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Getting Started Guide 24.8

Chapter 1,
LibreOffice Basics

Copyright

This document is Copyright © 2024 by the LibreOffice Documentation Team. Contributors are listed below. This document may be distributed and/or modified under the terms of either the GNU General Public License (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html), version 3 or later, or the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), version 4.0 or later. All trademarks within this guide belong to their legitimate owners.

Contributors

Contributors for this edition:

Ed Olson, B. Antonio Fernandez, Olivier Hallot

Contributors for previous editions:

Amanda Labby, Dave Barton, Hazel Russman, Jean Hollis Weber, Jeremy Cartwright, John A Smith, Jorge Rodriguez, Kees Kriek, Martin Saffron, Olivier Hallot, Paul Figueiredo, Ron Faile Jr., Skip Masonsmith, Steve Fanning, Peter Schofield, Rob Thornton.

Feedback

Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to the Documentation Team forum at https://community.documentfoundation.org/c/documentation/loguides/ (registration is required), or send an email to: loguides@community.documentfoundation.org.

Everything sent to a forum, including email addresses and any other personal information that is written in the message, is publicly archived and cannot be deleted. Emails sent to the forum are moderated.

Publication date and software version

Published August 2024. Based on LibreOffice 24.8Community.
Other versions of LibreOffice may differ in appearance and functionality.

Using LibreOffice on macOS

Some keystrokes and menu items are macOS-specific (see the table below). For a detailed list, see LibreOffice Help.

Windows or Linux

macOS equivalent

Effect

Tools > Options
menu selection

LibreOffice > Preferences

Access setup options

Right-click

Control+click, Ctrl+click, or right-click depending on computer setup

Open a context menu

Ctrl or Control

⌘ and/or Cmd or Command, depending on keyboard

Used with other keys

Alt

⌥ and/or Alt or Option depending on keyboard

Used with other keys

F11

+T

Open the Styles deck in the Sidebar

Getting Started

Installation

The process for installing LibreOffice varies by operating system. Table shows the effect of installation on each supported operating system.

Table 1: Results after installation in supported systems

Operating System

Installation Effect

‍Windows

A desktop icon is created

‍Linux

Entries for LibreOffice and each of the LibreOffice modules appear in Applications.

‍macOS

An entry for LibreOffice is added to Applications.

Start-Up

Using the desktop icon or clicking on LibreOffice in your Applications folder launches the LibreOffice Start Center where recent files are shown along with the available modules.

Figure 1: LibreOffice Start Center

LibreOffice Start Center

To reduce the number of files displayed in the Start Center, select a LibreOffice module from the Filter drop-down list. Only files that can be opened by the selected LibreOffice module are displayed in the Start Center.

To pin a document in the Start Center so it can be always visible, hover over the corresponding document and click on the pin icon in the top left corner. The selected document will then be shown in a separate line at the beginning of the list, along with other pinned documents.

Module Use

LibreOffice modules can be opened by:

A LibreOffice module will become active if you double-click the filename of an ODF document in a folder, or file browser. The document opens in the appropriate LibreOffice module. For more information on opening files, see “Opening existing documentsbelow.

Closing LibreOffice

There are multiple methods for closing LibreOffice:

Windows and Linux

macOS

If any documents have not been saved since the last change, a warning message is displayed. Select whether to save or discard the changes.

Main LibreOffice window

Each LibreOffice module’s user interface is based on the main LibreOffice window. Each module has various details depending on the module’s functions.

Every module has the Title bar, Menu bar, and Standard toolbar at the top of the window and the Status bar at the bottom of the window, while the tools and information vary between each LibreOffice module.

By default, LibreOffice commands are grouped in the Standard Toolbar user interface. Other user interface variants are available. Go to View > User Interface on the Menu bar to change the user interface. For more information, see Chapter 13, Customizing LibreOffice.

Title bar

The Title bar is located at the top of the LibreOffice window and it shows the file name of the current document. When a document is created the document name will be Untitled X, where X is a number. New documents are numbered in the order in which they are created.

Menu bar

The Menu bar is located above the Standard toolbar in Windows and Linux operating systems and at the top of the desktop in macOS. When selecting one of the menus in the Menu bar, a specific submenu will appear. They feature commands that can do one of these commands:

For example, the default Menu bar for the LibreOffice Writer module includes the controls described in Table 2.

Table 2: Menu bar entries

Control

Description

File

Lists commands that apply to the entire document, for example Open, Save, and Print.

‍Edit

Has commands for editing a document, including Undo, Find and Replace, Cut, Copy, Paste, and Track Changes.

‍View

Lists commands that control how a document is displayed, such as User Interface, Toolbars, Text Boundaries, Rulers, and Zoom.

‍Insert

Has commands that insert elements into a document, for example Image, Comment, Header and Footer, and Table of Contents and Index.

‍Format

Lists commands that are used to format a document’s layout.

‍Styles

Has commands that handle type styles. It includes commands that apply common styles and manage styles as well as commands for editing, loading, and creating styles.

‍Table

Lists commands that allow you to insert and edit tables with text.

‍Form

Has commands that create fill-in forms.

‍Tools

Lists Writer functions that handle specific tasks, including Spelling, AutoCorrect, Customize, and Options.

‍Window

Has commands that affect the display window.

‍Help

Links to the LibreOffice Help, What’s This?, and information about LibreOffice.

Table 2 shows the default Menu bar controls for the Writer module. The default controls for other modules may vary.

Toolbars

LibreOffice’s toolbars can be in one of two states: docked and floating. A docked toolbar is attached to the document’s main window, while floating toolbars are independent of the main window and can be moved anywhere on your screen.

In the default LibreOffice installation, the Standard toolbar is docked at the top of the window across all of the LibreOffice modules and the second toolbar is in a docked to the top of the window. The second toolbar changes depending on which LibreOffice module is open. For example, if Writer or Calc are opened, the second docked toolbar is the Formatting toolbar.

Usually, the module’s second toolbar is context-sensitive and usually its set of tools change depending on which object is selected. So when a graphic object is selected in Writer, the Drawing Object Properties toolbar, which provides tools for formatting graphics, replaces the Formatting toolbar. When you deselect the graphic object, the Drawing Object Properties toolbar closes and the Formatting toolbar reopens.

When it is necessary to reduce the number of toolbars displayed and provide more space for a document, the user interface can be changed to a single-toolbar as an alternative to the default double-toolbar user interface.
This single-toolbar user interface contains the most-used commands. To activate a single toolbar user interface, go to View > User Interface and select Single Toolbar from the Select Your Preferred User Interface dialog. For more information, see Chapter 13, Customizing LibreOffice.

Displaying or closing toolbars

To display a toolbar, go to View > Toolbars on the Menu bar, and select the name of a toolbar from the submenu. All active toolbars have a check-mark next to their name.

To close a toolbar, you can either:

The View menu does not include floating toolbars that were created from tool palettes, but they are displayed in the LibreOffice window.

Submenus and tool palettes

If a toolbar item has submenus, there will be a small triangle ▼ to the right of the tool’s icon. Clicking on the triangle will display submenus containing further commands, tool palettes, or alternative methods of selecting items.

A tool palette is a pop-up collection of tools attached to a single tool on a toolbar. Tool palettes can be made into floating sub-toolbars using the following example:

Figure 2: Example of creating floating sub-toolbar from a tool palette

Example of creating floating sub-toolbar from a tool palette

  1. Click on Basic Shapes on the Drawing toolbar to open the tool palette.

  2. Click on the toolbar handle (highlighted in Figure 2) and drag the tool palette onto the open document.

  3. Release the toolbar handle and the tool palette becomes a floating toolbar.

If the toolbar handle is not visible, the tool palette, or toolbar, is locked into its docked position and has to be unlocked. See “Locking and unlocking toolbarsbelow for more information.

Locking and unlocking toolbars

If you want to lock all toolbars into place, which will prevent all toolbars from being moved, select View > Toolbars on the Menu bar and select Lock Toolbars on the submenu. LibreOffice has to be restarted to lock all toolbars. If the command Lock Toolbars has a check mark next to it, all toolbars will be locked.

To unlock all toolbars and allow all toolbars to be repositioned, or turned into floating toolbars, go to View > Toolbars on the Menu bar and select Lock Toolbars on the submenu. To finish unlocking all toolbars, LibreOffice has to be restarted to complete this task. Once you have finished unlocking the toolbars, the check mark will removed from the command Lock Toolbars.

However, if you single toolbar to prevent it from being repositioned, or turned into a floating toolbar, right‑click in an empty space on the toolbar and select Lock Toolbar Position from the submenu that opens. A check mark appears against Lock Toolbar Position.

To unlock a single toolbar so that it can be repositioned, or used as a floating toolbar, right‑click in an empty space on the toolbar and select Lock Toolbar Position from the submenu that opens. The check mark next to Lock Toolbar Position is removed.

Moving, docking and floating toolbars

If a toolbars is docked and not locked, it will have a toolbar handle at the left end of the toolbar. This dotted toolbar handle is highlighted in Figure 3. This handle is used to control the location of the toolbar.

Figure 3: Example of toolbar handles

Example of toolbar handles

  1. Move the cursor over the toolbar handle (the small vertical bar of dots to the left of a docked toolbar). The cursor will change shape to the moving shape used by the computer system.

  2. Click on the toolbar handle and drag the toolbar to a new docked position, or create a floating toolbar, then release the toolbar. When the toolbar becomes a floating toolbar, the toolbar handle disappears.

To move a floating toolbar, use one of the following methods:

When you are moving a toolbar into a docked location, LibreOffice will indicate that the toolbar is in a docked position when you see a hashed border around the toolbar. Once the hashed border appears, release the toolbar and the toolbar is docked.

Context sensitive toolbars

Some toolbars in LibreOffice are context sensitive and only open when an object is selected, or the cursor has been positioned in text. For example:

Customizing toolbars

To customize a toolbar, you can add tools listed in Visible Buttons, or add new tools to a toolbar. Also, you can access the customization options for a toolbar by right-clicking in an empty space on a docked toolbar or clicking on the downward triangle ▼ on the title bar of a floating toolbar to open a context menu:

Context menus

Context menus, which provide quick access to many menu functions, can be opened by right-clicking on a paragraph, graphic, or other object. When a context menu is opened, the available functions or options depend on the object that has been selected. A context menu is the easiest way to use a function or option, especially if its location in the menus or toolbars is not known.

Context menus can also display applicable keyboard shortcuts if one has been created, or tool icons if available. To use these options, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > View (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences LibreOffice > View) and select the options available in Visibility.

Status bar

The Status bar is located at the bottom of the workspace. It provides information about the document and also include convenient ways to change some features quickly. It is similar in Writer, Calc, Impress, and Draw, but each LibreOffice module includes some module-specific items. To hide the Status bar, go to View on the Menu bar and deselect Status Bar.

The Impress Status bar is shown in Figure 4 and it has the following components:

Slide number

The slide number currently displayed in the Impress Workspace and the total number of slides in the presentation.

Information area

Changes depending on the object selected on the current Impress slide. Examples shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Examples of information

Example selection

Examples of information shown

Text area

Text Edit: Paragraph x, Row y, Column z

Charts, spreadsheets

Embedded object (OLE) “ObjectName” selected

Figure 4: The Impress Status bar

The Impress Status bar
Slide number
Information area
Master slide
Cursor position
Object size
Unsaved changes
Digital signature
Text language
Fit slide
Zoom slide

  1. Slide number

  1. Information area

  1. Master slide

  1. Cursor position

  1. Object size

  1. Unsaved changes

  1. Digital signature

  1. Text language

  1. Fit slide

  1. Zoom slide

  1. Zoom percentage

Master slide

The master slide associated with the slide or notes pages in the Workspace. You can right-click this area to view a list of available master slides in Impress. If necessary you can select a master slide and apply it to the current slide. Double-click to open the Available Master Slides dialog.

Cursor position/Object size

Shows different information depending on which Impress objects are selected or not:

Unsaved changes

Indicates if there are any unsaved changes in the Impress presentation. Clicking on this icon saves the document. If the presentation has not been saved before, the Save As dialog opens giving the opportunity to save the presentation.

Digital signatures

Indicates if the Impress presentation has a digital signature.

Text language

Indicates the language used for any text in an Impress presentation.

Fit slide

When this icon is selected, the displayed slide in the Impress Workspace zooms to fit in the Workspace.

Zoom slider

When this slider is moved, the slide displayed in the Impress Workspace will adjusts how the document is viewed (by percentage) in the Workspace.

Zoom percentage

Indicates the zoom level of the slide displayed in the Impress Workspace. Clicking on zoom percentage opens the Zoom & View Layout dialog where the settings for zoom factor and view layout are adjusted.

Sidebar

By default, the Sidebar is on the right side of a LibreOffice module’s Workspace. An example of the Writer Sidebar is shown in Figure 5. Go to View > Sidebar on the Menu bar to display or hide the Sidebar.

The Sidebar contains several decks and each deck contains tools and options for formatting a document. The number and type of decks used in the Sidebar depend on the type of document and the current LibreOffice module. Decks are organized into panels and an icon bar on the right side of the Sidebar allows switching between the different decks.

Figure 5: Example of Properties deck in Writer Sidebar

Example of Properties deck in Writer Sidebar

For all LibreOffice modules, each Sidebar contains Properties, Styles, Gallery, and Navigator decks. Some LibreOffice modules also have additional decks:

In LibreOffice, menus, toolbars, and Sidebar panels share many functions across modules. For example, text can be made bold or italic with the Format menu, the Formatting toolbar, or the Properties deck. Some Sidebar panels also have a More Options button, which opens a dialog with additional editing controls. For more detail on options available on the Sidebar, see the guides for each LibreOffice module.

To hide the Sidebar, click on Hide/Show button on the left of the Sidebar (highlighted in Figure 5). To show the Sidebar, click on the Hide/Show button again.

To undock the Sidebar and make it floating, do the following:

  1. Click on Sidebar Settings at the top right, do the Sidebar.

  2. Select Undock from the options available, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+F10 (macOS ⌘+Shift+F10).

To dock the Sidebar into its usual position on the main window, do the following:

  1. Click on Sidebar Settings at the top right of the Sidebar.

  2. Select Dock from the options available, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+F10 (macOS ⌘+Shift+F10).

Working with documents

New documents

LibreOffice has multiple methods for creating a new document:

Opening existing documents

To open an existing LibreOffice document in the appropriate module, use one of the following methods.

Note that the previous names or locations of files that have been renamed or relocated may still be in the Start Center, and clicking on those types of filenames will generate an error. To remove the file from the Start Center, hover the cursor over the thumbnail until an X appears in the upper right corner, and then click on the X.
When you are selecting a LibreOffice file from the Start Center, Open dialog, or file browser you can limit the files seen by file type. For example, you select Text Documents as the file type, only documents that Writer can open are displayed.
If you need to work with files on remote servers, see Chapter 10, Working with File Formats, Security, and Exporting.
Also, LibreOffice can open files compatible with the Open Document Format (ODF), which includes many formats from Microsoft. For example, LibreOffice can open MS Word files (*.doc or *.docx) in Writer, MS Excel files (*.xls or *.xlsx) can be opened in Calc; MS PowerPoint files (*.ppt or *.pptx) can be opened in Impress, and so on. See Chapter 10, Working with File Formats, Security and Exporting for more information about working with different file types.

Saving documents

LibreOffice documents can be saved with one of the following methods:

Saving documents automatically

If you need LibreOffice to save files automatically, you can use the AutoRecovery function. When files are saved automatically, LibreOffice will overwrite the last saved state of the file. To set up automatic file saving, do the following:

  1. Go to Tools > Options > Load/Save > General (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > Load/Save > General) on the Menu bar.

  2. In Save, select the option AutoRecovery information every and set the time interval in the box, for example 10 minutes.

  3. Optionally, you can save the whole file instead by checking the Automatically save the document too checkbox. The time interval is the same as the AutoRecovery information every time interval.

  4. Click OK to save the selection and close the dialog.

Reloading documents

If you reload a document in LibreOffice, all the changes made in an editing session after the last save are discarded. To reload a document, go to File > Reload on the Menu bar.

If you reload a document, a confirmation dialog will open and warn the user that reloading will discards the last unsaved changes.

Closing documents

Close a LibreOffice document with one of the following methods:

If the document to be closed is the only document that is open, the following happens:

If the document has not been saved since the last change, a confirmation dialog opens with a warning message. Select whether to save, or discard, the changes before closing.

Using the Navigator

The Navigator is available as a dialog or Sidebar deck, and it lists all objects contained in a document in categories. Examples can be seen in examples from Impress and Writer (Figure 6 and Figure 7). The Navigator can be opened with one of the following methods:

Figure 6: Example of Impress Navigator dialog

Example of Impress Navigator dialog

The Navigator provides an easy method of locating and selecting objects in a document. If possible you should give each object an easily identified name so you can easily locate an object, instead of using default names such as Sheet1, Table1, or Image2, and so on. Right‑click on an object in the Navigator dialog, or Sidebar deck and select Rename from the context menu.

Figure 7: Example of Navigator deck in Writer Sidebar

Example of Navigator deck in Writer Sidebar

Displaying multiple views of a document

Users can open multiple views of the same document in LibreOffice. Each view can be displayed in its own window and LibreOffice can show different pages, use different zoom levels, or use other settings. When a user makes a change to the document in one window, it will be reflected in the other windows. For example, when using Writer, separate views of a document can be used for copying or moving information from one page to another.

To open a new document window, go to Window > New Window on the Menu bar. In each open window, the filename of the document will be displayed in the title bar. Figure 8 shows how separate views of one document can be open at the same time. If other LibreOffice documents are open at the same time, the LibreOffice windows list also includes these other documents and the active window has a check mark by its filename. You can switch between windows by clicking on a name in the list or by clicking on the window itself if it is visible on the display.

Figure 8: Example of separate windows list

Example of separate windows list

To close a window, go to Window > Close Window on the Menu bar, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+W (macOS ⌘+W).

Undoing and redoing changes

Undoing

To undo the most recent change in a document, use one of these methods:

Redoing

After changes have been undone, changes can be redone using one of the following methods:

Repeating undo and redo commands

Repeating undo and redo commands can save several repetitive menu navigation clicks, or keyboard shortcuts, especially when a command is taken from a context menu or submenu. To repeat the last undo or redo command applied to a document, use one of the following methods:

Printing

Default printer

Here are examples of how to setup a default printer on a computer in LibreOffice. The method will vary depending on the computer and its operating system.

When printing, the name of the default printer installed on a computer appears in the Print tool name, Print Directly tool name, Print dialog, and Printer Settings dialog.
For more information about printing the different types of documents that LibreOffice can create, see the user guides for each LibreOffice module.
Printing options are not available when viewing a LibreOffice Base table or query.

Windows

  1. Open Settings, then go to Devices > Printers & scanners.

  2. Select a printer from the displayed list.

  3. Select Manage > Set as default and then close Settings.

Linux

  1. Open Settings, then go to Printers.

  2. Select a printer from the displayed list.

  3. Click on the settings icon on the right of the printer name.

  4. Select Use Printer by Default from the drop-down list and close Settings.

macOS

  1. Open System Settings, then open Printers & Scanners.

  2. In Default printer select the printer to use as default printer from the drop-down list, then close Settings.

Figure 9: Draw Standard toolbar with Print Directly installed

Draw Standard toolbar with Print Directly installed

Quick printing

LibreOffice can print an entire open document using the computer’s default printer. To quick print, click on Print Directly on the Standard toolbar.

If Print Directly is not visible on the Standard toolbar, it can be installed as follows:

  1. Right-click in a blank area on the Standard toolbar to open a context menu.

  2. Select Visible Buttons from the context menu.

  3. Select Print Directly from the list of available tools to install it on the Standard toolbar, as shown by the highlighted example in Figure 9.

Printer setupTable 4 lists the options that are available in the Printer Setup dialog:

Table 4: Options for printer setup

Option

Description

Printer

Lists information that applies to the selected printer. If the list is empty, install a default printer for the computer. Refer to the printer and computer user guides for more information on connecting printers.

‍Name

Lists the installed printers on the computer. To change the default printer, select a printer name from the drop-down list.

‍Status

Describes the current status of the selected printer.

‍Type

Displays the type of printer that is selected.

‍Location

Displays the computer connection for the selected printer.

‍Comments

Displays additional information for the printer.

‍Properties

Changes the printer settings of the computer operating system for the current document. Make sure that the layout orientation (Landscape or Portrait) matches the page format set in Format > Page on the Menu bar.

‍Options

Opens the Printer Options dialog box allowing the global printer options set in Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer or LibreOffice Calc > Print (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice Writer or LibreOffice Calc > Print) to be overridden when printing the current document.

Options in the Printer Settings dialog is only available in LibreOffice Writer and Calc.

Here is an example of setting up a printer on a computer for LibreOffice:

  1. Connect the printer to the computer. Refer to the printer and computer user guides for more information on connecting printers.

  2. Go to File > Printer Settings on the Menu bar to open a Printer Setup dialog. Figure 10 shows an example of a Printer Setup dialog.

Figure 10: Example of a Printer Setup dialog

Example of a Printer Setup dialog

  1. Click on Options in Printer Setup dialog to open the Printer Options dialog. Figure 11 shows an example of a Printer Options dialog.

  2. Select the required printer options, then click on OK to save the selection and close the Printer Options dialog.

Figure 11: Example of Printer Options dialog

Example of Printer Options dialog

  1. If necessary, click on Properties in the Printer Setup dialog to open a properties dialog for the default printer.

  2. Select the required properties, then click on OK to save the selection and close the properties dialog.

  3. Click OK to save the printer setup and close the Printer Setup Dialog.

LibreOffice printing options

General printing options

After you install a printer on a computer, the general printing options for LibreOffice can be customized. Go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Print (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice > Print) to open the Options LibreOffice Print dialog (Figure 12). The general print options for LibreOffice are as follows:

Settings for

Specifies whether the print settings apply to direct printing or to printing to a file.

Defaults

Convert colors to grayscale

Specifies that all colors in a document are printed only as greyscale.

Include transparent objects

If selected, the reduction in print quality for bitmaps also applies to the transparent areas of objects.

Figure 12: Options LibreOffice Print dialog

Options LibreOffice Print dialog

Reduce bitmaps

Specifies that bitmaps are printed with reduced quality. The resolution can only be reduced and not increased.

Resolution

Specifies the maximum print quality in DPI. The resolution can only be reduced and not increased.

High print quality

High print quality corresponds to a resolution of 300dpi.

Normal print quality

Normal print quality corresponds to a resolution of 200dpi.

Reducing the amount of data sent by LibreOffice to the printer increases the print speed because the print files are smaller. This makes it easier for printers with a smaller memory when printing large files. However, reducing print data can result in slightly lower print quality.

Reduce transparency

If selected, transparent objects are printed like normal, non-transparent objects, depending on your selection in the following two option buttons.

Automatically

Specifies that the transparency is only printed if the transparent area covers less than a quarter of the entire page.

No transparency

When selected, a transparency does not print.

Transparencies cannot be sent directly to a printer. Transparencies must be visible to be calculated by LibreOffice as bitmaps and sent to the printer. Depending on bitmap size and the print resolution, a large amount of data may be generated.

Warnings

Defines which warnings appear before printing begins.

Paper size

Select this option if a certain paper size is required for printing the current document. If the paper size used in the document is not provided by the current printer, an error message opens.

Paper orientation

Select this option if a certain paper orientation is required for printing the current document. If the format used by the current document is not available from the printer, an error message opens.

Transparency

Select this option if a warning is required if transparent objects are contained in the document. When printing a document with transparencies, a dialogue box opens to enable selection if the transparency is to be printed.

Reduce gradient

If selected, gradients are printed with reduced quality.

Gradient stripes

Specifies the maximum number of gradient stripes for printing.

Intermediate color

Specifies that gradients are only printed in a single intermediate color.

LibreOffice modules printing options

To open the printing options dialog for each LibreOffice module, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice module name > Print (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice module name > Print). The different print settings for each LibreOffice module are summarized in Table 5. For more information, refer to the specific user guide for each module.

Table 5: Print options in LibreOffice modules

Feature

Writer

Calc

Impress

Draw

Math

Select pages, sheets, or slides to print

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Print multiple pages, sheets, or slides on one page

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Print a brochure

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

Print envelopes

Yes

No

No

No

No

Print labels or business cards

Yes

No

No

No

No

Preview pages or sheets before printing

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Controlling printing

For more control over printing, open the Print dialog with one of the following methods:

General printing options — Windows or Linux

These printing options are available in the Impress Print dialog’s General page for Windows or Linux (Figure 13).

Printer

Select the printer to use from the printers available in the drop-down list.

Properties

Click on Properties to open the properties dialog for the printer being used. The options available in this dialog depends on the type of printer connected to the computer and the computer operating system being used.

Range and Copies

All Slides

Prints all the slides in the presentation.

Selection

Prints the slides selected in LibreOffice Impress.

Slides

Select the page number(s) to print. For multiple pages, use the format 1, 3, 7 or 1 – 5, 7, 9 for page number selection.

Include

Select from the drop-down list Odd and Even Pages, Odd Pages, or Even Pages.

More > Paper sides

Select from the drop-down list Print on one side (simplex), Print on both sides (duplex long edge), or Print on both sides (duplex short edge).

More > Number of copies

Enter number of printed copies required for the document.

More > Collate

Collates multiple printed copies into separate documents.

More > Order

Select from Create separate print jobs for collated output (only available when more than one copy is being printed) or Print in reverse order.

Figure 13: Impress Print dialog — Impress General page — Windows or Linux

Impress Print dialog — Impress General page — Windows or Linux

Page Layout

Paper size

Select the paper size to use from the drop‑down list.

Orientation

Select from the drop-down list Automatic, Portrait, or Landscape.

More > Pages per sheet

Select from the drop-down list how many pages are printed on one sheet of paper.

More > Order

Select from the drop-down list the printing order of multiple pages on one sheet of paper.

More > Draw a border around each page

When multiple slides are printed on one sheet of paper, a border is drawn around each slide.

More > Brochure

Prints the document so the pages can be folded into a brochure or booklet.

General printing options — macOS

The following general options are an example of the options available on the General page of the Impress Print dialog in macOS (Figure 14).

Printer

Select the printer to be used from the drop-down list. If the default printer is being used, then this printer will already be selected.

Presets

Select from the drop-down list a printing preset. The presets available depend on the type of printer connected to the computer. This also includes any custom presets that have been created.

Copies

Enter the number of copies to be printed.

Pages

All

Prints all the pages in the document.

From: to:

Select the page number(s) to print. For multiple pages, use the format 1, 3, 7 or 1–5, 7, 9 for page number selection.

Print in Color

If the printer selected is capable of color printing, this selection can be switched off to print the presentation in monochrome.

Double-Sided

Select this option to print the presentation double sided if the printer selected is capable of double sided printing.

Media & Quality

Feed from

Allows you to select which paper tray to use from a drop-down list (if the printer has more than one paper tray).

Media Type

Select the paper type that has been loaded into the paper tray from the drop-down list , (for example Envelope, Photo, Plain Paper).

Quality

Select the required level of printing quality.

Layout

Pages per sheet

Select how many slides are printed on one sheet of paper from the drop-down list.

Layout Direction

Select the printing order of multiple slides on one sheet of paper.

Border

When multiple slides are printed on one sheet of paper, a border is drawn around each slide.

Two-Sided

Determine how a multi-page document will be bound from a drop-down list: Off; Long-Edge binding; Short-Edge binding, Booklet.

Reverse page orientation

If LibreOffice prints the slides in the wrong order, select this option and print the document again.

Flip horizontally

If LibreOffice prints the pages in the wrong orientation, select this option and print the document again.

Figure 14: Print dialog — Impress General page — macOS

Print dialog — Impress General page — macOS

Paper Handling

Collate sheets

Allows selected multiple printed copies to be collated into separate documents.

Sheets to Print

Select which slides in the document to print from the drop-down list: (All pages; Odd only; Even only).

Sheet Order

Selects the page printing order from the drop-down list: Automatic; Normal; Reverse.

Scale to fit paper size

Adjusts the printed slide to fit the paper size.

Destination Paper Size

Only available if Scale to fit paper size has been selected. Selects a paper size from the options available in the included drop‑down list.

Scale down only

Select this option to reduce slide size to fit the paper. Only available if the paper size is smaller than the slide size.

Watermark

Provides options to print watermark text on the slides, for example Confidential if the presentation is of a sensitive nature.

Printer info

Shows the details of the selected printer.

LibreOffice module printing options

For more information on using specific printing options available in each LibreOffice module, see the User Guide for each LibreOffice module. For example, specific printing could be for:

Brochure printing

In Writer, Impress, and Draw, documents can be printed in the correct order to form a booklet or brochure. Below are some examples. Actual brochure printing procedure depends on the computer operating system and type of printer being used. You may need to experiment to find the correct method for brochure printing.

Single sided printing

This is an example of how you can create a brochure or booklet with a printer that can only print single sided pages.

  1. Open the Print dialog using one of the following methods:

  1. Click on General to open the page for general print options and, if necessary, select a printer from the Printer drop-down list of printers available.

  2. Click on Properties to open the printer properties dialog for the printer being used and check the printer is set to the same page orientation as specified for the page setup for the pages. Usually page orientation does not matter, but it is important for brochures.

  3. Click OK to close the properties dialog and return to the Print dialog.

  4. In Range and Copies, select All Slides. A minimum of four slides is required to create a brochure.

  5. In Range and Copies, select the Number of copies required to match the required number of brochures.

  6. In Layout, select Brochure.

  7. In Range and Copies, select Even slides option in Include.

  8. Click OK to print the even slides in the presentation.

  9. Take the printed pages out of the printer and put them back into the printer in the correct orientation to print on the other side of the paper. It may be necessary to experiment to find out the correct arrangement for the printer being used.

  10. In Range and Copies, select Odd slides option in Include.

  11. In Range and Copies, select the same Number of copies used for printing the even slides.

  12. Click OK to print the odd slides in the presentation and close the Print dialog.

  13. Assemble the brochures and bind them, if necessary.

Double sided or duplex printing

Printing a brochure with a printer that is capable of double sided, or duplex printing, makes the task of creating brochures simpler.

  1. Open the Print dialog using one of the following methods:

  1. Click on General to open the page for general print options and, if necessary, select a printer from the Printer drop-down list of printers available.

  2. Click on Properties to open the printer properties dialog for the printer being used and check the printer is set to the same page orientation (as specified for the page setup for the slides). Page orientation is especially important for brochures.

  3. Click OK to close the properties dialog and return to the Print dialog.

  4. In Range and Copies, select All Slides. A minimum of four slides is required to create a brochure.

  5. In Range and Copies, select Print on both sides (duplex long edge) or Print on both sides (duplex short edge) option. Normally, long edge binding is used for portrait printing and short edge binding is used for landscape printing.

  6. In Range and Copies, select the Number of copies required to match the required number of brochures.

  7. In Range and Copies, select the Collate option. This option is only active when printing multiple copies of the same document.

  8. In Layout, select Brochure.

  9. Click OK to close to the Print dialog and print the required number of pages for the brochures.

  10. If necessary, bind the brochures to match either long edge or short edge binding.

Figure 15: Print Preview toolbar

Print Preview toolbar

Print previewing

A document can be previewed before it is printed in the Writer and Calc modules. Print previewing is useful, especially when printing a document double-sided making sure there are no errors before the document is printed. Print previewing is opened as follows:

  1. Open Print Preview using one of the following methods. The Print Preview toolbar (Figure 15) opens and the Formatting toolbar closes:

  1. Select the required preview from Single Page Preview, Two Pages Preview, Book Preview, or Multiple Pages Preview.

  2. To print the document from Print Preview, click Print on the Print Preview toolbar to open the Print dialog, then select the printing options and click OK (macOS Print).

  3. To close the preview, click on Close Preview on the Print Preview toolbar. The document switches back to normal view and the Formatting toolbar reopens replacing the Print Preview toolbar.

When a document is in Print Preview mode, the document cannot be edited. If necessary, click on Book view in the Status Bar to display the document in book format. The document can be edited when using Book view on the Status bar. Click on Single page view to return the document to normal view.

Using Safe Mode

Safe Mode is used to restore LibreOffice after it has stopped working, fails to launch correctly, or a file has become corrupted. It starts LibreOffice with a fresh user profile and disables hardware acceleration.

Go to Help > Restart in Safe Mode on the Menu bar to open the Safe Mode dialog (Figure 16).

It is recommended to use Safe Mode options from the top down (Figure 16) because the options get more extreme from the top down.

Restore from backup

If you suspect that the problems were caused by recent changes to LibreOffice’s working state, this option may help you. Since LibreOffice keeps backups of previous configurations and activated extensions, Restore from backup will allow you to restore the user configuration, installed extensions (or both), to a previous known working state.

Configure

This Safe Mode option disables either all user extensions, hardware acceleration, or both functions. This may help you if there are crashes on startup or visual glitches that are often related to hardware acceleration.

Extensions

If you think that a corrupted extension is blocking or causing LibreOffice to crash, this option will uninstall all user extensions and reset the state of any shared or bundled extensions. In the case of shared, or bundled extensions, the option only works if a user has the proper system access rights. It should be used with caution.

Reset to factory settings

If all of the above fails, this function will reset the settings and user interface modifications (or the entire user profile) back to factory defaults.

Reset settings and user interface modifications

This function resets any user interface and configuration changes, but keeps items such as personal dictionary, templates, and so on.

Reset entire user profile

This function erases all customized options and returns a user profile to the factory default state.

Continue in Safe Mode

If you need to continue in Safe Mode, it allows you to work in LibreOffice with a temporary profile that was created on startup. Any extensions or configuration options set up previously have to be reconfigured before using. Keep in mind that any changes made to the temporary user profile are lost after a restart.

Figure 16: Safe Mode dialog

Safe Mode dialog

Restart in Normal Mode

If you have started Safe Mode accidentally, this option discards any changes, terminating Safe Mode, and restarting LibreOffice normally.

Apply Changes and Restart

Select this option to apply any of the above changes and restart LibreOffice.

If problems are not solved using Safe Mode, selecting Advanced provides instructions on receiving further aid.
Advanced can allow you to create a zip file of a corrupted user profile, and this file can be uploaded to the bug tracking system for further investigation by the LibreOffice developers. Remember that an uploaded user profile may also contain sensitive information such as installed extensions, personal dictionaries, and user-specific settings.

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