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Lesson: Creating a Brochure Using OpenOffice.org 3 Writer

Lesson Objectives

In this lesson, you will learn the following:

• How to change the page size and orientation for an OpenOffice.org Writer document.

• How to add and format columns within a Writer document.

• How to insert and format graphics within a Writer document.

• The advantages and disadvantages of exporting a document as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

Overview

In the last two lessons, we have learned how Writer has a vast array of features that allow users to create the most complex text documents. However, Writer can create much more than text documents. Writer has the features and capabilities to create documents with elaborate layouts and graphics, including newsletters, brochures, web pages and much more.

In this lesson, you will become acquainted with Writer’s formatting capabilities to create a travel brochure. Upon completing this lesson, you will have learned the fundamentals in creating complex layouts, including formatting text columns, adjusting page orientation and margins, elaborately formatting text and inserting high resolution graphics.


Getting Started

Before we do so, we need to open the Lesson Four file that is available for use with this book. To open the file, follow these steps:

• If you have not already downloaded the lesson files for this course, click on the Lesson Files topic located in the course lessons area and select to download the .zip file to your computer's desktop.

• When the file appears on your computer’s desktop, double-click the file icon to unzip its contents and access the files associated with each lesson. Double-click the Lesson Files folder icon that contains the available lesson files, locate the Lesson 04 folder and double-click on it to access the file for this lesson. When you have opened the folder, double-click the file named lesson_04_start.odt to open the file.

Changing Page Size and Orientation

Once you have opened the lesson file, you will notice that much of the text for this brochure has already been provided. Like virtually any other text document, it is easier to enter the text within the document first before proceeding with adjusting the formatting of the document. To create this brochure, we will need to adjust the page size, margins and orientation so that, when printed, the pages can be folded properly for distribution.

To change the page size, margins and orientation, follow these steps:

• Click on the Format menu and select Page from the menu options that appear.

• When the Page Style window appears, click on the Page tab at the top of the window (if it isn’t already selected).

• Using the Format popup menu, select the predefined paper size you will print your document on. For this brochure, select Letter. When you select an option, the width and height will automatically change to format itself to the predefined paper format. Because the paper size format Letter was chosen, the width and height was automatically formatted 8.5” and 11.0” respectively. If this had been another type of document and you had wished to select a custom paper size, you could have utilized the Width and Height menus to enter the appropriate page size.

• In the Margins selection area, specify your page margins for your document by entering the appropriate measurements. For this brochure, enter 0.79” for the left, right, top and bottom margins.

• Because a tri-fold brochure is being created, the page orientation also needs to be adjusted. Using the Orientation radio buttons located within the Paper Format selection area, select Landscape.

• In the Layout selection area, you have the option to select the register-true format feature. When you select this feature, it can make pages easier to read by preventing gray shadows from appearing between the lines of text. This could be a useful feature if your document will be printed on the front and back of pages, such as this brochure. To select this feature, click inside the checkbox. When a checkmark appears within the box, the feature is enabled. In the Reference Style popup menu located beneath the Register-True checkbox, select Text Body from the options provided.

• Once you have selected your page style formatting options, click the OK button to complete the selection.

Adding Columns

After changing the page size and orientation of the document, the next thing that needs to be done is to format the text within columns. This brochure will be a tri-fold, which will result in three columns of text formatted between folds. Therefore, we need to add three columns to this document.

To create columns for this document, follow these steps:

• Click on the Format menu and select Columns from the menu options that appear.

• Within the Settings selection area, you may click on one of the predefined column formats available to you or enter the number of columns you wish your document to have. For this brochure, select the predefined three (3) column format or enter (3) into the Columns format field.

• If you want to customize the width and spacing of the columns within your document or add a separator line, utilize the fields available within the appropriate selection areas. For this brochure, enter 0.10” within the spacing selection field and press the TAB key on your keyboard. You should notice the column width for each of the three columns change from 3.14” to 3.08”.

• Click the OK button to complete the selection.

Formatting Text (changing font type, size, alignment and style)

The next step in completing the brochure is to format the text. For a brochure, the text needs to be very legible and easy on the eyes when reading. To accomplish this, we will choose a font that is legible when reading, increase the size of some of the text so that certain points catches the readers attention and bold the text throughout the brochure to make it easy on the eyes when reading.

To format the text within the brochure, follow these steps:

• With the brochure document open, click on the Edit menu and choose Select All from the menu options that appear. When doing so, the text in the entire document is selected.

• Next, click on the Format menu and select Character from the menu options that appear.

• If it is not already selected, click the Font tab within the window that appears. Select the Bitstream Vera Serif font within the Font window list. In the Typeface selection area, choose the Bold font style. In the Size selection area, select size 12. Once you have made these selections, click the OK button.

• Now that the main body of text has been formatted, a few lines of text need some additional formatting. Look at column two of the brochure document. Using your mouse, select the text What’s waiting for you to discover. Within the Formatting toolbar located just above the ruler at the top of the document, locate the Font Size popup menu and select 24. The size of the selected text will be formatted accordingly.

• With the text still selected from Step #4, locate the Paragraph Alignment buttons within the Formatting toolbar. Click the Centered alignment button and the text will be centered within the column it appears in. This will format the heading for our inside bulleted list.

• Below the heading that we just formatted, you will find a text list containing four points. This needs some additional formatting. To select the text, place your mouse pointer at the beginning of the first point. Holding down the left mouse button, drag over the next nine lines to select for editing.

• After selecting the text, locate the Font Size popup menu within the Formatting toolbar and select 16 from the size options provided. While the text is still selected, locate the Paragraph Alignment buttons within the Formatting toolbar and click the Left alignment button.

• Because the text we formatted in Step #7 will be a list located within the inside of the brochure, it would be helpful to format the text as a bulleted list. With the text remaining selected, click on the Format menu and choose Bullets and Numbering from the menu options that appear. When the window appears, select the Bullets tab. A number of bullet formats will be presented. For this brochure, select the second arrow format located on the lower row within the options provided. Then click the OK button to complete the formatting.

• The final text remaining to be formatted is that which will appear on the front of the brochure. Below the bulleted list we just formatted, you will find the text that will appear on the cover of the brochure. Using your mouse, select the text The Blue Ridge Parkway. After selecting the text, locate the Font Size popup menu within the Formatting toolbar and select 36 from the size options provided. While the text is still selected, locate the Paragraph Alignment buttons within the Formatting toolbar and click the Centered alignment button.

• Finally, use your left mouse button select the last line of text History Waiting To Be Discovered! . After selecting the text, locate the Font Size popup menu within the Formatting toolbar and select 18 from the size options provided. While the text is still selected, locate the Paragraph Alignment buttons within the Formatting toolbar and click the Centered alignment button.

Inserting and Formatting Graphics

All of the text that will be present in the brochure has been formatted. The brochure may look anything but desirable at this point. However, the brochure will take shape as we begin with the last major process of completing the formatting of the brochure: inserting and formatting images within the document.

When you accessed the file associated with this lesson, you may have noticed an extra folder labeled “Images” within the lesson folder. Inside the folder contains four images that we will insert into the brochure. Upon completing the insertion of these images within the brochure, the document should be near completion for saving.

To insert the images within the brochure, follow these steps:

• The first image that will be inserted into the brochure will be placed at the beginning of the first paragraph that currently appears within the document. Using your mouse, place the pointer in front of the first character of the paragraph. When the I-bar appears, click your left mouse button and a cursor will be flashing in front of the paragraph. Press the ENTER or RETURN key on the keyboard to insert and additional line in front of the first paragraph, allowing space to insert the first image.

• In the center of your keyboard, located to the left of the numeric keypad, find the arrow keys and press the key that points up. This will position the cursor into the front of the first, empty line you just created.

• Click on the Insert menu, select Picture from the menu options that appear and then select From File within the submenu options that appear.

• When the Insert Picture window appears, use the navigation buttons located in the upper-right corner of the window to locate the image files associated with this lesson. These photos can be found in the Lesson 04 folder, which is contained within the downloadable Lesson Files folder associated with this book. Once you have located the images, use your mouse to click on the image file lesson_04_image01.jpg to select it. If you wish to see a preview of the image within the Insert Picture window, make sure the Preview checkbox is selected by clicking within it. To insert it within the brochure, click the OPEN button.

(NOTE: The LINK checkbox located within the Name and Type selection area allows you to place an image within the brochure without actually embedding the image into the document file. When a checkmark appears within the box provided, this means the Link formatting option is selected. This method allows you to reduce the file size of the document. However, if you send a document to another user and want the images to be included properly, you must either embed the images within the document itself by deselecting the Link option or by exporting the entire document as a PDF file.)

• Next, we are going to insert the second image into the brochure. The second image will be placed below the second paragraph. If there is an empty line at the top of the second column (or before the second paragraph), place your mouse button at the beginning of the empty line. When the I-bar appears, click your left mouse button and a cursor will be flashing in front of the paragraph. Press the DELETE key on the keyboard to remove the empty line.

• Using your mouse, place the pointer at the empty line located beneath the second paragraph. When the I-bar appears, click your left mouse button and a cursor will be flashing in front of the paragraph.

• Click on the Insert menu, select Picture from the menu options that appear and then select From File within the submenu options that appear. When the Insert Picture window appears, use the navigation buttons located in the upper-right corner of the window to again locate the image files associated with this lesson. Once you have located the images, use your mouse to click on the image file lesson_04_image02.jpg to select it. To insert it within the brochure, click the OPEN button.

• The third image that will be inserted into the brochure will be placed at the beginning of the third paragraph that currently appears within the document. Using your mouse, place the pointer in front of the first character of the third paragraph. When the I-bar appears, click your left mouse button and a cursor will be flashing in front of the paragraph. Press the ENTER or RETURN key on the keyboard to insert and additional line in front of the third paragraph, allowing space to insert the third image.

• In the center of your keyboard, located to the left of the numeric keypad, find the arrow keys and press the key that points up. This will position the cursor into the front of the empty line you just created.

• Click on the Insert menu, select Picture from the menu options that appear and then select From File within the submenu options that appear. When the Insert Picture window appears, use the navigation buttons located in the upper-right corner of the window to again locate the image files associated with this lesson. Once you have located the images, use your mouse to click on the image file lesson_04_image03.jpg to select it. To insert it within the brochure, click the OPEN button. When completed, the first page of the brochure should look similar to below.

• The final image that will be placed into the brochure will be located in the third column on the second page, in between the brochure title The Blue Ridge Parkway and the tag line History Waiting To Be Discovered! . Before we can insert the image, however, we need to position the brochure title and tag line within the third column. Locate the first line of the brochure title, within the first column of the second page. Using your mouse, place the pointer in front of the first character. When the I-bar appears, click your left mouse button and a cursor will be flashing in front of the text.

• Press down on the ENTER or RETURN key on the keyboard. Continue to hold down the key to insert additional lines in front of brochure title. When the beginning of the brochure title reaches the second line of the third column, release the key. The brochure title is now in its proper position.

• Three additional lines needs to be added between the brochure title and the tag line to allow space for the image, as well as to center the image between them. To do so, use your mouse to place the pointer in front of the first word of the tagline (History). When the I-bar appears, click your left mouse button and a cursor will be flashing in front of the text. Press the ENTER or RETURN key three (3) times to place the appropriate number of lines between the title and tag line.

• In the center of your keyboard, located to the left of the numeric keypad, find the arrow keys and press the key that points up two (2) times. This will position the cursor in the center of the title and tag line.

• Click on the Insert menu, select Picture from the menu options that appear and then select From File within the submenu options that appear. When the Insert Picture window appears, use the navigation buttons located in the upper-right corner of the window to again locate the image files associated with this lesson. Once you have located the images, use your mouse to click on the image file lesson_04_image04.jpg to select it. To insert it within the brochure, click the OPEN button. When completed, the second page of the brochure should look similar to below.

• Finally, we are going to add a shadow effect to each of the images inserted into the brochure. To add a drop shadow to an image, click once on an image using the left mouse button to select it. Then click on the Format menu and select Picture from the menu options that appear. When the Picture window appears, click the Borders tab and select the Bottom-Right shadow position located in the Shadow Style selection area. Click the OK button, and repeat the process for each image within the brochure. The image formatting will then be complete.

Exporting the Document in the PDF Format

Finally, we are going to save the brochure as a Portable Document Format (PDF) document. The PDF file format is one of the preferred formats among graphic artists and commercial printers. When sending documents to a printer to be mass-produced, like a brochure for example, PDF files retain the original formatting much better when transferred to other computers. Therefore, the formatting you see when you save a file on your computer in PDF format is what a graphic artist or commercial printer sees on their computer. However, when a file is saved in the PDF format, it is saved as read-only and cannot be edited later. Therefore, if you wish to edit a document later, you need to save a copy of the file in another format, such as the OpenDocument (.odt) format.

To save a document as a read-only PDF file, follow these steps:


1. Click on the File menu and choose Export As PDF from the menu options that appear.

2. When the Export As PDF window appears, OpenOffice.org will provide you with some additional options for you to select. Among these options are the page range and image compression quality. If you choose Lossless Compression, the file will be exported in the highest quality possible but the file size will be larger. Sending large file sizes via email, for example, will result in longer receiving and download times. You also have the option to select JPEG compression to decrease the file size and, therefore, reduce the amount of time it takes to upload and download a file. OpenOffice.org allows you to use the popup menu provided to select the compression quality on a scale from 1% to 100%, with 1% being the lowest quality. After you have selected your additional export options, click the EXPORT button.

3. 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.


4. In the field File Name, type the name you would like to save the file as.


5. In the File Format popup menu, make sure Portable Document Format (PDF) is selected. Then click the button EXPORT to complete the operation.