libre office start presentation

Quick Tutorials, Solutions and to the point.

Create your first presentation using libreoffice impress.

Beginner’s guide on how to create a simple presentation in LibreOffice Impress.

LibreOffice Impress is a free and open-source presentation program for Linux, Windows and Mac. It comes with lots of features and compatibility with Microsoft PowerPoint as well.

Here is a basic guide for creating a simple presentation using Impress.

Table of Contents

Create Your First Presentation

• Open LibreOffice Impress.
• If the template dialog opens, select a template you want. Otherwise, click Close.
• You will be presented with the first slide with a default design – A title and content.
• Modify your presentation slide as per your choice using the toolbar options, e.g. Changing font colour, background colour, adding text etc.
• From the File menu, click Save As … Choose any file type you want. You can also choose the Microsoft PowerPoint file type *.ppt or *.pptx as well. You can also refer to the list of file formats supported on this page .
• Save the file.

Present and View Your Impress Presentation

• If you want to present the Impress presentation, double-click on the saved file and open it via Impress.
• To start the SlideShow, Press F5 Or click SlideShow > Start from First Slide from the menu.
• If you want to start the presentation from any slide, go to the slide in Impress and press SHIFT+F5.

If you are a beginner in LibreOffice Impress, this tutorial may get you started with your first presentation. Drop a comment below if you are facing difficulties with your Impress presentation.

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ibreOffice Impress Slide show ==============================

It is Useless without LibreOffice installed. Runs only from the Edit page toolbar menu, can not run it independently from a file. ————————————————————————————

I am trying to build an Family History Tree – Interactive Slide show. I have it built, and saved as an .odp file. But when I try to run the Show file, it opens up in Impress in Edit mode. How do I get it to run as a Stand-alone slide show? From the Slide-Show.odp file without LibreOffice Impress be installed? I need to email the file to my family members, or anyone who does not have it installed. None can run the slide show from the file as it is. I can save it as Windows .pptx file, but interactivity is trashed, links do not work. —————————————————————————————– Creation problems:

Another shortcoming is inability to insert multipage Document.odt files into a slide. The floating frame is postal stamp size that can not be resized, and Insert text works only for few lines of text that fits into the slide. ——————————————————————————————————————————————-

Working with any objects on the slide, from background to text boxes, lines or pictures is near impossible, everything can slide every which way taking the rest with it. Some Horizontal lines just owuld not go horizontal, only on the slant. Other lines would only snap onto invisible grid lines that can not be deactivated. There is no option to fix any slide objects into place, unless you want to specifically move them. Spent more time fixing the layout instead of concentrating on the creation instead.

What are the three options diplayed at bottom of Insert picture dialog box ?

Which dialog box?

I want to create a custom slide show with specific slides for my music. I am having trouble with the music. I am sure you can fix this. We are in a crazy world of slide shows. 😉

• Impress Basics

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Presentations done right

In Impress, creating and editing slides is very versatile thanks to different editing and view modes: Normal (for general editing), Outline (for organizing and outlining your text content), Notes (for viewing and editing the notes attached to a slide), Handout (for producing paper-based material), and Slide Sorter (for a thumbnail sheet view that lets you quickly locate and order your slides).

Rich content for outstanding presentations

Impress has a comprehensive range of easy-to-use drawing and diagramming tools to add style and sophistication to your presentation. What's more, you can bring your presentation to life with slide show animations and effects. The Fontworks tool lets you create attractive 2D and 3D images from text. Impress enables you to build and control 3D scenes incorporating a large variety of objects and components.

Stay in control - Master your performance

When the time comes to present your work, a powerful Slide Show mode gives you total command over how your slides are displayed and sequenced, so that you can focus on addressing your audience (which slides get shown; manual or timed slide transition; pointer visible or invisible; navigator visible/invisible; and much more).

Impress supports multiple monitors, and its bundled Presenter Console extension gives you even more control over your slide show, such as the ability to see the upcoming slide, view your slide notes, and control the presentation timer while the audience is looking at the current slide.

A touch of creativity

Take your presentations to the next level and save even more time by downloading templates from the LibreOffice template repository .

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Impressum (Legal Info) | Datenschutzerklärung (Privacy Policy) | Statutes (non-binding English translation) - Satzung (binding German version) | Copyright information: Unless otherwise specified, all text and images on this website are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License . This does not include the source code of LibreOffice, which is licensed under the Mozilla Public License v2.0 . “LibreOffice” and “The Document Foundation” are registered trademarks of their corresponding registered owners or are in actual use as trademarks in one or more countries. Their respective logos and icons are also subject to international copyright laws. Use thereof is explained in our trademark policy . LibreOffice was based on OpenOffice.org.

Chapter 1   Introducing LibreOffice

This document is Copyright © 2017 by the LibreOffice Documentation Team. Contributors are listed below. You may distribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either the GNU General Public License ( http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html ), version 3 or later, or the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), version 4.0 or later.

All trademarks within this guide belong to their legitimate owners.

Contributors

Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to the Documentation Team’s mailing list: [email protected]

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.

Acknowledgments

This chapter is adapted and updated from previous editions of this chapter. The contributors to those editions are:

Publication date and software version

Published 15 February 2017. Based on LibreOffice 5.2.

Note for Mac users

Some keystrokes and menu items are different on a Mac 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.

What is LibreOffice?

LibreOffice is a freely available, fully-featured office productivity suite. Its native file format is Open Document Format (ODF), an open standard format that is being adopted by governments worldwide as a required file format for publishing and accepting documents. LibreOffice can also open and save documents in many other formats, including those used by several versions of Microsoft Office.

LibreOffice includes the following components.

Writer (word processor)

Writer is a feature-rich tool for creating letters, books, reports, newsletters, brochures, and other documents. You can insert graphics and objects from other components into Writer documents. Writer can export files to HTML, XHTML, XML, Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), and several versions of Microsoft Word files. It also connects to your email client.

Calc (spreadsheet)

Calc has all of the advanced analysis, charting, and decision making features expected from a high-end spreadsheet. It includes over 300 functions for financial, statistical, and mathematical operations, among others. The Scenario Manager provides “what if” analysis. Calc generates 2D and 3D charts, which can be integrated into other LibreOffice documents. You can also open and work with Microsoft Excel workbooks and save them in Excel format. Calc can also export spreadsheets in several formats, including for example Comma Separated Value (CSV), Adobe PDF and HTML formats.

Impress (presentations)

Impress provides all the common multimedia presentation tools, such as special effects, animation, and drawing tools. It is integrated with the advanced graphics capabilities of LibreOffice Draw and Math components. Slideshows can be further enhanced using Fontwork special effects text, as well as sound and video clips. Impress is compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint file format and can also save your work in numerous graphics formats, including Macromedia Flash (SWF).

Draw (vector graphics)

Draw is a vector drawing tool that can produce everything from simple diagrams or flowcharts to 3D artwork. Its Smart Connectors feature allows you to define your own connection points. You can use Draw to create drawings for use in any of the LibreOffice components, and you can create your own clip art and then add it to the Gallery. Draw can import graphics from many common formats and save them in over 20 formats, including PNG, HTML, PDF, and Flash.

Base (database)

Base provides tools for day-to-day database work within a simple interface. It can create and edit forms, reports, queries, tables, views, and relations, so that managing a relational database is much the same as in other popular database applications. Base provides many new features, such as the ability to analyze and edit relationships from a diagram view. Base incorporates two relational database engines, HSQLDB and PostgreSQL. It can also use dBASE, Microsoft Access, MySQL, or Oracle, or any ODBC compliant or JDBC compliant database. Base also provides support for a subset of ANSI-92 SQL.

Math (formula editor)

Math is the LibreOffice formula or equation editor. You can use it to create complex equations that include symbols or characters not available in standard font sets. While it is most commonly used to create formulas in other documents, such as Writer and Impress files, Math can also work as a standalone tool. You can save formulas in the standard Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) format for inclusion in web pages and other documents not created by LibreOffice.

Advantages of LibreOffice

Here are some of the advantages of LibreOffice over other office suites:

• No licensing fees . LibreOffice is free for anyone to use and distribute at no cost. Many features that are available as extra cost add-ins in other office suites (like PDF export) are free with LibreOffice. There are no hidden charges now or in the future. 

• Open source. You can distribute, copy, and modify the software as much as you wish, in accordance with the LibreOffice Open Source licenses. 

• Cross-platform. LibreOffice runs on several hardware architectures and under multiple operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. 

• Extensive language support . The LibreOffice user interface, including spelling, hyphenation, and thesaurus dictionaries, is available in over 100 languages and dialects. LibreOffice also provides support for both Complex Text Layout (CTL) and Right to Left (RTL) layout languages (such as Urdu, Hebrew, and Arabic). 

• Consistent user interface. All the components have a similar “look and feel,” making them easy to use and master. 

• Integration. The components of LibreOffice are well integrated with one another. 

– All the components share a common spelling checker and other tools, which are used consistently across the suite. For example, the drawing tools available in Writer are also found in Calc, with similar but enhanced versions in Impress and Draw. 

– You do not need to know which application was used to create a particular file. For example, you can open a Draw file from Writer. 

• Granularity. Usually, if you change an option, it affects all components. However, LibreOffice options can be set at a component level or even at document level. 

• File compatibility. In addition to its native OpenDocument formats, LibreOffice includes support for opening and saving files in many common formats including Microsoft Office, HTML, XML, WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and PDF. 

• No vendor lock-in. LibreOffice uses OpenDocument, an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) file format developed as an industry standard by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards). These files can easily be unzipped and read by any text editor, and their framework is open and published. 

• You have a voice. Enhancements, software fixes, and release dates are community-driven. You can join the community and affect the course of the product you use. 

You can read more about LibreOffice and The Document Foundation on their websites at http://www.libreoffice.org/ and http://www.documentfoundation.org/ .

Minimum requirements

LibreOffice 5.2 requires one of the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows XP SP3, Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows Server 2012, or Windows 10.  

• GNU/Linux Kernel version 2.6.18, glibc2 v2.5 or higher, and gtk v2.10.4 or higher 

• Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) or higher 

Administrator rights are needed for the installation process.

Some LibreOffice features (wizards and the HSQLDB database engine) require that the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is installed on your computer. Although LibreOffice will work without Java support, some features will not be available.

For a more detailed listing of requirements, see the LibreOffice website, http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/system-requirements/ .

How to get the software

Versions of LibreOffice for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X can be downloaded free from http://www.libreoffice.org/download . You can also download the software by using a Peer-to-Peer client, such as BitTorrent, at the same address.

Linux users will also find LibreOffice included in many of the latest Linux distributions; Ubuntu is just one example.

Mac OS X users can also get two versions of LibreOffice from the App Store: LibreOffice Vanilla (free) and LibreOffice-from-Collabora (an enterprise-ready version; small fee).

How to install the software

Information on installing and setting up LibreOffice on the various supported operating systems is given here: http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/install-howto/ .

Extensions and add-ons

Extensions and add-ons are available to enhance LibreOffice. Several extensions are installed with the program and you can get others from the official extensions repository, http://extensions.libreoffice.org/ . See Chapter 14, Customizing LibreOffice for more information on installing extensions and add-ons.

Starting LibreOffice

In general, you start LibreOffice the same way you start any other program on your computer.

On computers with Windows or Linux operating systems, a menu entry for LibreOffice and each LibreOffice component appears in the system menu of your computer. On computers operating Mac OS X, only a menu entry for LibreOffice is added to the Applications menu.

Clicking on the LibreOffice menu entry, desktop icon, or tile opens the LibreOffice Start Center (Figure 1 ) from where you can select the individual components of LibreOffice. You can also select to open an existing file or use a template.

Opening an existing document before starting LibreOffice

You can start LibreOffice by double-clicking the filename of an ODF document on the desktop, or in a file manager such as Windows Explorer or the Mac’s Finder. The appropriate component of LibreOffice will start and the document will be loaded.

You can also open files stored in remote servers running Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS). CMIS, like OpenDocument Format, is an OASIS standard. When using CMIS servers, the service will ask you for the necessary credentials for file access.

Figure 1: LibreOffice Start Center

If you do not have Microsoft Office installed on your computer, or if Microsoft Office is installed but you have associated Microsoft Office file types with LibreOffice, then when you double-click on the following files, they open in LibreOffice:

• A Word file (*.doc or *.docx) opens in Writer. 

• An Excel file (*.xls or *.xlsx) opens in Calc. 

• A PowerPoint file (*.ppt or *.pptx) opens in Impress. 

If you did not associate the file types and Microsoft Office is installed on your computer, then when you double-click on a Microsoft Office file, it opens using the appropriate Microsoft Office component.

For more information on opening files, see “ Opening existing documents ” on page 16 .

Quickstarter

When LibreOffice is installed on computers running Windows or Linux, a Quickstarter feature may also be installed. When Quickstarter is activated, the necessary library files are loaded when the computer system is started, resulting in a shorter startup time for LibreOffice components.

Computers with a Mac operating system do not have a Quickstarter.

Activating Quickstarter

On computers operating a Linux or Windows operating system, the default installation of LibreOffice does not set the Quickstarter to load automatically. To activate it:

1)   Open LibreOffice. 

2)   Go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Memory on the Menu bar and select Load LibreOffice during system start-up (if using Windows) or select Enable systray Quickstarter (if using Linux). 

3)   Close and restart LibreOffice to have Quickstarter appear. 

Using Quickstarter on Windows or Linux

To start a LibreOffice component directly by using Quickstarter:

1)   Right-click the Quickstarter icon in the system tray to open a pop-up menu (Figure 2 ). 

2)   Select the LibreOffice component you want to open to create a new document, or select From Template to open the Template Manager, or select Open Document to open an existing document. 

Figure 2: Quickstarter menu in Windows

Disabling Quickstarter

To temporarily close Quickstarter on a computer using a Windows operating system, right-click on the Quickstarter icon in the system tray and select Exit Quickstarter in the pop-up menu. However, when the computer is restarted, Quickstarter will be loaded again.

To prevent the Quickstarter from loading during system startup, do one of the following:

• Right-click on the Quickstarter icon and deselect Load LibreOffice during system start-up on the pop-up menu (on Windows) or select Disable systray Quickstarter (on Linux). 

• Go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Memory on the Menu bar and deselect Load LibreOffice during system start-up (on Windows) or deselect Enable systray Quickstarter on Linux. 

Reactivating Quickstarter

If Quickstarter has been disabled, you can reactivate it by using the instructions given in “ Activating Quickstarter ” above.

Parts of the main window

The main window is similar for each component of LibreOffice, although some details vary. See the relevant chapters in this guide about Writer, Calc, Draw, and Impress for descriptions of those details.

Common features include the Menu bar, standard toolbar, and formatting toolbar at the top of the window and the status bar at the bottom.

The Menu bar is located across the top of the LibreOffice window, just below the title bar. When you select one of the menus listed below, a sub-menu drops down to show commands.

• File – contains commands that apply to the entire document such as Open, Save, and Export as PDF. 

• Edit – contains commands for editing the document such as Undo, Find & Replace, Cut, Copy, and Paste. 

• View – contains commands for controlling the display of the document such as Zoom and Web Layout. 

• Insert – contains commands for inserting elements into your document such as Header, Footer, and Image. 

• Format – contains commands for formatting the layout of your document. 

• Styles – contains commands for quickly applying common styles; for editing, loading, and creating new styles; and for accessing the Styles and Formatting section of the Sidebar. 

• Table – contains commands to insert and edit a table in a text document. 

• Tools – contains functions such as Spelling and Grammar, AutoCorrect, Customize, and Options. 

• Window – contains commands for the display window. 

• Help – contains links to the LibreOffice Help file, What’s This?, and information about the program. 

LibreOffice has two types of toolbars: docked (fixed in place) and floating. Docked toolbars can be moved to different locations or made to float, and floating toolbars can be docked.

In a default LibreOffice installation, the top docked toolbar, just under the Menu bar, is called the Standard toolbar. It is consistent across the LibreOffice applications.

The second toolbar at the top, in a default LibreOffice installation, is the Formatting bar. It is context-sensitive; that is, it shows the tools relevant to the current position of the cursor or the object selected. For example, when the cursor is on a graphic, the Formatting bar provides tools for formatting graphics; when the cursor is in text, the tools are for formatting text.

In some cases it is convenient to reduce the number of toolbars displayed and get more space for the document. LibreOffice provides a single-toolbar alternative to the default double-toolbar setup. It contains the most-used commands. To activate it, enable View > Toolbars > Standard (Single Mode) and disable View > Toolbars > Standard and View > Toolbars > Formatting .

Displaying or hiding toolbars

To display or hide toolbars, go to View > Toolbars on the Menu bar, then click on the name of a toolbar from the drop-down list. An active toolbar shows a check-mark beside its name. Toolbars created from tool palettes are not listed in the View menu.

To close 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.

Sub-menus and tool palettes

Toolbar icons with a small triangle to the right will display sub-menus , tool palettes , and alternative methods of selecting items, depending on the icon.

Tool palettes can be made into a floating toolbar. Figure 3 shows an example of a tool palette from the Drawing toolbar made into a floating toolbar. See “ Moving toolbars ” and “ Floating toolbars ” below for more information on moving and floating these toolbars created from tool palettes.

Figure 3: Example of tearing off a tool palette

Moving toolbars

Docked toolbars can be undocked and moved to a new docked position or left as a floating 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 4 . 

2)   Hold down the left mouse button and drag the toolbar to the new location. The toolbar can be docked in a new position at the top, sides or bottom of the main window, or left as a floating toolbar. 

3)   Release the mouse button. 

To move a floating toolbar, click on its title bar and drag it to a new floating location or dock the toolbar at the top or bottom of the main window.

Figure 4: Toolbar handles

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

LibreOffice includes several additional toolbars, whose default setting appear as floating toolbars in response to the current position of the cursor or selection. You can dock these toolbars to the top or bottom of the main window, or reposition them on your computer display (see “ Moving toolbars ” above).

Some of these additional toolbars are context sensitive and will automatically appear depending on the position of the cursor. 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.

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 14 Customizing LibreOffice . To access the customization options for a toolbar, right-click in an empty space between the icons on a toolbar to open a context menu as follows:

• To show or hide icons defined for the selected toolbar, click Visible Buttons . Visible icons on a toolbar are indicated by an outline around the icon ( Figure 5 ) 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. 

Figure 5: Selection of visible toolbar icons

• Click Customize Toolbar to open the Customize dialog; See Chapter 14 Customizing LibreOffice for more information. 

• 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 11 . 

• Click Dock All Toolbars to dock all floating toolbars. By default, toolbars will dock at the top of the workspace. You can reposition the toolbars to different docked positions. See “ Moving toolbars ” on page 11 . 

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

• Click Close Toolbar to close the selected toolbar. 

Context 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. A context menu 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.

The status bar is located at the bottom of the workspace. It provides information about the document and convenient ways to change some features quickly. It is similar in Writer, Calc, Impress, and Draw, but each LibreOffice component includes some component-specific items. An example of the Writer status bar is shown in Figure 6 .

Figure 6: Example status bar from Writer

Page, sheet, or slide number and page count

Shows the current page, sheet, or slide number and the total number of pages, sheets, or slides in the document. Double-click on this field to open the Navigator. Other uses of this field depend on the LibreOffice component.

Words and characters

Shows the total number of words and characters in the document or in the selection.

Page style or slide design

Shows the current page style or slide design. To edit the current page style or slide design, double-click on this field. To choose a different page style or slide design, right-click on this field and select from the list that pops up.

Shows the current language of the text at the current cursor position.

Insert mode

Shows the type of insert mode the program is in. This field is blank if the program is in Insert mode. Each time the Ins key is pressed, or this field is clicked, the mode toggles between Insert and Overwrite.

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.

Unsaved changes

The icon shown here is different when changes to the document have not been saved.

Digital signature

If the document has been digitally signed, an icon shows here. You can click the icon to sign the document, or to view the existing certificate.

Object information

Displays information relevant to the position of the cursor or the selected element of the document.

View layout

Select between Single-page view, Multiple-page view, and Book view to change how your document is displayed.

Zoom slider

Drag the Zoom slider, or click on the + and – signs to change the view magnification of your document.

Zoom percentage

Indicates the magnification level of the document. Right-click on the percentage figure to open a list of magnification values from which to choose. Double-clicking on this percentage figure opens the Zoom & View Layout dialog.

To activate the Sidebar, select View > Sidebar from the Menu bar. The Sidebar (Figure 7 ) is located on the right side of the edit views of Writer, Calc, Impress, and Draw. It contains one or more panels, based on the current document context. Panels are organized into decks. A tab bar on the right side of the sidebar allows you to switch between different decks.

Figure 7: Properties panel of Sidebar in Writer

All components contain the Properties, Styles and Formatting, Gallery, and Navigator decks. Some components have additional decks, such as Master Pages, Custom Animation, and Slide Transition for Impress; Manage Changes for Writer; and Functions for Calc.

A panel is like a combination of a toolbar and a dialog. For example, you can freely mix working in the main edit window to enter text and use the Properties panel in the sidebar to change text attributes.

Tool bars and Sidebar panels share many functions. For example, the buttons for making text bold or italic exist in both the Formatting toolbar and the Properties panel.

For more detail, see the Sidebar explanation in the relevant LibreOffice component’s user guide.

To hide the Sidebar, click on the gray Hide button on the left. Click on the same button to show the Sidebar again.

To undock the Sidebar and make it floating, and to dock a floating Sidebar, use the drop-down list at the top of the tab bar (see Figure 8 ). From the same list you can choose which items to include in the Sidebar.

Figure 8: Floating (undocking) or docking the Sidebar

Starting new documents

You can start a new, blank document in LibreOffice in several ways.

When LibreOffice is running but no document is open, the Start Center (Figure 1 on page 8 ) is shown. Click one of the icons to open a new document of that type, or click the Templates icon to start a new document using a template.

You can also start a new document in one of the following ways:

• Use File > New on the Menu bar and select the type of document from the context menu. 

• Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+N to create a new document. The type of document created depends on which LibreOffice component is open and active. For example, if Calc is open and active, a new spreadsheet is created. 

• Use File > Wizards on the Menu bar and select the type of document from the context menu. 

• If a document is already open in LibreOffice, click the New icon on the Standard toolbar and a new document of the same type is created in a new window. For example, if Calc is open and active, a new spreadsheet is created. The New icon changes depending on which component of LibreOffice is open. 

• If a document is already open in LibreOffice, click on the small triangle to the right of the New icon on the Standard toolbar and select the type of document from the context menu that opens. 

• On Windows or Linux, use the Quickstarter feature included with LibreOffice. See “ Quickstarter ” on page 8 for more information. 

If all documents are closed without closing LibreOffice, then the Start Center will be displayed.

Opening existing documents

You can also open an existing document in one of the following ways:

• When no document is open, click Open File or Remote files in the Start Center to reach the Open dialog. 

• Go to File > Open or File > Open Remote File... on the Menu bar the reach the Open dialog. 

• Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+O to reach the Open dialog. 

• If a document is already open, click the Open icon on the Standard toolbar and select from a list of available documents from the Open dialog. 

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

• When no document is open, double-click on 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. 

When using the Open dialog, navigate to the folder you want and select the file you want, and then click Open . If a document is already open in LibreOffice, the second document opens in a new window.

In the Open dialog, you can reduce the list of files 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 can open (including .odt , .doc , .txt ); if you choose Spreadsheets , you will see .ods , .xls , and other files that Calc opens.

You can also open an existing document that is in a format that LibreOffice recognizes by double-clicking on the file icon on the desktop or in a file manager such as Windows Explorer. LibreOffice has to be associated with file types that are not ODF files for the appropriate LibreOffice component to open.

Notes 

You can choose whether to use the LibreOffice Open/Save dialogs or the ones provided by your computer’s operating system. See “ Choosing Open and Save As dialogs ” on page 20 for more information. This book uses the LibreOffice dialogs in illustrations.

When opening files stored in a remote server, you may be asked to enter your user name and password to log in the server.

Saving documents

You can save documents as follows:

• Save command – use if you are keeping the document, its current filename and location. 

• Save to Remote Server - use if your document is already stored in a remote server or will be stored in a remote server. 

• Save As – use if you want to create a new document, or change the filename and/or file format, or save the file in a different location on your computer. 

• Save a copy - use if you want to save a copy of your current document and keep it open for more editing. 

• Save All - use to save all the open files open in your current session. 

Save command

To save a document if you are keeping the document’s current filename and location, do one of the following:

• Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S . 

• Go to File > Save , File > Save to Remote Server , File > Save a Copy , or File > Save All on the Menu bar. 

• Click the Save icon on the Standard toolbar. 

Using the Save command will overwrite the last saved version of the file.

Save As command

Figure 9: Example of LibreOffice Save As dialog

To save a document if you want to create a new document, or change the filename and/or file format, or save the file in a different location on your computer:

• Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+S . 

• Go to File > Save As on the Menu bar. 

When the Save As dialog (Figure 9 ) or Save dialog opens, enter the file name, change the file type (if applicable), navigate to a new location (if applicable), and click Save .

The dialog that opens when using the Save As command depends on the options that have been set in LibreOffice. See “ Choosing Open and Save As dialogs ” on page 20 for more information.

Password protection

To restrict who can open and read a document, or open and edit the document, use password protection.

1)   Using the Save As command above, select the Save with password option in the Save As dialog or Save dialog. 

2)   Click Save and the Set Password dialog opens (Figure 10 ). 

3)   In File Encryption Password , enter a password to open the document and then enter the same password as confirmation. 

4)   To restrict who can edit the document, click Options . 

5)   In File Sharing Password , select Open file read-only , enter a password to allow editing, and then enter the same password as confirmation. 

6)   Click OK and the dialog closes. If the passwords match, the document is saved password-protected. If the passwords do not match, you receive an error message. 

Figure 10: Set Password dialog

Caution 

LibreOffice uses a very strong encryption mechanism that makes it almost impossible to recover the contents of a document if you lose or forget the password.

Changing the password

When a document is password-protected, you can change the password while the document is open. Go to File > Properties > General on the Menu bar and click the Change Password button. This opens the Set Password dialog where you can enter a new password.

Saving documents automatically

LibreOffice can save files automatically as part of the AutoRecovery feature. Automatic saving, like manual saving, overwrites the last saved state of the file.

To set up automatic file saving:

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

2)   Select Save AutoRecovery information every and set the time interval. 

3)   Click OK . 

Opening and saving files on remote servers

LibreOffice 5.2 can open and save files stored on remote servers. Keeping files on remote servers allows you to work with the documents using different computers. For example, you can work on a document in the office during the day and edit it at home for last-minute changes. Storing files on a remote server also backs up documents from computer loss or hard disk failure. Some servers are also able to check-in and check-out files, thus controlling their usage and access.

LibreOffice 5.2 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.

To access remote servers, you must use LibreOffice Open and Save dialogs. If you use your operating system dialogs for saving and opening files, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > General and check the option Use LibreOffice dialogs .

To enable a remote server connection, use one of these methods:

• Click on the Remote Files button in the Start Center  

• Select File > Open Remote Files...  

• Select File > Save to Remote Server...  

Then click on the Add Service button (Figure 12 ) in the dialog to open the File Service dialog.

Depending on the type of file service you choose in the Type listbox, different parameters are necessary to fully qualify the connection to the remote server (Figure 11 ).

Figure 11: Remote server configuration

Once the connection is defined, click OK to connect. The dialog will dim until the connection is established with the server. A dialog asking for the user name and the password may pop up to let you log in the server. Proceed entering your credentials.

The Remote Files dialog (Figure 12 ) which then appears has many parts. The upper list box contains the list of remote servers you have previously defined. The line below the list box shows the path to access the folder. On the left is the folder structure of the user space in the server. The main pane displays the files in the remote folder. Click the Open or Save button to proceed.

Figure 12: Remote Files dialog when connected to a server

Renaming and deleting files

You can rename or delete files within the LibreOffice dialogs, just as you can in a file manager. Select a file and then right click to open a context menu. Select either Delete or Rename , as appropriate. However, you cannot copy or paste files within the dialogs.

Choosing Open and Save As dialogs

You can choose whether to use the LibreOffice Open and Save As dialogs or the ones provided by your operating system. This book uses the LibreOffice dialogs in illustrations.

If you use your computer system’s dialogs, you can move files only to and from mounted file systems on the local computer. To provide additional opportunities such as working with cloud or remote servers, and searching by versions, switch to using LibreOffice dialogs. Go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > General and select or deselect the option Use LibreOffice dialogs .

An example of a LibreOffice dialog is shown in Figure 9 on page 17 . The three icons in the top right of these dialogs are as follows:

• Server – the File Services dialog opens, where you can connect to a network server if the file you want is not located on your computer. 

• Up One Level – moves up one folder in the folder hierarchy. Click and hold the mouse button on this icon to display a drop down a list of higher level folders. Move the cursor over a higher level folder and release the mouse button to navigate to that folder 

• Create New Folder – creates a new sub-folder in the folder that is displayed in the dialog. 

Use the File type field to specify the type of file to be opened or the format of the file to be saved.

The Read-only option on the Open dialog opens the file for reading and printing only. Most of the icons and most menu options are disabled on the toolbars. The Edit File icon becomes active on the Standard toolbar. Click on this icon to open the file for editing.

The Places pane in the dialog displays the shortcuts to folders and file services you bookmarked. This lets you quickly navigate to the target folder or remote server. To add a place, navigate to the folder where your document is located and click the + button. The name of the folder will show in the Places pane. To remove a folder from the Places pane, click its name and then click the - button.

Using the Navigator

The LibreOffice Navigator lists objects contained within a document, collected into categories. For example, in Writer it shows Headings, Tables, Text frames, Comments, Graphics, Bookmarks, and other items, as shown in Figure  13 . In Calc it shows Sheets, Range Names, Database Ranges, Graphics, Drawing Objects, and other items. In Impress and Draw it shows Slides, Pictures, and other items.

To open the Navigator, click the Navigator icon on the Standard toolbar, or press the F5 key, or go to View > Navigator on the Menu bar, or click the Navigator icon in the Sidebar.

In a default installation of LibreOffice, the Navigator is part of the Sidebar.

Click the marker (+ or triangle) by any of the categories to display the list of objects in that category.

The Navigator provides several convenient ways to move around a document and find items in it:

• When a category is showing the list of objects in it, double-click on an object to jump directly to that object’s location in the document. 

• Objects are much easier to find if you have given them recognizable names when creating them, instead of keeping the default names such as Sheet1, Table1, or Table2. The default names may not correspond to the actual position of the object in the document. 

• Each Navigator in the individual LibreOffice components has a different range of functions. These functions are further explained in the user guide for each LibreOffice component. 

Figure 13: Navigator in Writer

Undoing and redoing changes

To undo the most recent change in a document, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z, or click the Undo icon on the Standard toolbar, or go to Edit > Undo on the Menu bar. Click the small triangle to the right of the Undo icon to get a list of all the changes that can be undone. You can select multiple changes and undo them at the same time.

After changes have been undone, you can redo changes. To redo a change use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Y , or click the Redo icon, or go to Edit > Redo on the Menu bar. As with Undo, click on the triangle to the right of the arrow to get a list of the changes that can be reapplied.

To repeat the last command applied to your document, use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Y . This can save several repetitive menu navigation clicks or keyboard shortcuts, especially when the command is taken from a secondary menu.

To modify the number of changes LibreOffice remembers, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Memory on the Menu bar. In the Undo section increase or decrease the Number of steps . Be aware that asking LibreOffice to remember more changes consumes more computer memory.

Reloading a document

You may want to discard all the changes made in an editing session after the last document save. But undoing each change or remembering where the changes took place can be a difficult task. If you are sure you do not want to keep the changes from the last save operation, you can reload your document. A copy of the document that is currently stored in the file system is loaded. The document returns to the state where it was last saved.

To reload a document, go to File > Reload on the menu bar. A confirmation dialog will warn you that you will discard your last changes. On reloading your document, the File dialog will not open, because the file is already selected.

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 on the X on the right or left end of the Menu bar. On Windows and Linux, the document closes and the LibreOffice Start Center opens. On Mac OS X, the document closes and only the Menu bar remains at the top of the screen.

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 on the X on the title bar of that document’s window. The X may be located on either the right or left end of the title bar.

If the document has not been saved since the last change, a message box is displayed. Choose whether to save or discard your changes.

Not saving your document could result in the loss of recently made changes, or worse still, the entire file.

Closing LibreOffice

To close LibreOffice completely, go to File > Exit on the Menu bar in Windows and Linux operating systems. In a Mac operating system, go to LibreOffice > Quit LibreOffice on the Menu bar.

When you close the last document using the X on the title bar of the window, then LibreOffice will close completely. A Mac operating system does not have this function; instead, you need to use to LibreOffice > Quit LibreOffice .

You can also use a keyboard shortcut as follows:

• In Windows and Linux – Ctrl+Q  

• In Mac OS X – 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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Set so that LibreOffice Impress will go straight into show slide mode

When I start my libre office presentation, I would like it to go automatically into slide show mode. How can I do so?

[With Microsoft Office you can do this by renaming a presentation to .pps (from .ppt) or .ppsx (from .pptx)]

• libreoffice

• 1 As far as I know, Impress does not support that feature. You can only save a presentation as a .odp(presentation) and .otp(template). You can try to visit this site and this site for a possible workaround. –  Peachy Aug 19, 2012 at 3:42
• Impress does have the option to "Save As" PowerPoint (autoplay) PPS. You can select from the "All Formats" drop-down selection when saving the file –  stephenmyall Aug 23, 2012 at 20:57

2 Answers 2

You can also do this using terminal

Open terminal Ctrl + Alt + T and run following command

I wanted to run a presentation looping on a notice board but for some odd reasons, pps files were inserting a pause of 10 seconds between last and first slides even if I set the relevant option to 0 sec, whereas odp was working fine.

I don't know about LibreOffice, but I know its 'brother' OpenOffice. In Open Office Impress, if you right-click the file name, you will see the option 'Show'. Selecting that will open the presentation directly in show mode.

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LibreOffice 7.1 Help

Start Center

Welcome to LibreOffice. Thank you for using the LibreOffice application help . Press F1 whenever you need help using LibreOffice.

You see the Start Center when no document is open in LibreOffice. It is divided into two panes. Click a button on the left pane to open a new document or a file dialog.

Open existing files

The Open File button presents a file open dialog.

The Remote Files button presents a Remote files dialog to open files stored on remote servers.

Click the Recent Documents button to show thumbnails of the most recent documents you opened in the right side of the window. Hover your mouse over the thumbnail to highlight the document, display a tip about the document location and display an icon on the top right to delete the thumbnail from the pane and from the recent files list. Click on the thumbnail to open the document underneath.

You can remove an item from the Recent Documents list by clicking the button in the upper-right corner of the icon. The document itself is not deleted. You can remove all items on the Recent Documents list by pressing the Recent Documents dropdown button and selecting Clear Recent Documents .

Working with Templates

Click the Templates button to display templates for all applications in the right side of the window.

Click the down arrow after the Templates button to open a menu where you can select a filter to display templates by application type or open the Template Manager dialog.

Right click on a template in the right pane to open a menu where you can either open the template to create a new document based on the template or edit the template itself.

The document buttons each open a new document of the specified type.

Writer Document opens LibreOffice Writer

Calc Spreadsheet opens LibreOffice Calc

Impress Presentation opens LibreOffice Impress

Draw Drawing opens LibreOffice Draw

Math Formula opens LibreOffice Math

Base Database opens LibreOffice Base

The Extensions button opens the https://extensions.libreoffice.org/ page, where you can download templates and additional features for LibreOffice.

Encrypted files will not display a thumbnail image of its content.

Please support us!

Impress Guide 7.4

Chapter 1, Introducing Impress

Presentations in LibreOffice

This document is Copyright © 2022 by the LibreOffice Documentation Team. Contributors are listed below. This document maybe 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 document belong to their legitimate owners.

Contributors

Contributors for this edition:

Peter Schofield

Contributors for previous editions:

Jean Hollis Weber

Hazel Russman

Vasudev Narayanan

Rachel Kartch

Dimona Delvere

Michele Zarri

T. Elliot Turner

Peter Hillier-Brook

Gary Schnabl

Claire Wood

Linda Worthington

Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to the Documentation Team mailing list: [email protected] .

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

Publication date and software version

Published October 2022. Based on LibreOffice 7.4 Community. Other versions of LibreOffice may differ in appearance and functionality.

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 used in this document. For a detailed list, see LibreOffice Help.

Introduction

Impress is the presentation (slide show) program included in LibreOffice. Impress creates presentations in the Open Document Presentation (ODP) format, which can be opened by other presentation software or can be exported in different presentation formats.

Slides can be created that contain many different elements, including text, bulleted and numbered lists, tables, charts, and a wide range of graphic objects such as clipart, drawings and photographs. Impress also includes a spelling checker, a thesaurus, text styles, and background styles.

This chapter introduces the Impress user interface. The remaining chapters in this user guide explain all the features available in Impress that can be used to create more sophisticated slide shows.

To use Impress for more than very simple presentations requires some knowledge of the elements which the slides contain. Slides containing text use styles to determine the appearance of that text. Creating drawings in Impress is similar to the Draw module included in LibreOffice. It is recommended to consult the Draw Guide for more details on how to use the drawing tools.

Starting Impress

Impress can be started in several ways:

From the LibreOffice Start Center that opens when LibreOffice is opened and no other LibreOffice module is open.

Click on Impress Presentation to create a new presentation.

Click on Open File and navigate to the folder where there is an existing presentation.

From the system menu using the standard menu from which most applications are started. Details vary with the operating system. See the Getting Started Guide for more information, some examples are listed below:

Start menu in Windows.

Applications menu in Linux with a Gnome desktop.

Applications menu in macOS.

From any open module of LibreOffice.

Go to File > New > Presentation on the Menu bar.

Click on the triangle ▼ next to New on the Standard toolbar and select Presentation from the drop-down menu.

When LibreOffice is installed on a computer, a menu entry for each component is normally added to the system menu. The exact name and location of these menu entries depend on the operating system and graphical user interface.

The New icon displayed on the Standard toolbar depends on which LibreOffice module is open when creating a new presentation.

Figure 1 : Impress main window

Legend for Figure 1

1)  Slides pane

2)  Workspace

3)  Sidebar

Figure 2 : Select a Template dialog

When starting Impress, the main Impress window ( Figure 1 ) opens and, as default, with the Select a Template dialog displayed ( Figure 2 ). Templates included with Impress are designed to fit the two standard sizes of presentation slides: 4:3 and 16:9 ratios. However, templates will adapt to other sizes that are available and can be selected by going to Slide > Slide Properties > Paper Format on the Menu bar, or Format in the Slide panel in the Properties deck on the Sidebar.

To start Impress without the Select a Template dialog opening, deselect Show this dialog at startup in the lower left of the dialog.

In Windows or Linux, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice Impress > General on the Menu bar and deselect Start with Template Selection in New Document .

In macOS, go to LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice Impress > General on the Menu bar and deselect Start with Template Selection in New Document .

Main Impress window

The main Impress window ( Figure 1 ) has three main sections: Slides pane, Workspace, and Sidebar. At the top of the main window is the Menu bar and toolbars. Toolbars can be displayed or hidden during the creation of a presentation.

The Slides pane and/or Sidebar can be closed by clicking the X in the upper right corner of each pane, or go to View > Slide Pane or View > Sidebar on the Menu bar to deselect. To reopen a pane, select View > Slides pane or View > Sidebar on the Menu bar.

To maximize the Workspace area click on the Hide/Show marker in the middle of the vertical separator line (highlighted in Figure 1 ). Using the Hide/Show marker hides the Slides pane or Sidebar, but does not close them. To restore the Slides pane or Sidebar, click again on its Hide/Show marker.

The Impress Menu bar, at the top of the main window, provides several menus common to all LibreOffice modules. The commands may differ between each LibreOffice module for File , Edit , View , Insert , Format , Tools , Window , and Help . Impress has two extra menus for Slide and Slide Show . When a menu is selected, a submenu drops down to show commands. The Menu bar can be customized and for more information, see the Getting Started Guide .

The Workspace (normally the center of the main window) opens in the Normal view. It has four standard views of Normal, Outline, Notes, and Slide Sorter ( Figure 3 ). For more information on workspace views, see “ Workspace views ” page  1 .

If master slides are being used, then master views become available: Master Slide , Master Notes and Master Handout . There are no tabs for master views and these are selected by going to View on the Menu bar. For more information on master slides, see Chapter 2, Using Slide Masters, Styles, and Templates.

Figure 3 : Workspace view tabs

Slides pane

The Slides pane contains thumbnail images of slides in a presentation in the order in which the slides are shown. The slide show order can be changed and is described in Chapter 9, Slide Shows & Photo Albums. Clicking on a slide image in the Slides pane selects it and places the slide in the Workspace where changes are made to the displayed slide.

To display or close the Slides pane, go to View > Slide Pane on the Menu bar.

To close the Slides pane, click on the X in the right top corner of the Slides pane.

To display or hide the Slides pane, use the Hide/Show marker on the left of the Workspace.

Several additional operations can be carried out on one or more slides in the Slides pane. Also, these additional operations are available from a context menu when right-clicking on a slide in the Slides pane.

Add new slides to a presentation.

Hide a slide so that it will not show in a presentation.

Delete a slide from a presentation.

Rename a slide.

Duplicate a slide.

Move a slide to another position in the slide order by dragging and dropping it to the desired position.

The following operations can also be carried out, although there are more efficient methods than using the Slides pane:

Change the slide transition following the selected slide or after each slide in a group.

Change the sequence of slides in the presentation.

Change the slide design.

Change slide layout for a group of slides simultaneously.

The Impress Sidebar, normally located on the right side of the Workspace, is similar to the Sidebar in the other LibreOffice modules. It consists of eight decks, as described below. To open a deck, use one of the following methods:

Click on its icon on the right side of the Sidebar.

Click on Sidebar Settings at the top of the Sidebar and select a deck from the drop‑down list.

Go to View on the Menu bar and select the deck required from the submenu.

To display or hide the Sidebar, use one of the following methods:

Go to View > Sidebar on the Menu bar.

Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F5 (macOS ⌘ +F5 ).

Use the Hide/Show marker on the right of the Workspace ( Figure 1 above ).

To close the Sidebar, click on the X in the right top corner of the Sidebar.

To display the Sidebar, click on one of the Sidebar icons to open a deck.

The Properties deck has ten panels, allowing the slide layout to be changed and the formatting of any objects on a slide.

When a slide is selected and appears in the Workspace, the Properties deck opens with the Slides and Layouts panels available.

When an object on a slide is selected, the Properties deck has the following panels available: Character , Lists , Paragraph , Area , Shadow , Line , Position and Size , Columns , Effect , and Image . Actual panels displayed depends on the type of object selected.

On the Styles deck, drawing and presentation styles can be applied to a selected object, new styles created for drawing and presentation, and both types of styles can be modified. When saving changes to a style, the changes are applied to all of the elements formatted with that style in the presentation. For more information on styles, see Chapter 2, Using Slide Masters, Styles, and Templates.

On the Gallery deck, an object can be inserted into a presentation either as a copy or as a link. A copy of an object is independent of the original object. Changes to the original object have no effect on the copy. A link remains dependent on the original object. Changes to the original object are also reflected in the link.

The Navigator deck displays all objects contained in a presentation. It provides a convenient way to move between slides in a presentation or select an object on a slide. It is recommended to give slides and objects in a presentation meaningful names for easy identification when using the Navigator. For more information, see “ Navigator ” on page  1 .

The Shapes deck provides panels for quick selection of most items that are available on the Drawing toolbar: Lines and Arrows , Curves and Polygons , Connectors , Basic Shapes , Symbol Shapes , Block Arrows , Flowchart , Callout Shapes , Stars and Banners , and 3‑D Objects .

Slide transition

The Slide Transition deck provides a selection of slide transitions available in Impress. Also there are controls to adjust transition speed, automatic or manual transition, and how long a selected slide is shown (automatic transition only). For more information on transitions, see Chapter 9, Slide Shows & Photo Albums.

The Animation deck provides an easy way to add, change, or remove animations for different elements or objects on a slide and adjust how they appear during a slide show. For more information on animation, see Chapter 9, Slide Shows & Photo Albums.

Master slides

Using the Master Slides deck, the slide design can be selected for a presentation. Impress includes several designs of master slides. The default master slide is blank, but the remaining master slides have backgrounds and styled text. For more information on master slides, see Chapter 2, Using Slide Masters, Styles, and Templates.

Figure 4 : Rulers showing object size

Figure 5 : Changing ruler units

Rulers are positioned on the upper and left-hand sides of the Workspace. If the rulers are not visible, go to View > Rulers in the Menu bar. Rulers show the size of a selected object on the slide using double lines (highlighted in Figure 4 ). Also, rulers are used to manage object handles and guide lines when positioning objects.

To change the measurement units of the rulers, right-click on a ruler and select the measurement unit from the drop-down list, as shown in Figure 5 for the horizontal ruler. The horizontal and vertical rulers can be set to different measurement units.

The page margins in the drawing area are also represented on the rulers. The margins can be changed directly on the rulers by dragging them with the cursor. The margin area is indicated by either a grayed out area on the rulers or borders around the unused area of the ruler. This margin indication depends on computer setup and operating system.

The sizes are given in the current measurement unit and might not be the same as the ruler units. The measurement unit on the Status bar is defined in Tools > Options > LibreOffice Impress > General (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice Impress > General.

Figure 6 : Status Bar

Legend for Figure 6

1)  Slide number

2)  Information area

3)  Master slide

4)  Cursor position

5)  Object size

6)  Unsaved changes

7)  Digital signature

8)  Text language

9)  Fit slide

10)  Zoom slider

11)  Zoom percentage

The Status Bar ( Figure 6 ), located at the bottom of the Impress main window, contains information that may be useful when working on a presentation. To hide the Status Bar, go to View on the Menu bar and deselect Status Bar .

Slide number

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

Information area

This changes depending on the object selected on the slide. Examples of the information displayed are shown in Table  1 .

Table 1 : Examples of information on Status Bar

Master slide

The master slide associated with the slide or notes page currently displayed in the Workspace. Right-click to open a list of available master slides and select one to apply it to the selected slide. Double-click to open the Available Master Slides dialog. For more information on master slides, see Chapter 2, Using Slide Masters, Styles and Templates.

Cursor position/Object size

Shows different information depending on whether objects are selected or not.

When no object is selected, the position numbers show the current position (X and Y coordinates) of the cursor.

When an object is selected and being resized with the cursor, the object size numbers show the size of the object (width and height).

If an object is selected, the position numbers shows X and Y coordinates of the upper‑left corner and the object size number pair displays the size of the object. These numbers do not relate to the object itself, but to the selection outline, which is the smallest possible rectangle that can contain the visible part or parts of the object.

When an object is selected, clicking in either of these areas opens the Position and Size dialog.

Unsaved changes

Indicates if there are any unsaved changes in the presentation. Clicking 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 presentation has a digital signature.

Text language

Indicates the language used for any text on a presentation.

When this icon is clicked on, the slide in the Workspace zooms to fit in the Workspace.

Zoom slider

When moved, the slide changes its viewing zoom in the Workspace.

Zoom percentage

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

The Navigator displays all objects contained in a presentation. It provides another convenient way to move around a presentation and find items in it.

To open the Navigator dialog ( Figure 7 ) go to View > Navigator on the Menu bar, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+F5 (macOS ⌘ +Shift+F5 ). Alternatively, click on Navigator in the Sidebar to open the Navigator deck that is similar in appearance and function as the Navigator dialog.

The Navigator is more useful if slides and objects (pictures, spreadsheets, and so on) are given meaningful names, instead of leaving them with default names, such as “Slide 1” and “Shape 1” and so on (as shown in Figure 7 ). Using meaningful names allows for slides or objects to be easily identified and located in a presentation.

Figure 7 : Navigator dialog

Many toolbars can be used during slide creation. To display or hide the various toolbars in Impress, go to View > Toolbars on the Menu bar and select the required toolbar from the submenu that appears. For example, Standard and Drawing toolbars are displayed by default, but the Line and Filling, and Text Formatting toolbars are not displayed and have to be selected.

To change the tools available on any toolbar, right-click in an empty area on the toolbar and select Visible Buttons from the context menu. Installed tools are indicated by a check mark next to the tool name, or the tool icon is highlighted, depending on the computer operating system. Click on a tool name to hide or show it in the toolbar. For more information, see Chapter 11, Setting Up and Customizing Impress, Appendix B, Toolbars, and the Getting Started Guide .

The appearance of the toolbar icons varies depending on the computer operating system, and the selection of icon size and style in Tools > Options > LibreOffice > View (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > Options > LibreOffice > View ). For more information about working with toolbars, see Appendix B, Toolbars and the Getting Started Guide .

The following toolbars are widely used when creating a presentation:

Standard toolbar

The Standard toolbar ( Figure 8 ) is the same for all LibreOffice modules and is not described in detail in this user guide. By default, it is docked and located just under the Menu bar at the top of the Workspace.

Figure 8 : Standard toolbar

Drawing toolbar

The Drawing toolbar ( Figure 9 ) contains all the necessary functions for drawing various geometric and freehand shapes, and for organizing them in a slide. By default, it is docked and located on the left of the Workspace. More information on the Drawing toolbar can be found in Chapter 5, Managing Graphic Objects.

Figure 9 : Drawing toolbar

Line and Filling toolbar

The Line and Filling toolbar ( Figure 10 ) provides the tools for modifying the properties of an object, for example line color, line style, line width, fill color and style, and other properties of a selected object. If the selected object is a text frame, the Line and Filling toolbar is automatically replaced by the Text Formatting toolbar.

Figure 10 : Line and Filling toolbar

Text Formatting toolbar

The Text Formatting toolbar ( Figure 11 ) is similar to the Formatting toolbar in LibreOffice Writer and only appears when a text object has been selected in a presentation, automatically replacing the Line and Filling toolbar.

Figure 11 : Text Formatting toolbar

Workspace views

The Impress workspace has four standard views selected using tabs: Normal , Outline , Notes , and Slide Sorter . These tabs are normally displayed the top of the Workspace. If the tabs are not displayed, then go to View > Views Tab Bar on the Menu bar. Also, different workspace views can be selected by going to View on the Menu bar and selecting a view from the submenu. Each of the workspace views is designed to ease the completion of certain tasks.

Master views only become available in the Workspace when Master Slide , Master Notes , or Master Handout are selected. There are no tabs for master views and can only be selected by going to View on the Menu bar. For more information on master slides, see Chapter 2, Using Slide Masters, Styles, and Templates.

Each workspace view displays a different set of toolbars when selected. To customize these toolbar sets, go to View > Toolbars on the Menu bar, then check or uncheck the toolbars to add or remove.

Normal view

Normal view is the main standard view for creating individual slides in a presentation. In Normal view slides are designed, text or graphics added and formatted, and any animation effects added to text or graphics.

To place a slide in Normal view of the Workspace, either click on the slide thumbnail in the Slides pane or click on the slide name in the Navigator.

Figure 12 : Example of Outline view in the Workspace

Figure 13 : Outline toolbar

Outline view

Outline view in the Workspace ( Figure 12 ) contains all of the slides of a presentation in a numbered sequence. It shows topic titles, bulleted lists, and numbered lists for each slide in outline format. Only the text contained in the default text boxes in each slide is shown. If text boxes or graphic objects have been added to the slides, then these objects are not displayed. Slide names are not included.

Outline view can be used for the following:

Making changes in the text of a slide.

Adding or deleting text in a slide as in Normal view.

Moving a paragraph in a slide up or down by using the movement arrows on the Outline toolbar ( Figure 13 ).

Changing the outline level of a paragraph in a slide using the left and right arrow buttons on the Outline toolbar.

Comparing slides with an outline, if an outline has been prepared in advance. If another slide is required, it can be created directly in Outline view, or Normal view.

Use Notes view in the Workspace ( Figure 14 ) to add notes to a slide. These notes are not seen when the presentation is shown to an audience on an external display connected to a computer.

1)  Click on Notes in the Workspace to open Notes view.

2)  Click a slide in the Slides pane so that the slide appears in the Workspace.

3)  In the text box below the slide, click on the words Click to add notes and begin typing the required notes for the selected slide.

The Click to add notes text box can be resized using the resizing handles which appear when the edge of the notes box is selected. Move or change the size of the box by clicking and dragging on the box border.

Figure 14 : Example of Notes view

When text is inserted in the Click to add notes text box, it is automatically formatted using the predefined Notes style in Presentation Styles in the Styles deck on the Sidebar. The Notes style can be formatted to the presentation requirements. For more information, see Chapter 8, Adding and Formatting Slides, and Notes.

Slide Sorter view

The Slide Sorter view in the Workspace ( Figure 15 ) contains all the thumbnails of slides used in a presentation. Use this view to work with one slide or a group of slides.

Customizing Slide Sorter view

1)  Go to View > Toolbars > Slide View on the Menu bar to show the Slide View toolbar ( Figure 18 ).

2)  Adjust the number of slides in the Slides per Row box, up to a maximum of 15.

Changing slide order

To change the slide order in a presentation of a single slide or a group of slides using Slide Sorter view is as follows:

1)  Select a slide or a group of slides.

2)  Drag and drop the slide or group of slides at the new position in the presentation.

Selecting a group of slides

To select a group of slides in Slide Sorter view, use one of the following methods:

Ctrl key (macOS ⌘) — click on the first slide and, while holding the Ctrl key, select the required slides. The selected slides do not have to be next to each other.

Shift key — click on the first slide, and while pressing the Shift key, select the final slide for the group. This selects all of the slides between the first and the last slide selected.

Cursor — position the cursor slightly to one side and outside the first slide, then click and hold dragging the cursor until all of the slides required for the group are selected.

Figure 15 : Example of Slide Sorter view

Figure 16: Slide View toolbar

Working in Slide Sorter view

Working with slides in Slide Sorter view is similar to working with slides in the Slides pane. To make changes, right-click on a slide in Slide Sorter view and choose one of the following from the context menu:

Cut — removes the selected slide and saves it to the clipboard.

Copy — copies the selected slide to the clipboard without removing it.

Paste — inserts a slide from the clipboard after the selected slide.

New Slide — adds a new slide after the selected slide.

Duplicate Slide — creates a duplicate of the selected slide and places the new slide immediately after the selected slide.

Rename Slide — renames the selected slide.

Hide Slide — any slides that are hidden are not shown in the presentation.

Delete Slide — deletes the selected slide.

Layout — allows changes to the layout of the selected slide.

Move — allows moving or repositioning of the slide in the presentation order.

Creating presentations

By default, Impress opens with the Select a Template dialog displayed to select a template for a new presentation. To create a new presentation without a template, click on Cancel in the Select a Template dialog and a blank slide opens in the Workspace and Slides pane.

Figure 17 : Options LibreOffice Impress Dialog - General page

To prevent the Select a Template dialog from opening, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice Impress > General (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice Impress > General ) on the Menu bar to open Options LibreOffice Impress General dialog ( Figure 17 ) and deselect the option Start with Template Selection .

For more information on creating presentations, slide show options, and presentation settings, see Chapter 9, Slide Shows & Photo Albums and Chapter 11, Setting Up and Customizing Impress.

The first thing to do is decide on the purpose of a presentation and plan accordingly. Having an idea of the audience type, the structure, the content, and how the presentation will be delivered, will save a lot of time from the start.

New presentation

When creating a new presentation, Impress shows only one slide in the Slides pane and Workspace.

Inserting new slide

A new slide is inserted into a presentation using one of the following methods.

Go to Slide > New Slide on the Menu bar.

Right-click in the Slides pane and select New Slide from the context menu.

Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+M (macOS ⌘ +M ).

Go to Slide Sorter view in the Workspace, right-click on a slide and select New Slide from the context menu.

Click on New Slide in the Presentation toolbar (Figure Error: Reference source not found). If the Presentation toolbar is not visible, go to View > Toolbars on the Menu bar and select Presentation from the drop‑down list.

A new slide is inserted after the selected slide in the presentation. If a slide is not selected, then the new slide is inserted as the last slide in the presentation.

Figure 18 : Presentation toolbar

Figure 19 : Slide and Layouts panels in Properties deck on Sidebar

Duplicating slides

To duplicate a slide, select a slide for duplication in the Slides pane and use one of the following methods. A duplicate slide is inserted after the selected slide in the presentation.

Right-click on a slide in the Slides pane and select Duplicate Slide from the context menu.

Go to Slide Sorter view in the Workspace, right-click on a slide and select Duplicate Slide from the context menu.

Go to Slide > Duplicate Slide on the Menu bar.

Click on Duplicate Slide on the Presentation toolbar.

Slide format

Click on Properties on the Sidebar and open the Slide panel ( Figure 19 ) to display the format options available for a presentation. The Slide panel allows for quick formatting of all slides included in a presentation and selecting master slides for a presentation. For more information on formatting slides and using master slides, see Chapter 2, Using Slide Masters, Styles, and Templates and Chapter 8, Adding and Formatting Slides and Notes.

Slide layout

By default in Impress, the Title Slide layout is used for the first slide when a new presentation is created. The layouts included in Impress range from a blank slide to a slide with six contents boxes and a title. For more information on slide layouts, see Chapter 8, Adding and Formatting Slides, and Notes.

The first slide in a presentation is normally a title slide. The layouts Title Slide , which also contains a section for a subtitle, or Title Only are the most suitable layouts for the first slide in a presentation. For the remaining slides, select the most suitable layout to use for the slide contents.

Impress does not have the functionality to create custom layouts. However, the different elements in a slide layout can be resized and moved. For more information, see “ Modifying slide elements ” on page  1 .

Selecting slide layout

The available layouts are shown in the Layouts panel on the Properties deck on the Sidebar. After selecting a slide, select the slide layout using one of the following methods:

Go to the Properties deck on the Sidebar to open the Layouts panel ( Figure 19 ).

Click on Slide Layout on the Presentation toolbar to open the Layouts panel on the Properties deck on the Sidebar.

Click on Slide > Layout on the Menu bar to open a drop-down list showing the layouts by name.

Right-click on the selected slide and select Layouts in the context menu.

Changing slide layout

After selecting a slide in a presentation, change the slide layout using one of the following methods:

1)  Select a slide in the presentation.

2)  Select a new layout for the slide using one of the methods described in “ Selecting slide layout ”.

Slide contents

Several layouts can contain one or more content boxes. Each of these content boxes can be configured to contain the following elements:

Slide title

Click on Click to add Title and type a title in the text box. Impress enters text editing mode and the Text Formatting toolbar automatically opens. For more information on formatting text, see Chapter 3, Adding and Formatting Text.

Click on Click to add Text and type the contents into the text box. Impress enters text editing mode and the Text Formatting toolbar automatically opens. For more information on formatting text, see Chapter 3, Adding and Formatting Text.

Go to Insert > Table on the Menu bar and the Insert Table dialog opens. Enter the number of columns and rows, then click OK . The dialog closes and a table is inserted into the slide. Impress enters text editing mode and the Text Formatting toolbar automatically opens. For more information on using tables, see Chapter 3, Adding and Formatting Text.

Go to Insert > Chart on the Menu bar and the Impress default chart is placed in the slide. The Chart Type panel opens in the Properties deck on the Sidebar allowing editing of the chart to the presentation requirements. For more information on using charts, see Chapter 7, OLE, Spreadsheets, Charts, and Other Objects.

Go to Insert > Image on the Menu bar and a file browser opens. Navigate to where the required image is located. Select the file and click on Open . The image is placed into the slide and the file browser closes. The Image panel opens in the Properties deck on the Sidebar allowing editing of the image file. For more information on using images, see Chapter 4, Adding and Formatting Images, and Chapter 7, OLE, Spreadsheets, Charts, and Other Objects.

Audio or Video

Go to Insert > Audio or Video on the Menu bar and a file browser opens. Navigate to where the required audio or video file is located. Select the file and click on Open . The audio or video file is placed into the slide and the file browser closes. The Media Playback toolbar opens allowing operation of the audio or video file. For more information, see Chapter 7, OLE, Spreadsheets, Charts, and Other Objects.

Text and graphic elements can be readjusted at any time during the preparation of a presentation. However, changing slide layout that already has contents can have a dramatic effect. If the layout is changed after contents have been added, the contents are not lost, but they may need to be reformatted.

Modifying slide elements

When a slide is inserted into a presentation, it contains elements that were included in the selected slide layout. However, it is unlikely that the predefined layouts will suit all requirements for a presentation. Elements required maybe removed or objects inserted such as text and/or graphics.

Although Impress does not have the functionality to create new layouts, it allows for the resizing and moving of the slide elements. It is also possible to add slide elements without being limited to the size and position of content boxes.

It is recommended that changes to slide elements in the layouts included in Impress are only made using Normal view. Attempting any changes to a slide element when in Master Slide view is possible, but may result in unpredictable results and requires extra care as well as a certain amount of trial and error.

Moving contents box

1)  Click on the outer frame of the contents box so that the selection handles are displayed.

2)  Place the cursor on the frame so that the cursor changes shape. This is normally a clenched hand, but depends on the computer setup and operating system.

3)  Click and drag the contents box to its new position on the slide, then release.

Resizing contents box

1)  Click on the outer frame so that the selection handles are displayed.

2)  Place the cursor on a selection handle the frame so that the cursor changes shape.

3)  Click and drag the selection handle on the frame to resize the contents box, then release.

Top and bottom selection handles change the height of a contents box.

Left and right selection handles change the width of a contents box.

Corner selection handles change width and height of a contents box.

Removing elements

1)  Click a contents box or an element to highlight it and the selection handles are displayed.

2)  Press the Delete (macOS Ctrl+D ) or Backspace key to remove the contents box or element.

Adding text

There are two ways of adding text to a slide – contents box or text box. For more information on text, see Chapter 3, Adding and Formatting Text.

Contents box

Click Click to add Text in the contents box and type the text. Outline styles are automatically applied to the text as it is inserted. If required, change the outline level of each paragraph as well as its position within the contents box by switching to Outline view and using the arrow buttons on the Outline toolbar.

Click on Insert Text Box on the Standard toolbar or Drawing toolbar to select text mode, then click on the slide. A text box is created and the Text Formatting toolbar automatically opens. Type the text and click outside the text box to end text mode.

Adding images or objects

To add images or objects to a slide, for example a picture, clipart, drawing, photograph, or spreadsheet, click on Insert on the Menu bar and select in the drop-down menu the image or object type required. For more information on adding objects, see the following chapters:

Chapter 4, Adding and Formatting Images

Chapter 5, Managing Graphic Objects

Chapter 6, Formatting Graphic Objects

Chapter 7, OLE, Spreadsheets, Charts, and Other Objects

Modifying slide appearance

To change the background and other characteristics of all slides in the presentation, the master slide has to be modified or a different master slide selected.

A master slide has a specified set of characteristics that acts as a template and is used as the starting point for creating other slides. These characteristics include slide background, objects in the background, formatting of any text used, and any background graphics.

Impress has a range of master slides, found in the Master Slides deck on the Sidebar. Additional master slides can be created or and saved, or added from other sources. See Chapter 2, Using Slide Masters, Styles, and Templates for information on creating and modifying master slides.

For example, to change the background of an individual slide or a master slide:

1)  Right click on a slide or master slide and select Slide Properties from the context menu to open the Slide Properties dialog ( Figure 20 ).

2)  Select Background and then select the type of background to use from None , Color , Gradient , Bitmap , Pattern , and Hatch.

Figure 20 : Slide Properties dialog - Background page

3)  Make a selection from the various properties available for each type of background.

4)  Click OK to apply save the changes and close the dialog.

Inserting and correctly formatting background is beyond the scope of this chapter. For more information, see Chapter 6, Formatting Graphic Objects.

Modifying presentations

By default, a presentation displays all the slides in the same order as they appear in Slide Sorter view on the Workspace. It is recommended to review the entire presentation and answer some questions. Run the presentation at least once (see “ Running a presentation ” on page  1 ), then answer the following questions. Also there maybe more questions after running a presentation for the first time.

Are the slides in the correct order? If not, some of the slides have to be moved.

Is the information well spaced and visible to members of an audience at the back of a large room? The audience may not be able to see information at the bottom of a slide, so redesign the presentation to fit the top three-quarters of a screen.

Would an additional slide make a particular point clearer? If so, create another slide.

Are some of the slides unnecessary? Hide or delete the slides not required.

Would animations help some of the slides? This is considered an advanced technique.

Should some of the slides have a different slide transition than others? The transition of those slides should be changed.

Once the questions have been answered, make the necessary changes. Making changes can be carried out in Slide Sorter view on the Workspace.

If one or more slides seem to be unnecessary, hide the slide or slides, and view the slide show a few more times to make sure they are not required. To hide a slide, right-click the slide in the Slides pane and select Hide Slide from the context menu. Do not delete a slide until this is done or the slide may have to be created again.

Slide order

Change the slide order in a presentation using one of the following methods:

In Slide Sorter view, click on the slide that has to be moved and drag it to its new position in the presentation.

In the Slides pane, click on the slide that has to be moved and drag it to its new position in the presentation.

If animations are going to be added to slides in a presentation, click on Animation on the Sidebar to open the Animation deck giving access to the various animation options as follows:

Animation category.

Animation effect.

How the animation starts.

Animation direction, duration and delay.

Automatic preview.

Animation is an advanced technique and is beyond the scope of this chapter. For more information on animation, see Chapter 9, Slide Shows & Photo Albums.

Slide transitions

To give a presentation a professional look, it is recommended to add transitions between each slide in a presentation. Click on Slide Transition on the Sidebar to open the Slide Transition deck giving access to the various transition options as follows:

Transition type.

Modify the transition.

How the slide advances in the presentation.

Adding slide transitions is an advanced technique and is beyond the scope of this chapter. For more information on slide transitions, see Chapter 9, Slide Shows & Photo Albums.

Running a presentation

When a presentation is completed, it is recommended to test run the presentation and make sure that everything is correct before showing the presentation in front of an audience. To display a presentation in front of an audience, a Presenter Console is available in LibreOffice Impress. However, the Presenter Console does require multiple displays to be connected to the computer for it to function.

For more information and details about running a presentation and showing it to an audience, see Chapter 9, Slide Shows & Photo Albums.

Figure 21 : Presenter Console

Single displays

1)  Start the slide using one of the following methods:

Go to Slide Show on the Menu bar and select Start from First Slide from the submenu or use the keyboard shortcut F5 .

Go to Slide Show on the Menu bar and select Start from Current Slide from the submenu or use the keyboard shortcut Shift+F5 .

2)  To display each slide in the presentation during the slide show, use one of the following methods:

Press the spacebar to advance to the next slide in the presentation.

Press the arrow keys to show the next or previous slide in the presentation.

If the option Change slide by clicking on background has been selected in Slide Show Settings, position the cursor on the slide and click to move to the next slide.

3)  When the slide show has ended or to exit the slide show before it has finished, press the Esc key to close the slide show and return to Impress.

Multiple displays

When multiple displays are connected to a computer, the Presenter Console ( Figure 21 ) in LibreOffice Impress becomes available providing extra control over a presentation as follows:

On the multiple displays, the audience sees the current slide in the presentation.

The current slide, next slide in the presentation, any slide notes, and a presentation timer are displayed on the computer display providing control of how the slide show is presented to the audience.

Starting a slide show using Presenter Console and multiple displays is similar to running a slide show on a single display. For more information and details about using the Presenter Console, see Chapter 9 Slide Shows & Photo Albums.

Start looping presentation from terminal

I’d need to start a looping presentation from the terminal.

I found the --show parameter, but it quits after the slides are done.

How can I start it to loop unlimited and define a time for each slide, all from the terminal?

So, I’ve found a way that theoretically works, but as for now only works on windows for some reason.

I configure the default slideshow settings to auto with a time of 0, so the slides are repeated. Then each slide gets an automatic transmission to the next after x seconds.

After this, the slideshow is started from the terminal with simpress.exe --show slideshow.odp (windows) - which works fine.

Now on raspbian I tried loimpress --show slideshow.odp and libreoffice --impress --show slideshow.odp , which both state that --show doesn’t exist and suggest that I use --help to get the command list.

--help results in segmentation fault … I’m currently updating the system, I hope that helps.

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Use of LibreOffice for an office automation environment

Topic outline.

U01 - Intro to LibreOffice

U02 - writer - introduction, u03 - writer - text formatting, u04 - writer - graphics and tables, u05 - writer - page formatting, u06 - writer - some other tools, u07 - writer - working with styles, u08 - writer - templates - math, u09 - impress 1 (basics), u10 - impress 2 (advanced), u12 - calc - basics, u13 - calc - formulas and functions, u14 - calc - working with data, u15 - calc advanced & mail merge.