What is LibreOffice ?
LibreOffice has become one of the most powerful open source suite, defined by its rich features, that is helping users increase their office work productivity and creativity. Despite the domination by Microsoft Office over the years, many organizations and offices are now shifting to the free and open source LibreOffice that has many applications including: Writer, Math, Draw, Impress, Calc and Databases. The office suite ensures your documents are very clean and have a professional look, however, Its UI is a little bit tricky to use compared to Microsoft Word. Just don't worry! I will take you step by step on how to get started focusing on the major basics, so you'll enjoy using all the applications in the package for your sleek office work.
Download it, Install it and Start it!
Firstly, you'll have to download LibreOffice Installer using your preferred browser and install it. Once installed, click on the icon on the left side on the Start Menu to open a new window.
The left side of the start window gives you an option to choose the document you want to create, whereas, the right side of the window shows a list of the documents you've created. LibreOffice also has a template manager where you can select various templates for your applications, that is, documents, drawings etc.
Explore LibreOffice Writer
The writer is a word processor and desktop publisher that lets you create and produce work documents, just like Microsoft Word.
The writer toolbar gives you all you need to produce clean and professional documents. Its gives you multiple options like, PDF icon, email icon, spell check, insert table, gallery and a draw function, all this ensuring you get the best quality work.
The Draw Function
The function makes the whole experience more fun and engaging. Just by clicking on the Pencil, shown in the Writer toolbar above, a toolbar will appear at the bottom of your screen allowing you to choose various tools. The draw function allows you to include, squares, arrows, charts, symbols and other functions in your document.
The Navigator
Shown in a clock symbol on the Writer toolbar. The navigator plays an extra role by assisting you to find certain headings, references, images, texts and more in LibreOffice. Thus, by naming different parts of your document, it'll be much easier to trace them later.
Styles/Formatting
LibreOffice has a pane filled with many styles perfect for formatting your document to make is more appealing. This styles include frames and various paragraph characters perfect for any document. It also gives you the option to design your own custom styles.
Gallery
The gallery window on the toolbar helps in making your document even more appealing. It comes with already installed arts and graphics which can be added to your document by dragging them into the preferred pages.
Through the gallery you get more options like adding filters, changing colors, rotation and transparency by just clicking on the image after you've dragged it on the document page.
The gallery also has a New theme option, where you can insert your own pictures and arts from a named file in your computer. By clicking on the New theme button, a new window will pop-up allowing you to add a format supported file on the document right away.
Text Formatting
LibreOffice writer allows you to change text alignment, change text to bold or italic, change font size and style and even underline texts, just like Microsoft Word. Without necessarily going to the toolbar, it allows you to change text formatting by highlighting the selected text and right clicking on it.
LibreOffice Password Security
Securing your documents has been made easier by LibreOffice password enabled tool. To enable password protection, Click on 'Files', then, 'Properties' on the menu bar. Select the 'Security' icon which will allow you to set your document as read-only or password protected. To protect your document, click 'Protect', after which you'll be asked to enter and confirm your password.
Conclusion:
Now, you got all the basics about LibreOffice and LibreOffice Writer. There are other added features a for LibreOffice that make it more interesting and powerful, discover them by visiting the LibreOffice Extension Center. For now, try to learn the different features offered , you'll find it fun and very efficient!
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