OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox, and Thunderbird for Windows All in One [Electronic resources]

1.

Build your initial presentation with the Wizard.

2.

Fill in details by designing each slide inside the presentation.

1.

Display the Presentation Wizard

Start

Impress by selecting

OpenOffice.org Impress from the program group on the

Start menu. Assuming the default

Start with Wizard setting is in effect (see

Set Impress Options ), the

Presentation Wizard dialog box appears. You can follow the dialog box's steps to create your presentation.86 Use an Impress Template ), or you can open an existing presentation (see

83 Open an Existing Presentation ).

86 Use an Impress Template explains more about the templates that you can use and create with Impress.transition you want Impress to make as your presentation moves from slide to slide. If you leave

Effect at its default setting of

No Effect , Impress simply replaces each slide with the next as you move forward in your presentation. The

Speed option determines the transitional speed. You can always change the speed later, so generally, unless you're familiar with the transition speeds, you should leave the default speed (

Medium ) as is until you see whether you need a faster or slower setting.

KEY TERM

Transition The way one slide leaves the presentation screen and the next slide appears. You can select from a variety of Impress transitional effects, such as fading from one slide to another or having the new slide fly in from the side or from the top, overwriting the previous slide.101 Make an Automatic Presentation for help with creating and presenting automatic presentations.

TIP

If the

Layouts task pane does not appear, choose

Slide Layout from the

Format menu to display it. If the task pane takes up too much room on your screen, you can close it when it's not in use or drag it into the document area to turn it into a smaller, floating window.

For presentations you give and control yourself, leave the presentation type set to

Default so that you control when each slide changes to the next as you give your presentation.

4.

Create Your Presentation

When you're ready to create the presentation, click the

Create button.

5.

Determine the First Slide's Look

Once the

Presentation Wizard ends, your presentation is far from over! What you accomplished with the

Presentation Wizard is creating the backgrounds, default transitions, and time durations of your overall presentation. Not one slide is finished yet because you have yet to add text or graphics to any slide. Actually, only one slide even existsthe very first one. Your job is to determine the kind of slide you want to modify the first default slide into by selecting an

AutoLayout from the Layouts task pane to the right of the work area.

KEY TERM

AutoLayout A predesigned slide layout for Impress presentation slides. Some AutoLayouts contain both text and graphics, whereas others are more suitable for title screens with large titles or for charts with very little to no text.

TIP

If the

Layouts task pane does not appear, choose

Slide Layout from the

Format menu to display it. If the task pane takes up too much room on your screen, you can close it when it's not in use or drag it into the document area to turn it into a smaller, floating window.

Select an AutoLayout slide layout by double-clicking it in the Layouts pane. Impress changes the first slide in your presentation to the selected AutoLayout format so that you can continue filling in the details and continue inserting new slides until you finish the presentation.

6.

Fill in the Slide Details

AutoLayout slides provide you with placeholders for text and sometimes for graphics and charts. To add text, click a placeholder and replace the placeholder text with your own text. You'll continue inserting new slides, modifying the new slides by selecting an AutoLayout for them, and filling in their details as you build your presentation.