LibreOffice Tips and Tricks
Contents
Calc: Date Format and Partial Entry
If you highlight the column and press CNTL-1 a dialog with options appears. Make sure the language is set to English.
When using Excel, a partial date entry such as MM-DD ie: 1-25 will automatically result in conversion to the configured format, for example MM/DD/YYYY or 1/25/2018. This does not occur by default in Calc because Calc doesn't recognize the dash as a date separator. This was not a problem in older versions (3.5x and earlier). Here's the fix: On the top menu click ( Tools -> Options -> Language Settings -> Languages ) and add two additional patterns to the field labeled "Date acceptance patterns:" so that the full contents of the field are as follows:
M/D/Y;M/D;M-D-Y;M-D
Apparently some smug little programmer decided that it was just plain wrong for folks to be using dashes in their date, so he removed it from the standard patterns. There have been multiple complaints and bug reports so it will likely be corrected in future versions.
Tip: CTRL + ; will automatically enter the current date in the active cell.
Calc: Text Wrap in a Cell
- When in the desired cell right click and choose "Format Cells"
- In the Format Cells dialog click on the "Alignment" tab
- Check the "Wrap text automatically" check box
By default the Vertical alignment will stick to the bottom.
Writer: Many Glitches
LibreOffice Writer has too many glitches. Often I can't "Paste Unformatted" and their help forums just make excuses as to why, blaming the X.org and other factors. Other issues is the constant lockups and slowness. So, I found a fix that addresses all of the many problems with LibreOffice Writer.
Solution - wait and hope the next version is better
Calc: Set Print Area
The cells on the sheet that are not part of the defined print range are not printed or exported as PDF.
- Select the cells that you want to print.
- Choose Format -> Print Ranges -> Define.
To Clear a Print Range
- Choose Format -> Print Ranges -> Clear.
All: Security Improvement
Java is a security risk and a performance hog. Disable it entirely except if you use plug-ins which rely on Java.
- Tools -> Options -> LibreOffice -> Advanced
- Under "Java Options" uncheck "Use a Java runtime environment"
You can also disable VBA
- Tools -> Options -> Load/Save -> VBA Properties
Calc: Image Watermark Background
- Format -> Page -> Background
- dropdown box defaults as "Color" click on it and change to "Graphic"
- You can use Position and click the radial button for the top left.
The watermark WILL NOT be WYSIWYG - not visible on the sheet until you select "Print Preview" CNTRL+SHFT+O
