Impress Guide

6

ChapterFormatting Graphic
Objects

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separately.)CopyrightThis document is Copyright © 2007–2010 by its contributors as listed
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under the terms of either the GNU General Public License, version 3 orlater, or the Creative Commons Attribution License, version 3.0 or
later.
All trademarks within this guide belong to their legitimate owners.

Authors
Nicole Cairns
Peter Hillier-Brook
Hazel Russman
Jean Hollis Weber
Michele Zarri

Feedback
Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to:authors@documentation.openoffice.org

Publication date and software version
Published 2 November 2010. Based on OpenOffice.org 3.2.1.

You can download
an editable version of this document fromhttp://oooauthors.org/english/userguide3/published/

Contents
Copyright............................................................................................... 2
Formatting objects.................................................................................5
Formatting lines..................................................................................... 5
General line settings........................................................................... 5
Creating line styles.............................................................................7
Creating arrow styles.......................................................................... 9Line shadow...................................................................................... 10
Formatting the fill area........................................................................10
Uniform color.................................................................................... 11
Fill with a gradient............................................................................ 12
Fill with a line pattern (hatching).....................................................12
Fill with an image.............................................................................13
Using the Area dialog box.................................................................13
Creating new area fills.........................................................................15
Adding custom colors........................................................................ 15
Creating gradients............................................................................16
Creating hatching patterns...............................................................18
Working with bitmap fills..................................................................19
Creating and importing bitmaps....................................................22
Formatting shadows.......................................................................... 23
Transparency formatting..................................................................24
Advanced gradient controls..............................................................25
Formatting text.................................................................................... 27
Text animation..................................................................................29
Formatting connectors.........................................................................30
Working with graphics styles...............................................................30
Linked graphic styles........................................................................31
Creating graphics styles...................................................................32
Creating a new graphic style using the Style dialog box...............32
Creating a new graphic style from a selection...............................33
Modifying a graphic style.................................................................. 34
Formatting Graphic Objects

3Updating a graphic style from a selection.....................................34
Applying graphic styles.....................................................................35
Deleting graphic styles.....................................................................35
Assigning styles to shortcut keys......................................................35

4

Formatting Graphic Objects

Formatting objects
This chapter describes how to format the graphic objects created withthe available drawing tools.
The formatting of each graphic object, in addition to its size, rotationand position on the slide, is determined by a number of attributes thatdefine the line, text and area fill of each object. These attributes(among others) also contribute to form a graphics style. Although thischapter discusses the formatting when applied manually to an object,
at the end of this chapter you will be shown how to create, apply,
modify and delete graphics styles.

Formatting lines
In Openoffice.org the term line indicates both a freestanding segment
and the outer edge of a shape. In most cases the properties of the line
you can modify are its style (solid, dashed, invisible, and so on), its
width and its color. All these options can be applied with a few clicks ofthe mouse. Select the line you need to format and then use the controlson the Line and Filling toolbar to select your desired options.

Figure 1: Common line options (style, width, color) highlighted
If you need to fine tune the appearance of a line, choose Format >Line from the menu bar, or right-click on the line and select Line fromthe pop-up menu, or select the Line icon from the Line and Filling
toolbar. These methods open the Line dialog box shown in Figure 2,
where you can set all the properties of the line at once.
The dialog box consists of four pages: Line, Line Styles, Shadow, andArrow Styles.

General line settings
The Line tab is where you can set the basic parameters of the line andis subdivided into four parts:
The Line Properties section (left side) is the most important. It includes
the following parameters:• Line style: a variety of line styles is available in the drop-down
list, but more can be defined if needed.
Formatting lines5

Figure 2: Main line formatting dialog box• Color: choose among the predefined colors or refer to “Adding

custom colors” on page 15 to create a new one.
• Width: specifies the thickness of the line.
• Transparency: sets the transparency value of the line, a usefulproperty when you do not want to hide the backgroundcompletely. Figure 3 illustrates the effects on a line of different
degrees of transparency.

Figure 3: The vertical lines have different levels oftransparency (0%, 25%, and 50%).
The Arrow styles section of this page is only applicable to line
segments; it has no effect on the line that forms the border of a shapeor of a polygon. Use this section to set the styles of the two ends of thesegment. You can configure the two ends independently, selecting foreach of them the arrow shape (Style drop-down menu), the Width, andthe termination style (Center option). Selecting the Center option
moves the center of the arrowheads to the end point of the line. Figure6

Formatting Graphic Objects

4 shows the effects of selecting this option. To make the two ends
identical, select the Synchronize ends option. To create newarrowheads, use the Arrow styles page, as described in the following
section.

Figure 4: Default arrowheads (left) vscentered arrowheads (right)
The Corner style section of this page determines how the connection
between two segments should look. There are four available options in
the drop-down menu. To appreciate the difference between cornerstyles, choose a thick line style and observe how the preview changes.
The bottom part of the page previews the applied style for a single line
and two different corners so that the corner style choice can bequickly evaluated.
A faster way to set the arrowheads fora selected line is to click on the Arrow
Style
icon in the Line andFilling toolbar (Figure 1). This opens
the Arrowheads menu, where you canchoose one of the many predefinedarrowhead styles for the start andtermination of the selected segment.

Figure 5: Arrowheads menu

Creating line styles
Use the Line Styles page of the Line dialog box to create new line
styles as well as to load previously saved line styles. Normally it is nota good practice to modify the predefined styles; instead, create newones when necessary.
Formatting lines7

Figure 6: Advanced options for creating line styles
To create a new line style:1) Choose Format > Line from the menu bar.
2) Click on the Line Styles tab.
3) Select from the Line style drop-down menu a style similar to thedesired one.
4) Click Add. On the pop-up dialog box, type a name for the new line
style and click OK.
5) Now define the new style. Start by selecting the line type for the
new style. To alternate two line types (for example, dashes anddots) within a single line, select different types in the two Typeboxes.
6) Specify the number and length (not available for dot style) of eachof the types of line selected, set the spacing between the various
elements, and decide if the style should fit to the line width(length).
The new line style is available only in the current document. If you
want to reuse the line style in other presentations, click the Save Line
Styles icon
and type a memorable name. This saves all of the line
styles in this presentation. (Saved styles have a file extension of .sod.)8

Formatting Graphic Objects

To make previously saved line styles available in the current
presentation, click the Load Line Styles icon, select the saved list of
styles, and click Open.
Use the Modify button to change the name of the style.

Creating arrow styles
Use the third page of the Line dialog box to create new arrow styles
such as the ones in the figure below, modify existing arrow styles, orload previously saved arrow styles.

1) First draw a curve with the shape you want for the arrowhead.

Note

The arrowhead must be a curve. A curve is something you could
draw without lifting a pencil. For example,
is a curve but
isnot a curve. You can however draw shapes which are not curves
and then at the end convert them to a curve.

The top part of the shape will point in the direction of the line. In
Figure 7 the corner at the top of the shape will point towards the“outside” of the line.

Figure 7: To create your own
arrowhead, first draw a curve.
2) Select the curve. With the resizing handles showing, selectFormat > Line from the menu bar, or right-click and choose Line
from the pop-up menu.
3) Go to the Arrow styles page (Figure 8), click the Add button, typea name for the new arrow style, and click OK.
4) Now you can access the new style from the Arrow style list. Whenyou select the name of the new style, it is shown at the bottom of
the dialog box.

Formatting lines9

Figure 8: Advanced options for creating arrow styles

Line shadow
Use the Shadow page of the Line dialog to add and format the line
shadow. The settings on this page are the same as those for shadows
applied to other objects and are described in “Formatting shadows” onpage 23.
A faster way to apply a shadow to the line is using the last button of
the Line and Filling toolbar of Figure 1. The main disadvantage ofusing the toolbar button is that the shadow appearance will
constrained by the shadow settings of the default graphics style.

Formatting the fill area
The term area fill refers to theinside of an object, which canbe a uniform color, a gradient,a hatching pattern, or animage. An area fill can be madepartly or wholly transparent
and can throw a shadow.
Figure 9: Different types of area fill10

Formatting Graphic Objects

The Line and Filling toolbar has the majority of the tools normally used
to format graphic objects. If this toolbar is not showing, choose View >Toolbars >Line and Filling from the menu bar. You can also use theArea dialog box, described on page 13.

Figure 10: Common fill options
To format the area of an object, select it so that the green resizing
handles show. A wide number of default fillings are readily available
from the Line and Filling toolbar. Select first from the pull-down menu
to the right of the paint can icon the type of fill. If you want no fill atall, select Invisible.

Once you have decided on a predefined or custom fill, you can further
refine it by adding a shadow or transparency.

Uniform color
Select the object you wish to edit. On the Line and Filling toolbar,
select Color on the pull down list at the right of the paint can, andthen choose a color from the drop-down menu.

Figure 11: Filling with a color

Formatting the fill area

11Fill with a gradient
A gradient fill provides a smooth transition from one color to another.
The transition pattern may vary from a simple linear transition to amore complex radial transition.
Select the object you wish to edit. On the Line and Filling toolbar,
select Gradient and then choose a gradient from the drop-down menu.

Figure 12: Filling with a gradientFill with a line pattern (hatching)Select the object you wish to edit. On the Line and Filling toolbar,
select Hatching and then choose a hatching fill from the drop-downmenu. A hatching fill is applied throughout the area.

Figure 13: Filling with a line pattern

12

Formatting Graphic Objects

Fill with an image
You can fill an object only with a bitmap image (as opposed to a vector
graphic image). Select the object you wish to edit. On the Line andFilling toolbar, select Bitmap and then choose a bitmap fill from thedrop-down menu.

Figure 14: Filling with an image

Using the Area dialog box
In addition to using the Line and Filling toolbar, you can use the Area
dialog box to apply existing fills and create your own. To open it,
choose Format > Area from the menu bar, or click on the paint bucket
icon on the Line and Filling toolbar, or right-click on the object andselect Area.

Figure 15: Area page of the area formatting dialog box
Formatting the fill area

13

Use the Area tab to apply predefined fills, both those supplied with
OOo and those you create yourself. Use the Colors, Gradients,
Hatching, and Bitmaps tabs to define new fills, as described in“Creating new area fills” on page 15. The Transparency tab is
discussed on page 24. To make the object cast a shadow, see page 23.
To apply an area fill, first select in the top left drop-down list therequired fill type. The page changes to show in the middle section thelist of predefined styles for that fill type.
Note

In the Area dialog box, the choice for no fill is None rather thanInvisible.

When using the Area tab of the Area dialog box, some additional
options may become available once you have selected the fill type andone of the available fill styles.
• For gradient fills, you can override the number of steps(increments) that should be applied to the transition from one
color to the other. To do so, select Gradient on the Area tab anddeselect the Automatic option under Increments. Then enter thenumber of steps required in the box to the right.

• For hatching, you can apply a different background color by

selecting the Background color option and choosing a color
from the drop-down list.

• For bitmaps, you can customize a large number of parameters.

Refer to “Working with bitmap fills” on page 19 for additional
information.

14

Formatting Graphic Objects

Creating new area fills
The following sections describe how to create new fills and how toapply them.
Althugh you can change the characteristics of an existing fill and thenclick the Modify button, it is recommended that you create new fills or
modify custom fills rather than the predefined ones, as these may bereset when updating OpenOffice.org.

Adding custom colors
On the Colors page, shown in Figure 16, you can modify existing colors
or create your own.

Figure 16: A custom color has been added to the list
You can specify a new color either as a combination of the three
primary colors Red, Green, and Blue, (hence the notation RGB) or by
the percentage of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK notation).
To create a new color:
1) Enter the name for the color in the Name box.
2) Select whether to define the color in RGB or CMYK. For RGB
Specify the red, green and blue component on a 0 to 255 scale.
For CMYK specify the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and black (K)components, from 0% to 100%.
3) Click the Add button. The color is now added to the list on the
Area page.
Creating new area fills

15

To modify a color:
1) Select the color to modify from the list.
2) Enter the new values that define the color (if necessary change
the settings between RGB and CMYK).
3) Modify the name as required.
4) Click the Modify button.
Alternatively, use the Edit button (this will open a new dialog box),
modify the color components as required and click OK to exit the
dialog box.
Use the Load and Save buttons in the dialog to use a different color
palette or to save your own custom colors.
More details on working with color palettes can be found in Chapter 8.

Tip

You can also add custom colors using Tools > Options >OpenOffice.org > Colors. This method makes the color
available to all components of OOo, whereas colors createdusing Format > Area > Colors are only available for Impress.

Creating gradients
To create a new gradient or to modify an existing one, select theGradients tab from the Area dialog box. Several types of gradients arepredefined and in most cases changing the From and To colors will be
sufficient to obtain the desired result.

Figure 17: The Gradients page of the Area dialog box
16

Formatting Graphic Objects

It is highly recommended that you create a new gradient even if you
just want to change the two colors, rather than modifying thepredefined ones, which should be used only as starting points.
To create a new gradient:
1) First choose the From and To colors.

Figure 18: Gradient transition color
selection2) Then choose a type of gradient from the list: Linear, Axial, Radial,
Ellipsoid, Square or Rectangular.
A preview of the gradient type is shown under the available
gradients list in the middle of the dialog box. Figure 17 shows anexample.

Figure 19: Center option in a radial gradient3) Depending on the chosen type some options will be grayed out.
Set all the properties as desired (very often the default values will
work well). The properties to set to create a gradient aresummarized in Table 1.
4) Click the Add button to add the newly created gradient to the list.
Tip

The newly created gradients remain available to all the OOo
components and also for future presentations. It pays to givethem a memorable name.

Creating new area fills

17Table 1: Gradient properties
Property

Meaning

Center X

For Radial, Ellipsoid, Square and Rectangular gradients,
modify these values to set the horizontal offset of thegradient center.

Center Y

For Radial, Ellipsoid, Square and Rectangular gradients,
modify these values to set the vertical offset of the gradientcenter.

Angle

Specifies for all the gradient types the angle of the gradientaxis.

BorderIncrease this value to make the gradient start further awayfrom the border of the shapeFrom

Set here the start color for the gradient. In the edit box
below enter the intensity of the color: 0% corresponds toblack, 100% to the full color.

To

Set here the end color for the gradient. In the edit box below
enter the intensity of the color: 0% corresponds to black,
100% to the full color.

Creating hatching patterns
You can create new hatching patterns or modify existing ones. Start by
selecting the Hatching tab of the Area dialog box.

Figure 20: The Hatching tab of the Area fill dialog box

18

Formatting Graphic Objects

As with gradients and colors, it is better to create a new pattern
rather than modify a predefined one.
To do so:1) Select as a starting point a pattern similar to the one that will becreated..
2) Modify the properties of the lines forming the pattern. A preview
is displayed in the window below the available patterns.
3) Click the Add button and choose a name for the newly createdhatching.
The properties that can be set for a hatching pattern are shown in
Table 2.
Table 2: Properties of hatching patterns
Property

Meaning

Spacing

Determines the spacing between two lines of the pattern.
As the value is changed the preview window is updated.

Angle

Use the mini map below the numerical value to quickly set
the angle formed by the line to multiples of 45 degrees. If
the required angle is not a multiple of 45 degrees, justenter the desired value in the edit box.

Line typeSet single, double or triple line for the style of the pattern.

Line color

Use the list to select the color of the lines that will form thepattern.

Working with bitmap fills
On the Area tab, chose Bitmap from the drop-down list. Select from thelist of bitmaps the one to be used to fill the area. Note that any
imported bitmaps will become available in the list.
Set the size, position and offset parameters (as applicable) in the righthand side of the page, and then click OK to close the dialog box.
As Figure 21 shows, there are quite a number of parameters to be
configured when using a bitmap fill. These are described in Table 3.

Creating new area fills

19

Figure 21: Advanced formatting for bitmap fill
Table 3: Bitmap fill properties
Property

Meaning

Size – Original

Select this box to retain the original size of thebitmap.

Size – Relative

To rescale the object deselect the Original option andselect this one. The Width and Height edit boxes areenabled.

Size – Width

When Relative is selected 100% means that thebitmap original width will be resized to occupy thewhole fill area width, 50% means that the width of
the bitmap will be half that of the fill area.

Size – Height

When Relative is selected 100% means that thebitmap original height will be resized to occupy thewhole fill area height, 50% means that the height ofthe bitmap will be half that of the fill area.

Position – Anchor
Map

Select from the map the place of the area where thebitmap should be anchored to.

Position – Tile

When this option is selected the bitmap will be tiled
to fill the area. The size of the bitmap used for thetiling is determined by the Size settings.

Position – X offset

When Tile is enabled, enter in this box the offset for
the width of the bitmap in percentage values. 50%
offset means that at the anchor point of the bitmap
OOo will place the middle part of the bitmap andstart tiling from there.

20

Formatting Graphic Objects

Property

Meaning

Position – Y offset

This will have the same effect of the X offset, but will
work on the height of the bitmap.

Position – Autofit

Stretches the bitmap to fill the whole area. Selecting
this option disables all the size settings.

Offset – Row

If Tile is enabled offsets the rows of tiled bitmaps by
the percentage entered in the box so that two
subsequent rows are not aligned.

Offset – Column

If Tile is enabled, offsets the columns of tiled bitmaps
by the percentage entered in the box so that two
subsequent columns of bitmaps are not aligned.

To better understand these parameters, the best way is to use them.
Figure 22 shows some examples of bitmap fills and the parameters
used.

Figure 22: Examples of bitmap fill

Creating new area fills

21

Creating and importing bitmaps
You can add (import) new bitmap fills or create your own pattern on a
8x8 grid, using the Bitmaps tab of the Area dialog box (shown in
Figure 23).
To create a bitmap fill:
1) Start with the Blank bitmap type on top of the list to activate thePattern editor.
2) Select the Foreground and Background colors.
3) Start creating the pattern by clicking with the left mouse button
the squares (pixels) that you want to be painted in the foregroundcolor. Use the right mouse button to apply the background color.
Check the preview window to see if the desired effect is achieved.
4) When done, click Add to save the pattern.

Figure 23: The Bitmaps page of the Area fill dialog box.
To import a bitmap created in Draw or another program:
1) Click the Import button.
2) A file picker dialog box is displayed. Browse to the directory
containing the bitmap file and select it, then click Open.
3) Type a name for the imported bitmap and click OK.

22

Formatting Graphic Objects

Note

Bitmaps generally have an extension .bmp or .png. To create abitmap image with Draw, select File > Export, choose PNG
from the pull-down list of file formats, give the file a name, andsave it.

Formatting shadows
Shadowing can be applied to both lines and areas. To apply a shadow
to an area, first select the object to which shadowing should beapplied, then select Format > Area.
Shadows can also be applied to lines. One way is to click the Shadow
iconon the Line and Filling toolbar (the last tool on the right-handend). The other way is to apply a style to the line that uses a shadow(see “Working with graphics styles” on page 30 for additional
information on using styles).
Using the first method, you cannot customize the shadow; it is applied
according to the default settings. The second method offers theopportunity to configure the shadow properties.
The dialog box to customize a shadow is shown in Figure 24.

Figure 24: Dialog box for customizing the shadowing ofgraphic objects
When the Use shadow option is selected, the following parameters
can be set:
• Position: the selected point in the mini map determines the
direction in which the shadow is cast.
Creating new area fills

23• Distance: determines the distance between the object and the

shadow.
• Color: sets the color of the shadow.
• Transparency: determines the amount of transparency for the
shadow.
Tip

When the transparency value is set above 0%, the shadow does
not completely hide the objects below. This produces a pleasantvisual effect, as shown in Figure 25.

Figure 25: Shadows with different levels oftransparency

Transparency formatting
Transparency is applicable to lines and areas as well as shadows. To
apply transparency to lines, refer to “Formatting lines” on page 5; forshadows, refer to “Formatting shadows” above.
To apply transparency to areas, select Format > Area and then go to
the Transparency page shown in Figure 26.

Figure 26: Setting the object transparency
24

Formatting Graphic Objects

There are two types of transparency: uniform transparency andgradient transparency. To obtain uniform transparency, selectTransparency and then select the percentage of transparency
required. For a gradient transparency (so that the area becomes
gradually transparent) select Gradient and then set the parameters of
the gradient. You can refer to Table 1 on page 18 for a description ofmost of the settings. In the Transparency tab, specify the Start value
and the End value for the transparency gradient. 0% is fully opaque,
100% means fully transparent.
An example of gradient transparency is shown in Figure 27.
More information on gradient transparency, including an example ofcombining color gradient with gradient transparency, can be found in“Advanced gradient controls” on page 25.

Figure 27: Example of gradient transparency

Advanced gradient controls
As discussed in “Creating gradients” on page 16 and “Transparency
formatting” on page 24, gradient properties can be configured using
the parameters in Table 1 on page 18.
Impress also provides a graphical interface for modifying the gradientparameters using only the mouse. To use these tools, click on theTransparency icon
shown in Figure 28.

Creating new area fills

or the Gradient iconin the Mode toolbar

25

Figure 28: The Mode toolbar
When an object with a gradient fill is selected, click on the Gradienticon to display a dashed line connecting two squares colored as the“From” color and the “To” color of the gradient, as shown in theexamples below.

Figure 29: Green to magenta gradientFigure 30: Transparency gradient (note how thebackground becomes visible close to the white square)
For linear gradients, move the square corresponding to the Fromcolor to change where the gradient starts (that is the Border property).
26

Formatting Graphic Objects

Move the square corresponding to the To color to change theorientation (Angle property).
For axial gradients, you can move only the To color to change boththe angle and the border properties of the gradient.
For radial gradients, move the From color to modify the borderproperty (that is how “wide” the gradient circle is). Move the To color
to change the point where the gradient ends (Center X and Center Y
values).
For ellipsoid gradients, move the From color to modify the borderproperty (the size of the gradient ellipsoid). Move the To color tochange the angle of the ellipsoid axis and the axis itself.
For square and rectangular gradients, move the From color tomodify the border (the size of the gradient square or rectangle) andthe angle of the gradient shape. Move the To color to change thecenter of the gradient.
The same actions can be performed for transparency gradients, theonly difference being that, instead of the From and To colors, the twosquares that are activated by the Transparency icon indicate the fully
opaque point (black square) and the fully transparent point (whitesquare).
These icons are by default grayed out and are only activated when an
object with gradient filling, gradient transparency, or both is selected.
In both cases a dashed line connecting two small squares appears on
top of the object. Click outside the object to set the gradient.

Note

Moving the squares will have different effects depending on thetype of gradient. For example, for a linear gradient, the start andend squares of the gradient will always be situated to either sideof the center point of the object.

Formatting text
Impress provides two dialog boxes related to text formatting: Format> Character and Format > Text.
To modify formatting such as font and font effects, select the text inthe shape and then go to Format > Character. For more information,
see Chapter 3 (Adding and Formatting Text). This section covers theformatting of the text which is added to a line or to a shape.

Formatting text27

To add text to an object (a shape or a line):
1) Select the object to which text will be added.
2) With the green resizing handles showing, double-click on theobject and wait for the cursor to become an I-beam or just starttyping.
3) Type the text. When finished, click somewhere outside the object
or press Esc.
To format the text in a shape:
1) Select the object to which text was added.
2) Select Format > Text or right-click on the shape and select Text
from the pop-up menu. The Text dialog box is displayed.

Figure 31: Main dialog box to set the text properties
The top section of the page (Text) offers several options in the form ofcheckboxes. Some of the options will be grayed out, depending on theobject to which the text will be attached.
• Select Fit width to text to expand the width of the shape or line
if the text is too long for it.
• Select Word wrap text in shape to start a new line automaticallywhen the edge of the shape is reached.
• Select Fit height to text to expand the object height whenever itis smaller than the text (set by default for lines).
• Select Resize shape to fit text to expand a custom shape when
the text inserted in the shape is too large.

28

Formatting Graphic Objects

• Select Fit to frame to expand the text so that it fills all theavailable space.
• Select Adjust to contour to make the text follow a curved line.
In the Spacing to borders section, specify the amount of space to beleft between the border of the shape or line and the text; this is similar
to the settings for indentation and spacing for paragraphs.
The text anchor grid in the bottom right corner of the dialog box isused to decide where to anchor the text. The Full width option
determines if the anchoring should be performed to the full width of
the shape.

Text animation
Use the Text Animation page to add special effects to the text. Choose
between the four options on the list and when applicable, the directionof the effect by picking one of the four arrow buttons to the right. The
available effects are:• Blink: the text will blink on the screen.
• Scroll through: the text will move into the shape and then out
following the chosen direction.
• Scroll back and forth: the text will move first in the chosen
direction but will bounce back at the shape border.
• Scroll in: the text will scroll in towards the given direction
starting from the edge of the shape and stop in the center.
There is no default animation applied.
The other properties that can be set are:• Start inside option: when set the animation will start from inside
the shape.
• Text visible when editing option: set this box to see the text
while editing.
• Animation cycles: includes three further options to set thefrequency of the animation, the increments between two positionsof the animation and finally the delay before the animation starts.
To see some of the animations in action, it is necessary to start thepresentation. Press F9 or select Slide Show > Slide Show from themain menu. To return to the edit mode, press Esc.

Formatting text29

Formatting connectors
Connectors are lines that join two shapes. Connectors always startfrom a glue point on the shape. Refer to Chapter 5 (Creating Graphic
Objects) for a description of the usage of connectors.
Connector properties can be accessed and modified in two ways:• Manual formatting: right-click on the connector line and selectConnector in the pop-up menu.
• Style-based formatting: select one of the available graphics styles
or create a new one.
Both methods open the Connector dialog box where you can set thestyle of the connectors. Choose between Standard (the default), Line,
Straight, and Curved connector. Whenever multiple connectors
overlap, use the Line skew section of the dialog box to distance thelines. It is possible to customize the distance between 4 different lines.
In the Line spacing section of the dialog box, set the horizontal andvertical space between the connector and the object at each end of theconnector.

Figure 32: Setting up the connector properties

Working with graphics styles
To achieve consistency in the style across the slides of a presentation(or a presentations portfolio), or simply to apply the same formatting toa large number of objects, the best approach is to use graphics styles.

30

Formatting Graphic Objects

Graphics styles are the equivalent for graphic objects to the paragraphstyles for text. A graphics style groups all the formatting attributes
that a graphic object could have and associates this with a name,making them quickly reusable. If a style is modified (for example, bychanging the area transparency), the changes are automaticallyapplied to all the graphics with that style.
If you use Impress frequently, a library of well-defined graphics styles
is an invaluable tool for speeding up the process of formatting yourwork according to your taste or style guidelines you may need to follow(company colors, fonts and so on).
Use the Styles and Formatting window to access styles you will need
often. If the window is not visible, press F11, or click the Styles andFormatting icon at the left-hand end of the formatting bar, or selectFormat > Styles and Formatting from the menu bar. Press F11
again when the dialog box is not needed, to maximize the workspacearea.

Linked graphic styles
Graphic styles support inheritance; that is, a style can be linked toanother (parent) style so that it inherits all the formatting settings ofthe parent. You can use this property to create “families” of styles.

Working with graphics styles

31For example, if you need multiple boxes that differ in color but areotherwise identically formatted, the best way to proceed is to define ageneric style for the box including borders, area fill, font, and so on
and a number of hierarchically dependent styles which differ only inthe fill color attribute. If later you need to change the font size or the
thickness of the border, it is sufficient to change the parent style andall the other styles will change accordingly.

Creating graphics styles
You can create a new graphics style in two ways:• Using the Style dialog box• From a selection

Creating a new graphic style using the Style dialog box
Choose the Graphics Styles icon
Formatting window.

at the top of the Styles andTo link a new style with an existing style, first select that style, andthen right-click and choose New. Otherwise, select Default, then rightclick and choose New.

Figure 33: Linking a newstyle with an existing style
As discussed in the preceding section, when styles are linked, changing
the font will change it in all the linked styles. Sometimes this is exactly
what you want; at other times you do not want the changes to apply to
all the linked styles. It pays to plan ahead.
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Formatting Graphic Objects

Figure 34: Top of dialog box to create a new graphics style
The Graphics style dialog box consists of 14 pages (15 if Asian
language support has not been enabled) that may be grouped asfollows:• The Organizer page contains a summary of the style and its
hierarchical position.
• The Font, Font Effects, Indents & Spacing, Alignment, Tabs andAsian typography pages set the properties of the text inserted in atext box or in an graphic object.
• The Dimensioning page is used to set the style of dimension lines.
• The Text, Text animation, Connector, Line, Area, Shadowing, andTransparency pages determine the formatting of a graphic object
and are discussed elsewhere in this chapter.
Note

In most cases you will not need to configure the parameters of
every page; for example, to create a simple line style you willprobably only use 3 of the 15 pages.

Creating a new graphic style from a selection
You can create a new style from manually formatted text or graphics:
1) Select the item you want to save as a style. If the selected object
is already styled, then the new style will be linked to such style.
2) In the Styles and Formatting window, click the New Style from
Selection icon, highlighted in Figure 35.

Figure 35: New style from selection3) In the Create Style dialog box that pops up, type a name for the
new style. The list shows the names of existing custom styles ofthe selected type. Click OK to save the new style.

Working with graphics styles

33

Figure 36: Naming a new style createdfrom a selection

Modifying a graphic style
To change an existing style, right-click on it in the Styles andFormatting window and choose Modify from the pop-up menu.
The dialog box for the modification of a graphic style is the same as theone for creating a new graphic style.
Make the required changes to the style and then click OK to savethem.

Updating a graphic style from a selection
To update a style from a selection:
1) Select an item that has the format you want to adopt as a style.
2) In the Styles and Formatting window, select the style you want to
update, and then click the Update Style icon.

Figure 37. Updating a style from a selection

Tip

34

Any changes you make to a style are effective only in the
document on which you are working. The changes do not go into
any associated template. If you want the changes to apply tomore than one document, you need to change the template (seeChapter 3).

Formatting Graphic Objects

Applying graphic styles
You can apply a graphic style in two ways, both starting from the Styles
and Formatting window. First make sure that the graphic styles areshown, then do one of the following:• Select the object to which you want to apply a graphic style anddouble-click on the name of the style you want to apply.
• Click the Fill Format mode icon

. The mouse pointer changes
to this icon. Position the moving icon on the graphic object to bestyled and click the mouse button. This mode remains active until
you turn it off, so you can apply the same style to several objects.
To quit Fill Format mode, click the Fill Format mode icon again
or press the Esc key.
• When Fill Format mode is active, a right-click anywhere in the
document undoes the last Fill Format action. Be careful not toaccidentally right-click and thus undo actions you want to keep.

Tip

At the bottom of the Styles and Formatting window is a dropdown list. You can choose to show all styles or groups of styles
such as applied styles or (in the case of graphics styles) custom
styles.

Deleting graphic styles
You cannot delete any of OOo’s predefined styles, even if you are notusing them.
You can delete any user-defined (custom) styles; but before you do, you
should make sure the styles are not in use. If an unwanted style is inuse, you will want to replace it with a substitute style.
To delete unwanted styles, right-click on them (one at a time) in the
Styles and Formatting window and click Delete on the pop-up menu.
Click Yes in the message box that pops up.

Assigning styles to shortcut keys
OOo provides a set of predefined keyboard shortcuts which allow you
to quickly apply styles while typing in a document. You can redefine
these shortcuts or define your own, as described in Appendix A(Keyboard Shortcuts).

Working with graphics styles

35