Draw Guide

Chapter 12,
User Interface Variants

CopyrightThis document is Copyright © 2021 by the LibreOffice Documentation Team. Contributors arelisted 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 guide belong to their legitimate owners.

Contributors
To this editionPeter Schofield

Jean Hollis WeberTo previous editionsFirst issue of this chapter.

Feedback
Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to the Documentation Team’s
mailing list: documentation@global.libreoffice.org

Note
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information that is written in the message, is publicly archived and cannot be deleted.

Publication date and software version
Published July 2021. Based on LibreOffice 7.1 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 andLinux. The table below gives some common substitutions for the instructions in this document.
For a detailed list, see the application Help.
Windows or LinuxmacOS equivalent

EffectTools > Options

LibreOffice > Preferences

Access setup options

Right-click

Control+click or right-click
depending on computer setup

Open a context menu

Ctrl (Control)⌘ (Command)

Used with other keys

F11

⌘+T

Open the Styles deck in the Sidebar

Documentation for LibreOffice is available at https://documentation.libreoffice.org/en/Contents
Copyright............................................................................................................................2Contributors.............................................................................................................................. 2Feedback.................................................................................................................................. 2
Publication date and software version.......................................................................................2
Using LibreOffice on macOS.....................................................................................................2Introduction........................................................................................................................4
Selecting user interface....................................................................................................4
Standard Toolbar UI..........................................................................................................5
Tabbed UI............................................................................................................................5
Fixed tabs................................................................................................................................. 6File tab................................................................................................................................. 6Home tab.............................................................................................................................. 8
Insert tab.............................................................................................................................. 8
Layout tab............................................................................................................................ 9
Review tab......................................................................................................................... 10
View tab.............................................................................................................................. 11
Extension tab..................................................................................................................... 12Tools tab............................................................................................................................. 12
Additional tabs........................................................................................................................ 13
Draw tab............................................................................................................................. 13
Image tab........................................................................................................................... 14
Object tab........................................................................................................................... 15
Table tab............................................................................................................................. 15Media tab........................................................................................................................... 15

Tabbed Compact UI.........................................................................................................16
Groupedbar Compact UI.................................................................................................16
Contextual Single UI........................................................................................................17Single Toolbar UI & Sidebar UI.......................................................................................17

Chapter 12, User Interface Variants | 3

Introduction
By default, commands and tools used in LibreOffice Draw are grouped in a user interface
consisting of cascading menus and toolbars. The functions and use of these cascading menus
and toolbars are described in previous chapters of this user guide.
This chapter describes the user interface variants that are available for LibreOffice Draw. A userthen has the option to select the user interface that suits their requirements and methods ofcreating drawings in LibreOffice Draw.

NoteWhen changing the user interface, the variant can be applied only to LibreOffice
Draw, or applied to all the modules in LibreOffice.

Selecting user interface
To select a user interface variant or switching between the user interface variants:
1) Go to View > User Interface on the Menu bar to open the Select Your Preferred User
Interface dialog (Figure 1).
2) In UI variants, select one of the variants. An example of the selected variant is shown inthe Preview box, along with a short description.
3) Click on Apply to Draw to apply the variant selection to LibreOffice Draw only, or click on
Apply to All to apply the variant to all the LibreOffice modules. The LibreOffice windowchanges to match the selected variant.
4) Click Close to close the dialog.

Figure 1: Select Your Preferred User Interface dialog

Note
If the option Enable experimental features has been selected in the Tools >Options > Advanced dialog, several more variants appear in UI variants. Being
experimental, these variants are not described in this user guide.
4| Chapter 12, User Interface VariantsFigure 2: Standard Toolbar user interface in LibreOffice Draw

NoteIn all the user interface variants, the Sidebar can be hidden or shown by clicking on
the Hide/Show button on the left of the Sidebar,

Standard Toolbar UIThe Standard Toolbar user interface is the default view when LibreOffice is installed and theWorkspace opened for the first time. Figure 2 shows an example of the default Workspace viewin LibreOffice Draw, which normally consists of the following.
•Menu bar at the top of the Workspace.

•Standard toolbar positioned below the Menu bar.

•Line and Filling toolbar positioned below the Standard toolbar.

•Drawing toolbar positioned vertically on the left of the Workspace.

•Sidebar positioned on the right of the Workspace.

For more information on the Draw Workspace, see Chapter 1, Introducing Draw.

Tabbed UIThe Tabbed user interface provides a familiar interface for users coming from proprietary officesuites, for example Microsoft Office. This user interface is divided into tabs, where each tab
displays a set of tools grouped by context. The context changes depending on the object
selected and the LibreOffice module being used.
It includes a Menu bar, a Tab bar, and tool icons grouped in context that would be normally usedin LibreOffice Draw. If the tool icons on a tab page do not fit into the width of the Draw window, adouble chevron >> appears at the right end of the row. Click the double chevron >> to display
more commands.
Chapter 12, User Interface Variants | 5

Figure 3: Quick menu options

Figure 4: Icon bar
On Windows and Linux operating systems, the Menu bar can be hidden or displayed by clicking
on Menubar at the left end of the Tab bar.
On the right of the Tab bar, a Quick menu (≡) (Figure 3) is available giving access to somecommonly used commands and links. Some of the Quick menu items have submenus, indicatedby a small triangle ► on the right. The Quick menu is the same for all tabs.
On the left of the Tab bar, an Icon bar (Figure 4) is available giving access to some commonlyused tools – Menu bar; Open (Ctrl+O); Save (Ctrl+S);Undo (Ctrl+Z); Redo (Ctrl+Y).
The Tabbed user interface can be customized using the Notebookbar page of the Customize
dialog to show or hide the individual tools on the various tabs. For more information on
customization of LibreOffice, see the Getting Started Guide and the Writer Guide.

NoteWhen using the Tabbed user interface, the Draw toolbars are removed from view. If it
is necessary, toolbars can be opened and used by going to View > Toolbars on theMenu bar or Quick menu > Toolbars.

Fixed tabs
The fixed tabs in the Tabbed user interface for Draw are described on the following pages. Theillustrations show the left and right ends of the tabs separately so they are large enough to moreeasily see the commands.

File tabThe File tab (Figure 5) is a fixed tab providing commands to create new documents; open, save,print, and close documents; manage templates; export to PDF and EPUB; display document
properties; add a digital signature; and sign an existing PDF.
The File tab has two menus (Figures 6 and 7): File and Help. The File tab menu contains thesame commands as the tools available on the tab. The Help tab menu provides links to a varietyof resources.

6| Chapter 12, User Interface VariantsFigure 5: Tabbed user interface - File tab

Figure 6: File tab menu

Figure 7: Help tab menu
Chapter 12, User Interface Variants | 7

Home tab
The Home tab (Figure 8) is a fixed tab providing commands to cut, copy, paste, and format text;
insert common items (for example images, tables, charts); apply, update, and edit drawing styles;
and so on. The Home tab menu (Figure 9) at the right end of the Tab bar provides additionalcommands that are not on the tab.

Figure 8: Tabbed user interface - Home tab

Figure 9: Home tab menu

Insert tab
The Insert tab (Figure 10) is a fixed tab providing commands to insert many commonly used
items. The Insert tab menu (Figure 11) at the right end of the Tab bar provides some of the samecommands.

Figure 10: Tabbed user interface - Insert tab

8| Chapter 12, User Interface VariantsFigure 11: Insert tab menu

Layout tab
The Layout tab (Figure 12) is a fixed tab providing commands to create the drawing page layout.
The Layout tab menu (Figure 13) provides extra commands to create the drawing page layout.

Figure 12: Tabbed user interface - Layout tab

Chapter 12, User Interface Variants | 9Figure 13: Layout tab menu

Review tab
The Review tab (Figure 14) is a fixed tab providing commands for spell checking text; insertingand deleting review comments; and redaction. The Review tab menu (Figure 15) provides
additional text editing commands. Some of these commands appear only if Asian or Complex
Text Layout are selected in Tools > Options > Language Settings > Languages.

Figure 14: Tabbed user interface - Review tab

Figure 15: Review tab menu

10| Chapter 12, User Interface Variants

View tab
The View tab (Figure 16) is a fixed tab providing commands for the display of a drawing onscreen. The View tab menu (Figure 17) provides additional commands relating to the display on
a drawing on screen.

Figure 16: Tabbed user interface - View tab

Figure 17: View tabmenu

Chapter 12, User Interface Variants | 11Extension tab
The Extension tab (Figure 18) is a fixed tab containing only the command to access theExtension Manager allowing the installation of extensions that are compatible for use in
LibreOffice.

Figure 18: Tabbed user interface Extension tabTools tab
The Tools tab (Figure 19) is a fixed tab providing several tools for macros; color replacer; media
player; and form creation. The Tools tab menu (Figure 20) provides some of the samecommands, plus extra tools for organizing macros and dialogs; image map; data sources; filter
settings; extension manager; and options.

Figure 19: Tabbed user interface - Tools tab

Figure 20: Tools tabmenu

12| Chapter 12, User Interface Variants

Additional tabs
Additional tabs appear when an object in Draw is selected and are displayed between the Viewand Extension tabs. The illustrations show the left and right ends of the tabs separately so they
are large enough to more easily see the commands.

Draw tab
The Draw tab (Figure 21) is only available when a draw object is selected in a drawing. It
provides commands for editing, transforming, grouping, aligning, and distributing draw objects.
The Draw tab menu (Figure 22) provides a similar set of commands for editing, transforming andconverting draw objects.

Figure 21: Tabbed user Interface - Draw tab

Figure 22: Draw tabmenu

Chapter 12, User Interface Variants | 13

Image tab
The Image tab (Figure 23) only becomes available when an image is selected in a drawing suchas a photograph, Fontwork, OLE object, or QR code. It provides commands for working withthese images, including captions, cropping, borders and area styles and colors, anchors,wrapping, positioning, and filtering. The Image tab menu (Figure 24) provides links to dialogs forworking with images.

Figure 23: Tabbed user interface - Image tab

Figure 24: Image tab menu

Figure 25: Tabbed user interface - Object tab

14| Chapter 12, User Interface VariantsObject tab
The Object tab (Figure 25) only becomes available when an object, such as a chart, is selected.
It provides commands to position, resize, choose colors and borders for the selected object. The
Object tab menu (Figure 26) provides extra commands to match the type of object selected.

Figure 26: Object tabmenu

Table tab
The Table tab (Figure 27) only becomes available when a table is selected in a drawing. It
provides tools to format a table to the drawing requirements. The Table tab menu (Figure 28)
includes extra commands for editing a table.

Figure 27: Tabbed user interface - Table tab

Figure 28: Table tab menu

Media tab
The Media tab (Figure 29) only becomes available when a media object is selected in a drawing.
It provides commands for positioning and running an audio or video file. The Media tab menu
(Figure 30) includes extra commands for editing a media object.

Chapter 12, User Interface Variants | 15

Figure 29: Tabbed user interface - Media tab

Figure 30: Media tabmenu

Tabbed Compact UIThe Tabbed Compact user interface has the same tabs as the Tabbed user interface, but thecommands on each tab are arranged as a single row of tools. Some of these tools havedrop-down menus with extra options. Figure 31 shows an example of the File tab in the Tabbed
Compact user interface.
The tab menu on the right of the Tabbed Compact user interface provides the same options asthe tab menus in the Tabbed user interface, see “Tabbed UI” on page 5 for more information.

Figure 31: Tabbed Compact user interface - File tabGroupedbar Compact UIThe Groupedbar Compact user interface is divided into groups that contain commands
organized as sets of tools and menus. The tools and menus that are available change to suit thetype of object that has been selected. Figure 32 shows an example of Groupedbar Compact
user interface when a draw object is selected.
Clicking on the double chevron >> displays more tools for editing an object. Figure 33 shows anexample of these tools when a draw object is selected.
The Groupedbar menu (Figure 34) on the right-hand end of this interface provides extra
commands for working with LibreOffice Draw, including convenient ways to change the userinterface and access toolbars.

16| Chapter 12, User Interface VariantsFigure 32: Example of Groupedbar Compact user interface with draw object selected

Figure 33: Example of more tools with draw object selected

Figure 34: Groupedbar
menu

Contextual Single UIThe Contextual Single user interface displays a single toolbar to suit the type of object that has
been selected. Figure 35 shows an example of Contextual Single user interface when a draw
object is selected.
Clicking on the double chevron >> displays more tools for editing an object. Figure 36 shows anexample of these tools when a draw object is selected.

Figure 35: Example of Contextual Single user interface with draw object selected

Figure 36: Example of more tools with draw object selected

Single Toolbar UI & Sidebar UIWhen selected, the Single Toolbar and Sidebar user interfaces only show the Menu bar with notoolbars. However, toolbars can be added to either of these user interfaces by going to View >Toolbars on the Menu bar and selecting the required toolbar from the options available. For
more information on toolbars, see Appendix B, Toolbars in this guide and the Getting Started
Guide.

Chapter 12, User Interface Variants | 17