Getting Started with LibreOffice on Mac

Many Windows computer users work with Microsoft Office programs, such as Word and Excel. That software package is also available on a Mac. A handy and well-known package, but for a fee. Since 2013, there is also a free solution for Mac users. The iWorks software package is standard on all new Mac computers. The package includes Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and iMovie. Another free option is LibreOffice. It includes word processing programs and spreadsheets, among other things.

LibreOffice is free to download. How to do this is described in the software article ‘LibreOffice (Mac)’.

The LibreOffice software package contains six programs. These offer many possibilities.

• Writer (Text document)
  A word processor similar to Word from Microsoft Office and Pages from Apple. It is intended for reading and writing texts, providing images and much more.
• Calc (Worksheet)
  A calculator as an alternative to Excel from Microsoft Office or Numbers from Apple. With this you keep all kinds of data with numbers, such as a household book.
• Impress (Presentation)
  A program for making presentations. It is similar to PowerPoint from the Office suite and Keynote from Apple’s iWork.
• Draw (Drawing)
  A vector drawing program. This can be used to create diagrams, 3D works or cliparts.
• Base (Data source)
  A program to create databases. It is an alternative to Microsoft Access. This allows an overview to be created in data, which can then be easily managed.
• Math (Formula)
  A program for formulas and equations. The capabilities of Math are already incorporated in some other LibreOffice programs.

Follow the steps below to open one of the programs:

• On the Dock, click on the Finder (smiling face).
• click on apps.
• Double click on LibreOffice.
• Click on the desired program.
• Most LibreOffice programs also open a new document immediately.

Although each program has different options, there are also many similarities between the programs. The programs look similar. At the top is the menu bar. All possible commands of the program are hidden in it. Click on a menu item to see all child commands.

There are also worksheets in the programs below the menu bar. These are actually a kind of shortcuts to commands that can also be found in the menu bar. The first bar is a standard bar with the same icons in almost every program. An example is the button for saving a document. Below that is another toolbar with relevant tools, such as formatting text in Writer. This bar differs per program.

After opening Writer, you can immediately start typing a text. In Calc you first click in a cell and then enter text or numbers. This text can then be formatted.

• Select the text to format. To do this, drag the mouse over the part you want to select, while holding down the left mouse button. With Calc you first double click in the cell.
• Click on the appropriate formatting tool.
  • Font style : click on the arrow and select a font.
  • Font size : click on the arrow and select the font size.
  • make fat
  • Make italic
  • underline
  • Adjust text color

The result is immediately visible.

Files have an extension. That tells you what kind of file it is and which programs can open the file. By default, LibreOffice saves all documents in the OpenDocument (ODF) format. That’s a standard format that multiple programs use, including Microsoft Office. Still, you or someone you share a document with may prefer Microsoft format. Then you can be sure that there are no problems with exchanging files with Office users. In that case, adjust the LibreOffice settings.

• Open LibreOffice.
• Click at the top of the menu LibreOffice.
• click on Preferences.
• Double click on Load/Save to open the drop-down menu.
• click on General.
• Click on the drop-down menu behind ‘Document type’ in the right pane.
• Click the type of document you want to set up. We click Text document.
• Click on ‘Always save as’ on the drop-down menu and click on Office Open XML Text (*.docx).
• click on OK.

To save a file, do the following:

• click on File.
• click on Save.
• Type a file name. Note that all documents are given different names. Files with the same name will be overwritten.
• Navigate to the desired location to save the document.
• click on Keep.