Riska/Getty Images
As a writer, I have to make sure that the tools I use work exactly the way I want them to. Sometimes it drives perfectly, while other times it needs to be adjusted to suit my needs properly.
LibreOffice, for example, allows you to modify the default styles so that they match exactly what you expect. You may need to change a style’s font, font size, alignment, etc.
Here is a very simple example. For my fiction writing, the Heading 2 style should be centered, because that’s what I use for chapter headings. Of course, I can use the default Heading 2 style, but every time I would have to go back and not only center it, but also remove the indentation.
When you write a whole novel, it’s a bit too much extra work.
That’s why I changed the style to make my job a little easier. And here’s how I do it.
How to edit a LibreOffice style
The only thing you will need is to install LibreOffice. It doesn’t matter which operating system you use it on, as the process is the same.
Open LibreOffice Writer
The first thing to do is to open LibreOffice Writer.
Select style
Then select the style you want to edit. How to do this depends on the user interface you are using. For example, on PC, go to the drop-down menu at the top left Set paragraph style. Choose the style you want to modify.
Here is where to choose the type of paragraph to modify. Screenshot ZDNET UK
Open style editor
Once the style is selected, click styles from the main menu, then select Edit Style.
Here’s where to access the style edit settings. Screenshot ZDNET UK
Change style
Let’s stick with my example and change the style of header 2 to be centered and unindented. To do this, you need to configure the following in the style editor:
Alignement - Centre
Retraits (tous) - 0.00Of course, you can make any changes you want to the style. When you’re done, click OK to save the new version of the style. Now, when you select title 2, it will be exactly as you want it to be.
Make as many changes to the style as you want. Screenshot ZDNET UK
That’s all there is to editing a style in LibreOffice. By doing this you can make your job a bit more efficient.
As a professional writer, I can attest that this feature has made my job easier, saving me time when I want to focus on writing and not formatting. Up to you.
Source: “ZDNet.com”