Edit Background Images in OpenOffice Writer [Wrap -> In Background]

On June 2, 2010, in Beginners, OpenOffice.org Writer, by stephanie
2

As the title of this post suggests, it’s quite easy to put an image in the background of a document.

Right mouse click on the image, and select Wrap –> In Background.

Wrap images in OpenOffice

However, I was stumped when I was trying to access and manipulate the file after I had sent it to the back.

Thanks to Solveig Haugland who reminded me that you just need to right mouse button click on the image in the background (aim for between the text) for a menu to appear, and you can then grab the corners and resize or even delete as necessary!

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OpenOffice Writer Guide [How-To Manual]

On April 27, 2010, in Beginners, OpenOffice.org, OpenOffice.org Writer, by stephanie
2

One of the biggest complaints I hear about OpenOffice is that it is unsupported and there are no manuals or guides for moving from MS Office Word to OpenOffice Writer.

Fortunately, the good folks at OpenOffice have published a guide to meet this need and it’s free!

You can download the 447-page OpenOffice Writer Manual from scribd.

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Changing the Default Size of your Document [OpenOffice Writer]

On April 26, 2010, in Beginners, OpenOffice.org Writer, Templates, by stephanie
0

Living outside of the US means that I use A4 paper. OpenOffice Writer documents usually default to Letter sized paper.

To change the size of your paper to A4, use the steps below. If you want to change the default paper size, then perform the steps below and keep reading further.

Changing the page size of your document

First, open a new Writer document.

Then from the Format menu, select ‘Page’.

Then from the Paper Format section, change the letter to A4 as per the following.

Select OK, and your page will be resized!

Easy! But who wants to do this every time they open a new document?

Change the default page size of your documents

From the previous section, you should now have a document that is A4-sized.

Modify any other settings that you want saved in your default template as well. For example, I like Arial font as the default instead of Times New Roman, so I have changed that.

Now, from the File menu, choose Templates -> Save.

You will then see the Templates box. Give your template a name, and select a category (like My Templates).

Now choose File -> Templates -> Organize

In the Categories list, double-click on the ‘My Templates’ folder.

Right-click on the template you want to use and choose Set as Default Template from the menu.

Click the Close button.

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Stylin’ in OpenOffice [Formatting for Calc and Writer]

On February 21, 2010, in Easy, OpenOffice.org Calc, OpenOffice.org Writer, by stephanie
0

A lot of people think that most word-processing applications like Writer and its competition, are just like typewriters, with basic formatting like bold and underlining. This is OK for starting the document, but if it’s something that may require a format change in the future, then it could be a long and painful process.

Fortunately, over at World Label, they’ve put together some basic information on formatting using Styles – for both Calc and Writer.

Check it out at:

OpenOffice.org: The Need for Style

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Adding a Table of Contents in Writer [Indexes and Tables]

On October 29, 2009, in Beginners, Easy, OpenOffice.org, OpenOffice.org Writer, by stephanie
1

There is a good tutorial for Adding and Updating a Table of Contents in OpenOffice’s Writer over at OpenOfficeX.

table_of_Contents

Just a note before you jump to the link – it says that you can BUY OpenOffice – but they offer unlimited support for users. Note that OpenOffice is a free software – if you buy this version, you are buying the support, which is not normally available with free versions of OpenOffice (other than through a very active community).

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Mail Merge – without the address block

On October 25, 2009, in Database, Intermediate, OpenOffice.org, OpenOffice.org Writer, by stephanie
2

When you use the Tools –>  Mail Merge Wizard in OpenOffice, it is quite limiting in that you are restricted to ending up with an address block. The way to insert other fields is not as obvious.

I have put together the tutorial below to guide you through my way of tackling a requirement of inserting fields in a document that are merged from a separate data source. These fields do not necessarily fill up an address section, but may be used in other parts of the document.

Assumed software: OpenOffice v.2.0 (minimum) (more…)

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