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Quick Guide to Creating and Editing OpenOffice.org 3 Impress Presentations

Section One: Overview of Impress

Starting Impress

To launch the Impress application within the Microsoft Windows operating system, follow these steps:

• Beginning at the desktop, click on the Start button located in the lower-left corner of the screen, and select Programs or All Program from the menu list that appears.
• Select the OpenOffice.org 3.0 application folder that appears, and select Impress from the applications options that appear.
• Each time Impress is launched either from the Start Menu or from the New menu within OpenOffice.org, a Presentation Wizard will appear. Select the appropriate Presentation Type by clicking on the radio buttons provided. Follow the on-screen instruction that the wizard provides in creating a new presentation document.

To launch the Impress application within a Linux-based operating system, follow these steps:

• Beginning at the desktop, click on the Start button located in the lower-left corner of the screen, and select Office Productivity from the menu list that appears.
• Select the OpenOffice.org 3.0 Impress application icon from the list that appears, and the Impress application will launch.
• Each time Impress is launched either from the Start Menu or from the File menu within OpenOffice.org, a Presentation Wizard will appear. Select the appropriate Presentation Type by clicking on the radio buttons provided. Follow the on-screen instruction that the wizard provides in creating a new presentation document.

Displaying Toolbars

Impress contains many toolbars to assist in formatting and editing your slide presentations. Sometimes you may need to view certain toolbars to assist you with creating your slides, while other toolbars may need to hidden from view to prevent from getting in your way and free up screen space for other tools. To view or hide a toolbar within Impress, follow these steps:

• Click the View menu and select Toolbars from the menu list. A list of available toolbars will appear.
• Select a toolbar to appear within Impress by simply clicking on the appropriate toolbar within the list. If a toolbar within the list has a checkmark beside it, this means that the toolbar is already visible within the Impress application.
• If you wish to hide a toolbar from view within Impress, simply click on it from the list. Toolbars listed that do not have a checkmark beside them indicates that the toolbar is hidden from view within Impress.

Task Pane

The task pane within Impress allows you to perform a number of formatting options without accessing the standard application menus. Formatting options available through the task pane include Master Pages, Layouts, Custom Animation and Slide Transitions. If the Impress task pane is not visible when you open an Impress document, you may make it so by going to the View menu and select Task Pane from the menu that appears. A checkmark should appear next to the menu option when the task pane is visible. If you wish to hide the task pane from view within Impress, simply click on it from the list. When the menu option does not have a checkmark beside it, this indicates that the task pane is hidden from view within Impress.

Status Bar

If the Impress status bar, located at the bottom of the Impress application window, is not visible when you open an Impress document, you may make it so by going to the View menu and select Status Bar from the menu that appears. A checkmark should appear next to the menu option when the status bar is visible. If you wish to hide the status bar from view within Impress, simply click on it from the list. When the menu option does not have a checkmark beside it, this indicates that the status bar is hidden from view within Impress.

Adjusting Page View

To adjust the view of the document you are working in, click on the View menu and select Zoom from the menu list. You may also select to Zoom by clicking on the magnifying glass icon within the Standard toolbar located just beneath the main application menu.

Choosing a Slide Layout

To select a slide layout for an Impress slide presentation, follow these steps:

• In the Slides pane located on the left side of the presentation editing window, select the slide that the layout will be applied to. If a new Impress presentation has been created, skip to Step #2.
• Go to the View menu and select Task Pane from the menu that appears.
• Click on the triangle located next to the Layouts selection within the task pane. A preview list of various slide layouts will appear.
• Select the appropriate slide layout by clicking once on the slide preview option. When the dialog window appears asking whether to continue with the selection, click the YES button. The operation is now complete.

Creating a New Slide

To create a new slide within an Impress presentation document, click on the Insert menu and select Slide from the menu that appears. You may also create a new slide by using the Slide button located in the Standard toolbar within Impress.

Deleting a Slide

To delete a slide from an Impress presentation document, right-click on the slide within the Slide Pane that is to be removed from the presentation. Then select Delete Slide from the contextual menu that appears. If the Slide Pane, located on the left-hand side of the Impress application window, is not visible, you can make it so by clicking on the View menu at the top of the application window and select the Slide Pane menu option.


Using the Navigator

The Navigator allows a user to quickly view objects that are within a document. The Navigator displays “categories”, or the various contents within the Navigator window. Within each category contains the objects that are present in the document.

To view and utilize the Navigator while creating and editing Impress documents, follow these steps:

• To open the Navigator window, click on the Edit menu and select Navigator from the menu list. You may also view the Navigator window by pressing the F5 key at the top of your keyboard.
• If you see a “+” icon located next to a category within the Navigator, that indicates that there is at least one object within the document related to that particular category. Click the “+” sign to expand the list to view the objects related to the category. To quickly jump to the location in your document where the object is placed, double-click on the object listed in the Navigator window.

Viewing and Editing the Styles and Formatting Organizer

The Styles and Formatting Organizer allows you to quickly select pre-defined formatting options to include in your documents simply by double-clicking on a style option listed within the Organizer. To view and edit the Openoffice.org Formatting Styles Organizer, follow these steps:

• To view the organizer, click the Format menu and select Styles and Formatting or simply press the F11 key at the top of your keyboard. A palette will appear displaying by default the various paragraph styles available.
• When the Organizer palette is open, you will notice a small toolbar within the window. You can view other formatting styles as well by clicking on the appropriate button. From left-to-right, the style options you may view include Graphics and Presentation styles. In the popup menu located at the bottom of the Styles Organizer window, be sure the menu has the option All Styles selected to view all of your available options for each style.
• You can also create or modify formatting styles based upon existing styles by right-clicking on a style listed within the Organizer and select the appropriate command from the contextual menu that appears. You may also delete custom styles you created from the Organizer by right-clicking on it within the list.

How to Set OpenOffice.org to Automatically Open Microsoft Office Generated Files Using Windows

If you did not choose during the installation of OpenOffice.org to have the software automatically open Microsoft Office formatted documents, you may select to do so by following these steps:

• Close all OpenOffice.org applications and return to your desktop.
• Click on the Windows operating system Start button and select Control Panel from the list that appears. Then choose Add or Remove Programs from the submenu that appears, followed by the OpenOffice.org 3.0 list option, then click Install/Uninstall.
• In the window that appears, click the NEXT button, select the Modify option and click NEXT until the wizard prompts you to select the file types you wish OpenOffice.org to automatically open for you.
• Select or deselect the file types you wish OpenOffice.org to automatically open for you. Click NEXT until it prompts you to click Install to complete the setup. Clicking the Install button will make the necessary changes to automatically open the file types you selected. You should not need to have the installation CD inserted into your computer’s CD-ROM to complete this process.

Section Two: Impress Basics

Inserting Text

To insert text into a slide, simply click within one of the pre-defined text boxes created within the selected layout. A cursor will appear to allow text to be entered.

Changing the Font Type

To change the font type of the text within your slide presentation, follow these steps:

• Select the text you wish to change the font type.
• Click on the Format menu and select Character from the menu list.
• If it is not already selected, click the Font tab within the window that appears. Select the Font within the window list. Click the OK button to complete the selection.

You may also change the font type by using the Font Name popup menu located within the Formatting toolbar.

Changing the Font Size

To change the font size of the text within your slide presentation, follow these steps:

• Select the text you wish to change the font size.
• Click on the Format menu and select Character from the menu list.
• If it is not already selected, click the Font tab within the window that appears. Select the font size within the window list. Click the OK button to complete the selection.

You may also change the font size by using the Font Size popup menu located within the Formatting toolbar.

Changing the Font Style (including Bold, Italicize, and Underline)

To change the font style of the text within your slide presentation, follow these steps:

• Select the text you wish to change the font style.
• Click on the Format menu and select Character from the menu list.
• If it is not already selected, click the Font tab within the window that appears. Select the font style within the window list. Click the OK button to complete the selection.

You may also change the font style by using the appropriate Font Style buttons located within the Formatting toolbar.

Changing the Font Color

To change the font color of the text within your slide presentation, follow these steps:

• Select the text you wish to change the font color.
• Click on the Format menu and select Character from the menu list.
• Click the Font Effects tab within the window that appears. Select the font color within the Font color popup menu. Click the OK button to complete the selection.

You may also change the font color by using the Font Color popup menu located within the Formatting toolbar.

Changing Text Alignment

To change the text alignment within your slide presentation, follow these steps:

• Select the text or paragraph you wish to change the alignment.
• Click on the Format menu and select Paragraph from the menu list.
• Click on the Alignment tab in the window that appears. Select the alignment style (left, right, center or justified) by clicking on the radio button next to your desired selection.
• Click the OK button to complete the selection.

You may also change the paragraph alignment by using the appropriate alignment buttons located within the Formatting toolbar.

Changing Slide Background Color and Pattern

To change the color or background pattern of an Impress slide presentation, follow these steps:

• Click on the Format menu and select Page from the menu that appears.
• When the Page Setup window appears, click on the Background tab located at the top of the window.
• Impress provides several formats to change the color or pattern of a slide presentation, including applying a solid background color, applying a pre-defined gradient pattern, applying a hatching pattern in combination with a solid background color and applying a bitmap image as a background pattern. Select the appropriate color or pattern by utilizing the popup menus and/or radio buttons provided and defining the selection.
• Click the OK button to complete the selection. A dialog box will appear asking whether the selection made should be applied to all slides within the Impress document or to apply to the current slide only. Make a selection and Impress will format the presentation accordingly.

Inserting Bullet and Numbering Lists

To insert bullet or numbered lists within your slide presentation, follow these steps:

• Select the text box that will be formatted with a bulleted or numbered list.
• Click on the Format menu and select Bullets and Numbering from the menu that appears.
• Within the window that appears, you have numerous bullet and numbering format options available to you that are sorted within tabs that are presented along the top. Click on the tab that presents the bulleted or numbered format you wish to select to view your options.
• Click on the bulleted or numbered list option within the Selection area to specify your desired format type.
• Click the OK button to complete the selection.

You may also create a bulleted or numbered list by utilizing the Styles and Formatting Organizer. To view the Styles and Formatting Organizer, click on the Format menu and select Styles and Formatting from the menu list or simply press the F11 key on your keyboard. Then click on the Character Styles button (the second icon from the left at the top of the Organizer) to view your bulleted or numbered list format option.


Section Three: Inserting Clip Art, Graphics and Charts

Supported Graphic File Types

OpenOffice.org supports a wide array of file types for graphics files to be imported into Impress. If you have a graphic file you wish to import into your Impress document, chances are OpenOffice.org supports it. Supported graphic file types for importing into an Impress document include:

• Windows Bitmap (*.bmp)
• AutoCAD Interchange Format (*.dxf)
• Enhanced Metafile (*.emf)
• Encapsulated PostScript (*.eps)
• Graphics Interchange Format (*.gif)
• Joint Photographic Experts Group (*.jpg or *jpeg)
• OS/2 Metafile (*.met)
• Portable Bitmap (*.pbm)
• Kodak Photo CD (*.pcd)
• Macintosh Picture Format (*.pct or *.pict)
• Zsoft Paintbrush (*.pcx)
• Portable Graymap (*.pgm)
• Portable Network Graphic (*.png)
• Portable Pixelmap (*.ppm)
• Adobe Photoshop (*.psd)
• Sun Raster Image (*.ras)
• StarWriter Graphics Format (*.sgf)
• StarDraw 2.0 (*.sgv)
• StarView Metafile (*.svm)
• Truevision Targa (*.tga)
• Tagged Image File Format (*.tif or *.tiff)
• Windows Metafile (*.wmf)
• X Bitmap (*.xbm)
• X PixMap (*.xpm)

Inserting a Graphic or Clip Art

To insert a graphic or clip art image into your Impress slide presentation, follow these steps:

• Click on the Insert menu and select the Picture menu option that appears.
• When you select the Picture menu option, a submenu will appear allowing you to choose an image file or retrieve a picture from a scanner. Select the appropriate option.
• If you selected to insert a picture from an image file, locate the file using Insert Picture window that appears. Click once on the file displayed to select the appropriate image to insert.
• At the bottom of the Insert Picture window, OpenOffice.org gives you the option to link the file rather than embedding the image into the document. If you have an image that is being used in a number of places throughout the document, you can choose to link the image to reduce the file size of your document. If you ever move the image to another location, however, you will need to re-link the image for it to appear in the document. If you wish to link the image, click within the checkbox located next to the Link selection.
• Click OK to complete your selection.

Adjusting a Graphic Image Location

If you wish to adjust the location of your graphic image, follow these steps:

• Click once within the graphic image with your left mouse button. Small boxes will appear around the edge of the image when it has been properly selected.
• Move your pointer within the graphic area. The pointer will transform into a black target icon. Holding down your left mouse button on the image, drag the image. Once you have the image in your desired location, release the mouse button.
• If you wish to center the graphic within the page, select the image as detailed in Step #1. Then click the Center Horizontal tool within the Formatting toolbar located above your document’s ruler. The image should then center itself within the page.

Resizing a Graphic Image

If you wish to resize an image or graphic within your slide presentation, follow these steps:

• Click once within the graphic image with your left mouse button. Small boxes will appear around the edge of the image when it has been properly selected.
• To proportionally resize the graphic, place your pointer on one of the small boxes located one the corner of the image. Your pointer will transform into a black bar with arrows on each end of it. Hold down the left mouse button and begin to drag either outward or inward to make your graphic larger or smaller, respectively. When you have resized it to the desired width and height, release the left mouse button.
• If you know the exact width and height you wish your graphic to be, you may also resize an image by right-clicking on the image and select Graphics from the contextual menu that appears.

Inserting a Chart

If you wish to insert a chart into an Impress presentation, follow these steps:

• Click on the Insert menu and select the Chart menu option that appears.
• A pre-defined chart will appear within the slide presentation. To change the data to appear within the chart, click on the Edit menu and select the Chart Data menu option that appears. You may also change the data by clicking on the CHART DATA button located at the top of the chart editing window.
• To change the type of chart, click on the Format menu and select the Chart Type menu option that appears. You may also change the chart type by clicking on the CHART TYPE button located at the top of the chart editing window.
• To exit out of the chart editing window, click on the Window menu and select New from the menu option that appears.

Section Four: Saving and Printing a Presentation Document

Supported File Types for Saving

OpenOffice.org can open and save documents formatted in a wide array of file types. Although it might not be their primary office suite, many users have found OpenOffice.org to be a useful tool for opening and saving files not supported through their primary applications. Writer supports the following file formats:

• Microsoft PowerPoint 97/2000/XP/2007 Presentation (*.ppt, *.pptx)
• Microsoft PowerPoint 97/2000/XP/2007 Presentation Templates (*.ppt. *.pptx)
• OpenOffice.org 2.0 Native OpenDocument Drawing (*.odg)
• OpenOffice.org 2.0 Native OpenDocument Presentation (*.odp)
• OpenOffice.org 2.0 Native OpenDocument Template (*.otp)
• OpenOffice.org 1.0 Native Presentation (*.sxi)
• OpenOffice.org 1.0 Native Presentation Template (*.sti)
• OpenOffice.org 1.0 Drawing
• StarDraw 5.0 Drawing (*.sda)
• StarDraw 3.0 Drawing (*.sdd)
• StarImpress 4.0/5.0 Presentation (*.sdd)
• StarImpress 4.0/5.0 Template (*.vor)

Saving a File as a Native Impress Presentation

To save a document in the native Impress 3.0 OpenDocument format, follow these steps:

• Click on the File menu and choose Save As from the menu list.
• A window will appear and prompt you to choose a location to save your document. Choose the location you want to save a document to in the Save In popup field.
• In the field File Name, type the name you would like to save the file as.
• In the Save As Type popup menu, select the OpenDocument Presentation (.odp) file format.
• Click the button SAVE to complete the operation.

Saving a File as a Microsoft PowerPoint Document

To save a document in the Microsoft PowerPoint format, follow these steps:

• Click on the File menu and choose Save As from the menu list.
• A window will appear and prompt you to choose a location to save your document. Choose the location you want to save a document to in the Save In popup field.
• In the field File Name, type the name you would like to save the file as.
• In the Save As Type popup menu, select the appropriate Microsoft PowerPoint (*.ppt) file format.
• Click the button SAVE to complete the operation.

Exporting a File as a Macromedia Flash Document

To save a document in the Macromedia Flash format, follow these steps:

• Click on the File menu and choose Export from the menu list.
• A window will appear and prompt you to choose a location to save your document. Choose the location you want to save a document to in the Save In popup field.
• In the field File Name, type the name you would like to save the file as.
• In the Save As Type popup menu, select the Macromedia Flash (*.swf) file format.
• Click the button SAVE to complete the operation.

Exporting a File as a Portable Document Format (PDF) Document

One of the many useful features OpenOffice.org has built-in to the office suite is the ability to export documents as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. To save a document as a read-only PDF file, follow these steps:

• Click on the File menu and select Export As PDF from the menu list that appears.
• A window will appear and prompt you to choose a location to save your document. Choose the location you want to save a document to in the Save In popup field.
• In the field File Name, type the name you would like to save the file as.
• In the File Format popup menu, make sure Portable Document Format (PDF) is selected.
• Click the button SAVE to complete the operation.

(NOTE: OpenOffice.org documents saved as a PDF file is a convenient way to share read-only documents to other users that have a PDF reader application installed on their computer. However, OpenOffice.org cannot edit a document that has been saved as a PDF file. To save a document for editing at a later date, save the document in its Native OpenDocument file format.)

Exporting a File as a Web Page (HTML) Document

To save a document in the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format, follow these steps:

• Click on the File menu and select Export from the menu list that appears.
• A window will appear and prompt you to choose a location to save your document. Choose the location you want to save a document to in the Save In popup field.
• In the field File Name, type the name you would like to save the file as.
• In the Save As Type popup menu, select the HTML (*.htm or *.html) file format.
• Click the button SAVE to complete the operation.

Printing a Slide Presentation to Fit a Specific Page Size

To print an Impress slides to fit a specific page size, follow these steps:

• If it isn’t already, open the Impress presentation that is to be printed.
• Click on the Format menu, select Page from the menu that appears and then select Page from the submenu that appears.
• In the Layout Settings selection area, click the Fit Object To Paper Format checkbox.
• In the Paper Format selection area, select one of the format options provided.
• Click the OK button to complete the operation. Each slide selected is scaled to fit the printed page.

Printing a Slide Presentation for Handouts

To print Impress slides for use as handouts, follow these steps:

• If it isn’t already, open the Impress presentation that is to be printed.
• Click on the View menu and select Handout Page from the menu list that appears.
• Click on the Print button located within the Standard menu bar at the top of the Impress application window. You may also hold down the Control (CTRL) key and press P on the keyboard to prompt for the Print window, or click on the File menu and select Print from the menu that appears.

Section Five: Correcting Presentation Document Errors

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

Using Cut, Copy and Paste is one of the most fundamental operations you will perform to correct document errors. You may also use these commands to transfer text or graphics from one document into another. If you are unfamiliar with using these operations, use these steps to assist in determining which to use when correcting document errors:

• Highlight the text you want to cut or copy.
• To eliminate text to reinsert in another location in the document, click the Edit menu and choose the Cut menu option.
• To duplicate text in another part of the document, click the Edit menu and choose the Copy menu option.
• Place the cursor at the location you want the text to appear.
• In the Edit menu, choose the Paste menu option.

Deleting Text

To permanently delete text from your presentation, follow these steps:

• Highlight the text you want to permanently delete.
• Press the Delete key on your keyboard to permanently remove the text from your document.

Using Undo

If you make the mistake of deleting something you didn’t wish to do or make a formatting error, immediately go to the Edit menu and choose Undo from the menu list that appears to go back to the document’s previous state before the error was made. You can continue to select the Undo menu command multiple times to continue to go back to each previous step.

Using Spellcheck

To use the OpenOffice.org spell check feature, follow these steps:

• If you wish to spell check a specific word or sentence, select the text you wish to spell check. Otherwise, proceed to Step #2.
• Go to the Tools menu and select Spellcheck from the menu that appears. You may also press the F7 key on your keyboard to begin checking for spelling errors.
• If any potential spelling errors appear, OpenOffice.org will indicate the potential error and give you a list of possible suggestions to correct the spelling.
• If you see a spelling suggestion that would correct the error, select it from the Suggestions list and click the CHANGE button.
• If you believe that the word in question is spelled correctly, you can click the IGNORE ONCE button to proceed to the next potential spelling error. If the word in question is spelled correctly and you use it often when creating documents, you may click the ADD button to add it to the Spellcheck dictionary.
• When you have completed checking for potential spelling errors, click the CLOSE button to exit and return to the document.

Using AutoCorrect

AutoCorrect is enabled by default. However, AutoCorrect can be enabled or disabled at any time. To enable or disable a specific AutoCorrect feature, go to the Tools menu and select AutoCorrect from the menu that appears. Once the AutoCorrect window appears, click on the tab related to the specific feature you wish to enable or disable and select the appropriate options.

Using AutoFormat

Like AutoCorrect, the AutoFormat features are enabled by default. However, AutoFormat may also be enabled or disabled at any time. To enable or disable the AutoFormat feature, click on the Format menu, select AutoFormat from the menu that appears, and select While Typing from the submenu that appears. A checkmark will appear next to the submenu option when the feature is enabled.


Section Six: Viewing Impress Slide Presentations

Viewing Slide Show

To view a slide show within the Impress application, click on the Slide Show menu and select Slide Show from the menu options that appear or simply press the F5 key on the keyboard. To exit a slideshow, press the ESC key on the keyboard to return to the Impress editing window.

Configuring Slide Show Settings

To configure the Impress settings for viewing slide shows, follow these steps:

• Click on the Slide Show menu and select Slide Show Settings from the menu options that appear.
• When the Slide Show Settings window appears, select the appropriate configuration options.
• When you have completed selecting the appropriate configuration options, click the OK button to complete the operation.

Adding Slide Transitions

To select slide transitions for an Impress presentation, follow these steps:

• Click on the Slide Show menu and select Slide Transition from the menu options that appear.
• The Slide Transition configuration options will appear in the Task Pane located within the Impress editing window. Configure the slide transitions by selecting from the appropriate options presented.
• To apply the configuration to all slides within the presentation, click the APPLY TO ALL SLIDES button within the Task Pane. Otherwise, the slide transition configurations selected will apply only to the current slide being edited.