Options menu → OpenOffice

User Data

Set User Data in this module. The data inserted here identifies the document author, as it shows on File → Properties → General tab.

With a Writer document, for example, the program uses this data to define what needs to be done when you open an existing document. If the user information matches with the author information, Writer automatically opens the document on the last edited point. If the information does not match, the document opens on the first page.

General

Help

Tips

Define how to present tool tips. A tool tip is a small window of information that appears when your cursor hovers over a toolbar button or (on Writer) a footnote anchor. The "Tips" option is selected by default. Select "Extended tips" for more information.

Help Agent

The Help Agent opens each time you perform a new task in Writer. It opens in a small window in the bottom right corner of the document. Click the Help Agent to view bundled help with information related to the task. If you do not click the Help Agent, it closes after a few seconds. If you ignore or close it three times for that specific task, it disappears. To reset the Help Agent to the default status, press  Reset Help Agent .

The "Help formatting" drop-down menu defines how the help is presented: normal or high contrast.

Document Status

Select "Document status" to change the status of the document to "document modified" after printing.

Open/Save/Print Dialog

On some operating systems or desktop environments you may see Open/Save/Print dialog options. If selected, OpenOffice dialog boxes appear when you open/save/print. If unselected, your operating system's dialog box appears.

Year (two digits)

Define the span of time you want Writer to interpret years presented as two digits (for example '18).

Memory

Indicate the amount of memory Writer uses by the program.

Undo

Set the number of steps recorded on the "Undo" option. The default is 100 steps; for example, you can undo up to 100 steps in the document.

Graphics cache

Set the number of objects inserted that must be maintained in memory when editing a document. You can also set the amount of memory assigned to each graphic. On some systems, augmenting those values may lead to slightly better performance.

Quick start

Enable/disable the "quick start." "Quick start" is a small program that loads Apache OpenOffice on the system start-up and lives on the system tray. It gives several options on a right-click menu, like quickly creating new documents.

View

Control how Apache OpenOffice's user interface presents on the screen with "View". These settings do not affect the formatting or style of the document itself. Set "View" to your preferred user experience.

User Interface

Scaling

Sets the size of the font used for the help files and menus. To make menu items larger and easier to see, use the arrows to set a value larger than 100%.

Icon size and style

Icon size sets the size of the icons that appear in toolbars.

• Automatic: scales to a size appropriate to your system.
• Small: smaller than the default size.
• Large: larger than the default size.

Icon style sets the icon theme.

• Automatic: selects a theme appropriate for your system and desktop.
• Galaxy: the default theme for Apache OpenOffice.
• High Contrast: Some may find this theme easier to read.

Use system font for user interface

Select this option to use your operating system's default font for the Apache OpenOffice user interface.

Menu

Icons in menus

Selects if toolbar icons are also displayed beside menu text items.

• Automatic: displays icons if your system and desktop allows it.
• Hide: displays only text menu items.
• Show: displays toolbar icons beside text menu items.

Font Lists

Show preview of fonts

Select this option to display the drop-down list of available fonts in the font they represent. For example, "Arial" displays in the drop-down list in the Arial font.

Show font history

Select this option to display the the most recent fonts you used at the top of the font drop-down list.

Graphics output

Use hardware acceleration

Select this option to use your computer's hardware acceleration capabilities. This speeds up the display of graphics in your document; this is helpful if your document has many graphics. This function is not supported on all systems.

Use Anti-Aliasing

Select this option to display graphics in your document using anti-aliasing. This makes graphics look smoother on screen, however your computer may run slower. This function is not supported on all systems.

Mouse

Mouse positioning

Sets the cursor's position when a dialog box is opened.

• Default button: the cursor appears over the main command button. For example, when the Save dialog box opens, the cursor automatically appears over  Save .
• Dialog center: the cursor appears at the center of the dialog box.
• No automatic positioning: the cursor remains where it is when the dialog box opens.

Middle mouse button

Sets the function of your mouse's middle button while in an Apache OpenOffice document.

• No function: The middle button is nonfunctional.
• Automatic scrolling: Scroll through the document by clicking the middle button and moving the mouse pointer above or below that position.
• Paste clipboard: Paste contents of the clipboard where the cursor is located.

Selection

Transparency

Sets the transparency of selected text. A higher percentage makes a darker highlight; a lower percentage makes a lighter highlight. Deselect the option if you want the highlighted area to appear as white text on a black background.

Print

The "Print" dialog contains options to reduce graphics in your document, and to receive warnings about problems before printing.

Reduce print data

Sometimes the graphical elements of a document have such a large file size that it creates problems for printers. The Print dialog reduces the file size of the document's graphics at the cost of lower print quality.

Select Settings for Printer if you are sending your document to a printer to print on paper. Select Settings for Print to file if you are printing to file in a format such as Microsoft XPS or PDF.

Printer

Reduce Transparency

Select this option to reduce the file size of graphics with transparent elements.

• Automatically: Apache OpenOffice chooses the amount of reduction for best results.
• No transparency: transparent graphic elements are not printed.

Reduce bitmaps

Select this option to reduce the file size of bitmap graphics in your document.

• High print quality: Prints document in high quality.
• Normal print quality: Prints document in printer's normal quality.
• Resolution: Use the drop-down menu to select a resolution in DPI. Check the Include transparent objects box if you want transparent graphics to also be reduced.

Reduce gradients

Select this option to reduce the file size of gradients.

• Gradient stripes: The gradient is reduced to stripes. Use the up and down arrows to select the maximum number of stripes.
• Intermediate color: The gradient prints in an intermediate color.

Convert colors to grayscale

Select this option to print colors in grayscale.

Printer warnings

Select this option to display printer warnings.

• Paper size: The dimensions of your document do not match the capabilities of the printer.
• Paper Orientation: The orientation of your document does not match the capabilities of the printer.
• Transparency: If selected, it issues a warning when a document to be printed contains a transparent graphic.

Paths

Set the default paths: where documents are saved, where templates are stored, the gallery, and so fourth.

To modify a path, select the path you want to change and press  Edit .

The  Default  button returns the paths to their default values.

On a default configuration, beside the localization of temporary files and the default folder to save documents, most paths point to the user profile.

Colors

Apache OpenOffice comes with a series of predefined colors that can be used on the different components, for example to assign a fill color on a graphical object, the color of the text or a paragraph background.

On this menu it is possible to modify these default colors or to create new ones that will be immediately available on every Apache OpenOffice component.

The simplest way to create a new colour is to select an existing one from the table, write a new name under "Name" and press  Add : a new colour, identical to the one selected but with the new name will be created. Now, it is possible to select this new color and press  Edit  to obtain a tool to define colors.

As it is possible to see from the screenshot, there are several ways to define the color:

• Graphically, selecting with the mouse first the hue on the vertical bar and then the colour on the left box.
• Writting the colour coordinates, either the RGB (with red, green and blue values or by the hexadecimal code), CMYK or HSB.

The horizontal bar compares the original colour (the one is being edited) and the new one.

Fonts

The fonts you choose for your document are not always available to everyone who uses it. The Fonts dialog allows you to control which font Apache OpenOffice uses when the font you chose is not available.

Font replacement table

Apply replacement table

Check this box to activate the font replacement table. This box must be checked to add fonts to the table or remove them.

Font

Use the dropdown box to select the font in your document you wish to replace.

Replace with

Use the dropdown box to select the font which is to replace the original font.

Green Check-mark, Red X

Click the green check-mark to add the pair of fonts from the dropdown boxes to the font replacement table. To remove the pair from the table, select them from the table and click the red X.

Once you have added a pair of fonts to the table, you can select when the replacement scheme will apply.

Always

Check this box to ensure that the original font will always be replaced with the font you specify, not just when the original is not available.

Screen only

Check this box to have the change only apply to the document as it appears on screen, but not the printed document.

Font settings for HTML, Basic and SQL sources

These settings control how Apache OpenOffice displays the code that is part of your document. For example, if you are creating a web document, these settings determine what font is used to display the HTML markup.

Fonts

Use the dropdown box to select which font will be used. Select Automatic to have Apache OpenOffice select the font based on your system settings.

Non-proportional fonts only

Check this box to force Apache OpenOffice to choose an equal-width font (such as Courier) to display code.

Size

Use the dropdown box to select the font size at which code is displayed in your document.

Security

Security options and warnings

There may be text changes, notes or hidden text in your document that you may not want other users to see. This hidden information will be retained when you print, save, send or export your document. You can set Apache OpenOffice to either warn you about hidden information, or remove it before sharing your document.

Click the Options button to adjust these settings.

Security options and warnings dialog

Security warnings

Check the appropriate boxes to warn you if your document has hidden information when sharing it.

Security options

Remove personal information on saving

Check this box to remove User Data when saving a document.

Recommend password protection on saving

Check this box to prompt you to set a password for a document when it is saved.

Ctrl-click required to follow hyperlinks

Check this box to require the user to use ctrl-click to click through hyperlinks in a document.

Passwords for web connections

Passwords for external websites that are linked to through an Apache OpenOffice document can be stored automatically and protected by a master password.

Persistently save passwords for web connections

Check this box to enable Apache OpenOffice to save passwords for external websites. If a master password has not been set, a dialog will prompt you to set a new one.

Connections

Click this button to view the external website for which passwords have been saved. You will be prompted for the master password.

Remove

Select a website from the list and click Remove to remove it from the list.

Remove All

Click Remove All to remove all websites from the list.

Change Password

Select a website from the list and click Change Password to change the password used to access that particular website.

Master Password

Click Master Password to change the master password.

Macro security

Macros from outside your document can represent a security risk. The Macro security dialog sets how Apache OpenOffice deals with external macros, and allows you to designate trusted sources and files from which macros can be run.

Click on the Macro Security button to open the macro security dialog.

Security Level Tab

Sets whether Apache OpenOffice will run macros that are from untrusted sources or untrusted file locations. Select the appropriate level of security.

Trusted Sources Tab

Trusted certificates

Lists macros which have trusted certificates. Click the View button to view details of each macro. Select a listed macro and cClick the Remove button to remove it.

Trusted file locations

Sets file locations from which macros will always be run. Click Add to bring up a file browser and navigate to a file location you wish to add to the list. Select a listed location and click Remove to remove it from the list.

Appearance

The Appearance dialog allows you to create alternate color schemes for user interface elements in Apache OpenOffice. These settings do not affect the formatting of your document.

Color scheme

A scheme is any particular combination of colors that are used for user interface elements. A new scheme may be created by changing the color of just one element, or by changing every element. Use these controls to create and save new schemes.

Scheme

Use the dropdown box to select the theme you wish to use. OpenOffice is the default theme.

Save button

When you have created a color scheme you wish to save, click the Save button. A dialog will prompt you to give the scheme a name. The name of the new scheme will now appear in the dropdown box to the left, where you can select it when you want it.

Delete button

To delete a scheme you have created, select it from the Scheme dropdown box to the left. Click the Delete button.

Custom colors

Use these controls to select a custom color for each user interface element. Use the Save button above to save and name the color scheme you create.

On

Check this box to include the interface element in the color scheme you are creating. If the box is not checked, the color of the element will not change. If the element has no checkbox in this column, the element is included in the scheme automatically.

Color setting

Use the dropdown box to select the color you wish for that element. A preview of the color will be displayed in the next column to the right.

Accessibility

TODO

Java

Even if not written on that language, Apache OpenOffice can use Java for some components (mainly, Base), some export filters and many extensions.

For this reason, the availability of a Java runtime environment even if not strictly needed, is highly recommended.

There are different Java systems that can be used. In addition to the one developed by Oracle also exists the open source project OpenJDK.

Java on Linux

For Linux users, Java is not a problem: almost all Linux distributions install by default OpenJDK, which works perfectly with Apache OpenOffice.

If for any reason Java is not installed on your Linux system, it is highly recommended to install it through you package manager using an official repository: a manual install of Java is not that easy. Read the documentation of your Linux distribution to know how to install a package from repository.

Java on Windows and other systems

On window systems, Apache OpenOffice is only available on 32 bits versions. Even if you have a 64 bit system you need to download the 32 bit version of Java in order to use it with Apache OpenOffice.

Go to this page for Java 7 or to this page for Java 6 in order to download the installer. How to install the package depends on your system, but on those pages you'll find the instructions.

Making Java work on Apache OpenOffice

It is important to note that it is not enough to install Java: you need to tell AOO to use it. On Tools → Options → OpenOffice → Java make sure to see something like this

BOTH the box for "Use a Java runtime environment" and the radio button corresponding to the chosen runtime environment must be clearly checked.

Online Update

TODO