OpenOffice.org OpenOffice - 3.3 User's Guide

OpenOffice.org 3Draw GuideDrawing Vector Graphics in OpenOffice.org

Figure 2: Rulers show the size of the selected objectTo modify the units of measurement of the rulers (which you can define independently), right-clic

Aging lends pictures a certain “look” resembling that of old photos. The process first produces a grayscale picture from the original and then reduces

The Relief filter calculates the edges in relief of the picture and produces a picture as if illuminated by a light source, the position of the illumi

Practical example: Changing wrong colors to transparencySome applications, which cannot correctly handle transparency, show transparent areas with the

The selection list for replacement colors shows all the available colors in the current color palette of the document. You cannot define any new color

1 bit ditheredThe impression of grayscale is produced by a raster. In reality there are only two colors.1 bit thresholdThe threshold determines which

8 bit grayscale paletteConversionConvert to a contoured imageSelect the picture so you see the green handles. From the context menu or from the Modify

The Convert to Polygon dialog has a number of settings which can be tested using the Preview button. Because graphics conversion can take some time, d

Original picture transformed with the Poster filter and 64 colors …… and then with 16 colors and 0 pixel point reduction vectorized.Here the picture i

Using the graphic generated in the posterize and vectorize process above, Break and Split it, and then try out some operations using the tools on the

Convert to bitmapAll drawing objects are vector graphics. Use the command Convert > To Bitmap from the context menu to convert a vector graphic to

The Position field shows different information, depending on whether objects are currently selected or not:• When no object is selected, the left numb

Figure 127: Options - OpenOffice.org - Print dialog110 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide

Chapter 7 Working with 3D Objects

Creating 3D objectsAlthough Draw does not match the functionality of leading drawing or picture editing programs, it is capable of producing and editi

Figure 129: Rotation body created using variation 2.1Method 2. Click the icon on the Effects pull-down menu on the Drawing toolbar. This icon can al

After choosing the type of object, left-click on the starting point and drag the mouse diagonally until the outline of the object is the size you want

If you click on such an object, the 3D-Settings toolbar is available. If this is not automatically opened, switch it on with View > Toolbars > 3

Editing 3D objectsRotating 3D objectsProcedure for 3D bodiesThe Rotation command used for 2D objects also works with 3D objects, but due to the additi

Procedure for 3D shapesObjects produced using variations 4 and 5 (see above) can only be rotated about the Z axis when using the three methods describ

In order for the Effects dialog to take over all the current properties of the object, you must click the button. If you deactivate this button befo

3D Effects - GeometryOn the Geometry page, you can make changes to the geometry of a 3D object. This page is opened with the Geometry button in the

choose Visible Buttons from the drop-down menu. Visible icons are indicated by an outline around the icon. Click on icons to hide or show them on the

3D Effects dialog to change the rounding to 30%. The cylinder should now resemble that in Figure 143.Figure 143: Edge rounding of 10% (a) and 30% (b)T

The Rotation Angle parameter is only available for rotation bodies. With this parameter you can create a segment of a complete rotation body by choosi

Figure 148: Left: without “Double-Sided”Middle: with continuous lines but without “Double-Sided”Right: with “Double-Sided”Use the buttons in the secti

Spherical: The enclosing sphere is calculated for the object and then projected onto the object. This form of calculation produces an object with a sm

• Flat is the fastest and simplest method. For every individual segment a special color tone is determined, based on the lighting ratio and the direct

All three methods function at the pixel level, and therefore shadowing and mirroring inside the 3D scene (as permitted by ray tracing methods) are no

Picture a shows a 3D object with the standard settings. The individual changes are listed in the following table.a b c dDistance: 0.81 cm 3.81 cm 0.81

Figure 156: Adjustment of light sourceIn the selection list next to the symbols you can choose the color of the active light source. If desired, click

Figure 158: Lighting with three independent light sourcesIn Figure 158 the ring has the lighting settings from Figure 155 with the standard color whit

Figure 159: Textures pageIn the first row of the page (Figure 159) are two Type switches allowing you to choose between black and white or color for t

Text Formatting toolbarWhen text is selected, the Line and Filling toolbar changes to the Text Formatting toolbar, which is very similar to the Format

Figure 161: Texture without (a) and with (b) lighting and shadow effectsProjection X / YWith one of these three buttons you can determine how the text

OpenOffice.orgArea fill without tiling, with adjustmentsProjection X Projection X Projection XProjection YProjection Y(Difference is small)Upper and u

Figure 165: The favorites (from left to right): Metal, Gold, Chrome, Plastic and WoodWith the individual color parameters, additional effects can be

Figure 166: 3D-Settings toolbar, indicating icons for formatting 3D shapesIf you have used it in error, you can remove the incorrect formatting with F

Illumination The light color cannot be changed, the brightness can be changed only in three levels, and some effects may not be rendered with total co

First produce both objects independently of each other. The subsequent combination is made easier if you use parallel projection and rotate the object

Enter the group again and adjust the objects. The status bar indicates which object is marked. Use the Tab key to change from one object to the next i

If you select several 2D objects—without grouping them—and extrude the selection, they are transformed, according to their stacking order, with diffe

Chapter 8 Tips and Tricks

Positioning objects with zoomWith zoom you can place objects with greater precision.Figure 167: Using zoom to place objects with greater precisionZoom

Figure 12. Changing the color paletteOptions toolbarThe Options toolbar lets you activate or deactivate various drawing aids. The Options Bar is not o

The exact effect of choosing one of these options depends on whether you have the Page pane switched on or off. Figure 170: Zoom values – Fit width an

line and to the page edge. It is best, however, to activate only those functions that you really need.Examples for setting up the snap functions are f

There is no need to use the Grid section, as these settings can be changed directly from the icons on the Options toolbar.Figure 174: Configuring the

Draw looks in the vicinity of the object for these special help elements to determine the final position of the object; with the snap range setting, y

Inserting snap points and snap lines using coordinatesThe command Insert > Snap point / line opens a dialog where you can specify X and Y coordinat

Snap to object borderWith this function you can position one drawing object on the border of another. The connection point can lie anywhere on the obj

The guide lines can be (de-)activated under Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Draw > View > Guides when moving, or by clicking the icon o

In Draw three layers are always present by default: Layout, Controls, and Dimension Lines. Layout is the default layer when you create a new drawing.T

TipYou can move objects on one layer while you are working on another layer. To avoid doing this accidentally, you should lock layers that you are not

Figure 185: Floorplan with chest of drawers Figure 186: Using layers for different parts of a drawing. (Left) Draw the body of the chest on the Lay

Icon FunctionSnap to gridSnap to guidesSnap to page marginsSnap to object bordersSnap to object pointsAllow quick editingSelect text area onlyDouble-c

Figure 187: Making layers visible or hidden. (Left) Hide the Layout layer to see what is on Layer4. (Right) Show the Layout layer and hide Layer4

Using the Pages areaBy default the Pages area is docked on the left of the Draw window. It shows every page in the document as a small picture. Select

NoteThe terms used in this area may not be completely consistent, so that the terms Slide/Page and Master/Background/Page Template are used more or le

Figure 189: Slide design dialogIf the Exchange background page option is selected, the selected background page will be used on all pages of the docum

Reach these options with Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Colors or with Format > Area > Colors (tab) (see Figure 191). The latter me

Click on the Edit button to open a dialog where you can set individual colors (see Figure 192). Many more input possibilities are available in this di

defined. The number for the hue represents the angle in the color wheel; the other two are both percentage values.Method 2You can select a new color b

Figure 193: Changing the color of a corner squareCreating cool effectsDuplicationDuplication makes copies of an object while applying a set of change

Cross-fadingCross-fading transforms one shape into another. The result is a new group of objects including the two end points and the intermediate ste

Chapter 9 Organization Charts, Flow Diagrams, and More

You can “tear off” this tool set so it becomes a floating toolbar. Click the area at the bottom of the toolset, drag it across the screen to a locatio

Drawing an organization chartEven though Draw does not have an organization chart toolbar, you can draw these charts by drawing rectangles and connect

Figure 201: Duplicating an objectWhich replication technique you use is up to you. The draft for the example in this chapter should look similar to th

You can use dynamic text frames instead of boxes. These have the advantage of automatic line breaks. Figure 203 shows the sequence of text input into

Figure 204: The Flowchart toolbarFigure 205: Example of a flow diagramChapter 9 Organization Charts, Flow Diagrams, and More 163

Select the shapes that are to lie in a vertical straight line and center them with Modify > Alignment > Centered. For those on a horizontal line

Connector types fall into four groups:• Standard connectors – the line segments run vertically and horizontally. All angles are right angles. The conn

As with all other objects, connectors have one or more control points to simplify the construction of the drawing. You can use these points to change

In the left-hand drawing below is a glue point in the circle with a left entry and one in the square with a right entry. The effect of this when addin

These buttons determine in a similar manner the vertical position of a glue point when the size of the object is changed.Adding text to connectorsTo a

Figure 212: The Text dialogAdjusting text to suit the connecting lineIf you want the text to follow the slope or curve of a line, you need to activate

Customizing toolbarsYou can customize toolbars in several ways. To show or hide icons defined for a toolbar, see Figure 6 on page 12.To add functions

Figure 213: Adding text to an inclined line, Step 1Figure 214: Adding text to an inclined line, Step 2The Fontwork dialog provides many other possibil

Chapter 10 Advanced Draw Techniques

Drawing to scaleDraw is not a CAD (computer-aided design) program but a graphics program with which you can produce drawings to scale. The example use

Draw the first connection lead by eye and dimension and position it using the Position and Size dialog.Figure 217: Setting the position and dimension

Using the same method, copy both blocks twice more to the right. Select both blocks, call up the Duplicate dialog, and use placement values of 30 mm (

The best solution is to use the Zoom toolbar to enlarge the diagrams. You can find this as a tear-off toolbar on the standard Drawing toolbar. It cont

inside the selection frame of the symbol. When the crossed arrows are visible, click on the symbol and keep the mouse button pressed. After about 1 or

Figure 222: Half adder drawn using logic symbol building blocksPosition two horizontal guiding lines (A, B) on the grid with Y=4.0 cm and Y=6.0 cm. Wi

The input and output leads of the INVERTER lie at Y=4.5 cm and Y=6.5 cm. Move the mouse over a guiding line. When the mouse cursor changes to a double

Since the OR gate will be connected to the two previously positioned AND gates, you can delete the guiding line of the OR gate. Drag the 0.64 horizont

Controlling printingFor more control over printing, use the Print dialog (File > Print or Ctrl+P).Figure 17. The Print dialogNoteThe options select

If you have correctly positioned the symbols in the drawing, all the connection leads will be straight lines. At this time you can delete all the guid

In the right section you can change the settings for the Legend, the text of the dimension line. You can use the Text position choices to change the l

Start the dimensioning command by clicking the Dimension Line icon on the Arrows toolbar. This toolbar is not visible by default. The dimension line

All the changes that you make relate only to the selected dimension line. They are stored and persistent, but do not affect the settings of the Dimens

Figure 232: Text tab of Graphic Styles dialogAnchoring textTo try out the different settings possible for text anchors, start by drawing an ellipse fr

Now we can try out some of the different possibilities of text anchoring.Shapes Classical drawing objectsText anchored to left middle – the text block

Shapes Classical drawing objectsWithout option “Full width”With option “Full width”Fitting text in framesHere you find that shapes and classic Draw ob

For the classic drawing objects, both lower left options in the dialog are active.These options have the following effects.Fit to frame:The text is wi

If you anchor the text above, below, right or left, a positive spacing value positions the text in such a way that it sits close to the outside of the

Figure 235: Text options active for text frames and calloutsAll options offIn versions of Draw before 3.2, the text is broken at the object frame. You

Figure 18: General print optionsPrinting multiple pages on a single sheet of paperYou can print multiple pages of a document on one sheet of paper. To

Fit height to textThe height of the text frame or callout is enlarged so that all lines fit within the height of the object frame.Pictures and textPic

The construction of each example was carried out using a graphics style. Right-click on the picture and choose Edit Style to open the Graphics Styles

Double-click to enter text editing mode and replace the placeholder text “Fontwork” with your own text.Click outside the object or press the Esc key t

Writer OLE objectIn some cases, text frames are not flexible enough to meet your needs and offer too few possibilities for adjustment. For example, yo

With the handles of the gray frame you can determine which section of the entire text document is visible. You should switch off the ruler view.Figure

Figure 241: Draw object behind an OLE objectThe page with the text document has the background property set to transparent. If you change the backgrou

Direct drawing of a Bézier curveOpen the Curve toolbar by clicking on the small black triangle of the symbol on the Drawing toolbar. Click on the Cu

Point mode of the Bézier curveAfter drawing a curve using the icon from the Draw toolbar or with the Edit points command from the context menu, you

Transition pointsFor the transition from one segment to the next, there are three different types of points, each with its own properties.Corner point

The circled icons are, from left to right, Corner point, Smooth transition, and Symmetric transition. The latter two icons appear the same but you can

CopyrightThis document is Copyright © 2005–2011 by its contributors as listed below. You may distribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either

To print an individual page:1) Choose File > Print from the menu bar.2) Select the page to print.a) In the Ranges and copies section of the Print d

Transform a Bézier curve into a straight segmentSelect the larger of the two handles at the ends of the curve; this will be the starting point of the

Combining closed curvesIf you draw a Bézier curve segment and, at the end point of the segment, click and hold the mouse button, followed by a single

Type or paste your comment into the text box. You can optionally apply some basic formatting to parts of the text by selecting it, right-clicking, and

Index3 3D bodies 112creating by body rotation 112creating by extrusion 112extrusion 112ready-made objects 113rotating 116segments 121settings

curved text 170curves 49closing 199combining closed curves 201connecting 201converting to 199customizing toolbars 17D delete points 52delete

H half adder 176handles 39hatching 64hidden objects 40horizontal distribution of objects 87HSB color model 155hyphenation 186, 188I illuminat

reducing color depth 103relief filter 101remove noise 99removing links to files 90renaming objects 95RGB colors 96, 154rotating 3D objects 116

5) Select the Brochure option.6) In the Page sides section, select Back sides / left pages option from the Include drop-down list.7) Click the Print b

To change the OpenOffice.org settings to print all color text and graphics as grayscale:1) Choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Print.2)

To export to one of these formats, choose File > Export. On the Export dialog, specify a file name for the exported document, then select the requi

Chapter 2 Drawing Basic Shapes

Creating simple drawingsYou can create 2D and 3D objects in Draw. This chapter shows how to draw simple 2D objects. The following chapters describe ho

Drawing a straight lineWe begin with the drawing of the simplest element—a straight line.Click on the Line icon on the Drawing toolbar and place the

Figure 21: The information area in the status barDrawing an arrowArrows are drawn like lines. Draw classifies arrows as a subgroup of lines: lines wit

1 Line 5 Line (45°) 8 Line with square/arrow2 Line Ends with Arrow 6 Line starts with arrow 9 Dimension line3 Line with arrow/circle 7 Line with circ

Drawing ellipses (ovals) and circlesTo draw an ellipse (also called an oval) or a circle, click on the Ellipse icon on the main Drawing toolbar. (A

ContentsCopyright...2Chapter 1 In

Figure 25: Adding the extended Ellipse toolbar4) On the Customize dialog, ensure that the checkbox by the new Ellipse command is selected, and then us

Drawing elliptical and circular arcsTo draw an arc, choose the appropriate Arc symbol in the Circles and Ovals toolbar. Drag with the mouse to create

• Freeform Line: With this tool you can draw just like with a pencil. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the mouse. It is not necessary to

Figure 30: A connector between two objectsDraw offers a range of different connectors and connector functions. Open the floating Connectors toolbar by

NoteIf you select shapes for editing, the information field in the toolbar shows the type of shape selected and, if more than one object is selected,

FlowchartsThe tools for drawing flowcharts are accessed by clicking on the Flowcharts icon .The creation of flowcharts, organization charts, and simi

Language Settings > Languages). If you still do not see the Vertical Text icon, enable it on the Drawing toolbar by clicking the arrow on the right

width (Figure 36). You can, however,—just as when editing any other text—insert your own line breaks, begin new paragraphs, or change any of the text

Chapter 3 Working with Objects and Object Points

IntroductionThis chapter looks at the tools and functions that let you modify existing drawings. All of the functions apply to a selected object or gr

Introduction: grouping and combining objects...79Grouping objects...

Selections for rotating objects are indicated by small red circles and a symbol representing the center of rotation. To choose these selections, click

click. The number and type of the selected objects is shown at the left of the status bar to help you to select the correct object.NoteThis method gen

Figure 39: Left end of status bar during dynamic adjustmentFor example, when you are resizing an object, the object information fields show which obje

CautionThis is the default behavior of the Shift key. However, if you have used Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Draw > Grid to set Snap posi

Figure 41: Editing an arcIf you click and hold the mouse button when the hand cursor appears, moving the mouse will change the location of the start o

Changing inclination or perspectiveTo slant or shear objects, use the red handles located at the midpoint of an edge of the selected objects. The mous

Setting size and position exactlyYou can position and resize objects with the mouse, but this method is not very exact. If you need accurate positioni

Rotating objectsClick on the Rotation tab of the Position and Size dialog (see Figure 46). Here you can define the rotation angle, as well as the loca

You can use this dialog to round the corners of the usual Draw objects—text boxes, legends, rectangles, and squares, as shown in Figure 48. The same e

The mouse pointer changes shape when hovered over a yellow handle. If you drag one of these handles, you can modify the shape of the object; the type

Adding comments to a drawing...202Connecting and breaking lines...

Figure 55: Inflexion pointFigure 53: Symmetric tangent1 Points 5 Split Curve 9 Symmetric Transition2 Move Points 6 Convert to Curve 10 Close B

Figure 56: Moving a junction pointFigure 57: Rotating a tangentFigure 58: Adding an edit point to a curveThe Move Points button is the default mode

Figure 61: Moving a segment Figure 59: Deleting points from a curveThe Delete Points button has the opposite effect: it subtracts one or more points

Figure 62: Closing an open curveTo close an existing curve, select an open curve and click on the Close Bézier button .The opening point is identifie

Figure 64: Moving a point on a curveThe Rotate function from the Effects drop-down button on the Drawing toolbar and the Rotation Mode after Clicking

Chapter 4 Changing Object Attributes

Toolbars and menusTo change an object’s attributes (such as color or border width) you can use the Line and Filling toolbar or the context menu.Line a

Figure 67: Right-click on an object to see the context menuEditing lines and bordersLines, arrows, and the borders of an object are managed through th

Figure 69: Line dialog (right-click on an object and choose Line).Common line propertiesIn most cases the property you want to change is the line’s st

Drawing arrowsArrowheads (and other line endings—usually referred to in this guide collectively as arrows) are a line property. Select a line and clic

Note for Mac usersSome keystrokes and menu items are different on a Mac from those used in Windows and Linux. The table below gives some common substi

Line shadowsLines can have a shadow property associated with them.Figure 74: Shadow page of Line dialogCheck the box Use shadow to enable this feature

Figure 75: Editing line stylesCustomizing arrow stylesYou can also create your own arrowheads to provide some interesting effects, such as:The first s

TipThe part of the shape which should point in the direction of the line must be drawn facing upwards. In Figure 76 the top of the shape will point to

Editing the inside (fill) of an objectThe OpenOffice.org term for the inside of an object is Area fill. The area fill of an object can be a uniform co

Fill with a gradientSelect the object you wish to edit. On the Line and Filling toolbar, select Gradient and then choose a gradient from the right-han

Figure 84: Filling with an imageAdding a shadow to an areaClick on the Filling icon on the Line and Filling toolbar—next to the area fill functions

Figure 86: Customizing the color paletteCreating your own gradientOn the Area dialog, click on the Gradients tab. From here you can modify existing gr

Figure 88: Choosing colors for a gradientThen choose a type of gradient. There are several available (Linear, Axial, Radial, and so on) and each has u

You can customize options like the spacing between lines, the angle and the color of the lines. There is no way to edit the line thickness.Figure 91:

From there you can add new bitmap images to serve as area fills. Click on Import and choose a file you previously saved. Give it a name that will make

Chapter 1 Introducing Draw

Shadows can also have transparency, so the shadow does not hide objects behind it.Figure 95: Shadow with 50% transparencyAdding transparencyYou can ma

Using stylesSuppose that you want to apply the same area fill, line thickness, and border to a set of objects. This repetitive process can be greatly

Modifying a styleModifying a style is similar to creating a new style. Select an object with that style and change the area and line properties. When

Flip an objectSelect an object and click on the Flip icon . You will see a dashed line through the middle of the object.This dashed line is the axis

Distorting an imageThere are three tools on the Effects menu that let you drag the corners and edges of an object to distort the image.The Distort too

Figure 102: Set an image in a circle with perspectiveSet to circle (slant)Select an object and click on the Set to Circle (slant) icon. Draw will as

Dynamic gradientsYou can control transparency gradients in the same manner as color gradients. Both types of gradient can be used together. With a tra

A single color object and a transparency gradient, covering part of the underlying object.The gradient can be dynamically adjusted, made more transpar

Chapter 5 Combining Multiple Objects

Introduction: grouping and combining objectsUsing Draw, you can combine drawing objects together in two distinct ways: grouping and combining. These t

IntroductionDraw is a vector graphics drawing tool, although it can also perform some operations on raster graphics (pixels). Using Draw, you can quic

Editing individual objects in a groupYou can edit a member of a group individually without breaking the group. To do this, right-click and choose Ente

At first glance, the appearance of the combined objects can seem rather surprising. However, once you understand the rules governing combination in Dr

MergeWhen you merge objects, the new object covers the entire surface of the original objects (it is the union of the objects). In the same way as com

4) Draw a small ellipse covering just the lower right corner and subtract again. 5) The knife blade is now complete. To make the handle, draw a re

1 Bring to Front 5 In Front of Object2 Bring Forward 6 Behind Object3 Send Backward 7 Reverse4 Send to BackFigure 111: The floating Position to

into a hand and the outline of the second object becomes a dashed line (see below). Clicking on this object completes the rearrangement of position.

Align right. Align top. Center vertically. Align bottom.If you have selected only one object, clicking the various buttons on the Align toolbar posit

Horizontal distributionNone. Does not distribute the objects horizontally.Left. The left edges of the objects are evenly spaced from one another.Cente

Chapter 6 Editing Pictures (Raster Graphics)

IntroductionEarlier chapters of the Draw Guide have dealt only with vector graphics. However, Draw also contains a number of functions for handling ra

Figure 1: Initial Draw windowRulersYou should see rulers (bars with numbers) on the upper and left-hand sides of the workspace. If they are not visibl

To link or to embed?If you select the Link option in the Insert picture dialog, the graphic is linked rather than embedded. It is not actually inserte

To insert an image from the scanner:1) Prepare the image in the scanner and make sure that the scanner is ready.2) Choose Insert > Picture > Sca

Figure 118: Inserting complete pages or objects on a pageChoose the slides or objects you want to insert; for multiple selections, press the Control o

To export a multi-page Draw document as a series of web pages, choose File > Export and select HTML Document as the file type. The HTML Export wiza

Figure 121: Adjusting format specific properties prior to exportThe actual number of pixels used is determined by the screen resolution set up by the

Modifying raster object propertiesAs with other objects, the properties of a raster graphic can be modified. You can format the graphic using the Form

ColorUse the Color tool to adjust the values of the three RGB colors, the brightness, contrast and the Gamma value. These adjustments do not affect th

Figure 123: Interactive crop marks on an imageCroppingFigure 124: The Crop dialogMore control and accuracy over cropping functions are available via t

• If you choose Keep Scale, the graphic will be cropped to the scales shown in the width and height boxes and the picture reduced in size accordingly.

Sharpen increases the contrast between neighboring pixels, emphasizing the brightness difference. This will accentuate the outlines. The effect will b