Documentation/FAQ/Impress

How do I insert more than one background into a presentation?

Follow these steps in OpenOffice.org:

1. Select the slide where you need to change the background.
2. Select Format-Styles-Slide design...
3. Select the Load... button.
4. Select a category (of backgrounds)from the Load Slide Design popup. The Template list will update.
5. Select the new presentation under Templates.
6. Click OK in the Load Slide Design popup.
7. Click OK in the Slide design popup.

Depending on which templates are loaded into the distribution that you are using, not all of the categories of background templates may be available. Repeat above steps for all the individual slides in your file.

NOTE:  These instructions will only work if you have downloaded Presentation templates from the Samples and Templates section or have created your own templates.

How do I take one slide from a OpenOffice.org presentation and put it into another OpenOffice.org presentation?

Open the destination presentation in OpenOffice.org.

• Select: Insert-File
• Browse to find and select the source presentation, e.g. 'your_file.sdd'.
• Select: Insert
• In the Insert Slides/Objects popup, click on the '+' character. The slides will cascade...
• Select the Slide number you want
• Select: OK

When I cut and paste from a text document to OpenOffice.org Presentation, it pastes the text into a completely different size than the original. How do I maintain the text appearance?

When text is pasted into an OpenOffice.org presentation, the font size is changed to the Standard Object style. Modify the Standard style format to be the desired style, then paste the text in to your presentation.

How do I create header/footer information in an OpenOffice.org presentation? I want my information to show up on every slide.

• Go to the 'Background view' of the presentation [There are three small icons under the left side ruler - the middle icon is the 'Background view' - it looks like a box with a dark bottom edge].
• To enter text, for example, click on the big 'T' icon on the left edge.
• Create a text input area on your presentation by dragging your mouse in the desired location.

If you want to insert a page/slide number:

• while still in Background view,
• select: Insert-Fields-Page Numbers.

NOTE: There is no option for the total number of pages/slides, however, so if you need to enter 'Page X of N', you will have to hardcode the 'of N' portion.

When you are finished adding text/logos/etc. Click on the left-most icon under the left side ruler. This icon is called 'Slide view' and will return you to slide editing mode. Any slide in your presentation will have the data entered in 'Background view'.

How do I print 2 slides per page from OpenOffice.org Presentation (one above the other)?

Follow these steps:

1. Change to Handout View (4th button down on right edge of window)
2. Make sure the Presentation Toolbar is open (View->Toolbars->Presentation)
3. Click Modify Slide Layout on the Presentation Toolbar, choose the side by side 2 slides per page icon, and click OK.
   

NOTE:  You should be in Background Mode for handouts.

1. Choose Format-Page, click the Portrait button in the Paper Format area and click OK.
2. Drag the slides so they are one above the other.
3. Click to select the top slide, choose Format-->Position and size, click the Match button (to resize proportionally), type 5.65 for width and click OK.
4. Repeat step 6 for the bottom slide.
5. Drag the slides so they are lined up on the bottom and top of the margin lines.
6. Shift-click to select both slides, click and release the Right mouse button (bringing up the Context menu) and choose Alignment-->Center (not Centered).
7. While the 2 slides are still selected, drag to center them left to right on the page.

Additional options:

• Use the Line tool to put a horizontal line between the 2 slides.
• Choose Insert-Fields-Page Numbers to insert a page number on each page.
  

Note:   Be sure to label the slides Slide 1, Slide 2, etc to avoid confusion between slide # and page #, *Move it to the bottom of the page and then resize the font to around 10 (it's easier to move it when the font size is larger).

To print the handouts:

1. Choose File->Print and click the Options button.
2. Click to check Handouts in the Contents area.
3. Be sure to uncheck Drawing if you don't want to print a set of full-sized (1 slide per page) slides as well.
4. Click OK, and click OK again to print.

How do you create an organization chart with OpenOffice.org?

There is an organization chart Sample available. From the Explorer, Click on: Samples-Presentations; the sample organization chart is called "Orgchart.sdd" Another way to create an organization chart is to open a new presentation.

• Select the background that you want.
• Turn on the Beamer, (View -> Beamer).
• In explorer, click on the Gallery -> Flow charts.
• Drag and drop the different shapes into your presentation.
• To add text to the boxes, double click on the box that you want the text. You can now add text.

I have a MSOffice PowerPoint 97 .PPZ file produced using the 'Pack and Go' SaveAs feature. Can this file be opened in Presentation?

No. .PPZ format files are not supported in either application. Instead:

• Open the file in MS PowerPoint 97 and select: File-SaveAs.
• At the bottom of the dialog, you should see 'as Type'.
• Select MSPowerpoint 97 .ppt
• The resulting file can be 'Opened' in OpenOffice.org Presentation.

How do I modify the format of a date field in Presentation?

You must have the date selected. Click on the date three times (rapidly) to select it. Then, hold down your right mouse button to get the context menu. Select the date format from the context menu choices.

How do I create my own presentation template?

Follow these steps:

• Create the template slide using Presentation
• When the slide is complete, from the pulldown menus, select: File-Templates-Save
• If you want to make your own folder for storing your personal templates (suggested), click on the "Organizer" button
• In the dialog that appears, select: Commands-New
• A new folder will be created and will appear on the right side of the dialog, named "Untitled"
• Give the folder a new name and press the "Return" key to enter the name, e.g. My_templates
• Click Close.
• In the "Document Templates" dialog, on the right side, you will see a "Categories" list. Make sure that your new template folder is selected.
• In the "New Template" field, enter a name for your template
• Click on OK

Whenever you create a new presentation, your template will be available for selection.

I am creating an organization chart. How do I evenly space my boxes?

Please see FAQ:Draw#I_am_creating_an_organization_chart._How_do_I_evenly_space_my_boxes.3F.

I have a presentation with light text on a black background. When I print it, I'd like to have black text on a white background. Is this possible?

To print backgrounds in White and Text in Black, no matter what the color settings are on, do the following:

• Click File->Print
• Click Options
• Under Quality, click Black And White
• Click OK
• Click OK

This will print backgrounds in White, and Text in Black. The only downside is that Objects will be printed in Shades of Grey.

How do I print the notes with the slides on the same page in OpenOffice.org Presentation? I selected both drawing and notes to print, but the slides are printing first and the notes afterward on different pages (twice the number of pages I want).

You need to set the printing options for presentations.

• From the pulldown menus, select:

               Tools-Options        

• In the dialog that appears, go to

               Presentations-Print        

• In the 'Contents' box, click on the check box next to 'Notes' to turn on note printing; deselect the check box next to 'Drawing' to avoid printing both the slide and the notes on separate pages.

This dialog also has choices for printing 'Outline' and 'Handout'.

==I am numbering my slides, but I don't want the page/slide number to show up on the first slide, because it is my title slide. Is this possible?== It is possible to hide the contents of a slide with the following procedure:

• Move your cursor over the slide name tab of the slide you want to change (the first one, in this case)
• Click on the context mouse button (usually right-most), and select: Modify slide
• In the dialog that appears, deselect the check mark next to "Objects on Background" in the 'Display' box

It is not possible to change the page number field. So your second slide will always be '2' - you cannot restart it to be '1'.

I would like to have both landscape and portrait slides in my presentation. Is this possible?

As far as we know, this is not possible in OpenOffice.org. Portrait and landscape page orientations can be combined in word processing documents (see <a href="../word_processing/012.html">Word Processing FAQ #12</a>).

I am trying to export a presentation to HTML. I am getting an error message that says Nonexistent object. Nonexistent file'. What's wrong?'

This message is somewhat generic and can be an indication of one or more problems. Please read the entire list, below, to determine whether you have any of these environment issues:

Export to HTML Requires Directory Write Access The Export to HTML process needs to have access to write a new file or files to the directory you have selected. If you do not have write access, you will get the indicated message. In addition, Export to HTML tends to create lots of files. It is highly recommended that you create a new directory for your output to collect all these files and to avoid the write access restriction.

Not Enough Disk Space You can receive the indicated message because you do not have enough space in your home directory.

File Name Problem You can receive the indicated message because you use a space in the file name. During the Export process, OpenOffice.org sees the first part of the filename as a directory and sees the rest of the name after the space as the filename. Hence, a non-existent object. The solution, then, is to not use spaces or other characters that are not allowed in a filename. These characters are: %!$#:;

How do I add Text Effects to a Text Box?

Follow these steps:

1. Create your Text Box and add your content.
2. Once the text is entered, Click on the Effects <img

       src="016_4.jpg" alt=""/>        toolbar button.

       NOTE:  The Effects button should be
       located along the Left hand side of the screen in the Main Toolbar.  
       If you do not see it you may need to click the right arrow at the 
       bottom of the Main Toolbar to see the next set of buttons. 

1. You should see the following screen pop up.
   

       <img src="016_1.jpg" alt="Effects Screen"/> 

1. Now click on the Text Effects button <img src="016_2.jpg"

       alt="Text Effects Button"/>. 

1. Select the effect you would like to use.
2. When finished click the Check Mark Button <img src="016_3.jpg"

       alt="Check Mark button"/> to assign the effect
       to your Text Object. 

The next time you run your Slide Show you should see the Text displayed using the effect selected.

NOTE:  The following is an alternate way of getting to the Effects screen.

• If the Text Object is selected, click

a different object in your presentation.

• Hold CTRL and Right Click on the Text Object you would like to add text effects to. NOTE:  You should now see the text object selected with little boxes around it instead of a shaded grey line.
• Release CTRL and Right Click on the text object.
• Click on Effects from this menu