A template is a document containing only the styles (and content) that you want to appear in every document of that type. When a document is created or opened with the template, the styles are automatically applied to that document. Templates greatly enhance the use of OpenOffice.org by simplifying formatting tasks for a variety of different types of documents. For example, in a word processor, you might write letters, memos, and reports, all of which look different and require different styles. Or for spreadsheets, you might want to use different cell styles or headings for certain types of spreadsheets. If you use templates for each of your document types, the styles you need for each document are always readily available.
OpenOffice.org comes with a set of predefined templates, and you can find additional templates on the Internet. For details, see Section 1.10, “For More Information”. If you want to create your own templates, this requires some up-front planning. You need to determine how you want the document to look so you can create the styles you need in that template.
A detailed explanation of templates is beyond the scope of this section. Procedure 1.6, “Creating OpenOffice.org Templates” only shows how to generate a template from an existing document.
Procedure 1.6. Creating OpenOffice.org Templates
For text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings, you can easily create a template from an existing document as follows:
Start OpenOffice.org and open or create a document that contains the styles and content that you want to re-use for other documents of that type.
Click
+ + .Specify a name for the template.
In the
box, click the category you want to place the template in. The category is the folder where the template is stored.Click
.![]() | Converting Former Microsoft Word Templates |
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You can convert Microsoft Word templates like you would any other Word document. See Section 1.4.1, “Converting Documents to the OpenOffice.org Format” for information. |