Lesson 4 Page Styles The Concept of Styles: Styles: In the context of LibreOffice Writer, Styles refers to the characteristics of a part of a document. For example, a Page Style includes information about page size, layout (portrait or landscape), margins, columns, background color, and more. A Paragraph Style includes information about indents and spacing, alignment, font, borders, and more. In Lesson 3, custom paragraph styles were created. In this lesson, new Page Styles will be created. Remember, the idea of styles applies to several aspects of documents. Once you understand how to adjust Paragraph and Page Styles, you will have a head start on knowing how to create and use Character, Frame, List and Table Styles. Styles can be easily moved from one document to another, so the work setting up styles for a document need not be repeated. Footer: A Footer is an area at the bottom of a page reserved for material that is not part of the regular document body text flow. Header: A Header is an area at the top of a page reserved for material that is not part of the regular document body text flow. All left side (or even numbered) pages in this Lesson 4 document have page numbers that are left justified, while all right side (or odd numbered) pages have page numbers that are right justified. This document has been designed to be printed on both sides of the paper, so the margins are different on left and right pages to accommodate binding. The page numbers will be on the outside edge of the pages as the reader leafs through the document. The Lesson 4 document you are reading right now has one page appearance for the first page in the chapter, and different headers and footers for the following left and right pages. By creating special styles for left and right pages, the formatting for new pages is automatically taken care of by the system. If the author wants to change the appearance of all pages in a document, she simply changes the page style definitions and the entire document is automatically updated with the new style. Creating custom page styles will be introduced in this lesson. The Styles and Formatting Sidebar provides tools for controlling styles. Additional styles will be covered in later chapters. Formatting page styles: Documents that will be printed (as opposed to those that only appear on web pages or in e-books) will have margins of a specific size, and may include headers and footers. It is not unusual to have different formats for the first page in a document, or for left and right pages (when double-sided printing will be used). This section will review the options for controlling page styles and for creating new custom page styles. Open the file named My Lesson 1. Page 1 of 12
Lesson 4 - Page Styles From the Menu Bar, select File, Save As, adjust the Save in: location to your preferred folder. Enter the name My Lesson 4 in the File Name text box and then select the Save button. This creates a new document and if you check the Title Bar you will see the file name displayed. The original document file will still be stored in the computer. If the Sidebar sidebar is not open, select View, Sidebar. [You can also press the F11 shortcut key on the keyboard to toggle the Styles and Formatting Sidebar.] In the Sidebar, select the Styles and Formatting option. (See Figure 4-1.) Figure 4-1: Selecting the Page Styles option. In the Styles and Formatting Sidebar, select the Page option (see Figure 4-2). When you pause the mouse cursor over a tool icon, a Tool Tip will appear that will describe the tool function. If Custom Styles does not appear at the bottom of the Styles and Formatting Sidebar, select the small arrow on the right side of the text box and select it from the list. Next, you will create some custom page styles of your own. First, a quick review of some LibreOffice Writer display info. Figure 4-2: The Page Styles option. Please review the page display info as shown in Figure 4-3. Near the lower left corner of the LibreOffice Writer display is the Page Count area. This shows the current page and the total number of pages in the document. Page 2 of 12
Lesson 4 Page Styles To the right of the page number is the Word Count. To the right of word count is the current Page Style. The example shows that the Default page style is in use. The Page Display tool allows for displaying a single page, two pages side by side, or book mode which shows left and right pages as they would appear when the pages are printed double sided for a book. Hover your mouse pointer over each of these options to see the Tool Tips. Near the lower right corner of the Figure 4-3: Page display info and options. LibreOffice Writer display are the Zoom Tools. There is a tiny on the left side of the slider, a tiny + on the right end of the slider, and a slider zoom grabber near the center of the slider line. To the right of the zoom slider is a number that shows the current display magnification. Note that display magnification, or zoom, only controls how big the document looks on the computer monitor. It does not have any effect on font size or how the document will look when it is printed. Creating new page styles: In this section, three new page styles will be created. To see the application of different styles, there has to be enough text to fill three pages. Copy and Paste will be used to add duplicate text to your My Lesson 4 Document file. With the text cursor in the My Lesson 4 Document, Press Ctrl+End to jump to the end of the document. Press the Enter key a couple of times to add blank paragraphs to the end of the document. Press Ctrl+A to select all the text in the document. In the Text Formatting Tool Bar, change the Paragraph Style to Text Body. Press Ctrl+C to copy the selected text to the clipboard. Press Ctrl+End to jump to the end of the document. Press Ctrl+V to paste a copy of the clipboard text to the end of the document. Repeat the Ctrl+V step until the Page Count shows 3 pages. Select the Save tool from the Tool Bar to update your document. Now that you have several pages in your document, three new page styles will be created. One style will be for the first page of a document, the second will be for left side (or Page 3 of 12
Lesson 4 - Page Styles even numbered) pages, and the third page style will be for right side (or odd numbered) pages. Creating a left side page style If the Styles and Formatting tools are not on the Sidebar, select the Styles and Formatting tool from the Sidebar options (see Figure 4-1). Select the Page Styles tool in the Styles and Formatting Sidebar. Select the small arrow at the lower right corner of the Styles and Formatting Sidebar, then select Custom Styles from the scroll list. There will not be any page styles shown in the list until some are created. This will open the Page Style dialog box. Observe that there are tabs across the top of the dialog box that provide access to various style settings. With the Organizer tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, enter My Left Pages as the Name. Select the small arrow on the right side of the Next style text box and select My Left Pages from the scroll list. The Next style tells the system what page style to use for the following page when the current page is filled with text. In a later step, this will be changed to My Right Pages after that style has been defined. But first, there is a bit more work to do with the first page style. With the Page tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, enter 0.75 for the Right margins. If you press the TAB key when the text cursor is in an entry box, the system will jump to the next box and highlight the contents. You can then type a new value in the entry box and tab to the next. Figure 4-4: Creating a left page style. With the Page tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, enter 0.5 for the Left, Top, and Bottom margins. Page 4 of 12
Lesson 4 Page Styles With the Header tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, toggle the Header option ON. With the Footer tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, toggle the Footer option ON. Select OK in the Page Style dialog box. This defines a style for the left pages of the document. The process will be repeated for right and title pages. Since these formats are being designed for two sided printing, a larger space for the binding will be on the left side of the first and right pages, and on the right side of left side pages. Creating a right side page style With the Organizer tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, enter My Right Pages as the Name. Select the small arrow on the right side of the Next style text box and select My Left Pages from the scroll list. With the Page tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, enter 0.75 for the Left margins. With the Page tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, enter 0.5 for the Right, Top, and Bottom margins. With the Header tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, toggle the Header option ON. With the Footer tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, toggle the Footer option ON. Select OK in the Page Style dialog box. Creating a first page style There is one more page style to create. This style will be used for the first page of the document and will include a header, and a footer. With the Organizer tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, enter My First Page as the Name. Select the small arrow on the right side of the Next style text box and select My Left Pages from the scroll list. With the Page tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, enter 0.75 for the Left margins. With the Page tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, enter 0.5 for the Right, Top, and Bottom margins. Page 5 of 12
Lesson 4 - Page Styles With the Header tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, toggle the Header option ON. Select OK in the Page Style dialog box. Now we have to go back and change the Next Page setting for the left pages. In the Styles and Formatting Sidebar, right click on My Left Pages and select Modify from the pop up context menu. With the Organizer tab selected in the Page Style dialog box, select the small arrow on the right side of the Next style text box and select My Right Pages from the scroll list. Select OK in the Page Style dialog box. If everything has gone according to plan, you should now have 3 custom pages defined; My First Page, My Right Pages, and My Left Pages. The right and left pages should have both headers and footers, and the first page should have only a header. One nice thing about defining page styles is that you can easily change the page styles for an entire document. For example, suppose you wanted different margins on pages. All you have to do is modify the page styles and the entire document will be instantly reformatted. Next, let's apply the page styles to the My Lesson 4 Document. Press Ctrl+Home to jump to the beginning of the document. Position the text cursor anywhere on page one. Double click on the My First Page entry in the Page Styles list. Select the Save button on the Tool Bar to update your document file. Your page should now have a header area at the top of the page. Observe that the bottom of the display shows both the current page number and also the name of the Page Style used for the current page. Next, a title will be added to the header. Defining headers and footers: Let's put some text in the headers and footers. Position the text cursor in the first page header. Enter My Lesson Four Title Position the text cursor in the header of the second page. Enter the text This is a left page header. Position the text cursor in the header of the third page. Enter the text This is a right page header. Page 6 of 12
Lesson 4 Page Styles Inserting Fields: Next, we will add page numbers to the footers. Adjust your display so that the page 2 footer is in view. Click the mouse cursor in the footer box. Type the word Page followed by a space. From the Menu Bar, select Insert, Field, Page Number. Type a space followed by the word of followed by another space. From the Menu Bar, select Insert, Field, Page Count. Figure 4-5: Inserting fields. Your footer contents should look similar to that shown in Figure 4-6. Observe the page number and style for the page where the text cursor is located. Note that fields that are inserted will be shown with a gray background and cannot be edited. The gray background will not show in a printed copy. Select all of the text in the page 2 footer, then press Ctrl+C (or Figure 4-6: Inserting fields in a footer. select Edit, Copy) Adjust your display so that the page 3 footer is in view. Click the mouse cursor in the page 3 footer box, then press Ctrl+V (or select Edit, Paste). Select the Save button on the Tool Bar to update your document file. Now it's time to review the process of creating custom paragraph styles and create styles for the title, body, headers and footers. Page 7 of 12
Lesson 4 - Page Styles Creating a custom Title paragraph style: From the Styles and Formatting Sidebar, select the Paragraph Style tool (see Figure 4-2). Select the Organizer tab. In the Name area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, enter the name My Title Paragraph. In the Next style area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, also enter My Title Paragraph. In the Inherit from text box of the Paragraph Style dialog box, use the small arrow on the right side of the text box and select None. Do not select the OK button in the dialog box until all desired settings are made. Select the Alignment tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Set the Alignment to Center. Select the Font tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Select a Font, Typeface and Size for the title. (In this example, Times New Roman, Bold, 20pt was used. However, you may choose any font you prefer.) Select the Font Effects tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box, and select the Shadow effect. Select the Area tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box, select the Color option, and then select the Light Yellow 2 color. Select the Borders tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box, and select the Set Top and Bottom borders option. Select the OK button to close the Paragraph Style dialog box. Now let's apply the paragraph style to the title header. Figure 4-7: Creating a title paragraph style. Press Ctrl+Home to jump to the top of the document. Place the text cursor anywhere in the first page header. Double click on the My Title Paragraph style in the Sidebar. Page 8 of 12
Lesson 4 Page Styles Creating a custom Text Body paragraph style: From the Styles and Formatting Sidebar, select the Paragraph Style tool. Select the Organizer tab. In the Name area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, enter the name My Text Body Paragraph. In the Next style area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, also enter My Text Body Paragraph. In the Inherit from text box of the Paragraph Style dialog box, use the small arrow on the right side of the text box and select None. Do not select the OK button in the dialog box until all desired settings are made. Select the Indents & Spacing tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Set the First Line spacing to 0.50. Set the spacing Below paragraph to 0.10. Select the Alignment tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Set the Alignment to Left. Select the Font tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Select a Font, Typeface and Size for the title. (In this example, Times New Roman, Regular, 14pt was used. However, you may choose any font you prefer.) Select the OK button to close the Paragraph Style dialog box. Place the text cursor in the body of a page. Press Ctrl+A to select all of the text. Double click on the My Text Body Paragraph style. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the page and observe that the text in the entire document is now using the My Text Body Paragraph style. The beauty of this is that you can now change the font and spacing of the entire document simply by modifying the paragraph style. This is powerful stuff. While we are at it, we might as well create paragraph styles of the headers and footers. Creating custom Header paragraph styles: Select the Organizer tab. In the Name area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, enter the name My Left Header Paragraph. In the Next style area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, also enter My Left Header Paragraph. In the Inherit from text box of the Paragraph Style dialog box, use the small arrow on the right side of the text box and select None. Page 9 of 12
Lesson 4 - Page Styles Do not select the OK button in the dialog box until all desired settings are made. Select the Alignment tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Set the Alignment to Left. Select the Font tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Select a Font, Typeface and Size for the title. (In this example, Ariel, Bold,10.5pt was used. However, you may choose any font you prefer.) Select the OK button to close the Paragraph Style dialog box. Place the text cursor in the left header of a page. Select the OK button to close the Paragraph Style dialog box. Place the text cursor in the page 2 header. Double click on the My Left Header Paragraph style. Next, the right header style will be created. Select the Organizer tab. In the Name area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, enter the name My Right Header Paragraph. In the Next style area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, also enter My Right Header Paragraph. In the Inherit from text box of the Paragraph Style dialog box, use the small arrow on the right side of the text box and select None. Do not select the OK button in the dialog box until all desired settings are made. Select the Alignment tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Set the Alignment to Right. Select the Font tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Select a Font, Typeface and Size for the title. (In this example, Arial, Bold,10.5pt was used. However, you may choose any font you prefer.) Select the OK button to close the Paragraph Style dialog box. Place the text cursor in a right page header. Double click on the My Right Header Paragraph style. Creating custom Footer paragraph styles: From the Sidebar, select the Paragraph Style tool. Select the Organizer tab. In the Name area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, enter the name My Left Footer Paragraph. In the Next style area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, also enter My Left Footer Paragraph. Page 10 of 12
Lesson 4 Page Styles In the Inherit from text box of the Paragraph Style dialog box, use the small arrow on the right side of the text box and select None. Do not select the OK button in the dialog box until all desired settings are made. Select the Alignment tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Set the Alignment to Left. Select the Font tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Select a Font, Typeface and Size for the left footer. (In this example, Arial, Regular, 10.5pt was used. However, you may choose any font you prefer.) Select the OK button to close the Paragraph Style dialog box. Place the text cursor in the page 2 footer. Double click on the My Left Footer Paragraph style. Last, the right footer will be created. From the Sidebar, select the Paragraph Style tool. Right click in an empty area of the Styles and Formatting Sidebar and select New from the pop up menu. Select the Organizer tab. In the Name area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, enter the name My Right Footer Paragraph. In the Next style area of the Paragraph Style dialog box, also enter My Right Footer Figure 4-8: The custom paragraph styles. Paragraph. In the Inherit from text box of the Paragraph Style dialog box, use the small arrow on the right side of the text box and select None. Do not select the OK button in the dialog box until all desired settings are made. Select the Alignment tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Set the Alignment to Right. Select the Font tab in the Paragraph Style dialog box. Select a Font, Typeface and Size for the title. (In this example, Arial, Bold, 10.5pt was used. However, you may choose any font you prefer.) Select the OK button to close the Paragraph Style dialog box. Place the text cursor in the page 3 footer. Double click on the My Right Footer Paragraph style. Page 11 of 12
Lesson 4 - Page Styles Save the document. This was a lot of busy work, but you never have to do it again. Whenever you want to start a new multi-page document, start by opening your Lesson 4 Document, use File, Save As to create a new document, then edit the text body and title. The formatting for paragraphs and pages follows the original document. Points to remember: Use the Styles and Formatting Sidebar to select or modify the styles of Paragraphs, Characters, Frames, Pages, and Lists. Each page will be followed by a page that has a style defined as Next Page in the Page Style dialog box. A page may or may not have either a Header or a Footer. Fields can be inserted that contain page numbers or a page count. Fields are also available for Time, Date, and other functions. Page 12 of 12