by Solveig Haugland, June 2008
This is another article in my series showing the similarities
between OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office (pre-Office 2007).
Using a new product requires some re-learning. That’s unavoidable. But you rarely have to learn an entirely new set of skills - it’s just that the new stuff sticks out at us. This article is to emphasize the similarities between the OpenOffice.org Impress and Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation tools. These are the things you can instantly do with no relearning. I hope that not only will this show some of the similarities but will show you some shortcuts you might not have known about in either program.
Basics
Basics in Powerpoint and Impress
1) Open and save documents with the Open and Save icons.
2) Apply the bullets or numbering style you want. Select the text and choose Format > Bullets and Numbering.
3) Use the Draw toolbar to create shapes.
4) Use the formatting toolbar to format text.
5) Use the Hyperlink icon to link text or graphics.
6) In the left-hand slide pane, right-click and choose New Slide to add a new slide.
7) Press F5 to run a slide show. You can also choose Slide Show > Run Show (PowerPoint) or Slide Show > Slide Show (Impress) on the menu bar.
8) In the right-hand formatting pane, click Slide Layout label (PowerPoint) or Layouts label (Impress) to see the slide layouts available for your presentation. Then just click on one to apply it to the current slide.
9) In the left-hand slide pane, drag a slide thumbnail (the small icon representing the slide) up or down to re-arrange order, or right-click on the slide thumbnail and choose Cut or Copy, then paste it in a different location.
10) Resize a picture or shape by moving your mouse over a corner or side “handle” so that the mouse cursor looks like a two-ended arrow. Drag the mouse in or out to decrease or increase size. To resize proportionately, hold down the Shift key while dragging.
Mid-Level Tasks
Mid-Level Tasks in Powerpoint and Impress
1) Show the grid by clicking the Show/Hide Grid (PowerPoint) or Display Grid (Impress)icon.
2) Look at the presentation in outline view by choosing the Outline tab.
3) Draw a variety of shapes using the icons on the drawing toolbar.
4) View and edit the master pages (templates) used in the presentatation by choosing View > Master > Slide Master.
5) View the presentation in other views like handouts and notes by choosing the View menu and the view you want.
6) View the available toolbars by choosing View > Toolbars.
7) Use the connector line tool to connect objects for organizational charts and other complex diagrams.
8) Control how the presentation will run by choosing Slide Show > Set Up Show (PowerPoint) or Slide Show > Slide Show Settings (Impress).
9) Add date, time, and page number fields by choosing the Insert menu and the option you want.
Advanced Tasks
Advanced Tasks in Powerpoint and Impress
1) Use the 3D drawing toolbar icon to create 3D objects.
2) Determine what automatic formatting you want by choosing Format > AutoCorrect.
3) Create a chart from scratch by choosing Insert > Chart.
4) Create custom slide show variations on the same presentation file by choosing Tools > Custom Shows (PowerPoint) or Slide Show > Custom Slide Show (Impress).
5) Apply animation to objects by right-clicking on the object and choosing Custom Animation.
6) Apply slide transitions by choosing Slide Show > Slide Transition.
7) Add movie files by choosing Insert > Movies and Sounds > Movie from File (PowerPoint) or Insert > Movie and Sound (Impress).
8) Use the Picture toolbar to modify how pictures look. Click on the picture and the toolbar appears.
9) Create vertical text boxes with the Vertical Text icon on the drawing toolbar.
10) Modify the shape of a Curve line by right-clicking on the line and choosing Edit Points.
About the Author: Solveig Haugland is an author, instructor, and consultant near Denver, Colorado. She has been working with OpenOffice.org and StarOffice since 1999 and loves to show people how to make OpenOffice.org do what they need it to. She blogs at http://openoffice.blogs.com and her business web site is http://www.getopenoffice.org. Her latest book is the OpenOffice.org 2 Guidebook.
SEE ALSO:
> 30 Similarities Between Microsoft Office Excel and in OpenOffice.org Calc
> 30 Similarities Between Microsoft Office Word and OpenOffice.org Writer
> Switching Office Suites from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice.org
Posted by FA Editors at 2:50 PM PDT
