document. Embed objects if you want to be able to use the

application that created them for editing, but you do not want the OLE object to be updated when

you edit information in the source document.

A linked object is a reference to information in another document. Link objects when you want to

use the same information in more than one document. Then, if you change the original information,

you need to update only the links in order to update the document containing the OLE objects. You

can also set links to be updated automatically. When you link an object, you need to maintain

access to the source application and the linked document. If you rename or move either of them,

you may need to reestablish the link.

The following types of files or documents can be inserted into a Writer document as an OLE object:

spreadsheets, charts, drawings, formulas (equations), presentation.

Inserting a new OLE object

When you insert a new OLE object into a document, it is embedded; that is, the object is available

only in that document and can only be edited using Writer.

To insert a new OLE object into a document:

1) Click where you want to insert the object.

2) Choose Insert > Object > OLE Object from the Menu bar.

3) On the Insert OLE Object dialog (Figure 414), select Create new.

4) Select the type of object you want to create and click OK.

5) A new OLE object is inserted in the document in edit mode. The toolbars displayed in Writer

will change, providing the necessary tools for you to create the new OLE object.

Figure 414: Inserting a new OLE object

Note

Computers running Microsoft Windows show an additional option of Further Objects in

the Object Type list. This option opens a dialog where you can create an OLE object

using other software that is compatible with OLE and LibreOffice. This option is

available for new OLE objects and for OLE objects from another file.

Chapter 19 Spreadsheets, Charts, Other Objects | 411

Inserting an OLE object from a file

When you insert an existing file (for example, a spreadsheet) into a Writer document as an OLE

object, you can choose whether to embed or link the file.

1) Click where you want to insert the file and choose Insert > Object > OLE Object from the

Menu bar.

2) On the Insert OLE Object dialog, select Create from file. The dialog changes to show a

File text box (Figure 415).

Figure 415: Inserting an OLE object from a file

3) Click Search and the Open dialog is displayed.

4) Locate the file you want to insert and click Open.

5) Select the Link to file option if you wish to insert the file as a live link so that any changes

made are synchronized in both the original file and your document.

6) Select the Display as icon option to show an icon for the application that created the file

(for example, Calc), instead of displaying the contents of the file.

7) Click OK to insert the file as an OLE object.

Editing OLE objects

To edit an OLE object after it has been created or inserted from a file:

1) Double-click the OLE object to open it in edit mode. The toolbars displayed in Writer will

change to provide the tools necessary to edit the object.

2) When finished editing the object, click anywhere outside the object to cancel editing.

3) Save the Writer document. Any changes made to the OLE object are also saved.

Spreadsheets

To include a spreadsheet in an Writer document, you can insert either an existing spreadsheet file

or a new spreadsheet as an OLE object, as explained above. You can also copy a portion of a

spreadsheet into a Writer document as an OLE object; see below.

Embedding a spreadsheet into Writer includes most of the functionality of a Calc spreadsheet.

Writer is capable of performing complex calculations and data analysis. However, if you plan to use

complex data or formulas, it is recommended to perform those operations in a separate Calc

spreadsheet and use Writer only to display the embedded spreadsheet with the results.

You may be tempted to use spreadsheets in Writer for creating complex tables or presenting data

in a tabular format. However, the Table feature in Writer is often more suitable and faster to use,

depending on the complexity of your data; see Chapter 13, Tables of Data.

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To copy a spreadsheet area to a Writer document:

1) Open both the Writer document and the spreadsheet.

2) Select the sheet area (cells) that you want to copy.

3) Right-click and choose Copy from the context menu, or press Ctrl+C, or drag the area into

the Writer document. The sheet area is inserted as an OLE object.

When an entire spreadsheet is inserted into a document, if it contains more than one sheet and the

one you want is not visible, double-click the spreadsheet, and then select a different sheet from the

row of sheet tabs at the bottom.

Resizing and moving spreadsheet objects

When resizing or moving a spreadsheet object in Writer, ignore the first row and first column (easily

recognizable because of their light background color) and any horizontal and vertical scroll bars.

They are for editing the spreadsheet and will not be included in the spreadsheet that appears in the

document.

Resizing

When selected, a spreadsheet object is treated like any other object. However, resizing an

embedded spreadsheet also changes the spreadsheet area that is visible in the document.

To resize the area occupied by the spreadsheet:

1) Double-click the object to enter edit mode, if it is not already active. Note the selection

handles visible in the border surrounding the spreadsheet object.

2) Move the mouse pointer over one of the handles. The pointer changes shape to give a

visual representation of the effects applied to the area.

3) Click and hold the left mouse button and drag the handle. The corner handles move the two

adjacent sides simultaneously, while the handles at the midpoint of the sides modify one

dimension at a time.

Moving

Moving a spreadsheet object to change its position within the document is the same as moving any

other object in Writer:

1) Select the object so that the selection handles are displayed.

2) Move the cursor over the object until the cursor changes shape (normally a hand, but this

depends on your computer setup). Be careful to not double-click the spreadsheet object

and enter into object editing mode.

3) Click and drag the object to the desired position. Release the mouse button.

Editing a spreadsheet object

To edit a spreadsheet object, double-click it, or select it and choose Edit > Object > Edit from the

Menu bar, or right-click and choose Edit from the context menu.

You edit the object in its own frame within the Writer document, but some of the toolbars change in

Writer. One of the most important changes is the presence of the Formula toolbar, which contains

(from left to right):

•The active cell reference or the name of a selected range of cells.

•The Formula Wizard icon.

•The Sum and Function icons or the Cancel and Accept icons, depending on the editing

actions taken in the spreadsheet.

•A long edit box to enter or review the contents of the active cell.

Chapter 19 Spreadsheets, Charts, Other Objects | 413

If you are familiar with Calc, you will immediately recognize the tools and the menu items. See

Chapter 5, Getting Started with Calc, in the Getting Started Guide for more information.

Spreadsheet organization

A spreadsheet consists of pages called sheets. However, in Writer, only one sheet can be shown at

any one time when a spreadsheet with multiple sheets is embedded into an Writer document.

Each sheet is organized into cells, which are the elementary units of the spreadsheet. They are

identified by a row number (shown on the left hand side) and a column letter (shown in the top

row). For example, the top left cell is identified as A1, while the third cell in the second row is C2.

All data elements, whether text, numbers, or formulas, are entered into a cell.

Note

If you have multiple sheets in your embedded spreadsheet, only the active sheet is

shown on the page after exiting edit mode.

Working with embedded sheets

You can insert, rename, delete, and edit sheets in an embedded spreadsheet. To begin, double-

click the embedded spreadsheet to open it in edit mode. When finished editing the embedded

spreadsheet, click anywhere outside the border to cancel edit mode and save the changes.

Inserting sheets

1) Right-click the sheet names and select Insert > Sheet from the context menu, or click the

plus sign to the right of the sheet names, or go to Insert > Sheet on the Menu bar to open

the Insert Sheet dialog.

2) Select the sheet position, number of sheets to be inserted, sheet name, or which

spreadsheet file to use from the options available in the Insert Sheet dialog.

3) Click OK to close the dialog and insert the sheet.

Renaming sheets

Right-click the sheet tab and select Rename Sheet from the context menu, or go to Format

> Sheet > Rename on the Menu bar.

Moving and copying sheets

1) Right-click the sheet names and select Move/Copy Sheet from the context menu, or go to

Edit > Sheet > Move/Copy on the Menu bar to open the Move/Copy Sheet dialog.

2) Select whether to move or copy the sheet, the sheet location and position, and a new sheet

name. Click OK to close the dialog and move or copy the sheet.

3) Alternatively, click the sheet tab and drag it to a new position in the embedded spreadsheet.

Deleting sheets

1) Right-click the sheet tab and select Delete Sheet from the context menu, or go to Edit >

Sheet > Delete on the Menu bar.

2) Click Yes to confirm.

Cell navigation

To move around the spreadsheet to select a cell to make it active, you can:

•Use the keyboard arrow keys.

•Position the cursor in a cell and left-click the mouse.

•Use the Enter key to move one cell down and Shift+Enter to move one cell up.

•Use the Tab key to move one cell to the right and Shift+Tab to move one cell to the left.

•Use other keyboard shortcuts.

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Entering data

Data input into a cell can only be done when a cell is active. An active cell is easily identified by a

thickened and bolder border. The cell reference (or coordinates) for the active cell is displayed at

the left hand end of the Formula toolbar.

1) Select the cell to make it active and start typing. The data input is also displayed in the

large text box on the Formula toolbar making the data entry easier to read.

2) Use the Formula Wizard, Sum, and Function icons to enter data, formulas, or functions

into a cell. If the input is not a formula (for example, a text or date entry), the Sum and

Function icons change to the Cancel and Accept icons.

3) To confirm data input into a cell, either select a different cell, or press the Enter key, or click

the Accept icon.

Formatting cell data

Writer normally recognizes the type of contents (text, number, date, time, and so on) entered into a

cell and applies default formatting to it. However, if Writer wrongly recognizes the type of data you

have entered into a cell:

1) Select the cell, then right-click the cell and select Format Cells from the context menu, or

go to Format > Cells on the Menu bar, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+1.

2) In the Format Cells dialog, click the appropriate tab to open the correct page and use the

options on that page to format the cell data.

3) Click OK to close the dialog and save your changes.

Tip

To force Writer to treat numbers as text (for example, telephone numbers) and to

prevent Writer from removing the leading zeros or right-align them in a cell, type a

single quotation mark (') before entering the number.

Formatting spreadsheets

It may be necessary to change the formatting of a spreadsheet to match the style used in the

document.

When working on an embedded spreadsheet, you can also access any cell styles created in Calc

and use them. However, if you are going to use styles, it is recommended to create specific cell

styles for embedded spreadsheets, as Calc cell styles may be unsuitable when working within

Writer.

Manual formatting

To manually format an embedded spreadsheet:

1) Select a cell or a range of cells. See Chapter 5, Getting Started with Calc, in the Getting

Started Guide for more information on selecting ranges of cells.

d) To select the whole sheet, click the blank cell at the top left corner between the row and

column indexes, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+A.

e) To select a column, click the column header at the top of the spreadsheet.

f) To select a row, click the row header on the left hand side of the spreadsheet.

2) Right-click a cell and select Format Cells from the context menu, or go to Format > Cells

on the Menu bar, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+1 to open the Format Cells dialog.

3) Use the various dialog pages to format the embedded spreadsheet so that it matches the

style of your document.

Chapter 19 Spreadsheets, Charts, Other Objects | 415

4) Click OK to close the dialog and save your changes.

5) If necessary, adjust the column width by hovering the mouse over the line separating two

columns in the header row until the mouse cursor changes to a double-headed arrow; then

click the left button and drag the separating line to the new position.

6) If necessary, adjust the row height by hovering the mouse over the line separating two rows

in the row header until the mouse cursor changes to a double-headed arrow; then click the

left button and drag the separating line to the new position.

7) When you are satisfied with the formatting changes, click outside the spreadsheet area to

save your changes and cancel editing.

Using formatting styles

When an embedded spreadsheet is in edit mode, Writer displays the available styles for a

spreadsheet in the Styles and Formatting window.

If a style you want to use is not available, you can create it (see Chapter 8, Introduction to Styles).

Styles used in an embedded spreadsheet are similar to paragraph styles used in Writer.

To use styles in your embedded spreadsheet:

1) Open Styles and Formatting in the Sidebar.

2) Select data in a cell and double-click a style in Styles and Formatting to apply that style.

Inserting and deleting rows, columns, or cells

To insert rows, columns, or cells in an embedded spreadsheet:

1) Select the same number of rows, columns, or cells on the embedded spreadsheet that you

want to insert.

2) Go to Insert > Rows or Insert > Columns or Insert > Cells on the Menu bar or right-click

the selection and select Insert from the context menu.

3) When inserting cells, select Insert from the Insert Cells dialog that opens and click OK.

To delete rows, columns, or cells from an embedded spreadsheet:

1) Highlight the number of rows, columns, or cells on the embedded spreadsheet you want to

delete.

2) Go to Edit > Delete Cells on the Menu bar or right-click the row or column headers and

select Delete Selected Rows or Delete Selected Columns or Delete from the context

menu.

Merging and splitting cells

To merge multiple cells into a single cell:

1) Select the cells to be merged.

2) Go to Format > Merge cells on the Menu bar and select either Merge and Center Cells or

Merge Cells.

3) Alternatively, right-click the selected cells and select Merge Cells from the context menu.

To split a group of cells that have been merged into a single cell:

1) Select the cell that contains merged cells.

2) Go to Format > Split Cells or right-click the cell and select Split Cells from the context

menu.

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Charts

A chart is a graphical interpretation of information that is contained in a spreadsheet. More

information about charts and the use of charts is described in the Calc Guide.

Inserting a chart

You can add a chart to your document as an OLE object (see page 411) or using the tools in

Writer.

To add a chart using Writer’s tools, choose Insert > Chart on the Menu bar to insert a generic

chart (Figure 416) at the cursor location. The chart is selected and the Menu bar and toolbars

change to those appropriate for charts.

Figure 416: Chart with sample data

Selecting chart type

Your data can be presented using a variety of different charts. Writer contains several chart types

that will help you convey your message to your audience. See “Chart types” below.

Figure 417: Chart Type dialog showing two-dimensional charts

1) Make sure that the chart is selected. The chart has a border and selection handles when

selected.

2) Click the Chart Type icon on the Formatting toolbar or go to Format > Chart Type on the

Menu bar, or right-click the chart and select Chart Type from the context menu to open

Chart Type dialog (Figure 417).

3) As you change selections in the left-hand list, the chart examples on the right change.

Move the Chart Type dialog to one side to see the effect in the chart.

Chapter 19 Spreadsheets, Charts, Other Objects | 417

4) As you change chart types, other selections become available on the right-hand side. For

example, some chart types have both 3D and 2D variants. When 3D charts are selected,

more options become available for selection of shapes for the columns or bars.

5) Choose the chart characteristics you want and click OK. You return to the edit window.

6) Continue to format the chart, add data to the chart, or click outside the chart to return to

normal view.

Chart types

The following summary of the chart types available will help you choose a type suitable for your

data. Column, bar, pie, and area charts are available as 2D or 3D types.

Column charts

Column charts display data that shows trends over time. This the default type of chart. It is

recommended to use column charts where there is a relatively small number of data points. If

you have a large time series as your data, it is recommended to use a line chart.

Bar charts

Bar charts give an immediate visual impact for data comparison where time is not important,

for example comparing the popularity of products in a marketplace.

Pie charts

Pie charts give a comparison of proportions, for example, when comparing what different

departments spent on different items or what different departments actually spent overall.

They work best with a small range of values, for example six or less. Using larger range of

values, the visual impact of a pie chart begins to fade.

Area charts

Area charts are versions of line or column charts. They are useful when you want to

emphasize volume of change. Area charts have a greater visual impact than a line chart, but

the type of data you use does make a difference to the visual impact.

Line charts

Line charts give time series with progression. They are ideal for raw data and useful for

charts with data showing trends or changes over time where you want to emphasize

continuity. On line charts, the X-axis is ideal for representing time series data. 3D lines

confuse the viewer, so just using a thicker line gives a better visual impact.

Scatter or XY charts

Scatter charts are great for visualizing data that you have not had time to analyze and may

be best for data where you have a constant value for comparison: for example weather data,

reactions under different acidity levels, conditions at altitude, or any data which matches two

numeric series. The X-axis usually plots the independent variable or control parameter (often

a time series).

Bubble charts

Bubble charts are used to represent three variables. Two variables identify the position of the

center of a bubble on a Cartesian graph, while the third variable indicates the radius of the

bubble.

Net charts

Net charts are similar to polar or radar graphs and are useful for comparing data not in time

series, but show different circumstances, such as variables in a scientific experiment. The

poles of the net chart are the Y-axes of other charts. Generally, between three and eight axes

are best; any more and this type of chart becomes confusing.

Stock charts

Stock charts are specialized column graphs specifically used for stocks and shares. You can

choose traditional lines, candlestick, and two-column charts. The data required for these

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charts is specialized with series for opening price, closing price, and high and low prices. The

X-axis represents a time series.

Column and line charts

Column and line charts are a combination of two other chart types. It is useful for combining

two distinct, but related data series, for example sales over time (column) and the profit

margin trends (line).

Entering chart data

1) Select the chart and then select the chart type.

2) Click the Data Table icon, or select View > Data Table, or right-click the chart and select

Data Table from the context menu to open the Data Table dialog (Figure 418).

3) Type or paste information into the cells within the desired rows and columns in the Data

Table dialog. You can also use the icons in the top left corner of the Data Table dialog to

insert, delete or move data.

Figure 418: Chart Data Table dialog

Adding or removing chart elements

The specimen chart inserted into a document includes two elements: a chart wall and a chart

legend (also known as the key). You can add or remove elements to or from a chart as follows:

1) Make sure the chart is selected and in edit mode.

2) Go to Insert on the Menu bar and select from the submenu an element that you want to

add to the chart, or right-click the chart wall or a chart element and select an element you

want to add from the context menu. Selecting an element opens a dialog where you can

specify options for the element.

Note

Right-clicking on a chart element will give you more options to choose from when

adding elements to your chart. The number of available insert options in the context

menu depends on the type of element selected.

3) To remove an element from a chart, right-click the chart element you want to remove and

select Delete from the context menu. The type of element selected for removal will change

the delete options in the context menu.

4) Select a chart element and press the Del or Backspace (←) key to remove it from the chart.

Chart formatting

To change the format of a selected chart:

1) Make sure the chart is selected and in edit mode.

Chapter 19 Spreadsheets, Charts, Other Objects | 419

2) Go to Format on the Menu bar and select from the submenu an element that you want to

format, or right-click a chart element and select a format option from the context menu.

Selecting an element opens a dialog where you can specify format options for the element.

The formatting options available depend on whether the whole chart is selected or which chart

element has been selected.

Resizing and moving charts

You can resize or move a chart interactively or by using the Position and Size dialog. You can also

use a combination of both methods.

Resizing

To resize a chart interactively:

1) Click a chart to select it. Selection handles appear around the chart.

2) To increase or decrease the height of a chart, click and drag on a selection handle at the

top or bottom of the chart.

3) To increase or decrease the width of a chart, click and drag on a selection handle at the left

or right of the chart.

4) To increase or decrease both the height and width of a chart at the same time , click and

drag on a selection handle in one of the corners of the chart. To maintain the correct aspect

ratio between height and width, hold the Shift key down while you click and drag.

Moving

To move a chart interactively:

1) Click the chart to select it. Selection handles appear around the chart.

2) Move the cursor anywhere on the chart other than on a selection handle.

3) When it changes shape, click and drag the chart to its new location.

4) Release the mouse button when the chart is in the desired position.

Position and Size dialog

To resize or move a chart using the Position and Size dialog:

1) Click the chart to select it.

2) Go to Format > Position and Size on the Menu bar, or right-click the chart and select

Position and Size from the context menu. For more information on using the Position and

Size dialog, see Chapter 11, Images and Graphics.

Chart elements

You can move or resize individual elements of a chart element independently of other chart

elements. For example, you can move the chart legend to a different position. Pie charts allow

individual wedges of the pie to be moved as well as “exploding” the entire pie.

1) Double-click the chart so that it is in edit mode.

2) Click any chart element to select it. Selection handles appear.

3) Move the cursor over the selected element and when the cursor changes shape, click and

drag to move the element.

4) Release the mouse button when the element is in the desired position.

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Note

If the chart is 3D, round selection handles appear; these control the three-dimensional

angle of the chart. You cannot resize or reposition the chart while the round selection

handles are showing. Shift+click to get back to the square resizing handles. You can

now resize and reposition the 3D chart.

Changing chart area background

The chart area is the area surrounding the chart graphic and includes the (optional) main title and

key.

1) Double-click the chart so that it is in edit mode.

2) Go to Format > Chart Area on the Menu bar, or right-click in the chart area and select

Format Chart Area, or double-click in the chart area to open the Chart Area dialog.

3) Click the Area tab and select the button corresponding to the type of background fill you

want to use. The available options will change depending on the type of fill selected.

4) Make your selections and click OK to close the dialog and save the changes.

Changing chart wall background

The chart wall is the area that contains the chart graphic.

1) Double-click the chart so that it is in edit mode.

2) Go to Format > Format Selection on the Menu bar, or right-click in the chart wall and

select Format Wall, or double-click in the chart wall to open the Chart Wall dialog.

3) Click the Area tab and proceed as above.

4) Click OK to close the dialog and save the changes.

Audio and video

Although linked audio and video files are irrelevant when a Writer document is printed, if the

document is opened on a computer or exported to PDF or HTML, you can play the files by clicking

on the links.

Using media files

To insert a media file into your document:

1) Choose Insert > Media > Audio or Video on the Menu bar to open the Insert Audio or

Video dialog.

2) Select the media file to insert and click Open to place the object in the document.

Tip

To see a list of audio and video file types supported by Writer, open the drop-down list

of file types. This list defaults to All audio and video files, so you can also choose

unsupported files such as .mov.

Writer only links media files and does not embed a media file into a document. Therefore if a

document is moved to a different computer, any links will be broken and the media files will not

play. To prevent this from happening:

1) Place any media files which are included in a document in the same folder where the

document is stored.

Chapter 19 Spreadsheets, Charts, Other Objects | 421

2) Insert the media file in the document.

3) Send both the document and any media files to the computer which is to be used for the

document and place both files in the same folder on that computer.

Using the Gallery

To insert media clips directly from the Gallery:

1) Go to the Gallery in the Sidebar.

2) Browse to a theme containing media files (for example, Sounds).

3) Click the movie or sound to be inserted and drag it into the document area.

Media playback

The Media Playback toolbar is automatically opened when a media file is selected. The default

position of the toolbar is at the bottom of the workspace, just above the Drawing toolbar. However,

this toolbar can be undocked and placed anywhere. If the toolbar does not open, go to View >

Toolbars > Media Playback on the Menu bar.

The Media Playback toolbar contains the following tools:

•Insert Audio or Video – opens the Insert Audio or Video dialog.

•Play, Pause, Stop – controls media playback.

•Repeat – if selected, media will continuously repeat playing until this tool is de-selected.

•Playback slider – selects the position to start playing from within the media file.

•Timer – displays current position of the media clip and length of media file.

•Mute – when selected, the sound will be suppressed.

•Volume slider – adjusts the volume of the media file.

•Media path – the location of the file on the computer.

•Scaling drop-down menu – only available for movies and allows scaling of the movie clip.

Formulas

Go to Insert > Object > Formula on the Menu bar to create a formula (equation). A formula can

also be inserted as an OLE object; see page 411 for more information.

When creating or editing a formula, the Math menu becomes available.

When creating formulas, take care about font sizes used to make sure they are similar in size to

fonts used in the document. To change font attributes of a Math object, go to Format > Font Size

on the Menu bar. To change font type, use Format > Fonts.

For information on how to create formulas, see the Math Guide or Chapter 9, Getting Started with

Math, in the Getting Started Guide.

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Chapter 20

Setting up Writer

Choosing options to suit the way you work

Introduction

This chapter briefly presents some of the setup options found under Tools > Options on the Menu

bar. Additional options, and more details about the ones given here, are covered in the Help and in

Chapter 2, Setting up LibreOffice, in the Getting Started Guide.

Several of the most relevant options are discussed in other chapters of this book, in the context of

tasks where they are most applicable.

Tip

Many options are intended for power users and programmers. If you don’t understand

what an option does, it’s usually best to leave it on the default setting unless

instructions in this book recommend changing the setting.

Choosing options that affect all LibreOffice components

This section covers some of the settings that apply to all the components of LibreOffice (Writer,

Calc, Impress, Draw, Math, and Base) and that are particularly important when using Writer.

To navigate to options that govern all LibreOffice components, click Tools > Options and then click

the marker (+ or triangle) by LibreOffice on the left-hand side. A list of pages drops down. Select

an item in the list to display the relevant page on the right-hand side of the dialog.

Tip

The Reset button (located in the lower right of any page of the Options dialog) resets

the values on that page to the values that were in place when you opened the dialog.

If you are using a version of LibreOffice other than US English, some field labels may be different

from those shown in the illustrations.

User data

Because Writer can use the name or initials stored in the LibreOffice – User Data page for several

things, including document properties (‘created by’ and ‘last edited by’ information), the name of

the author of comments and changes, and the sender address in mailing lists, you will want to

ensure that the correct information appears here. If you do not want user data to be part of the

document’s properties, deselect Use data for document properties.

Memory options

The options on the LibreOffice – Memory page control how LibreOffice uses your computer’s

memory and how much memory it requires.

This page includes the option for enabling or disabling the Quickstarter, where this feature is

available. It is not available on macOS or on systems where the Quickstarter module has not been

installed. For more about Quickstarter, see Chapter 1.

View options

The options on the LibreOffice – View page affect how the document window looks and behaves.

Set them to suit your personal preferences. For details, see the Help or Chapter 2, Setting up

LibreOffice, in the Getting Started Guide.

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Print options

On the LibreOffice – Print page, set the print options to suit your default printer and your most

common printing method.

Figure 419: Choosing general printing options to apply to all LibreOffice components

In the Printer warnings section near the bottom of the page, you can choose whether to be warned

if the paper size or orientation specified in your document does not match the paper size or

orientation available for your printer. Having these warnings turned on can be quite helpful,

particularly if you work with documents produced by people in other countries where the standard

paper size is different from yours.

Tip

If your printouts are incorrectly placed on the page or chopped off at the top, bottom, or

sides, or the printer is refusing to print, a likely cause is incorrect page size in printer

settings.

Paths options

On the LibreOffice – Paths page, you can change the location of files associated with, or used by,

LibreOffice to suit your needs. For example, you might want to store documents by default

somewhere other than My Documents. Multiple paths are possible.

Fonts options

If you receive a document containing fonts that you do not have on your system, LibreOffice will

use substitute fonts for those it does not find. On the LibreOffice – Fonts page, you can specify a

font different from the one the program chooses.

Chapter 20 Setting up Writer | 425

Tip

Liberation fonts (Serif, Sans, and Mono) are often good choices to substitute for

Times, Arial, and Courier.

Note

The Font Options choices do not affect the default fonts for your documents. To

change them, you need to create a new default template for Writer documents, as

described in Chapter 10, Working with Templates.

Security options

Use the LibreOffice – Security page to choose security options for saving documents and for

opening documents that contain macros. For information on the options not mentioned here, refer

to the Help or to the Getting Started Guide.

Security options and warnings

If you record changes, save multiple versions, or include hidden information or notes in your

documents, and you do not want some recipients to see that information, you can set

warnings to remind you to remove it, or you can have LibreOffice remove some of it

automatically. Note that unless the information is removed, much of it is retained even when

the file has been saved to other formats, including PDF.

Click the Options button to open a separate dialog with several options, including:

Remove personal information on saving

Select this option to always remove user data from the file properties when saving the file. To

save personal information with documents and still be able to manually remove personal

information only from specific documents, do not select this option.

Ctrl-click required to follow hyperlinks

The default behavior in LibreOffice is that using Ctrl+click a hyperlink opens the linked

document or website. This is because many people find writing and editing documents easier

when accidental clicks on links do not activate the links. To set LibreOffice to activate

hyperlinks using just an ordinary click, deselect this option.

Application colors

Writing, editing, and (especially) page layout are often easier when you can see the page margins

(text boundaries), the boundaries of tables and sections, grid lines, and other features. In addition,

you might prefer to use colors that are different from LibreOffice’s defaults.

On the LibreOffice – Application colors page (Figure 420), you can specify which user interface

elements are visible and the colors used to display them.

•To show or hide items such as text boundaries, select or deselect the boxes in the On

column next to the names of the elements.

•To change the default colors for a specific element, click the down-arrow in the Color

setting column by the name of the element and select a color from the drop-down list.

•To save your color changes as a color scheme, click Save, type a name in the Scheme

box, and then click OK.

Note

To change the color settings used in Track Changes mode, go to Tools > Options >

LibreOffice Writer > Changes.

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Figure 420: Showing or hiding text, object, and table boundaries

Choosing options for loading and saving documents

You can set the options for loading and saving documents to suit the way you work.

If the Options dialog is not already open, click Tools > Options. Click the expansion symbol (+ or

triangle) to the left of Load/Save.

General

Most of the choices on the Load/Save – General page (Figure 421) are familiar to users of other

office suites. Some items of interest are described below.

Load user-specific settings with the document

When a LibreOffice document is saved, certain settings from the user's system are saved

with it. When the document is opened on another user’s system, it will use the settings saved

from the previous user’s system. Deselecting this option causes the current user’s settings to

override the settings previously saved with the document.

Even if you deselect this option, some settings are always loaded with the document:

–Settings available in File > Print > Options.

–Name of Fax.

–Spacing options for paragraphs before text tables.

–Information about automatic updating for links, field functions, and charts.

–Information about working with Asian character formats.

Note

The settings for any data sources linked to a document are always loaded with the

document, whether or not Load user-specific settings with the document is selected.

Chapter 20 Setting up Writer | 427

Figure 421: Choosing Load and Save options

Load printer settings with the document

If this option is enabled, the printer settings of the previous user will be loaded with the

document. In an office setting, this may cause a document to be printed on a distant network

printer unless the printer is manually changed in the Print dialog. If disabled, the current

user’s default printer will be used to print the document. The current printer settings will be

stored with the document whether or not this option is selected.

Save AutoRecovery information every __ minutes

Choose whether to enable AutoRecovery and how often to save the information used by the

AutoRecovery process. AutoRecovery in LibreOffice saves the information needed to restore

all open documents in case of a crash. If you have this option set, recovering your document

after a system crash will be easier.

Edit document properties before saving

If this option is selected, the document’s Properties dialog pops up to prompt you to enter

relevant information the first time you save a new document (or whenever you use Save As).

Always create backup copy

Saves the previously-saved version of a document as a backup copy in a separate folder

whenever you save a document. When LibreOffice creates a new backup copy, the previous

backup copy is replaced. To see or change the backup folder, go to Tools > Options >

LibreOffice > Paths. When opening a backup file, you will be prompted to specify the

program to open it with; choose LibreOffice.

Tip

Authors whose work may be very lengthy should always consider enabling LibreOffice

to create an automatic backup copy.

Save URLs relative to file system / to internet

Use these options to select the default for relative addressing of URLs in the file system and

on the Internet. For details, see Chapter 2, Setting up LibreOffice, in the Getting Started

Guide.

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Default file format and ODF settings

ODF format version: LibreOffice by default saves documents in OpenDocument Format

(ODF) version 1.2 Extended. You will rarely need to change this for compatibility when

exchanging files with other people.

Document type: If you routinely share documents with users of Microsoft Word, you might

want to change the Always save as option to one of the Word formats. However, you can

choose a Word format when you save any individual file.

Microsoft Office

On the Load/Save – Microsoft Office page, you can choose what to do when importing and

exporting Microsoft Office OLE objects (linked or embedded objects or documents such as

equations or spreadsheets): convert them into or from the corresponding LibreOffice OLE object or

load and save them in their original format.

HTML compatibility

Choices made on the Load/Save – HTML Compatibility page (not shown) affect HTML pages

imported into LibreOffice and those exported from LibreOffice. See HTML documents; HTML

import and export in the Help, and Chapter 2 in the Getting Started Guide, for more information.

Choosing Writer-specific options

Settings chosen in the LibreOffice Writer section of the Options dialog determine how Writer

documents look and behave while you are working on them.

If the Options dialog is not already open, choose Tools > Options. Click the marker (+ or triangle)

by LibreOffice Writer on the left side of the dialog.

General options

The choices on the LibreOffice Writer – General page affect the updating of links and fields, the

units used for rulers and other measurements, and the default tab stop positions.

Figure 422: Choosing general options for Writer

Update Links when Loading

Depending on your work patterns, you may not want links to be updated when you load a

document. For example, if your file links to other files on a network, you won’t want those

links to try to update when you are not connected to the network.

Chapter 20 Setting up Writer | 429

Automatically Update [Fields and Charts]

You may not want fields or charts to update automatically while you are working, because

that slows down performance. Alternatively, you may want automatic updates if you are

referring to information in the fields or charts.

Settings – Measurement unit

Document designers recommend using points as the default measurement because you can

easily relate things like font size to things like indents and tabs.

Settings – Tab stops

The Tab stops setting specifies the distance the cursor travels for each press of the Tab key.

This setting is also used for the indent distance applied by the Increase Indent and

Decrease Indent buttons on the Formatting Toolbar, which affect the indentation of entire

paragraphs.

Tip

To avoid unwanted changes, do not rely on default tab settings. Rather, define your

own tabs in paragraph styles or individual paragraphs (see “Defining your own tab

stops and indents” in Chapter 4, Formatting Text).

Word Count – Additional separators

For counting words, specifies the characters that are considered to separate words, in

addition to spaces, tabs, line breaks, and paragraph breaks.

Word Count – Show standardized page count

Editors and publishers often define a “standard” page as containing a specified number of

characters or words; this field allows quick calculation of the number of these pages.

View options

Two pages of options set the defaults for viewing Writer documents: View (described here) and

Formatting Aids (described below).

View is a good page to check if, for example, you cannot see graphics on the screen.

Figure 423: Choosing View options for Writer

Enabling Helplines While Moving helps to precisely position a drawing object on a page. When

enabled, horizontal and vertical parallel lines appear that are the height and width of the object.

These lines extend across the complete working area as the object is moved.

Tip

If you have inserted a field but do not see the text or number you expect, uncheck

Field codes here. Example: Date (fixed) appears on the screen when Field codes is

enabled, while 21/07/17 appears when it is disabled.

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Formatting Aids options

On the LibreOffice Writer – Formatting Aids page (Figure 424), select the desired options.

The Display of options determine which symbols show when you select View > Formatting Marks

from the Menu bar or the Formatting Marks icon in the Standard toolbar. Symbols such as

paragraph ends and tabs can help in writing, editing, and page layout. For example, they can show

if there are any blank paragraphs or if any tables or graphics are too wide and intrude into the

margins of the page.

Note

Direct cursor lets you enter text, images, tables, frames, and other objects in any blank

area in your document. Writer then inserts blank paragraphs, tabs, spaces and so on

to position the text or objects. However, this feature can lead to many formatting

oddities and is incompatible with rigorous use of styles, so it should be avoided.

Figure 424: Choosing Formatting Aids options

Grid options

Snap to grid automatically moves an object to the nearest gridlines. This can be very helpful when

you are trying to align several objects such as graphics or tables.

On the LibreOffice Writer – Grid page, you can choose whether to enable this feature and what

grid intervals to use. If the grid intervals (subdivisions) are too large, you may find that you do not

have enough control in placing the objects.

Print options

On the LibreOffice Writer – Print page, you can choose which items are printed with a Writer

document by default. These options are in addition to the general options for all LibreOffice

components on the LibreOffice – Print page (see page 425).

Tip

You can override any of these defaults when printing a specific document. Click File >

Print, then use the options on the various pages of the Print dialog.

Chapter 20 Setting up Writer | 431

Figure 425: Choosing Print options for Writer

Some considerations:

•When you are working on drafts and you want to save printer ink or toner, you might want

to deselect some of the items in the Contents section.

•The Print text in black option causes color text (but not graphics) to print as black on a

color printer; on a black-and-white printer, this option causes color text to print as solid

black instead of shades of gray (dithered).

•By comparison, the Convert colors to grayscale option on the Options – LibreOffice –

Print page (Figure 419), prints all text and graphics as grayscale on color printers. (On

black-and-white printers, color in graphics normally prints as grayscale.)

•If you are printing double-sided on a non-duplexing printer, you might choose to print only

left or right pages, then turn the stack over and print the other pages.

Table options

On the LibreOffice Writer – Table page (Figure 426), you can specify the default behavior of tables.

See the Help or Chapter 13, Tables of Data, for more information.

Some considerations:

•If most of your tables will require borders or headings, you may wish to select those

options. If most of your tables are used for page layout, deselect Border and Heading.

•Select Do not split to prevent tables from being split across pages. Number recognition

can be very useful if most of your tables contain numerical data. Writer will recognize dates

or currency, for example, and format the numbers appropriately. However, if you want the

numbers to remain as ordinary text, this feature can be quite irritating, so you may want to

deselect it.

•The Keyboard handling section specifies the distances that cells move when you use

keyboard shortcuts to move them and the size of rows and columns inserted using

keyboard shortcuts. If you don’t use keyboard shortcuts for this purpose, you can ignore

these settings. See the Help for more information.

•The Behavior of rows/columns section specifies the effects that changes to rows or

columns have on adjacent rows or columns and the entire table. You might need to test

these selections to fully understand the effects.

432 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 426: Choosing default Table options

Changes options

If you plan to use the change-tracking feature of Writer (described in Chapter 3, Working with Text:

Advanced), use the LibreOffice Writer – Changes page to choose the way changes to text and

formatting are marked. Change bars can show wherever a change has been made to a line of text

and are formatted under Lines Changed.

Figure 427: Choosing options for tracking changes

Comparison options

The options on the LibreOffice Writer – Comparison page determine the level of detail used by the

Compare Document feature (Edit > Track Changes > Compare Document), described in

Chapter 3, Working with Text: Advanced.

Chapter 20 Setting up Writer | 433

Figure 428: Options for comparing documents

Compatibility options

The settings on the LibreOffice Writer – Compatibility page (Figure 429) are used mainly when

importing documents from Microsoft Word. If you are not sure about the effects of these settings,

leave them as the defaults provided by LibreOffice. For information about settings that are not

described below, see the Help. All settings selected will apply only to the current document, unless

you select the Use as Default button at the bottom.

Figure 429: Choosing compatibility options

Use printer metrics for document formatting

If this option is selected, the printer specified for the document determines how the document

is formatted for viewing on screen. The line breaks and paragraph breaks you see on screen

match those that apply when the document is printed on that printer. If this option is not

selected, a printer-independent layout will be used for screen display and printing.

434 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

This setting can be useful when several people are reviewing a document that will eventually

be printed on a specific printer or when the document is exported to PDF. It is most useful

with PostScript printers.

Add spacing between paragraphs and tables (in current document)

Paragraph spacing is treated differently in LibreOffice Writer than it is in Microsoft Word. If

you have defined spacing between paragraphs or tables in LibreOffice, this spacing is added

to the spacing defined in Microsoft Word.

If this option is selected, Microsoft Word-compatible spacing is added between paragraphs

and tables in LibreOffice Writer documents.

Add paragraph and table spacing at tops of pages (in current document)

You can define paragraphs and tables to have space appear before (above) them. If this

option is selected, any space above a paragraph will also appear if the paragraph is at the

beginning of a page or column, or if the paragraph is positioned on the first page of the

document, or after a manual page break.

If you import a Microsoft Word document, the spaces are automatically added during the

conversion.

Add paragraph and table spacing at bottom of table cells

Specifies that the bottom spacing is added to a paragraph, even when it is the last paragraph

in a table cell.

Use as Default

Click this button to use the settings on this page as the default in Writer.

AutoCaption options

LibreOffice can automatically insert captions for tables, pictures, frames, and OLE objects in a

Writer document. To set this up, use the options on the LibreOffice Writer > AutoCaption page.

Select the object you want to be automatically captioned (LibreOffice Writer Image in Figure

430). With the item highlighted, specify the characteristics of the caption.

Figure 430: Setting up automatic captions

The categories supplied for captions are Drawing, Illustration, Table, and Text. To use another

name (for example, Figure) for the caption label, type the required term in the Category box.

Chapter 20 Setting up Writer | 435

Note

You may not want captions for every table, for example if you use tables for layout as

well as for tables of data. You can always add captions to individual tables, graphics,

or other objects (right-click > Insert Caption).

Information about numbering captions by chapter, character styles, frame styles, and other items

on the AutoCaption page is given in other chapters in this book.

Mail Merge E-mail options

Using a data source such as an address book, Writer can insert personal, address, and other

information into form letters. These documents can be printed for mailing or they can be e-mailed

through Writer. (See Chapter 14, Mail Merge, for details.)

Use the LibreOffice Writer – Mail Merge E-mail page to set up the user and server information for

sending form letters by e-mail. If you are not sure what information to put in any of the fields,

consult your e-mail program or your internet service provider.

Figure 431: Specifying settings for use when emailing mail-merged form letters

Choosing language settings

You may need to do several things to get the language settings you want:

•Install the required dictionaries.

•Change some locale and language settings.

•Choose spelling and grammar options.

Install the required dictionaries

LibreOffice automatically installs many language modules with the program. A language module

can contain up to three submodules: spelling dictionary, hyphenation dictionary, and thesaurus.

These are usually referred to as “dictionaries” in Writer.

To add other dictionaries, be sure you are connected to the Internet, and then choose Tools >

Language > More Dictionaries Online from the Menu bar. LibreOffice will open your default web

browser to a page containing links to additional dictionaries that you can install. Follow the prompts

to select and install the ones you want.

436 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Change some locale and language settings

You can change some details of the locale and language settings that LibreOffice uses for all

documents or for specific documents. See the Help for details on all these options.

In the Options dialog, click the expansion symbol (+ sign or triangle) by Language Settings and

choose Languages.

On the right-hand side of the Language Settings – Languages page (Figure 432), change the

settings as required. In the example, English (USA) has been chosen for all the appropriate

settings, but you could choose a mixture of languages. For example, if you were working in

Germany, you might prefer the user interface to be in English (USA), but German (Germany) for

the Locale setting, which influences settings for numbering, currency, and units of measure.

If you want the language setting to apply to the current document only, instead of being the default

for all new documents, select For the current document only.

Changes to the system input language/keyboard normally affect text typed into a document after

the change. If you do not want this to happen, select Ignore system input language; new text will

then continue to follow the language of the document or the paragraph, not the system language.

If necessary, select the options to enable support for Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese,

Korean) and support for CTL (complex text layout) languages such as Hindi, Thai, Hebrew, and

Arabic. If you choose either of these options, the next time you open the Options dialog, you will

see some extra pages under Language Settings. These pages are not discussed here.

Figure 432: Choosing language options

Sentence checking

LibreOffice can check sentences in many languages. These checkers are enabled by default if the

language is the computer’s default language, and others can be added using the Extension

Manager (see Chapter 21, Customizing Writer). The set of rules available for the sentence

checkers depends on the language.

Chapter 20 Setting up Writer | 437

Choose spelling and grammar options

To change the options for checking spelling and grammar, use the Language Settings > Writing

Aids page (Figure 433). Some considerations:

•If you do not want spelling checked while you type, deselect Check spelling as you type.

(You can over-ride this setting in a document using Tools > Automatic Spell Checking on

the Menu bar or the Auto Spellcheck icon on the Standard toolbar.)

•If you want grammar to be checked as you type, you must have Check spelling as you

type enabled too.

•Check special regions means that text in headers, footers, frames, and tables are also

checked when checking spelling.

Here you can also select which of the user-defined (custom) dictionaries are active, add a new

custom dictionary, edit dictionaries, and delete custom dictionaries. Dictionaries installed by the

system cannot be deleted.

Tip

When checking spelling, words marked “Add to Dictionary” are added by default to the

Standard dictionary. Words marked “Ignore All” are added to the IgnoreAllList

dictionary. See Chapter 2, Working with Text: Basics.

Figure 433: Choosing languages, dictionaries, and options for checking spelling

English sentence checking

On the Language Settings > English sentence checking page, you can choose which items are

checked for, reported to you, or converted automatically. This menu is also found in the English

dictionaries extension installed by default by LibreOffice (select Tools > Extension Manager,

select English spelling dictionaries and click the Options button to reveal the menu). Select

which of the optional features you wish to check. These are described in Chapter 2, Working with

Text: Basics.

After selecting the additional grammar checks, you must restart LibreOffice, or reload the

document, for them to take effect.

438 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Chapter 21

Customizing Writer

Introduction

This chapter describes some common customizations that you may wish to do, in addition to the

options described in Chapter 20, Setting up Writer.

You can customize menus, toolbars, and keyboard shortcuts in LibreOffice, add new menus and

toolbars, and assign macros to events.

Other customizations are made easy by extensions that you can install from the LibreOffice

website or from other providers.

Note

Customizations to menus and toolbars can be saved in a template. To do so, first save

them in a document and then save the document as a template as described in

Chapter 10, Working with Templates. If you work on more than one project, you may

find that having different menus and toolbars can be useful.

Customizing menu content

You can add to and rearrange menus on the Menu bar, add commands to menus, and make other

changes. You can also modify context (right-click) menus in a similar way.

To customize menus:

1) Choose Tools > Customize.

2) On the Customize dialog, go to the Menus page (Figure 434) or the Context Menus page.

Figure 434: The Menus page of the Customize dialog

3) On the right-hand side, select from the first drop-down list (A in the illustration) whether to

apply the customized menu to all of LibreOffice Writer or only to a specific document.

440 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

4) Select from the next drop-down list (B) the menu that you want to customize. The list

includes the main menus and submenus. The commands contained in the selected menu

are shown in the box (C) below.

5) To add a command to the selected menu:

a) Optionally select a command in box C under which the new item will be placed.

b) Optionally filter the Function list by selecting a category (D) on the left, then select the

required item from the Function list (E) and click the right-pointing arrow (F) between

the lists.

c) If necessary, use the up and down arrows on the far right (G) to move the selected

command to a different position.

6) To remove a menu item from the left-hand list, select it and click the left-pointing arrow

between the lists.

7) To add a separator line after the highlighted entry, click the Insert button and choose Insert

Separator.

8) To add a submenu after the highlighted entry, click the Insert button and choose Insert

Submenu. In the pop-up dialog, type a name for the new submenu.

9) When you have finished making all your changes, click OK to save them.

Creating a new menu

You might find a “Favorites” menu useful, or a menu collecting tools for a specific project. To create

a new menu:

1) On the Menus page of the Customize dialog, click the + sign next to the list of menus (B) to

display the New Menu dialog (Figure 435). (Not available for context menus.)

2) Type a name for the new menu in the Menu name box.

3) Use the up and down arrow buttons to move the new menu into the required position on the

Menu bar.

4) Click OK to save.

The new menu now appears on the list of menus in the Customize dialog. (It will appear on the

Menu bar itself after you save your customizations.)

After creating a new menu, you need to add some commands to it, as described above.

Figure 435: Adding a new menu

Chapter 21 Customizing Writer | 441

Note

Changes to the menus are not immediately displayed. Changes saved to LibreOffice

Writer's menu are displayed the next time Writer is opened. Changes saved to a

document's menu are displayed the next time the document is opened.

Customizing toolbars

You can customize toolbars in several ways, including choosing which icons are visible, locking the

position of a docked toolbar (as described in Chapter 1, Introducing Writer), and adding or deleting

icons (commands) in the list of those available on a toolbar. You can also create new toolbars. The

controls on the Toolbars page of the Customize dialog (Figure 436) are similar to those on the

Menus page.

Figure 436: The Toolbars page of the Customize dialog

Choosing icons for toolbar commands

Toolbar buttons usually have icons, not words, on them, but not all of the commands have

associated icons. If the command does not have an icon, you can choose an icon for it. To choose

an icon, select the command in the list on the right (marked A in Figure 436), and click Modify >

Change icon. On the Change Icon dialog, scroll through the available icons, select one, and click

OK to assign it to the command.

To use a custom icon, create it in a graphics program and import it into LibreOffice by clicking the

Import button on the Change Icon dialog (Figure 437). Custom icons should be 16×16 pixels in

size.

442 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 437: Change Icon dialog

Assigning shortcut keys

In addition to using the built-in keyboard shortcuts, you can define others. You can assign shortcuts

to standard LibreOffice functions or your own macros and save them for use with Writer or with the

entire LibreOffice suite.

To adapt shortcut keys to your needs, use the Keyboard page of the Customize dialog (Figure

438).

Figure 438: Defining keyboard shortcuts for applying styles

1) Choose whether to have the shortcut key assignment available in all components of

LibreOffice or only in Writer.

Chapter 21 Customizing Writer | 443

2) Select the desired shortcut key in the Shortcut keys list at the top of the page.

3) Select the required function from the Category and Function lists.

4) Click the Modify button. The selection now appears in the Keys list on the lower right.

5) Click OK to accept the change.

Repeat as required.

Note

Shortcut keys that are grayed-out in the listing on the Customize dialog, such as F1

and F10, are not available for reassignment.

Saving changes to a file

Changes to the shortcut key assignments can be saved in a keyboard configuration file for use at a

later time, so you can create and apply different configurations as needed. To save keyboard

shortcuts to a file:

1) After making keyboard shortcut assignments, click the Save button on the Keyboard page

of the Customize dialog (Figure 438).

2) In the Save Keyboard Configuration dialog, type a name for the keyboard configuration file

in the File name box, or select an existing file from the list. Browse to the location where

you want to save the file.

3) Click Save. A confirmation dialog appears if you are about to overwrite an existing file,

otherwise there will be no feedback and the file will be saved.

Loading a saved keyboard configuration

To load a saved keyboard configuration file and replace your existing configuration, click the Load

button on the Customize dialog, and then select the configuration file from the Load Keyboard

Configuration dialog.

Assigning macros to events

An “event” can be something like a document is opened, a key is pressed, or the mouse moved.

You can associate a macro with an event, so the macro is run when the event occurs. For

example, a common use is to assign the “open document” event to run a macro that performs

certain setup tasks for the document.

To associate a macro with an event, use the Events page of the Customize dialog. For more

information, see Chapter 13, Getting Started with Macros, in the Getting Started Guide.

Adding functionality with extensions

An extension is a package that can be installed into LibreOffice to add new functionality. They can

add new top-level menus, submenus or toolbar icons. Extensions may also have their own

settings, available from the extension manager.

Several extensions are shipped bundled with LibreOffice and are installed with the program.

Others can be downloaded from various websites. The official extension repository is located at

http://extensions.libreoffice.org/. These extensions are free of charge.

Some extensions from other sources are free of charge; others are available for a fee. Check the

descriptions to see what licenses and fees apply to the ones that interest you.

444 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Installing extensions

Extensions can be installed in these ways:

•From the *.oxt file in your system's file browser. Double-click the file.

•From the Extension Manager, as follows:

1) In LibreOffice, select Tools > Extension Manager from the Menu bar.

2) In the Extension Manager dialog (Figure 439), click Add.

3) A file browser window opens. Find and select the extension you want to install and click

Open.

4) Users with administrator or root privileges will see a dialog where they can choose to

install extensions "for all users" (shared) or "only for me" (user). Users without those

privileges can install, remove, or modify extensions only for their own use.

5) The extension begins installing.

In each case, during the process you may be asked to accept a license agreement. When the

installation is complete, the extension is listed in the Extension Manager dialog.

Tip

To get extensions that are listed in the repository, you can open the Extension

Manager and click the Get more extensions online link. You do not need to

download them separately.

Figure 439: Using the Extension Manager

Chapter 21 Customizing Writer | 445

Adding custom colors

Versions of LibreOffice before 5.3 had a Colors page in Tools > Options, where you could add

custom colors to a color palette, for example to exactly match a corporate color scheme. This page

has been removed. The method for defining a custom color is now as follows:

1) Insert any drawing object, such as a square, into any document.

2) Right-click on the object and choose Area from the context menu.

3) Go to the Color tab (Figure 440). Under Colors > Palette, choose which palette you wish to

add the new color to. Under New, define the new color using RGB or Hex notation, or click

the Pick button to select the color on the Pick a Color page (Figure 441).

Figure 440: Defining a new color

4) Click Add in the lower left corner, enter a name for the new color in the pop-up dialog, and

click OK to save.

5) Delete the drawing object from the document, if it is not needed.

446 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide

Figure 441: Defining a color by picking it from a color chart

Adding fonts

LibreOffice supports PostScript (.pfb), TrueType (.ttf), and OpenType (.otf) font file formats. Other

font formats exist, and may be supported by your operating system, but these formats may be

limited in selection and quality.

If you have administration privileges, you can install additional fonts through your operating

system; they will then be available for use by LibreOffice and will appear in Writer’s font lists.

Finding free-licensed fonts

In addition to proprietary fonts from sources like Adobe, hundreds of free-licensed fonts are

available. You can use, share, and edit free-licensed fonts as you please. Most are available at no

cost. Many are clones or near-variations of classic fonts, but some are original fonts.

Many Linux distributions include a few free-licensed fonts in their package repositories. Other

places where you can find free-licensed fonts include The League of Moveable Type

(https://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/), Open Font Library (http://openfontlibrary.org/).

Chapter 21 Customizing Writer | 447

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