Author: paul.gray

Insert an action button. Modify settings to navigate to a specified slide, custom show, file, URL.

An action button in Impress is a button which is used to perform some sort of action. This action can be navigating to specified slides, or navigating to a particular file or even a URL.
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To insert an action button to a slide, first of all we need to insert a button to a slide. We have already studied how to insert graphical objects into slides. So we can insert any of the available graphical objects into the Slide to use them as a button.

There are no specific button objects available in Impress and so any appropriate graphical object can be used as per the requirements.

After inserting the graphical button object, the next step is to configure this object to make it perform some action. For this, right-click once on the object and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Interaction’. This will open the ‘Interaction’ dialog box.

In this dialog box, we have the ‘Action at mouse click’ drop-down. From this drop-down, a number of different options can be selected. It can be to navigate to some slide or to navigate to a particular document. When these options are selected, say ‘Go to document’, then a browse option gets enabled to browse to the path of that particular document. After providing all the input, click on ‘OK’. The action button will get inserted into the slide.
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Insert, edit, and remove a hyperlink.

Hyperlinks are used to jump to a different location from within a presentation and this location can be in the same file, in different files and also some websites.
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To insert a hyperlink, click on ‘Insert’ from the main menu bar, and from the resulting drop-down menu, click on ‘Hyperlink’. This will open the ‘Hyperlink’ dialog box.

In this dialog box, we have four options in the left hand side of the dialog. These are ‘Internet’, ‘Mail & News’, ‘Document’ and ‘New Document’. Under ‘Internet’, we can create a hyperlink to jump to a website. The website URL can be entered in the ‘Target’ field.

Under ‘Mail & News’, we can create a hyperlink for sending an email. The email ID and the subject for the email can be set here under the ‘Recipient’ and ‘Subject’ fields.

Under ‘Document’, we can create a hyperlink for jumping to an already existing document. The path for this document can be browsed to by using the ‘Path’ field.

Under ‘New Document’, we can create a hyperlink for creating and opening a new document. The file name and file type can be specified under the ‘File’ and ‘File Type’ fields.

There are a number of other options as well which can be set as per the requirements. This is how we can insert a hyperlink in Impress.

To edit a hyperlink, first of all select the hyperlink. Now click on ‘Insert’ from the main menu bar, and from the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Hyperlink’. The ‘Hyperlink’ dialog box will get opened with the selected hyperlink already open in the dialog. You can make changes to the hyperlink here and then click on ‘Apply’.

This will save the changes. After this, click on ‘OK’. The changes will get reflected in the presentation.

To remove a hyperlink, select the hyperlink and then click on ‘Delete’ button from the keyboard. This will delete the hyperlink.
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Change custom animation effects and settings. Change sequence of custom animations in a slide.

Custom animations are applied to individual slide elements like charts, graphics, titles, bullet points etc. We apply slide animation from ‘Normal View’ so that each element on the slide can be selected. Once applied, the custom animations can also be changed. Also, we can even change the sequence of the animation effects in a slide.
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Now, to change the custom animation effects, choose the option ‘Custom Animation’ from the Tasks Pane or from ‘Slide Show’ option in the main menu bar. The below shown dialog box will appear.

This dialog displays the list of all the animation effects which have been applied to the slide. Now click on the one which needs to be changed and then click on the ‘Modify Effect’ icon. Upon clicking the ‘Modify Effect’ icon, a new dialog box appears. Now, from this dialog box various animation effects can be applied. We will discuss about each one of these.

Firstly, if we want to apply an animation effect to an object for the way it should be displayed on the screen, select the ‘Entrance’ tab and then select the appropriate effect from the list that appears.

Secondly, if we want to apply animation effects to objects for changing the color, then select the ‘Emphasis’ tab and choose the effect from the list that appears.

Thirdly, if we want to apply an animation effect to an object for the way it leaves the screen, then select the ‘Exit’ tab and choose the effect from the list that appears.

After selecting the appropriate effect, click on ‘OK’ and the effect will get applied to the object.

We can set the speed of the animation effects from the ‘Speed’ option as has been shown in the above illustration and we can also check the ‘Automatic Preview’ checkbox if we need to see the effects before applying them to the objects.

This is how we can change the custom animation effects.

As we have already seen, all the animation effects we apply to the slide will appear in the form of a list in the ‘Custom Animation’ section in the Tasks Pane. Now to change the sequence of the different animation effects, we can choose the different options from the ‘Start’ drop down list. If we need to start the animation on the click of a mouse button then choose the ‘On Click’ option or if we need to run the animation at the same time as the previous animation then choose the ‘With Previous’ option and if we need to run the animation as soon as the previous animation ends then choose the ‘After Previous’ option. The visual description of all these options has been shown in the illustration.

So by choosing the appropriate option from this list, we can change the order of the animation effects as per the requirements.

Animate chart elements by series, by category, by elements in series. Animate, do not animate chart grid and legend.

In LibreOffice Impress, we can add animation effects to a chart as a whole but not to individual chart elements. So it is not possible to animate chart elements by series or by category or to add animation effects to chart grid and legend separately. We can only add animation effects to a chart as a whole.
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Insert movies to play automatically, on mouse click.

In LibreOffice Impress, we can insert a movie clip into a slide. To insert a movie clip, simply click on the ‘Insert Audio or Video’ place holder from the main slide area as has been shown in the below given illustration.
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This opens the ‘Insert Audio or Video’ dialog box from where we can browse to the video file which we need to insert into the slide. After selecting the appropriate video file, click on ‘Open’. This will insert the selected video into the slide.

Now to play the video clip, click once on the inserted clip to select it. The clip area will get surrounded by eight small green colored squares. Also, a new audio and video toolbar will get displayed below the main slide area.

This toolbar contains the buttons like play, pause and stop which can be used to play the video clip. Also, when we do a slide show for a presentation, then the videos which might have been inserted into the different slides are played automatically when that particular slide appears during the slide show.

Insert sounds to play automatically, on mouse click.

In LibreOffice Impress, we can insert sounds into a slide. To insert a sound clip, simply click on the ‘Insert Audio or Video’ place holder from the main slide area as has been shown in the below given illustration.

This opens the ‘Insert Audio or Video’ dialog box from where we can browse to the sound file which we need to insert into the slide. After selecting the appropriate sound file, click on ‘Open’. This will insert the selected sound into the slide.

Now to play the sound clip, click once on the inserted clip to select it. The clip area will get surrounded by eight small green colored squares. Also, a new audio and video toolbar will get displayed below the main slide area.

This toolbar contains buttons like play, pause and stop which can be used to play the sound clip. Also, when we do a slide show for a presentation, then the sounds which might have been inserted into the different slides are played automatically when that particular slide appears during the slide show.
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Create using built- in options or other available drawing tools a diagram like: flowchart, cycle, pyramid.

To create a diagram in Impress, click on ‘Insert’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down menu, click on ‘Media’ and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Clip Art Gallery’. This will open the ‘Gallery’ section in the tasks pane.
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In the ‘Gallery’ section, we have a number of different options like ‘Arrows’, Diagrams’ and ‘Bullets’ and each of these sections offers a number of different shapes.

We also have a symbols and images toolbar at the bottom of the impress screen which offers a number of different shapes and connectors in addition to the ones which were discussed above.

We can create any diagram like a flowchart, or a pyramid, or a cycle using these two panes.

To create a diagram, click on any shape from the symbols and images toolbar at the bottom of the Impress screen and then draw that shape in the main slide by pressing the mouse button and then dragging the cursor without releasing the mouse button to get the desired size for the shape.

Similarly, we can choose any shape from the ‘Gallery’ section by simply dragging and dropping that shape into the main slide.

After getting all the shapes into the main slide, we can get a diagram looking something like the one which has been shown below.

Add, move, and delete shapes in a diagram.

We can add shapes into a diagram using the same methods which have been discussed above, by dragging and dropping the shapes into the slide from the two available panes.

To move a shape in a diagram, first of all select the shape by clicking on the shape once. The shape will get surrounded by eight small green colored squares upon selection.

After this, just click on the shape once and without releasing the mouse button move the cursor to the location where you want to move the shape to. Now release the mouse button and the shape will get moved to the new location.

To delete a shape, select the shape and then press the ‘Delete’ key from your keyboard. This will delete the shape.

Add, change, and delete connectors in a flowchart.

A connector is an element which connects two different elements of a flowchart together. Connectors are often used to describe the flow of events in a flowchart.

To add a connector to a flowchart, click on the ‘Connector’ symbol from the symbols and images toolbar at the bottom of the Impress screen. This will display the different types of connectors available in Impress. Select the appropriate one and then draw that connector shape in the main slide by pressing the mouse button and then dragging the cursor without releasing the mouse button to get the desired size for the connector.

To delete a connector, select the connector and then press the ‘Delete’ key from your keyboard. This will delete the connector.

To change a connector, simply delete the one which needs to be changed and then add a new one in its place. This is the simplest method to change a connector in a flowchart.
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Change the chart type for a defined data series.

In order to change the chart type of a chart which has been created for a defined data series, first of all we need to select the chart by double-clicking on it. The chart will become surrounded by a grey border upon selection. After selecting the chart, click on ‘Format’ button on the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Chart Type’. After clicking on the ‘Chart Type’ button, the ‘Chart Type’ dialog box appears.
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You can also right-click anywhere on the chart area, and then from the resulting menu click on ‘Chart Type’. This will also open the ‘Chart Type’ dialog box.

This lists the different chart types available. Any chart type can be selected from this list. After selection of the required chart type, just click on ‘OK’ and the chart type will get changed and a new chart will be created having the updated chart type.

Change the gap, overlap between columns, bars in a chart.

To change the gap or overlap between the columns or bars in a chart, first of all select the chart by double-clicking on it. After this, right-click on any of the bars or the columns, and from the resulting menu click on ‘Format Data Series’. This will open the ‘Data Series’ dialog box. In this dialog box, under the ‘Options’ tab, we have the ‘Spacing’ and ‘Overlap’ options under ‘Settings’. Select the appropriate values here and then click on ‘OK’. This will change the gap and the overlap between the columns or bars as per the values selected.

Format columns, bars, plot area, chart area to display an image.

In Impress, we cannot use custom images by importing them into the charts from our local machine. Though Impress does provide the option of using the different types of ‘Fill’ options for the columns, bars, plot area or chart area like ‘Color’, ‘Hatching’, ‘Gradient’, and ‘Bitmap’. These options can be used to format the different components of a chart by displaying different styles and images, but custom images cannot be used in Impress.

To use the ‘Fill’ option for columns or bars, double-click on the required column or bar. This will open a dialog box, where under the ‘Area’ tab you will find the ‘Fill’ drop-down list. From this list you can choose the required fill type.

To use the ‘Fill’ option for plot area or chart area, double-click anywhere on the plot area or chart area of your chart and this will open a similar dialog box. In the same way as given above, in this dialog box under the ‘Area’ tab you will find the ‘Fill’ drop-down list. From this list you can choose the required fill type.

Change scale of value axis: minimum, maximum number to display, major interval between plotted numbers in a chart.

To change the scale of value axis, first of all select the chart. After this, click on ‘Format’ from the main menu bar, and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Axis’. This will display a sub-menu. Click on ‘X Axis’ or ‘Y Axis’ from this sub-menu as per the requirement. This will open the ‘X Axis’ or ‘Y Axis’ dialog box.

In this dialog box, under the ‘Scale’ tab, we have some options like ‘Minimum’, ‘Maximum’ and ‘Major interval’. Uncheck the ‘Automatic’ checkboxes in front of these options and then you can add the minimum and maximum numbers to be displayed, or the major interval between the axis values. After making all the changes, click on ‘OK’. The scale of value axis will get changed accordingly.
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Format chart title, legend, data labels, axes labels.

In order to format any of the chart properties, first of all we need to select the chart by double clicking on it, and then right click on the chart area. This gives a menu from which ‘Insert Titles’ can be selected. This gives a ‘Titles’ dialog box from where we can add a title, remove a title and also edit the title. If the title is already there, just delete the title and click on ‘OK’. This will remove the title. Similarly, by changing the title and clicking on ‘OK’, we can edit the title.
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To add data labels to a chart, select the chart by double clicking on it. After selecting the chart, click on ‘Insert’ button from the main menu bar and then click on ‘Data Labels’ from the resulting drop down menu. This will open the ‘Data Labels for all Data Series’ wizard. Under ‘Text Attributes’, we can check or uncheck the number or percentage data labels as per the requirement.

If the ‘Show value as number’ checkbox is checked, then the output will be as follows.

To change the font size of the chart title, first of all select the chart by double-clicking on it. A grey border should surround the chart upon selection. After this, right click on the chart title and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Format Title’. This will display the ‘Main Title’ dialog box.

In this dialog box, under the ‘Font’ tab, we have a ‘Size’ drop down list. From this list, select the appropriate font size and click on ‘OK’. This will change the font size of the chart title.

In the same dialog box, under the ‘Font Effects’ tab, we have a ‘Font color’ drop down list. From this list, select the appropriate font color and click on ‘OK’. This will change the font color of the chart title.

To change the font size and color of the chart axes, we need to follow similar steps. First of all select the chart by double-clicking on it. A grey border should surround the chart upon selection. After this, right click on the axes text and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Format Axis’. Doing this for the x-axis will open the ‘X Axis’ dialog box whereas doing these same steps for the y-axis will display the ‘Y Axis’ dialog box.

In both these dialog boxes, we have the ‘Font’ and ‘Font Effects’ tabs. These tabs have the same functionality as we have seen above for some similar dialog boxes. We have the ‘Size’ and ‘Font color’ drop-down lists in these dialog boxes from where we can choose the appropriate font color and font size for the axes text.

To change the font size and font color for the legend text, we need to follow similar steps as we have seen above. First select the chart and then right-click on the legend text area and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Format Legend’. This will open the ‘Legend’ dialog box.

In this dialog box, we have the same ‘Font’ and ‘Font Effects’ tabs under which we have the ‘Size’ and ‘Font color’ drop-down lists. The appropriate values can be selected from these lists. After this, click on ‘OK’. This will change the font size and font color for the legend text.
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Display, hide grid and guides.

Grid and guide lines are a couple of Impress tools which help in determining the exact position of an object in a slide. Grid displays a set of small dotted squares all over the slide, which give us the exact position of an object relative to another object.
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The guide helplines, when selected, display a set of lines around an object, whenever we try to move that object. These lines help in moving the object to exactly the location where it needs to be moved to by showing the relative position of the moving object with respect to the other objects in the slide.

Now, to display or hide the grid or the guide helplines, we can simply select or unselect the ‘Display Grid’ and the ‘Helplines While Moving’ options from the ‘Line and Filling Toolbar’ situated right above the main slide area.

Position a graphical object (picture, image, drawn object) on a slide using specified horizontal and vertical co-ordinates.

In Impress, we can position a graphical object in a slide by using the specific horizontal and vertical coordinates. To position a graphical object on a slide using specified horizontal and vertical co-ordinates, right-click on the graphical object and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Position and Size’. This will open the ‘Position and Size’ dialog box. In this dialog box, under the ‘Position and Size’ tab, we have the ‘Position’ area where we can specify the specific horizontal and vertical coordinates for the object.

After providing the values, click on ‘OK’. This will reposition the graphical object accordingly.

Distribute selected graphical objects horizontally, vertically relative to a slide.

In Impress, it is possible to distribute a number of objects in a slide horizontally or vertically in relation to the slide. This feature helps in making sure that all the objects in a slide are at a proper distance from each other and thus the slide looks cleaner and more professional.

To distribute the graphical objects horizontally or vertically relative to a slide, first of all select all the objects which need to be distributed. After this, click on the ‘Distribution’ icon from the ‘Line and Filling’ toolbar situated right above the main slide area. This opens the ‘Distribution’ dialog box.

In this dialog box, we have different options for the horizontal and vertical distribution of the selected objects. Select the appropriate values here and then click on ‘OK’. This will distribute the selected graphical objects accordingly.

Crop a graphical object.

In order to crop a graphical object, first of all select the object. Now right-click on the object, and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Crop Image’. This will insert eight red colored crop markers around the image. Use these markers to crop the image to the required size and then click anywhere on the slide. This will crop the image to the selected size.

Proportionately, disproportionately rescale a graphical object.

To rescale a graphical object proportionately or disproportionately, right-click on the graphical object and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Position and Size’. This will open the ‘Position and Size’ dialog box. In this dialog box, under the ‘Position and Size’ tab, we have the ‘Size’ area where we can specify the specific width and height for the object. If we need to rescale the object proportionately, then check the ‘Keep ratio’ dialog box. This will make all the size changes proportional to the original size. Similarly, if this checkbox is unchecked, then disproportionate changes can be made to the size of the object. After providing the values, click on ‘OK’. This will rescale the graphical object accordingly.

Save a graphical object as a file format like: bmp, gif, jpeg, png.

In Impress, we can save a graphical object as a separate file in itself. To save a graphical object as a separate file, right-click on the object and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Save Image’. This will open the ‘Image Export’ dialog box. In this dialog box, we can select among the different file formats under which we can save the object. Select the appropriate file format here. The location where this image needs to be saved and the name under which the image is going to be saved can be also be selected here. After selecting all the values, click on ‘Save’. This will save the graphical object as the selected file format.
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Adjust picture, image brightness and contrast.

In Impress, we can adjust the brightness and contrast of an Image as per the requirements of the presentation. To adjust the image brightness or contrast, first of all select the image. This displays the image toolbar right above the main slide area. In this toolbar, click once on the ‘color’ icon. This will display the small color dialog box which has been shown in the below given illustration.
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In this dialog, we have two options for ‘Brightness’ and ‘Contrast’. Select the appropriate values for both and then close this dialog. This will adjust the picture brightness or contrast for the selected object.

Display a picture, image in greyscale, black and white format.

In Impress, we can display an Image in a number of different formats like grayscale or black and white. The appropriate format can be chosen among these as per the requirements. To display an image in greyscale, black and white or washout format, first of all select the image. This displays the image toolbar right above the main slide area. In this toolbar, we have the ‘Graphics mode’ drop-down list. In this list we have the options for displaying an image in either ‘Grayscale’ or ‘Back/White’ format. Select the appropriate format here. This will change the image to the selected format.

Change colours in a picture. Restore original colours in a picture.

To change colors in a picture, first of all select the picture. This displays the image toolbar right above the main slide area. In this toolbar, click once on the ‘color’ icon. This will display the small color dialog box which has been shown in the below given illustration.

In this dialog, we have options for ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ and ‘Green’ colors. Select the appropriate values for these and then close this dialog. This will adjust the picture colors accordingly.

To restore the original colors, simply make the values for all three, ‘Red’, ‘Green’ and ‘Blue’, zero. This will restore the original colors for the image.
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Apply background fill effects to a drawn object.

Any drawn object in LibreOffice Impress can be given a background fill effect of choice. To apply background fill effect to a drawn object, right-click on the object, and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Area’. This will display the ‘Area’ dialog box.
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In this dialog box, under the ‘Area’ tab, you will find the ‘Fill’ drop-down list. From this list you can choose the required fill type. The different available fill types include ‘Color’, ‘Gradient’, ‘Hatching’ and ‘Bitmap’. After selecting the required fill type, select the appropriate color or one of the other fills from the list which gets displayed. After making all the selections, click on ‘OK’. The selected fill type will get applied to the drawn object.

Apply a transparency effect to a drawn object.

In Impress, we can also apply transparency effect to drawn objects. To apply transparency effect to a drawn object, open the same ‘Area’ dialog box which we have discussed about in the last section. In this dialog box, under the ‘Transparency’ tab, under ‘Area Transparency Mode’, select the ‘Transparency’ radio button and then select the percentage for the transparency effect. After selecting the appropriate values, click on ‘OK’. This will apply the selected transparency effects to the drawn object.

Apply a 3-D effect and settings to a drawn object.

In Impress, we can insert 3D objects into the slides in addition to the normal 2D objects. We can even convert a simple 2D object into a 3D object. To apply a 3-D effect to a drawn object, right-click on the drawn object and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Convert’. This will display another menu, from which you need to click on ‘To 3D’. This will convert the drawn object into a 3D object.

Now to change the settings of the 3D effects for an object, right-click on the 3D object and from the resulting menu, click on ‘3D Effects’. This will open the ‘3D Effects’ dialog box. In this dialog box, the different 3D effect properties can be changed as per the requirements.
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