Tool Name Purpose

Symbol Click the triangle to the right of the tool icon to open a toolbar showing the
Shapes available options. Actual icon shown will depend on the option that has
been selected. Select the desired symbol shape, then draw it by placing
your cursor on the slide and dragging your mouse to define an enclosing
rectangle. Keep the Shift key pressed to obtain a symbol shape where the
height and width are equal. Press the Alt key to draw a symbol shape from
its center.

Block Click the triangle to the right of the tool icon to open a toolbar showing the
Arrows available options. Actual icon shown will depend on the option that has
been selected. Select the desired block arrow, then draw it by placing your
cursor on the slide and dragging your mouse to define an enclosing
rectangle. Keep the Shift key pressed to obtain a block arrow where the
height and width are equal. Press the Alt key to draw a block arrow from its
center.

Flowcharts Click the triangle to the right of the tool icon to open a toolbar showing the
available options. Actual icon shown will depend on the option that has
been selected. Select the desired flowchart shape, then draw it by placing
your cursor on the slide and dragging your mouse to define an enclosing
rectangle. Keep the Shift key pressed to obtain a flowchart where the
height and width are equal. Press the Alt key to draw a flowchart shape
from its center.

Callouts Click the triangle to the right of the tool icon to open a toolbar showing the
available options. Actual icon shown will depend on the option that has
been selected. Select the desired callout, then draw it by placing your
cursor on the slide and dragging your mouse to define an enclosing
rectangle. Keep the Shift key pressed to obtain a callout where the height
and width are equal. Press the Alt key to draw a callout from its center.

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 Tool Name Purpose
Stars Click the triangle to the right of the tool icon to open a toolbar showing the
available options. Actual icon shown will depend on the option that has
been selected. Select the desired star, then draw it by placing your cursor
on the slide and dragging your mouse to define an enclosing rectangle.
Keep the Shift key pressed to obtain a star where the height and width are
equal. Press the Alt key to draw a star from its center. Note that the title of
this submenu when undocked from the Drawing toolbar is Stars and
Banners.

Points Edits the individual points that form the shape or line. Select this tool and
then select a shape or a line. You can also press the F8 key to select this
tool.
Glue Points Edits the glue points of a graphic object. Glue points are the positions
where connector lines terminate or start. See Managing glue points on
page 122 for instructions.
Fontwork Opens the Fontwork gallery. See Using Fontwork on page 126 for further
Gallery information.
From File Equivalent to Insert > Picture > From file on the main menu bar. See
Chapter 4 Adding and Formatting Pictures for details.
Gallery Opens the gallery. Equivalent to Tools > Gallery on the main menu bar.
See Chapter 4 Adding and Formatting Pictures for details.
Extrusion Switches 3D effects on or off for the selected object. Clicking this button
On/Off also opens the 3D settings toolbar. See Working with 3D objects on page
123 for details.

Additional drawing tools

In addition to the default set of drawing tools available on the Drawing toolbar (Figure 80), you can
install additional tools. These additional tools are described in Table 4.
To install or remove additional tools onto or from the Drawing toolbar:
1) Right-click on an empty area on the Drawing toolbar.
2) Select Visible Buttons from the context menu to display a list of the available tools.
3) To install a tool, click on it and the tool will appear in the Drawing toolbar. The list of
available tools will close automatically. Installed tools are indicated by a border around the
icon.
4) To remove a tool, click on it and the tool is removed from the Drawing toolbar. Uninstalling
a tool removes the border around the tool icon. The list of available tools will close
automatically.

Chapter 5 Managing Graphic Objects 107

Table 4: Additional drawing tools
Tool Name Purpose
3D Objects Click the triangle to the right of the tool icon to open a toolbar showing the
available options. Actual icon shown will depend on the option that has
been selected. Select the desired 3D shape, then draw it by placing your
cursor on the slide and dragging your mouse to define an enclosing
rectangle. Keep the Shift key pressed to obtain a 3D shape where the
height and width are equal. Press the Alt key to draw a 3D shape from its
center.

To Curve Converts the selected object to a Bzier curve.

To Polygon Converts the selected object to a polygon (a closed object bounded by

straight lines). The appearance of the object does not change. If you want,
you can right-click and choose Edit Points to view the changes.
To 3D Converts the selected 2D object to a 3D object.

To 3D Converts the selected 2D object to a 3D rotation object.

Rotation
Object
Insert Allows you to insert a slide, table, from file, movie and sound, formula, or
chart into your presentation. Click the triangle to the right of the tool icon to
open the Insert toolbar showing the available options. Actual icon shown
will depend on the option that has been selected.

Controls Allows you to insert various form controls into your presentation. Click the
triangle to the right of the tool icon to open the Form Controls toolbar
showing the available options.

Animated Adds animation to a selected object on a slide. Opens the Animation

Image dialog.

Creating lines and shapes

Creating shapes and lines is basically the same procedure for all lines and shapes:
1) Click on the triangle to the right of the tool you want to use on the Drawing toolbar and
select the desired tool from the available selection. Note that the tools on the Drawing
toolbar show the last tool shape selected.
2) Position your cursor on the slide, then click and drag to create the line or shape.

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 3) Release the mouse button when you have drawn your line or shape. You can then modify
and reposition your line or shape using the procedures described later in this chapter.

Regular shapes
When creating shapes that are included in Impress, one or more dots may be displayed in a
different color to the selection handles. These dots perform a different function according to the
shape they are applied to, as listed below.
Basic Shapes
Rounded rectangle and rounded square use the dot to change the radius of the curve
that replaces the angled corners of a rectangle or square.
Circle pie use the dots to change the size of the filled sector.
Isosceles triangle use the dot to modify the shape and type of the triangle.
Trapezoid, parallelogram, hexagon, or octagon use the dot to change the internal angles
between the sides.
Cross use the dot to change the thickness of the four arms of the cross.
Ring use the dot to change the internal diameter of the ring.
Block arc use the dot to change both internal diameter and size of the filled area.
Cylinder and cube use the dot to change the perspective.
Folded corner use the dot to change the size of the folded corner.
Frame use the dot to change the thickness of the frame.
Symbol Shapes
Smiley face use the dot to change the smile on the face.
Sun, moon and heart use the dot to change the shape of the symbol.
Prohibited symbol use the dot to change the thickness of the ring and the diagonal bar.
Double bracket, left bracket, right bracket and double brace use the dot to change the
curvature of the bracket.
Left brace and right brace use the dots to change the curvature of the brace and the
position of the point.
Square bevel, octagon bevel and diamond bevel use the dot to change the thickness of
the bevel.
Block Arrows
Left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow, left and right arrow, up and down arrow,
striped right arrow and notched right arrow use the dot to change the shape and
thickness of the arrows.
Up and right arrow, up, right and down arrow and 4-way arrow use the dots to change the
shape and thickness of the arrows.
Pentagon and chevron use the dot to change the angle between the sides and the shape.
Right arrow callout, left arrow callout, up arrow callout, down arrow callout, left and right
arrow callout, up and down arrow callout, up and right arrow callout and 4-way arrow
callout use the dots to change the shape and thickness of the callouts.
Circular arrow use the dots to change the thickness and area of the arrow.
Callouts
For all callouts use the dots to change the length, position and angle of the pointer.

Chapter 5 Managing Graphic Objects 109

Stars
4-point star, 8-point star and 24-point star use the dot to change the thickness and shape
of the star points.
Vertical scroll and horizontal scroll use the dot to change the width and shape of the
scroll.
Doorplate use the dot to change the inward curvature of the corners.

Curves, polygons and freeform lines

To draw a curve, polygon or freeform line click the Curve icon on the Drawing toolbar. Note
that the default action of this tool is to show the last selected tool and, by default, the last selected
tool will be used. To use a different tool, click on the triangle to the right of the icon to open the
tools that are available (Figure 81 and Table 5). Note that the title of this tool submenu when
undocked from the Drawing toolbar is Lines.
If a filled curve, polygon or freeform line was selected, Impress draws the line connecting the last
point to the start point and fills the inside area with the default color.

Figure 81: Lines (curves) toolbar

Table 5: Curve, polygon and freeform tools
Icon Tool name Icon Tool name Icon Tool name Icon Tool name
Polygon Polygon 45 Freeform line
Curve filled
filled filled filled

Curve Polygon Polygon 45 Freeform line

Curves
1) Select either Curve filled or Curve.
2) Click and hold the left mouse button to create the starting point of your curve.
3) While holding down the left mouse button, drag from the starting point to draw a line.
4) Release the left mouse button and continue to drag the cursor to bend the line into a curve.
5) Click to set the end point of the curve and fix the line on the page.
6) To continue with your line, drag the mouse cursor to draw a straight line. Each mouse click
sets a corner point and allows you to continue drawing another straight line from the corner
point.
7) Double click to end the drawing of your line.

Holding down the Shift key when drawing lines with the Curve or Polygon tools will
Note also restrict the angles between the lines to 45 or 90 degrees.

Polygons
1) Select either Polygon filled or Polygon.
2) Click and draw the first line from the start point with the left mouse button held down. As
soon as you release the mouse button, a line between the first and second points is drawn.

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 3) Move the cursor to draw the next line. Each mouse click sets a corner point and allows you
to draw another line.
4) Double-click to end the drawing of your polygon.

Polygons 45
Select either Polygon (45) filled or Polygon (45) and these polygons are drawn in the same
way as polygons above. However, the angles between line segments are restricted to 45 or 90
degrees as you draw your polygon.

Freeform lines
Using the Freeform Line tools is similar to drawing with a pencil on paper.
1) Select either Freeform line filled or Freeform line.
2) Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the cursor to the line shape you require.
3) When you finished drawing your freeform line, release the mouse button and the drawing is
completed.

Grouping objects together

It is often convenient to group objects together so that they are treated as a single object by
Impress. A group of objects can be formatted as if it was a single object, moved, rotated, deleted
and so on.
This section only gives a brief introduction to grouping of objects. For more information on working
with grouped objects, see the Draw Guide Chapter 5 Combining Multiple Objects.

Grouping
To group objects together:
1) Select the objects to be grouped using the selection tool on the Drawing toolbar and draw a
rectangle around the objects to be grouped, or hold down the Shift key and click on each
object. To select all the objects, go to Edit > Select All on the main menu bar or use the
keyboard combination Ctrl+A.
2) When the selection handles are displayed, go to Format > Group > Group on the main
menu bar or use the keyboard combination Ctrl+Shift+G or right-click on an object within
the selected group and select Group from the context menu.

Editing or formatting groups

To edit or format a group of objects:
1) Click on any one of the objects in the group to select the group. Any editing or formatting is
then carried out on all the objects within the group.
2) To edit an individual object within a group:
a) After selecting the group, press the F3 key or go to Format > Group > Enter Group on
the main menu bar or right-click and select Enter Group from the context menu.
b) Select individual objects within the group for editing or formatting.
c) When you have finished editing or formatting, use the keyboard combination Ctrl+F3 or
go to Format > Group > Exit group on the main menu bar or right-click and select Exit
Group from the context menu. The whole group then becomes selected.

Chapter 5 Managing Graphic Objects 111

Ungrouping
To ungroup objects:
1) Click on any one of the objects in the group to select the group.
2) When the selection handles are displayed, go to Format > Group > Ungroup on the menu
bar or use the keyboard combination Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G or right-click on the group and select
Ungroup from the context menu.

If you use the group and ungroup commands often, why not add them to one of the
toolbars shown by default so that the commands are readily available? To do so, you
Tip will need to customize the selected toolbar. See Chapter 11 Setting Up and
Customizing Impress.

Moving graphic objects

To move a graphic object:
1) Click on a graphic object or a group of objects to display the selection handles.
2) Move the cursor over a selected graphic object until the cursor changes shape. For
example, on most operating systems, the cursor associated with moving objects is a
clenched hand or a four-headed arrow.
3) Click and drag the graphic object to the desired position. You can also use the arrow keys
to move the selected object or group to a new position.
4) Release the mouse button.

By default Impress makes the objects snap to the grid. If you need to position the
object between two points of the grid, hold down the Ctrl key, then click on the object
Tip and move it to the desired position. Alternatively, you can turn off this snap function or
modify the grid resolution by going to Tools > Options > LibreOffice Impress >
Grid.

Figure 82: Position and Size dialog

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For a more accurate placement of the graphic object, use the Position and Size dialog (Figure 82):
1) With the object selected and the selection handles displayed, press F4 or go to Format >
Position and Size on the main menu bar, or right-click on the selected object and select
Position and Size from the context menu.
2) Click on the Position and Size tab.
3) Use the Position section of the dialog to specify the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) position
of the graphic object. The values represent the distance of the base point selected on the
right hand side of the dialog. The default selection for base point is relative to the top left
corner of the slide.
4) To prevent accidental modification of the position of the graphic object, select the Position
option in the Protect section of the dialog.
5) Click OK when satisfied and to close the dialog.
The units of measurement for this dialog and other dialogs are set in Tools > Options >
LibreOffice Impress > General.

Resizing graphic objects

To resize a graphic object:
1) Click on a graphic object or a group of objects to display the selection handles.
2) Position the pointer over one of the selection handles. The pointer changes shape giving a
graphical representation of the direction of the resizing. The corner handles resize both the
width and the height of the graphic object simultaneously, while the other four handles
resize only one dimension at a time.
3) Click and drag to resize the graphic object.
4) Release the mouse button to complete resizing.

To retain the original proportions of the graphic, Shift+click one of the corner handles,
Tip then drag. Release the mouse button before releasing the Shift key.

For more accurate resizing of the graphic object, use the Position and Size dialog (Figure 82):
1) With the object selected and the selection handles displayed, press F4 or go to Format >
Position and Size on the main menu bar, or right-click on the selected object and select
Position and Size from the context menu.
2) Click on the Position and Size tab.
3) Select as the base point the part of the graphic object that you would like to anchor to the
page. The default selection of top left corner means, that when resizing, the position of the
top left corner of the object will not change.
4) Now modify either the Width value or the Height value of the object in the Size section.
5) To maintain the proportions between width and height, select the Keep ratio option before
modifying any value. When Keep ratio is selected, changes to one dimension results in an
automatic change to the other with the ratio between width and height maintained.
6) To prevent accidental modifications of the size, select the Size option in the Protect section
of the dialog.
7) Click OK when satisfied and to close the dialog.

Chapter 5 Managing Graphic Objects 113

Applying special effects
As well as the basic actions of moving and resizing an object, a number of special effects can also
be applied to objects in Impress. Several of these effects are readily available in the Mode toolbar
(Figure 83). If the Mode toolbar is not showing, select it from View > Toolbars > Mode.
This section describes how to rotate, flip, distort and two ways of setting an object in a circle. The
transparency and gradient tools are more specific to formatting and are discussed in Chapter 6
Formatting Graphic Objects.

Figure 83: Mode toolbar and available options

Figure 84: Object selected for rotation

Rotating graphic objects

Rotation of an object can be carried out manually or using a dedicated dialog, just like changing
object position and size. To rotate a graphic manually:
1) Click on a graphic object and the selection handles will show.

2) Click the Rotate icon on the Line and Filling or Mode toolbars or click again on the
graphic object. The square selection handles change shape and also change color (Figure
84). Also a pivot point indicating the rotation center appears in the center of the object.
3) Move the mouse over one of the corner handles and the mouse cursor shape will change.

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 4) Click the mouse and move in the direction in which you want to rotate the graphic object.
Only the corner selection handles are active for rotation.
5) When satisfied with the rotation, release the mouse button.
6) To change the rotation center of the object, click and drag the pivot point to the desired
position before rotating. The pivot point can be moved to any position on the slide, even
outside of the object boundaries.
7) To restrict the rotation angles to multiples of 15 degrees, press and hold the Shift key while
rotating the graphic. This is very handy for rotating pictures through a right angle, for
example from portrait to landscape. Remember to release the Shift key before releasing
the mouse button.

The icons representing the functions in the toolbars may be different depending on
the operating system used and on whether LibreOffice has been customized. When
Note in doubt, hover the mouse over an icon and wait for the tooltip to appear showing the
name of the icon.

Instead of rotating a graphic object manually, you can use the Rotation dialog (Figure 85) to
accurately rotate an object in degrees:
1) With the object selected and the selection handles displayed, press F4 or go to Format >
Position and Size on the main menu bar, or right-click on the selected object and select
Position and Size from the context menu.
2) Click on the Rotation tab.
3) In the Pivot point section, select the position of the pivot point. The default position of the
pivot point is the center of the object.
4) In the Rotation angle section, enter the degrees in the Angle text box by which to rotate
the graphic object. Alternatively, in Default settings, click on the Rotation Angle indicator
and drag it to a new angle.
5) Click OK when satisfied and to close the dialog.

Figure 85: Rotation page of the Position and Size dialog

Chapter 5 Managing Graphic Objects 115

Flipping objects
The quickest and easiest method to flip an object horizontally or vertically is as follows:
1) Click on a graphic object and the selection handles will show.
2) Right-click and select Flip > Horizontally or Flip > Vertically from the context menu and
the selected object will be flipped to face the other direction.

Figure 86: Using the Flip tool

The Flip tool on the Drawing or Mode toolbar can also be used. Using this tool also allows you to
change the position and angle that the object flips over (Figure 86).
1) Click on a graphic object and the selection handles will show.

2) Click on the Flip icon on the Drawing or Mode toolbar and the axis of symmetry
appears as a dashed line through the center of the object. The object will be flipped about
this axis of symmetry.
3) Click and drag the axis of symmetry to a new position, or position the cursor in one of the
circles at each end of the axis of symmetry and drag with your mouse cursor to change the
angle.
4) Place the mouse cursor over one of the object selection handles until it changes shape.
5) Click and drag your cursor across the axis of symmetry to flip the object. The new position
of the object is shown faintly until the mouse is released.
6) Release the mouse button and the object will appear flipped over. Angle and position of the
flip will depend on the angle and position of the axis of symmetry.

If you press the Shift key while moving the axis of symmetry, it will rotate in 45-degree
Note increments.

Mirror copies
At the moment there is no mirror command existing in Impress. However, mirroring an object can
be emulated by flipping the object:
1) Select the object you want to make a mirror copy of and copy the object to the clipboard.
2) Flip the object using one of the methods in Flipping objects, then move the flipped object
to one side.
3) Click on an empty area of the page to deselect the object.
4) Paste from the clipboard to put a copy of the object into your slide.

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 5) Select both images, then right-click and select Alignment from the context menu.
6) Select the type of alignment you want to use. Top, Center, or Bottom if you are creating a
horizontal mirror copy. Left, Centered, or Right if you are creating a vertical mirror copy.

Distorting images
Three tools on the Mode toolbar (Figure 83 on page 114) let you drag the corners and edges of an
object to distort the image. The Distort icon distorts an object in perspective, the Set to Circle
(slant) icon and Set in Circle (perspective) icon both create a pseudo three-dimensional
effect. Note that when using these tools, you have to transform an object to a curve before
distorting.

Distort tool
1) Select an object and click on the Distort icon on the Mode toolbar.
2) Click Yes to convert the object to a curve. If the object is already a curve, this dialog does
not appear.
3) Click and drag a corner selection handle to distort the object using the opposite corner
selection handle as an anchor point for the distortion.
4) Click and drag the vertical selection handles to distort the object using the opposite vertical
side as an anchor point for the distortion.
5) Click and drag the horizontal selection handles to distort the object using the opposite
horizontal side as an anchor point for the distortion.

Figure 87: Distorting an object

Set in circle (perspective) tool

1) Select an object and click on the Set in Circle (perspective) icon in the Mode toolbar.
2) Click Yes to convert the object to a curve. If the object is already a curve, this dialog does
not appear.
3) Click and drag one of the selection handles to give a pseudo three-dimensional perspective
using the opposite side as an anchor point (Figure 88). A ghosted image appears as you
drag to give you and indication of the resulting object will look.

Chapter 5 Managing Graphic Objects 117

 Figure 88: Setting an image to a circle with perspective

Set to circle (slant) tool

1) Select an object and click on the Set to Circle (slant) icon in the Mode toolbar.
2) Click Yes to convert the object to a curve. If the object is already a curve, this dialog does
not appear.
3) Click and drag one of the selection handles to give a pseudo three-dimensional perspective
using the opposite side as an anchor point (Figure 89). A ghosted image appears as you
drag to give you and indication of the resulting object will look.

Figure 89: Setting an image to a circle with slant

Transforming an object into a curve is a safe operation, but it cannot be reversed

Note other than by using the Undo function.

Aligning objects
Use the alignment tools to adjust the relative position of a graphic object compared to another
object.

Click on the triangle to the right of the Alignment icon in the Line and Filling toolbar or go to
View > Toolbars > Align on the main menu bar to open the Align toolbar (Figure 90). The
Alignment icon shown on the Line and Filling toolbar will depend on the alignment option that had
been previously selected. The alignment options are also available when you right-click on
selected objects.
If only one object is selected, the alignment options are not available.
The toolbar has six tools available:
Left, Center, Right determines the horizontal alignment of the selected objects.
Top, Center, Bottom determines the vertical alignment of the selected objects.

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 Figure 90: Align toolbar

Snapping objects to grid or snap guides

Sometimes it is important to align objects to specific points of the page or to make sure that objects
that appear on multiple slides are placed in exactly the same position. For this purpose Impress
provides two mechanisms: Grid and Snap Guides (also called Snap Lines).

Using the grid

Options for the grid are available by right-clicking on an empty part of the page in Normal view and
choosing Grid or by selecting View > Grid from the menu bar. The options available from the
context menu that opens are:
Display Grid displays the grid.
Snap to Grid the anchor points of an object will be placed on a grid when the object is
moved or resized.
Grid to Front displays the grid in the foreground.
To set up the grid spacing and snapping options, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice Impress >
Grid on the menu bar.

Using snap guides

Options for the guides are available by right clicking on an empty part of the page in Normal view
and choosing Snap Lines or by selecting View > Snap Lines from the menu bar. The options
available from the context menu that opens are:
Display Guides the guides are shown on the slide.
Snap to Snap Lines the anchor points of the objects snap to the guides when the object
is moved or resized.
Snap Lines to Front displays the guides in the foreground.

Chapter 5 Managing Graphic Objects 119

 Figure 91: New Snap Object dialog

Creating a new guide

1) Right-click on an empty part of the work area and select Insert Snap Point/Line from the
context menu to open the New Snap Object dialog (Figure 91).
2) Specify the type of snap object. Depending on the choice made determines which field
becomes active:
a) Point both X and Y fields become active.
b) Vertical only X field becomes active.
c) Horizontal only Y field become active.
3) Enter the position of the guide.
4) Click OK to close the dialog.

When positioning the Snap Guides, it is useful to display the rulers. To do so, select
Tip View > Rulers. Drag a Snap Guide directly onto the slide by clicking on the ruler and
then dragging onto the slide.

Editing guides
1) Right-click next to or on the guide to be edited.
2) Select Edit Snap line from the context menu.
3) Enter a new value in the X or Y field for the guide position and click OK.

Deleting guides
1) Right-click next or on the guide to be deleted.
2) Select Delete Snap line from the context menu.

Arranging objects
Impress organizes objects in a stack so that the objects on the top level of the stack cover the
objects on lower levels if any overlapping occurs. The stack level of each object can be changed
by arranging shapes on a slide or page.

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