Impress Guide

11

Chapter
Setting Up andCustomizing Impress

This PDF is designed to be read onscreen, two pages at atime. If you want to print a copy, your PDF viewer shouldhave an option for printing two pages on one sheet ofpaper, but you may need to start with page 2 to get it toprint facing pages correctly. (Print this cover page
separately.)CopyrightThis document is Copyright © 2007–2010 by its contributors as listed
in the section titled Authors. You may distribute it and/or modify it
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
Peter Hillier-Brook
Rachel Kartch
Jared Kobos
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
Choosing options that affect all of OOo.................................................5
User Data options...............................................................................5
Print options....................................................................................... 6
Color options....................................................................................... 6
Appearance options............................................................................7
Choosing options for Impress................................................................7
General options................................................................................... 8
Text objects section.........................................................................8
New document section....................................................................8
Settings section...............................................................................9Start presentation section...............................................................9Compatibility section.......................................................................9
View options...................................................................................... 10
Grid options......................................................................................10
Grid section...................................................................................10
Resolution section.......................................................................... 11
Snap section..................................................................................11
Snap position section.....................................................................12
Print options.....................................................................................12
Customizing the user interface............................................................13
Customizing the menu font...............................................................13
Customizing menu content...............................................................13
Creating a new menu..................................................................... 14
Modifying existing menus..............................................................15
Adding a command to a menu.......................................................16
Modifying menu entries.................................................................17
Customizing toolbars........................................................................17
Creating a new toolbar..................................................................18
Adding a command to a toolbar.....................................................19
Choosing icons for toolbar commands...........................................19
Setting Up and Customizing Impress

3

Customizing keyboard shortcuts ......................................................20
Saving changes to a file.................................................................22
Loading a saved keyboard configuration.......................................22
Resetting the shortcut keys...........................................................22
Running macros from key combinations........................................23
Adding functionality with extensions...................................................23
Installing extensions.........................................................................23
Using extensions............................................................................... 24
Oracle Presenter Console..............................................................24
Professional Template Pack II........................................................25
Oracle Presentation Minimizer......................................................25
Template Changer.......................................................................... 25

4

Setting Up and Customizing ImpressChoosing options that affect all of OOo
This section covers some of the settings that apply to all thecomponents of OpenOffice.org and are of most interest to users of
Impress. Other general options are discussed in Chapter 2 (Setting Up
OpenOffice.org) in the Getting Started guide.
1) Click Tools > Options (OpenOffice.org > Preferences on aMac). The list on the left-hand side of the Options –OpenOffice.org dialog box varies depending on which componentof OOo is open. The illustrations in this chapter show the list as it
appears when Impress is open.
2) Click the expansion marker (+ or triangle) by OpenOffice.org on
the left-hand side. A list of subsections drops down.

Figure 1: OpenOffice.org options
Note

The Back button has the same effect on all pages of the Options
dialog box. It resets the options to the values that were in placewhen you opened OpenOffice.org.

User Data options
Impress uses the first and last name stored in the User Data page tofill in the Created by and Modified by fields in the document
properties, the optional Author field often used in the footer of apresentation, and the name associated with comments. You will want toensure that your name appears there. To do this:1) In the Options dialog box, click OpenOffice.org > User Data.

Choosing options that affect all of OOo

52) Fill in the form on the OpenOffice.org – User Data page or delete
any existing incorrect information.

Print options
On the OpenOffice.org – Print page, set the print options to suit yourdefault printer and your most common printing method.
You can change these settings at any time, either through the Options
dialog box or during the printing process (by clicking the Options
button on the Print dialog box).
See Chapter 10 (Printing, e-mailing, exporting, and saving slide shows)for more about the options on this page.

Color options
On the OpenOffice.org – Colors page, you can specify colors to use in
OOo documents. You can select a color from a color table, edit anexisting color, and define new colors. These colors are stored in yourcolor selection palette and are then available in all components of OOo.
You can also define colors within Impress by choosing Format > Area
on the menu bar, or through the Line and Filling toolbar, but thosecolors will not be available to other components of OOo.

Figure 2. Defining colors to use in color palettes in OOo

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Setting Up and Customizing Impress

Appearance options
On the OpenOffice.org – Appearance page, you can specify which items
are visible and the colors used to display various elements of the userinterface.

Figure 3. Changing the color of grid points in Impress
and Draw
The only choice specific to Impress (and Draw) is the color of the grid
points. Scroll down in the page until you find Drawing/Presentation.
To change the default color for grid points, click the down-arrow by thecolor and select a new color from the pop-up box.
If you wish to save your color changes as a color scheme, click Save,
type a name in the Scheme box, then click OK.

Choosing options for Impress
In the Options dialog box, click the expansion marker to the left of
OpenOffice.org Impress on the left-hand side. A list of subsections
drops down.

Figure 4: Options for Impress

Choosing options for Impress

7General options
In the Options dialog box, click OpenOffice.org Impress > General.

Figure 5: Specifying general options for Impress

Text objects section
Allow quick editing sets Impress to immediately switch to the text
editing mode when you click a text object. You can also activate thetext editing mode through the Allow Quick Editing icon
Options toolbar.

on theOnly text area selectable sets Impress to select a text frame when you
click on text. In the area of the text frame that is not filled with text, anobject behind the text frame can be selected. You can also activate thismode through the Select Text Area Only icon
toolbar.

on the Options

New document section
Start with Wizard sets Impress to start with the Presentation Wizard
when creating a new presentation with File > New > Presentation orother methods.

8

Setting Up and Customizing Impress

Settings section
Use background cache sets Impress to use the cache for displaying
objects on the master page. This setting speeds up the display. Unmark
this box if you want Impress to draw the background every time you
display a slide.
y when moving automatically creates a copy when you move, rotate or
resize an object while holding down the Ctrl key (⌘ key for Mac). The
original object will remain in its current position and size.
Objects always movable lets you move an object with the Rotate tool
enabled. If this box is not marked, the Rotate tool can only be used torotate an object.
Unit of measurement determines the unit of measurement for
presentations.
Tab stops defines the spacing between tab stops.

Start presentation section
Always with current page specifies that a presentation starts with thecurrent slide. Unmark this box to always start a presentation with thefirst page.

Compatibility section
The settings in this area are valid for the current document only.
Use printer metrics for document formatting applies printer metrics
for printing and for formatting the display on the screen; someformatting will depend on the printer selection or default printer on
your computer and may vary if the presentation is moved to a different
computer. If this box is not checked, a printer-independent layout isused for screen display and printing.
Add spacing between paragraphs (in current document) calculates theparagraph spacing in Impress exactly as Microsoft PowerPoint does.
Microsoft PowerPoint adds the bottom spacing of a paragraph to the
top spacing of the next paragraph to calculate the total spacing
between both paragraphs. Impress normally uses only the larger of thetwo spacings.

Choosing options for Impress

9View options
In the Options dialog box, click OpenOffice.org Impress > View.

Figure 6: Specifying view options for Impress
Rulers visible displays the rulers at the top and the left of the workarea.
Guides when moving displays dotted guides that extend beyond thebox containing the selected object and which cover the entire workarea, helping you position the object when moving it. You can also use
the Guides when moving iconon the Options toolbar.

All control points in Bézier editor displays the control points of all
Bézier points if you have previously selected a Bézier curve. If this box
is not marked, only the control points of the selected Bézier points will
be visible.
Contour of each individual object displays the contour line of eachindividual object when moving the object. This enables you to see if
single objects conflict with other objects in the target position. If you
do not mark this box, Impress displays only a square contour that
includes all selected objects.

Grid options
The Grid page defines the grid settings for Impress. Using a grid helps
you determine the exact position of your objects. You can also set thisgrid in line with the snap grid.
In the Options dialog box, click OpenOffice.org Impress > Grid.

Grid section
Snap to grid activates the “snap” function.
If you have activated the snap grid but wish to move or create
individual objects without snap positions, you can press the Ctrl key todeactivate the snap grid for as long as needed.
10

Setting Up and Customizing Impress

Visible grid displays grid points on the screen. These points will not
display or print as part of a presentation.

Figure 7: Specifying grid options for Impress

Resolution section
Here you can set the unit of distance for the spacing between
horizontal and vertical grid points and subdivisions (intermediate
points) of the grid.
Synchronize axes applies any changes to the Resolution or Subdivisionsettings to both axes.

Snap section
To snap lines snaps the edge of a dragged object to the nearest snapline when you release the mouse button. You can also use the Snap to
Guides iconon the Options toolbar.

To the page margins aligns the contour of the graphic object to thenearest page margin. The cursor or a contour line of the graphic object
must be in the snap range. You can also use the Snap to Page
Margins iconon the Options toolbar.

To object frame aligns the contour of the graphic object to the borderof the nearest graphic object. The cursor or a contour line of theChoosing options for Impress

11

graphic object must be in the snap range. You can also use the Snap to
Object Border iconon the Options toolbar.

To object points aligns the contour of the graphic object to the pointsof the nearest graphic object. The cursor or a contour line of thegraphic object must be in the snap range. You can also use the Snap to
Object Points iconon the Options toolbar.

Snap range defines the snap distance between the mouse pointer andthe object contour. Impress snaps to a snap point if the mouse pointeris nearer than the distance selected in the Snap range box.

Snap position section
When creating or moving objects restricts graphic objects vertically,horizontally or diagonally (45°) when creating or moving them. You cantemporarily deactivate this setting by pressing the Shift key.
Extend edges controls how a square or circle is drawn with thedrawing tool. When the Extend edges box is marked, the sides of thesquare drawn when the Shift key is pressed before you release themouse button will be equal to the longer side of a rectangle. This also
applies to the ellipse tool: when the Shift key is pressed before you
release the mouse button a circle will be created based on the longest
diameter of the ellipse. When the Extend edges box is not marked, asquare or a circle will be created based on the shorter side ordiameter.
When rotating restricts the rotation of graphic objects within therotation angle that you select in the When rotating box. If you wantto rotate an object outside of the defined angle, press the Ctrl key(Shift key on Mac) when rotating. Release the key when the desired
rotation angle is reached.
Point reduction defines the angle for point reduction. When working
with polygons, you might find it useful to reduce their editing points.

Print options
In the Options dialog box, click OpenOffice.org Impress > Print.
See Chapter 10 (Printing, e-mailing, exporting, and saving slide shows)for more about the options on this page.

12

Setting Up and Customizing ImpressFigure 8: Specifying print options for Impress

Customizing the user interface
Customizing the menu font
If you want to change the menu font from that supplied by OOo to thesystem font for your operating system, do this:1) Choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > View.
2) Check Use system font for user interface and click OK.

Customizing menu content
You can customize menus: add and rearrange items on the menu bar,
add items to menus, and make other changes.
1) Choose Tools > Customize.
2) On the Customize dialog box, pick the Menus page (Figure 9).
3) In the Save In drop-down list, choose whether to save thischanged menu for Impress or for a selected document (forexample, MySlideShow.odp).
4) In the section OpenOffice.org Impress Menus, select from the
Menu drop-down list the menu that you want to customize.
5) To customize the selected menu, click on the Menu or Modify
buttons. You can also add commands to a menu by clicking on the
Add button. These actions are described in the following sections.
Customizing the user interface

13

Use the up and down arrows next to the Entries list to move theselected menu item to a different position.
6) When you have finished making all your changes, click OK tosave them.

Figure 9. The Menus page of the Customize dialog box

Creating a new menu
In the Menus page of the Customize dialog box, click New to display
the dialog shown in Figure 10.
1) Type a name for your new menu in the Menu name box.
2) Use the up and down arrow buttons to move the new menu into
the required position on the menu bar.
3) Click OK to save.
The new menu now appears on the list of menus in the Customize
dialog box. (It will appear on the menu bar itself after you save yourcustomizations.)

14

Setting Up and Customizing ImpressAfter creating a new menu, you need to add some commands to it, as
described in “Adding a command to a menu” on page 16.

Figure 10: Adding a new menu

Modifying existing menus
To modify an existing menu, select it in the Menu list and click the
Menu button to drop down a list of modifications: Move, Rename,
Delete. Not all of these modifications can be applied to all the entries
in the Menu list. For example, Rename and Delete are not available
for the menus supplied by OOo.
To move a menu (such as File), choose Menu > Move. A dialog box
similar to the one shown in Figure 10 (but without the Menu namebox) opens. Use the up and down arrow buttons to move the menu into
the required position.
To move submenus (such as File | Send), select the main menu (File) in
the Menu list and then, in the Menu Content section of the dialog,
select the submenu (Send) in the Entries list and use the arrow keys tomove it up or down in the sequence. Submenus are easily identified in
the Entries list by a small black triangle on the right hand side of thename.
In addition to renaming, you can specify a keyboard shortcut thatallows you to select a menu command when you press Alt+ an
underlined letter in a menu command.
1) Select a menu or menu entry.
2) Click the Modify button and select Rename.
Customizing the user interface

153) Add a tilde (~) in front of the letter that you want to use as anaccelerator. For example, to select the Save All command bypressing Alt+V (after opening the File menu using Alt+F), enter
Sa~ve All.
CautionBe careful when using these shortcuts. In the example above, if
the File menu is not already open, then pressing Alt+V opens
the View menu; if some other menu is open, Alt+V mightactivate some other command.

Adding a command to a menu
You can add commands to the supplied menus and to menus you havecreated. In the Customize dialog box, select the menu in the Menu list
and click the Add button in the Menu Content section of the dialog.
On the Add Commands dialog, select a category and then thecommand, and click Add. The dialog remains open, so you can selectadditional commands. When you have finished adding commands, click
Close. Back in the Customize dialog box, you can use the up and downarrow buttons to arrange the commands in your preferred sequence.

Figure 11: Adding a command to a menu

16

Setting Up and Customizing Impress

Modifying menu entries
In addition to changing the sequence of entries on a menu or submenu,
you can add submenus, rename or delete the entries, and add groupseparators.
To begin, select the menu or submenu in the Menu list near the top of
the Customize page, then select the entry in the Entries list under
Menu Content. Click the Modify button and choose the required action
from the drop-down list of actions. Most of the actions should be selfexplanatory. Begin a group adds a separator line after the highlighted
entry.

Customizing toolbars
You can customize toolbars in several ways, including choosing whichicons are visible, and locking the position of a docked toolbar, as
described in Chapter 1 (Introducing OpenOffice.org) of the Getting
Started guide. This section describes how to create new toolbars andadd other icons (commands) to the list of those available on a toolbar.
To get to the toolbar customization dialog, do any of the following:
On the toolbar, click the arrow at the end of the toolbar andchoose Customize Toolbar.
• Choose View > Toolbars > Customize from the menu bar.
• Choose Tools > Customize > Toolbars tab from the menu bar.
•

To customize toolbars:
1) In the Save In drop-down list, choose whether to save thischanged toolbar for Impress or for a selected document.
2) In the OpenOffice.org Impress Toolbars section, select from the
Toolbar drop-down list the toolbar that you want to customize.
3) Click the Toolbar button on the right to display a drop-down list of
choices.
4) To display or hide commands, select or deselect the checkboxes in
the Toolbar Content – Commands section.
5) To change the position of commands on a toolbar, select acommand and click the big up and down arrows to the right of thelists.
6) You can create a new toolbar by clicking on the New button, or
customize existing toolbars by clicking on the Toolbar or Modify
buttons, and add commands to a toolbar by clicking on the Add
button. These actions are described below.

Customizing the user interface

177) When you are done customizing toolbars, click OK to save yourchanges.

Figure 12. The Toolbars page of the Customize window

Creating a new toolbar
To create a new toolbar:
1) Choose Tools > Customize > Toolbars from the menu bar.
2) Click New. In the Name dialog, type the new toolbar's name andchoose from the Save In drop-down list where to save thischanged menu: for Impress or for a selected document.

Figure 13: Dialog box used to create a new toolbar

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Setting Up and Customizing Impress

The new toolbar now appears on the list of toolbars in the Customize
dialog box. After creating a new toolbar, you need to add somecommands to it, as described below.

Adding a command to a toolbar
If the list of available buttons for a toolbar does not include all thecommands you want on that toolbar, you can add commands.
1) On the Toolbars page of the Customize dialog box, select the
toolbar in the Toolbar list and click the Add button in the Toolbar
Content section of the dialog.
2) The Add Commands dialog is the same as for adding commands tomenus. Select a category and then the command, and click Add.
The dialog remains open, so you can select additional commands.
When you have finished adding commands, click Close. If you
insert an item which does not have an associated icon, the toolbar
will display the full name of the item; the next section describes
how to choose an icon for a toolbar command.
3) Back on the Customize dialog box, you can use the up and downarrow buttons to arrange the commands in your preferred
sequence.
4) When you are done making changes, click OK to save.

Choosing icons for toolbar commands
Toolbar buttons usually have icons, not words, on them, but not all of
the commands have associated icons.
To choose an icon for a command, select the command and click
Modify > Change icon. On the Change Icon dialog, you can scroll
through the available icons, select one, and click OK to assign it to thecommand.
To use a custom icon, create it in a graphics program and import it into
OOo by clicking the Import button on the Change Icon dialog. Custom
icons must be 16 x 16 or 26 x 26 pixels in size and cannot contain morethan 256 colors.

Customizing the user interface

19

Figure 14: Change Icon dialog

Customizing keyboard shortcuts
The Appendix to this book lists the default keyboard shortcuts suppliedwith Impress. You can change these defaults or add new shortcuts. You
can assign shortcuts to standard Impress functions or your own macros
and save them for use with Impress only, or with the entire
OpenOffice.org suite.

CautionBe careful when reassigning your operating system’s or OOo’s
predefined shortcut keys. Many key assignments are universally
understood shortcuts, such as F1 for Help, and are always
expected to provide certain results. Although you can easily
reset the shortcut key assignments to the OOo defaults,changing some common shortcut keys can cause confusion,
frustration and possible data loss or corruption, especially ifother users share your computer.

As an example, suppose you wish to assign a shortcut key to easily
insert a duplicate slide in your presentation. You could assign theInsert key as a logical shortcut for this purpose, as described below:
1) Choose Tools > Customize.
2) On the Customize dialog box, pick the Keyboard page (Figure 15).
3) As the shortcut key assignment is only relevant with Impress, andnot OpenOffice.org in general, select the Impress button (at theupper right corner of the Keyboard tab).

20

Setting Up and Customizing ImpressFigure 15: Customizing keyboard shortcuts
4) Next select Insert in the Category list and Duplicate Slide in
the Function list.
5) Now select the shortcut key Insert in the Shortcut keys list andclick the Modify button at the upper right.
6) Click OK to accept the change. Now the Insert shortcut key willinsert a duplicate slide immediately after the currently selected
slide.

Customizing the user interface

21

Note

1) All existing shortcut keys for the currently selected Function
are listed in the Keys selection box. Since there was no
currently assigned shortcut for theInsert > Duplicate Slide function the Keys list was empty.
If it had not been, and you wished to reassign a shortcut key
combination that was already in use, you would first have
had to Delete the existing Key.
2) Shortcut keys that are greyed out in the listing on the
Customize dialog box, such as F1 and F10, are not available
for reassignment.

Saving changes to a file
Changes to the shortcut key assignments (and other configurations)can be saved in a keyboard configuration file for use at a later time,thus permitting you to create and apply different configurations as theneed arises. To save keyboard shortcuts to a file:1) After making your keyboard shortcut assignments, click the Save
button near the bottom right of the Customize dialog box.
2) In the Save Keyboard Configuration dialog box, select All files
from the Save as Type list.
3) Next enter a name for the keyboard configuration file in theFile name box, or select an existing file from the list. If you needto, browse to find a file from another location.
4) Click Save. A confirmation dialog box will appear if you are about
to overwrite an existing file; otherwise there will be no feedback
and the file will be saved.

Loading a saved keyboard configuration
To load a saved keyboard configuration file and replace your existing
configuration, click the Load button near the bottom right of the
Customize dialog box, and then select the configuration file from theLoad Keyboard Configuration dialog box.

Resetting the shortcut keys
To reset all of the keyboard shortcuts to their default values, click the
Reset button beneath the Save button on the right side of the
Customize dialog box. Use this feature with care as no confirmation
dialog box will be displayed; the defaults will be set without any
further notice or user input.

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Setting Up and Customizing Impress

Running macros from key combinations
You can also define shortcut key combinations that will run macros.
These shortcut keys are strictly user-defined; none are built in. For
information on macros, see Chapter 13 (Getting started with macros)in the Getting Started guide.

Adding functionality with extensions
An extension is a package that can be installed into OpenOffice.org to
add new functionality.
Although individual extensions can be found in different places, theofficial OpenOffice.org extension repository is at
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/. Some extensions are free ofcharge; others are available for a fee. Check the descriptions to see
what licenses and fees apply to the ones that interest you.

Installing extensions
To install an extension, follow these steps:
1) Download an extension and save it anywhere on your computer.
2) In OOo, select Tools > Extension Manager from the menu bar.
In the Extension Manager dialog box (Figure 16), click Add.
3) A file browser window opens. Find and select the extension you
want to install and click Open. The extension begins installing.
You may be asked to accept a license agreement.
4) When the installation is complete, the extension is listed in the
Extension Manager dialog.
Tip

To get extensions that are listed in the repository, you can open
the Extension Manager and click the Get more extensions
here link.

Note

To install a shared extension, you need write access to the
OpenOffice.org installation directory.

Adding functionality with extensions

23

Figure 16: Installing an extension

Using extensions
This section describes some of the more important and popularextensions to Impress. In each case, you need to first install theextension as described in the previous section.

Oracle Presenter Console
Provides extra control over slide shows (presentations); for example,
the presenter has the ability to see the upcoming slide, the slide notes,
and a presentation timer—while the audience sees only the current
slide. The Presenter Console displays the elements in three easilychangeable views:• The first view displays the current slide, including the effects, andthe upcoming slide.
• The second view shows the speaker's notes in large, clear, andscalable type, plus the current and upcoming slide.
• The third view is a slide sorter view with the slide thumbnails.
From Oracle Corp. Open source.
Note

24

The Presenter Console works only on an operating system that
supports multiple displays.

Setting Up and Customizing Impress

Professional Template Pack II
Provides more than 120 templates for Writer, Calc, and Impress.
Available in several languages. After you have installed this extension,
you will find the templates under File > New > Templates andDocuments. Open source.

Oracle Presentation Minimizer
Reduces the file size of the current presentation. Images arecompressed, and data that is no longer needed is removed. Can
optimize the image quality size. Presentations designed for screen or
projector do not require the same high quality as presentations
designed for print. From Oracle Corp. Open source.

Template Changer
Adds two new items to the File > Templates menu that allow you toassign a new template to the current document or to a folder of
documents (Impress has only the menu item for assignment to a folder
of documents). All styles and formatting will be loaded from that
template and the document will behave as if it were created using that
template. Open source.

Adding functionality with extensions

25