How to Prepare Labels with Libreoffice.org by Bruce Byfield.
This tutorial covers using templates, how to import images and use text, in-depth instructions on using mailmerge and more.
For more reading on using labels with Libreoffice:
Creating fancy labels with Libreoffice
Mail merge address labels with Libreoffice
Working with Barcode with Libreoffice/Openoffice
Have more questions about using labels, feel free to visit the forums and engage the community in helping you
OK, LibreOffice is free for the download, and you can install it on as many different machines as you choose. But a free price and a free license aren’t much good if the software doesn’t have the features you want.
Happily, that’s usually not a concern with LibreOffice or its predecessor, OpenOffice. Although many people assume that a free application must be inferior to one that they pay for, a comparison of LibreOffice with Microsoft Office (MSO) proves that the opposite is often true. Sometimes, MSO has features that LibreOffice lacks, but, just as often, it’s LibreOffice that has more tools than MSO.
However, unless you’re concerned about a must-have feature, there’s usually no need for a point by point comparison. Focusing on performance and high-level interface choices alone, I can think of at least seven reasons to choose LibreOffice over MS Office:
Neither LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice.org installs with the ability to print barcodes. However, if you need barcodes, you have at least three ways to add them to either office suite.
The first — and least elegant — method is to use one of the many dedicated shareware, freeware, or free-licensed applications for printing barcodes and labels.
There are something like a squillion and one different Avery® and Avery-compatible address labels you can buy, and with the open source LibreOffice productivity suite you can easily create your own custom fancy return address labels.
If you’re wondering what LibreOffice is, it’s an offshoot of the popular OpenOffice productivity suite. Development on OpenOffice has stagnated for the past couple of years, and most of the key OpenOffice developers have gone to LibreOffice. You can use either one for this howto. Both are free of cost, and are excellent fully-featured office suites.
Today we are going to learn how to create a page of custom return address labels, with images and custom fonts.
Despite the fact that open source has specialty label-and-business-card programs like gLabels and capable desktop publishing apps like Scribus, most general office users are going to continue to create their documents in the word processor of the office suite they feel the most comfortable in, like OpenOffice.org Writer. It is certainly a good choice, too; it provides design wizards that simplify creating print-ready documents for standard label templates, and OpenOffice’s mail merge backend is quite powerful.
by Nathan Willis
If you use the open source Mozilla Thunderbird email client, you’re probably familiar with its powerful address book features: import and export, online status information for your friends, even synchronization. But one thing that’s not so obvious is how to do a mail merge to your address book contacts. Fortunately, where there’s a will — and some source code — there is a way.
By Nathan Willis
Designed file folder labels for Openoffice.org Writer in OpenDocument Format Templates
There are a few types available: Designed Alphabetical, Numerical, Colored Bar and Framed File folder labels for free in Openoffice.org Writer templates. TIP: first print on plain paper and trace of label sheet to make sure everything is aligned. Folder labels are size: 3.4375″ x 0.667″, 30 labels on 8.5 x 11″ US letter size sheets. (Works with Avery® 5066, 5366 and 8366. Worldlabel # WL-200)
Perhaps you want a blank file folder template (.ott) and here your can follow how to make labels with Openoffice.org
The AutoText tool is much more useful than you might think. In fact, it hides a few clever features that can make your word processing more efficient. But let’s start from the very beginning. As you might know, the AutoText tool allows you to insert frequently used text snippets using abbreviations.
BY DMITRI POPOV
Although OpenOffice.org is a competent productivity suite, you can add some nifty features to it using extensions. There are hundreds of nifty extensions available in the official extension repository. Some of them add a feature or two, while others take OpenOffice.org to a whole new level. The AuthorSupportTool (AST) extension belongs to the latter category. AST not just adds some random features to OpenOffice.org Writer, it dramatically enhances the word processor’s functionality, turning it into a powerful tool for working on research papers and complex documents.
By Dmitri Popov
Office applications like OpenOffice.org can bring out the worst in people. The same people who wouldn’t dream of driving a car without a few lessons will start pounding away in a word processor as though it were a typewriter, ignoring basic features like styles and templates. In the end, they may produce the documents they want, but only with far more effort than is necessary. They might as well be pushing a car instead of turning the ignition key.
Nothing stops you if you really want to format manually, any more than anything prevents you from using the soles of your shoes to slow down a car instead of the brake. OpenOffice.org does nothing to stop you from indenting each new paragraph in Writer or setting each number format in a Calc cell on its own. For small, unusual documents, manual formatting may even be quicker.
By Bruce Byfield
