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  • Advanced Spreadsheets – Conditional Formatting

    Apply conditional formatting based on cell content.

    Conditional formatting helps us in formatting only those particular cells which satisfy the specified conditions. This means that in any selected cell range, we will define some condition and the cells which satisfy this condition will get formatted while the others will remain as it is.

    To apply conditional formatting, first of all make sure that ‘AutoCalculate’ is enabled. This can be checked by clicking ‘Tools’ on the main menu bar.
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    From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Cell Contents’, and from the submenu, enable ‘AutoCalculate’.

    Now select the data range on which the formatting needs to be applied.

    Cell Range 4

    After this, click on ‘Format’ from the main menu bar. From the drop-down, click on ‘Conditional Formatting’, and from the sub-menu select either one of ‘Condition’, ‘Color Scale’ or ‘Data Bar’. All of these will open the ‘Conditional Formatting’ dialog.

    Conditional 5Formatted 6

    Create the conditions from the options available and then click on ‘Add’ to add the newly created condition. Create as many conditions as required by using different values and color schemes and styles and finally click on ‘OK’ after creating and adding all the required conditions. On click of ‘OK’, the formatting of the cells which satisfy the added conditions will change as per the defined styles.
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  • Advanced Spreadsheets – Formatting Cells

    Apply an auto-format/table style to a cell range.

    Auto formatting for a cell range formats that particular cell range as per the selected options automatically. This means that the complete selected cell range will get formatted in the selected manner without having to manually format each individual cell.
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    To apply auto-formatting to a cell range, select the cell range containing the cells on which the formatting needs to be applied. The cells selected should contain at least three columns and rows, including column and row headers.

    Cell Range 1

    After selecting the data, click on ‘Format’ from the main menu bar, and from the resulting drop-down click on ‘AutoFormat’. This opens the ‘AutoFormat’ dialog box.

    Currency 2

    Select the formatting properties which need to be included for the data, and after making all the changes, click on ‘OK’. This will make the selected formatting changes to the selected data.

    Formatted 3

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  • Understanding Word Processing Quiz

    [mlw_quizmaster quiz=6]

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  • Mail Merge – Outputs


    Merge a mailing list with a letter, label document as a new file or printed output.

    To merge a mailing list with a letter or a label document and to save the merged document as a new file, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Mail Merge Wizard’. This will open the same dialog box as has been shown in the previous sections.
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    Now complete all the steps to reach the step 8. Here, we have some radio buttons. Select the ‘Save merged document’ radio button. This will display the ‘Save merged document’ area. Choose the appropriate option here and then click on ‘Save Documents’. This is how we can save the mail merge outputs as a new file.

    Once saved, these documents can be used in different ways including getting a printed output.

    Print mail merge outputs: letters, labels.

    To print the mail merge outputs, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Mail Merge Wizard’. This will open the same dialog box as has been shown in the previous sections.

    Now complete all the steps to reach the step 8. Here, we have some radio buttons. Select the ‘Print merged document’ radio button. This will display the ‘Print settings’ area. Choose the different printer settings and configurations here and then click on ‘Print Documents’. This is how we can print the mail merge outputs.

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  • Mail Merge – Insert Data Fields

    Insert data fields in a mail merge main document (letter, address labels).

    To insert data fields in mail merge, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Mail Merge Wizard’. This will open the same dialog box as has been shown in the previous sections.
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    Now complete step 1 and 2 and come to the step 3. Select a data file or a mailing list for usage in the mail merge as has been explained in the last section. In the ‘Insert Address Block’ area, in step 3, we have a checkbox for whether the document should contain an address block or not. Check this checkbox and then choose the appropriate address block format from the options given. You can click on ‘More’ to get additional formatting options.

    This will open the ‘Select Address Block’ dialog box which lists the additional formats. Select the required format here and then click on ‘OK’ to return to the main dialog.

    Address Block

    In step 3, we can choose which address block field should match to which column in the data file. For this, click on ‘Match Fields’. This will open the ‘Match Fields’ dialog box.

    Here, as can be seen in the below given illustration, we can select which element of the address block will match to which column in the data field. Likehas been matched to ‘Title’ and has been matched to ‘First Name’ and so on. After completing the matching, click on ‘OK’ to return to the main menu.

    Match Fields

    After this, click on ‘Next’ to move to the next step, ‘Create salutation’. Here, a salutation can be inserted into the document. Create the appropriate salutation from the provided options. The ‘Match Fields’ option can be used to match the different fields and the appropriate address list field can be selected to identify a female recipient.

    Salutation

    After making all the selections, click on ‘Next’ to complete the insertion of data fields into a mail merge.

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  • Mail Merge – Preparation


    Open, prepare a document, as a main document for a mail merge.

    Mail Merge is a useful tool that allows you to produce multiple letters, labels, envelopes, name tags, and more using information stored in a list, database, or spread sheet.

    To open or prepare a document as a main document for mail merge, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down menu, click on ‘Mail Merge Wizard’. This will open the below shown dialog box.
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    Starting Document

    In this dialog box, under step 1, we can select which document will be selected as the main document. We can select the current document to be used as the main document, or we can create a new document, or we can also select an already created document or a template. All these options have been provided in the dialog box in the form of different radio buttons. The appropriate radio button can be selected from here. After making the selection, click on ‘Next’. The chosen document will be set as the main document.

    Select a mailing list, other data file, for use in a mail merge.

    To select a mailing list or a data file for usage in mail merge, first of all we need to create the data file and then register this data file in LibreOffice.

    To create a data file, we can simply input the required data in a list format in a Calc spread sheet. Though LibreOffice accepts data files in multiple formats, but for this illustration we are going to use a Calc spread sheet. Input all the required data in a Calc sheet as has been shown below and then save this sheet with an appropriate name.

    Addresses

    Now open LibreOffice Calc and click on ‘File’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Wizards’, and from the resulting sub-menu, click on ‘Address Data Source’. This will open the ‘Address Book Data Source Wizard’.

    Source

    In this wizard, we have a list of 5 ‘Steps’ which need to be completed. In the first step, select the type of the external address book which is being used. We are using a spread sheet, so select ‘Other external data source’ and then click on ‘Next’.

    In the second step, under ‘Connection Settings’, click on the ‘Settings’ button to open the ‘Data Source Properties’ dialog box. In this dialog box, in the ‘Database type’ drop-down list, select ‘Spreadsheet’ and then click on ‘Next’.

    Path

    Then browse to the location of the spread sheet document which we had created and select the path for the same. Click on the ‘Test Connection’ button to test the connection. This gives a success message in case of the correct connection.

    After this, click on ‘Finish’ to return to the ‘Address Book Data Source Wizard’.

    Do not click on the ‘Field Assignment’ button and directly click on ‘Next’. In the last step, select the location and name for the data file and then click on ‘Finish’. This will register the data file in Writer.

    After the data file has been registered, it can be selected for usage in mail merge. For this, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Mail Merge Wizard’. This will open the same dialog box as was shown in the last section.

    Now complete step 1 and 2 and come to the step 3. Here, we have the option to select a data file from the list of different data files which have been registered. For this, click on ‘Select Different Address List’. This will open the ‘Select Address List’ dialog box.

    This dialog shows the list of all the data files which have been registered to LibreOffice. Select the appropriate file from this list and click on ‘OK’. This is how we can select a mailing list or data file for usage in mail merge.

    Select List

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  • Word Processing – Preview and Print

    Preview a document.

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    To preview a document, click on ‘File’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down menu, click on ‘Print Preview’. This will open the preview display of the document as has been shown below. To close the preview, click on ‘Close Preview’.

    Clear Preview

    Print a document from an installed printer using output options like: entire document, specific pages, number of copies.

    To print a document, click on ‘File’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Print’. This will open the ‘Print’ dialog box. In this dialog, under the ‘General’ tab, we have certain options under ‘Range and Copies’.

    To print some specific pages, simply select the ‘Pages’ radio button under ‘Range and Copies’ and enter the page numbers which need to be printed. Then click on ‘OK’. This will print only the selected pages.

    To print multiple copies of a page or a document, select the value of copies required under ‘Number of copies’ and then click on ‘OK’. This will print the required number of copies.

    To print the entire document, select ‘All pages’ under ‘Range and Copies’ and then click on ‘OK’. This will print the entire document.

    Copies

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  • Word Processing – Spell Check


    Spell check a document and make changes like: correcting spelling errors, deleting repeated words.
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    To spell check a document, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down menu, click on ‘Spelling and Grammar’. This will open the ‘Spelling and Grammar’ dialog box. This dialog lists all the incorrect words in the current document by highlighting them in red under ‘Not in dictionary’ area. The suggestions for the correct spellings for these words are also shown in the ‘Suggestions’ area.

    In order to make changes to incorrect words, select the appropriate correct suggestion for the incorrect word from the ‘Suggestions’ area, and then click on ‘Correct’. This will replace the incorrect word with the correct one selected from the given suggestions. This is how the corrections can be done to a document.

    Spell Check

    Add words to a built-in custom dictionary using a spell checker.

    To add words to the built-in custom dictionary using a spell checker, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down menu, click on ‘Spelling and Grammar’. This will open the ‘Spelling and Grammar’ dialog box.

    This dialog lists all the incorrect words in the current document by highlighting them in red under ‘Not in dictionary’ area. If any of these words is correct and needs to be added to the dictionary, simply click on ‘Add to Dictionary’.

    This will add the selected word to the built-in dictionary of LibreOffice Writer.

    Add To Dictionary

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  • Word Processing – Headers and Footers

    Add, edit text in headers, footers.

    To add text in the header or footer of a document, first of all click on ‘Insert’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down menu, click on ‘Header’ or ‘Footer’ to insert a header or a footer respectively. Both these options will give a sub-menu having an option ‘Default Style’. Click on this option and a header or footer will get inserted into the document.
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    After this, simply click once on the header or the footer area to get the text pointer there. Now enter the required text into the header or the footer with the help of your keyboard. This is how we can enter text into the header or footer in a document.

    To edit text in header or footer, click once in the header or footer area to get the text pointer there. Then delete the already present text there with the help of the ‘delete’ button from the keyboard and enter new text with your keyboard. This is how we can edit the text in the header or footer of a document.
    Header

    Add fields in headers, footers: date, page number information, file name.

    To add fields in headers or footers, click once in the header or footer area to get the text pointer there. After this, click on ‘Insert’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting drop-down menu, click on ‘Fields’. This will display another sub-menu containing a number of different options.

    We can select ‘Page Number’ or ‘Date’ option from this menu to insert these fields into the header or footer.

    Insert Fields

    To insert file name, click on ‘More Fields’ from this sub-menu. This opens the ‘Fields’ dialog box. In this dialog box, under the ‘Document’ tab, we have a ‘Type’ list. Select ‘File Name’ from this list and then click on ‘Insert’. This will insert file name into the header or footer of the document.
    Insert File Name

    Apply automatic page numbering to a document.

    To apply automatic page numbering to a document, the best way is to use the same method which we have used in the last section to insert the page numbers into the headers or footers of a document. This same method should be used to apply automatic page numbering to a document.

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  • Word Processing – Page Breaks


    Recognize good practice in adding new pages: insert a page break rather than using the Return key.

    When adding new pages, it is always better to use a page break rather than using the return key. This is considered as a best practice while working with any word processing software. This is because when we use the return key multiple times to reach the next page, we create many empty characters which affect the formatting of the document as well as the size of the document.
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    But if we use a page break, then these characters will not get created and hence the formatting and document size will not get affected. This is why it is always a better idea to use a page break instead of using the return key.
    Insert, delete a page break in a document.

    To insert a page break, first of all place the text pointer after the text from where you want to start a new page. After this, click on ‘Insert’ from the main menu bar, and from the resulting drop-down menu, click on ‘Manual Break’.

    This will open the ‘Insert Break’ dialog box.

    Insert Break

    In this dialog box, select the ‘Page break’ radio button and click on ‘OK’. This will insert the page break in the document.

    In order to delete a page break, place the mouse pointer over the page break. Page break is the thick dotted line between two pages. When the mouse pointer is kept over this line, a drop-down symbol appears. Click once on this drop-down symbol. This will give you two options. From these, click on ‘Delete Page Break’.

    This will delete the page break.

    Delete Page Break

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