1

Introduction to Impress

A presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. It can export presentations to Adobe

Flash (SWF) fi les allowing them to be played on any computer with the Flash player installed. It also includes the ability to create PDF files. Impress suffers from a lack of ready-made

presentation designs. However, templates are readily available on the Internet.

WHAT IS IMPRESS?

IMPRESS is the presentation feature in OpenOffice. A presentation consists of page(s) that can be seen on the computer screen as normal and with the use of a projector, can be seen on the

wall or on an external screen. Normally, a laptop is used since it has good portability.

Impress is l ike a SLIDE SHOW. One page after the other is projected.

A page that is projected is called a SLIDE. The following can be included in a Slide:

1. Animation

2. 3-D graphics 3. Bullets and Numbered Lists

4. All the normal stuff that is in a word processor (Writer) and in spreadsheets such as bold, colors, text alignment, borders, drawing, templates (master slide) , etc.

Notes can be added to a slide that are not projected but can be seen by the presenter.

Open And Use The Presentation Wizard

1. OpenOffice has two ready-made presentation templates, Introducing a New Product and Recommendation of a Strategy.

2. Click File > New > Presentation > From Template. (Window 1 of the “Presentation Wizard” appears.)

3. Click Next. (Window 1 of the “Presentation Wizard” reappears.)

4. If not already selected, select Introducing a New Product.

2

5. Click Next. (Window 2 of the "Presentation Wizard" appears. Note that "Introducing a New Product" is highlighted. If you prefer another background than the default, under

"Select a slide design", click "Presentation backgrounds" and select your choice.) In the dialog box under Select a slide design, click Presentation i f i t is not already selected. In

the dialog box under Select an output medium, click Slide.

6. Click Next. (Window 3 of "Presentation Wizard" appears.) Under Select a slide transition, use the default for Effect and Speed. Under Select Presentation Type, click Automatic. In the Duration of pages dialog box, type 11 in the seconds place. In the

Duration of pause, type 11 in the seconds place. (Highlight and type the numbers or use

the to select a number. The format for the numbers is: 00.00.11. The "hours setting" is

before the first decimal (period). The "minutes setting" is before the second decimal. The "seconds setting" is before the third decimal.)

7. Note: If you use the default settings, click Create and you have your presentation ready

for pictures, text. Etc.

3

8. Under Describe your basic ideas, in the dialog box under What is your name or the name of your company?, type The Save Time Company. In the dialog box under What is the subject of your presentation?, type A New Watch. In the dialog box under

Further ideas to be presented, type Use the Stopwatch Function and Use The Date Function.

9. Click Next. (Window 4 of the 'Presentation Wizard" appears.)

10. Under Choose your pages, select what you want in your presentation or use the default

settings. Click Create. (Note: "Next" is grayed. "Create" is the next step.)

4

11. Click Slide Transition if it is not already selected. To see your presentation that you just made, click Slide Show .

Save And Close Your Presentation

1. Click File > Sav e As. In the Save in: pull-down menu box, click My Documents (if it is

not already selected). In the Save as type:" box, click OpenDocument Presentation (.odp) (if it is not already selected).

2. In the File name: box, type My Slide Show . 3. Click Save. (" My Slide Show" is saved. The file, "My Slide Show" is sti l l on the screen.)

4. Click File > Close. (The file, " My Slide Show", is no longer on the screen.)

To Watch "My Slide Show” at a Later Time

1. Click File > Open. (The "Open" window appears.) 2. In the menu below the "Look in:" dialog box, click My Documents if it is not already

there. In the menu below the File name: dialog box, click My Slide Show . ("My Slide Show" appears on your screen.)

3. Click Slide Transition if it is not already selected. To see your presentation that you just made, click Slide Show .

5

Restart A Presentation Automatically You can make your Impress pre sentations restart automatically after a specific time which you

set. This is useful if you have, for example, a stand set up at a trade show. You might also create a small presentation for use before a main event and have it playing before the event starts.

Creating a text based slide

The first slide we'll create is a textual overview of three different types of retirement accounts.

We'll create the new slide by selecting insert > slide from the menu.

The next screen will save us time by letting us choose a default format for the new slide. That

way we don't have to start from scratch.

Name the new slide “types” then select an autolayout.

If we want a slide containing a chart, table, image, or just text we can select the icon that most

closely matches our desired layout.

We just want text so we'll select that one

To include the template background or the objects on the template background make sure the

appropriate display checkboxes are checked then click OK.

To add text to a slide just click on the box and type.

Building numbered or bulleted lists

When designing a presentation, it's almost always a bad idea to fill a slide with lots of text. People

will read the text faster than you can say it and you'l l lose their attention. Besides, how interesting will your presentation be if people know what you are going to say right before you say it.

A better approach is to distil l large text blocks down into outlines or bulleted lists.

Because we selected a slide with a bulleted list using the autolayout tool in the previous step, all

we need to do is add text to the outline area.

6

Each time we hit the enter key, we will get a new bulleted entry in out l ist. We'll enter all of the

items and then we'l l tweak the format in a minute.

The first thing we will change is to indent some of the items in the list under the main headings.

The right and left arrow buttons will move the text to new levels in the outline hierarchy. Each time we click the right arrow we will move an additional layer down the hierarchy. Clicking the left

arrow will move the item up the hierarchy.

We'll select and move some of the items one level down in the hierarchy and we're finished with

the slide.

Although this particular slide is finished, let’s take a look at the other options we have when it

comes to building bulleted or numbered lists. Use the up and down arrows to move the text up or down relative to the other text items in the outline.

You'll notice that the outline text has bullets by default. If you want to remove bullets from an outline item, click the item, then click the bullet toggle button on the toolbar. Click the button again

to attach bullets to a paragraph the previously had no bullets.

Finally, we can click the numbering and bullets button to customize the layout of the bullets.

The tabs across the top of the screen let us choose whatever type of bullets or numbering we

like.

7

Some tabs let us select bullets, numbering types, or graphical bullet styles.

Other tabs let us customize spacing and position of the bullets or even use our own graphics as

bullet symbols.

Text formatting and layout

So far, the text we have created uses the default presentation formatting and style.

OpenOffice gives you a lot of control when it comes to formatting and positioning text.

Although the text is already formatted the way we want it for the sample slide, let's take a minute and look at how to change text formatting and modify text layout in OpenOffice.org Impress.

When you use the text tool or select a text object, you will notice that the interface changes to provide access to several text formatting controls.

The text object bar lets you change fonts and font size. It lets you specify whether the text should aligned to the left, to the center, to the right, or the align text to both the left and right.

It you are dealing with multiple l ines of text, you can increase or decrease the spacing between lines.

There are several buttons on the text object bar related to numbering and bullets. There is a button the toggles bullets on and off for the paragraph, and a button that lets you specify bullet

formatting options. We used these controls in the “creating a bulleted list” section of this workshop. The arrows allow you to indent items in a list or to change their position in the list

hierarchy.

The next button provides access to several more screens of font, font effects and positioning options. A preview window near the bottom of the screen makes it easy to see what these options

do.

There is a paragraph option button that lets you control items related to paragraphs such as

indents & spacing, paragraph alignment and tabs.

8

Although using these text formatting controls is simple, you may want to consider using styles for text formatting. Styles can save you a lot of time and make your documents easier to maintain.

We'll learn about creating and using styles in the working smarter section of the program.

Building graphical slides The next slide we'll create is a more involved slide. We chose this slide as an example because it will teach you the core skil ls you will use over and

over again when creating presentations. There may be a lot of steps in this next slide, but they're all easy.

To get started, select the insert> new slide command. This time, choose a blank slide, and enter a name.

Then we'l l begin adding the elements to the slide.

Inserting Images

First, lets insert the graphics that represent contributions. If we look at our thumbnail sketch, we'll see that there are 2 graphics.One graphic represents the full amount being inserted into an

account. The second graphic shows the amount divided into 2 pieces - one part goes into the account and one part goes to pay taxes.

There are several ways to insert graphics into OpenOffice.org Impress, let's start with the simple insert graphic command.

This command lets you insert graphics that have previously been saved to a file.

If the preview box is checked, highlighting a file will display a preview image. Click open to import the file.

Mov ing and resizing items

You can move items around the screen by clicking the object then moving the mouse over the

object. When the mouse pointer changes to the Move symbol you can drag and drop the item anywhere on the screen.

9

Don't worry about placing them exactly; we'll learn how to use Impress to do it the easy way in a minute or two.

The idea is to get the items on the screen in roughly the right position and roughly the right size.

Resizing objects

To resize an object, click on the object. A set of green handles will appear, use these handles to change the size and shape of the object. Some of the handles will stretch the object vertically;

others will stretch the object horizontally. The corner handles will let you change the shape in both horizontal and vertical directions.

It’s important to note that you can easily distort an object if you're not careful. Making the item appear stretched or squashed. To resize an item without distorting it hold the shift key while

resizing the object. This will force the item to resize proportionally in both the vertical and horizontal dimensions.

Inserting images from the gallery

Let's try a different method to load the second image. In this case we will use the gallery

functionality to insert a graphic into the presentation.

Click on the gallery button to display the gallery window.

10

The gallery window lets us access collections of images and easily insert them into our presentation.

The window on the left lets you choose from several collections or themes. Earlier we created a theme called Fictitious Financial graphics. We can use the gallery to drag

and drop images from this theme directly into the presentation. We'll show you how to create your own gallery theme in the working smarter phase of the

workshop. When we're done using the gallery we can hide the window by clicking on the gallery toggle

button again.

Viewing a presentation There are several ways you can view your show, you can select the slide show option from the slide show menu, click one of the slide show icons on at the bottom of the menu bar or the top of

the vertical scrollbars or press the F9 key or F5 key. You can press the escape key at any time to exit the slide show.

Congratulations, now you know the basics of OpenOffice.org Impress. With the skills you have covered so far you can do pretty much anything you need to build a compelling presentation.

The goal at the beginning of this workshop was to expose you to the most common functions you will use over and over again. Like anything else, it may take a bit of practice but you've got a

great start. OpenOffice.org Impress is a powerful program, and we still have lots of features to explore.

Impress offers tools you can use to work faster, and make your presentations easier to maintain. If you want to go beyond the basics and create presentations that contain more than text, and

graphics, OpenOffice.org Impress will let you add charts, spreadsheets, video and sound clips. We'll also talk about adding special effects such as transitions and animation to a presentation.

OpenOffice.org Impress also provides some great ways to publish your ideas, and share it with others.

Layouts, Text, and Slides

This section describes how to apply a layout; insert, format, and delete text; and insert and delete

slides.

To apply a layout to your new slide :

• Scroll through the available layouts in the "Layouts" task pane on the right side of the

Impress window.

• Click on the layout you would like to apply to your slides.

• NOTE: You may change the layout of all or some of your slides at any point while working on your presentation.

• To apply a layout to only certain slides-highlight the slides you would like to change in the left slide

pane by holding down the control key and clicking on the desired slides. Choose a layout from the

"Layouts" panel.

• To select all slides-click in the left slides pane, and hold down the control key and "A". This

function will select all slides; then choose the desired layout.

11

To insert and format text in a slide :

• If you have selected a layout with a text box included, click on the text that says "Click to

add an outline," and begin typing your text. The layout will automatically format your text.

• You can add additional text boxes by clicking on the text box icon located on the

bottom tool bar. Place the cursor inside the presentation and create a rectancle text box.

Click inside the box and begin typing your text.

• You can add artistic text by clicking on the Fontwork icon. This option is similar to Microsoft's WordArt.

• The Fontwork Gallery will open. Click on you preferred text format and click OK.

• The font art will be inserted into your presentation with the word "Fontwork" spelled out. Double click on the text and a small, editable version of the word "Fontwork" will appear

in front of the larger word. Type your text over the small, editable text.

• You may use the formatting toolbar at the top of the Impress window to apply various formats to selected text. You may notice this toolbar is similiar to the ones used in Microsoft products.

• When you are finished entering text, click outside the placeholder on some "empty space."

To delete text :

• Option #1 : Highlight the text you want to delete by dragging the cursor over the letters, and press the delete key.

• Option #2 : Click on the selection rectangle around the text so that its border changes from hatch marks to dots, and then press the delete key

To insert a new slide :

• Option #1 : Go to Insert-> Slide. A blank slide will appear in the workspace, positioned after the selected slide or slide you were viewing.

• Option #2 : Click on the "Slide" button on the formatting toolbar at the top of the Impress window.

• Option #3 : On the Slides pane (on the left), position your cursor to the point in the presentation where you would like the new slide to appear (i.e. between slides, at the

12

beginning of the presentation, or at the end of the presentation). Right click, and choose "New slide."

To delete a slide :

• Option #1: Go to Edit->Delete Slide. The current slide will disappear from the workspace.

• Option #2 : On the Slides pane (off to the left), click on the slide you would like to delete, and then hit the <Delete> key.

Drawing Tools

This section is an introduction to tools on the Drawing toolbars. The drawing tools allow you to create your own visual effects within Impress. The toolbars are located on both the top and the

bottom of the Impress screen.

• To view the Drawing toolbar, go to View->Toolbars->Drawing. Click on Drawing so that a

check mark appears beside it on the menu.

The following is an explanation of basic tools on the BOTTOM Impress toolbar, from left to right.

• Select -this button looks like the cursor arrow. Click this button to then select and move objects on your slide.

• Line and Arrow - these tools allow you to insert lines or arrows by clicking the tool, then clicking and dragging in your slide.

• Rectangle and Ov al - these tools allow you to insert rectangles or ovals by clicking the

tool, then clicking and dragging in your slide.

• Text Box -clicking this tool and then clicking in your slide inserts a box in which you can type an unlimited amount of text. This box is mentioned in the "Layouts" section of this

tutorial.The box expands to accommodate what you type. Hitting the <enter> key on the keyboard takes you to the next line of text. You can move a text box by clicking on the

border (your cursor should be a 4points arrow) and dragging it to the desired position. You can also resize a text box using the sizing handles, the same way you resize an

image.

• Curve -this tool allows you to create free-drawn lines or curved vector-based objects. Note the drop down arrow on the right of the graphic that gives additional options.

• Connectors -this tool allows you to connect graphics to create flow charts or diagrams.

• Basic Shapes - this tool gives you the option to insert pre-designed shapes such as diamonds, pentagons and cylinders. Note the drop down arrow on the right of the graphic

that gives additional options.

• Symbol Shapes - this tool gives the option to insert pre-designed fun shapes such as hearts or happy faces. Note the drop down arrow on the right of the graphic that gives

additional options.

13

• Block Arrows -this tool allows you to insert block shapped arrows. Note the drop down arrow on the right of the graphic that gives additional options.

• Flowcharts -this tool allows you to insert flowchart shapes. Note the drop down arrow on the right of the graphic that gives additional options.

• Callouts -this tool allows you to insert callouts. Note the drop down arrow on the right of

the graphic that gives additional options.

• Stars- this tool allows you to insert different star shapes. Note the drop down arrow on the right of the graphic that gives additional options.

• Points -this tool allows you to change the size of points on a vector-created image. Click on the image and then click on a handle box. Drag the handle box to a different location to edit the vector-based image.

• Glue Points -this tool displays the points on a custom-drawn object. Click once on the object to select, then click on the glue point icon to display points on the object. The glue

points can then selected and moved to alter the image.

• Fontwork Gallery - this tool gives you some dramatic, pre-designed styles for formatting your text.

• Insert Picture -this tool allows you insert pictures from file.

• Gallery -this tool opens a gallery of images, sounds, bullets, web page icons, and rule dividers that can be inserted into a presentation for sound and graphic appeal.

• Rotate -this tool allows you to rotate on an object by clicking on the object. When a circle handle appears, click on the circle and rotate the object by moving the mouse.

• Alignment -this tool allows you to change the alignment of objects. Note the drop down arrow on the right of the graphic that gives additional options.

• Arrange -this tool allows you to change the layering of objects. Objects can be moved backwards or brought forward. Note the drop down arrow on the right of the graphic that

gives additional options.

• Interaction -this tool allows you to add interactive effects at the click of a mouse.

• Drop Menu -the final tool allows you to choose from additional tools that can be displayed on the bottom toolbar.

The following is an explanation of basic tools on the TOP Impress toolbar, from left to right.

• Line- this tool allows you to change the width and style of lines. It can also be accessed by right-mouse clicking on an object.

• Arrow Style -this tool allows you to change the direction and arrow head by clicking on a line or arrow that has been added to the presentation. It can also be accessed by right-mouse clicking on an object.

14

• Line Style -this tool allows you to adjust the line format.

• Line Width -this tool adjust the line width of objects.

• Line Color -this tool allows you to change the line color of objects.

• Area -this tool opens a window that gives you many options for changing the fill , color, gradient, and texture of a shape object.

• Area Style/Filling -this tool is a two part tool. Select an option from the first window, such as gradient. Review the many choices for gradient in the second window and click on one

to choose it.

Shadow tool -this tool applies a shadow.

Editing slides, Formatting Text

The text must be selected before it can be formatted: To format all text in a text box, click on the

text, then click once on the border of the text box. Now any formatting changing will apply to all text in the box. To format only a part of the text, click once on the text, then select the part to be

formatted by clicking and dragging (highlighting) over it. Formatting changes will apply only to the selected text. To view the Character Formatting options, select "Character..." from the Format

menu or click the Character button on the Object Bar.

In this window you can specify the font, the typeface and the size of the text. At the bottom of the window there is a preview of the selected font.

15

To view the Paragraph Formatting options, select "Paragraph..." from the Format menu or click

the Paragraph button on the Object Bar.

In this window you can specify options about paragraphs.

16

Editing slides Creating Bulletted/Numbered Lists

To create a bulletted or numbered list from AutoLayout text boxes, insert a new slide or modify the current one and then select an AutoLayout that contains a numbered list.

Editing slides - Changing the Slide Background To change the slide background select "Page..." from the format menu and then select on the background tab.

Choose the type and style of background desired. Click OK. A message box appears asking:

"Background settings for all Pages?" Click Yes if you would l ike the background appear on all the pages, or No if you would l ike the background to only appear on the selected slide.

17

If you choose Yes all slides have the same background.

Editing slides Importing Graphics To insert an image select "Graphics..." from the Insert menu.

Importing Graphics

18

Choose an image to insert in your document and click Open. If the preview checkbox is selected, a preview of the image content is displayed on the right.

You can resize the image just by dragging one of the eight green points surrounding the picture.

When the move cursor appears over the image you can move the picture.

To delete an image, click on it and then press Delete.

Slide Transitions and Animations

Slide Transitions Animation Effects Slide transitions are the effects that take place when a slide gives way to the next one in the

presentation. You can apply a different transition to all slides in the presentation or apply different transition to any single slide.

19

There are two ways to add a transition. First way: add a transition from the Slide View. When you

switch in this mode, the Object Bar presents many options for choosing and controll ing slide effects.

Second way: select "Slide Transition" from the "Slide Show" menu to open the Slide Transition

Window. The Effects button displays the various transitions. The Extras button displays the options for timing transitions and making them automatic, semi-automatic, or manual. The Update

button displays the transition settings for the selected slide. The Assign button applies the chosen effect to the selected slide. The Preview button opens a handly window for viewing an applied

transition.

20

Applaying a slide transition effect

● From Slide View, click on a slide to select it. The transition you apply to this slide will appears when the slides comes into view in the slideshow.

● Choose "Slide Transition" from the "Slide Show" menu. ● Choose an effects category from the pop-up menu above the main Effects window.

● Click on a thumbnail image to select that transition. ● Choose a transition speed from the popup menu above the main Effects window.

●Click the Assign button.

Slide show=> animation

Animations are similar to Transition effects, but they are applied to individual elements within a single slide.

Animation Effects Animation effects must be applied from Drawing View. Slect the object and then choose "Effects"

from the "Slide Show" menu or click the Animation Effects button in the main toolbar.

21

The Effects button displays the various animations. The Text Effect button is only active when a text box containing text is selected. It displays the various animation effects that you can apply to

text objects. The Extra button displays additional options for text and sound.The Order button displays an outline of objects that are on the selected slide in the order effects will play. The

Update, Assign and Preview button are the same as in the Slide Transition window.

To apply the animation, select an effect from the Animation Effect window, choose the speed of the animation and then press the Assign button. The Preview button shows you the animation

preview in a window.