Introduction to Styles in Writer
Master the foundation of LibreOffice Writer: 6 Style Categories, F11 Styles & Formatting Deck, Fill Format Mode, New Styles from Selection, Drag-and-Drop Limitations, and Loading Styles from Templates.
1. Understanding Styles & The 6 Categories
A Style is a collection of all formatting information that you want to save and apply to document elements. Press F11 to open the Styles deck on the sidebar.
Controls text alignment, tab stops, line spacing, and borders. Impacts the whole paragraph block.
Affects selected words or characters inside a paragraph (e.g. bold font, font color, underline).
Controls page layout, margins, orientation (Portrait/Landscape), headers, footers, and page borders.
Formats graphic frames, text boxes, wrapping bounds, borders, and margins.
Specifies bullet symbols, numbering schemes (1, A, i), and indentation levels in nested lists.
Controls table borders, header row formatting, alternating row colors, and cell margins.
2. Applying Styles: Fill Format Mode
Applying styles one by one across a 50-page document is slow. Fill Format Mode speeds up formatting:
- Open the Styles and Formatting deck (F11).
- Select the style you want to apply from the list.
- Click the Fill Format icon (the paint bucket icon at the top of the deck).
- The mouse pointer turns into a fill beaker. Click on any text, word, or paragraph to apply the style.
- Press the Esc key to exit Fill Format mode.
3. Creating & Updating Custom Styles
Format a sample paragraph manually. In F11 deck, click the drop-down next to 'New Style' > choose New Style from Selection. Give it a name.
Select formatted text and drag it directly into the Styles deck window. Crucial Exam Fact: Drag and drop CANNOT create a Page style.
Click Load Styles from Template in F11 deck. Import styles from templates or external documents without recreating them.