Neat Writer Feature -- Relative Font Sizes

users
#1

I just thought I’d share a neat feature I recently discovered in Writer.

The ability to set font sizes in styles as a percentage of the font size of a base style.

For example, I often set documents in an 11 point font such as Palatino. My headings are then at 14 or 16 points. But, if I decide to switch to Times New Roman, I’ll increase my base font to 12 points. Then I have to go into my heading styles and increase them accordingly. But...

I’ve learned I can set my heading styles as a percentage of my base style. In the font size dialog box, rather than setting it at 14 points, I’ll set it at 125%. Then, whenever I change the size of my base font, my heading styles automatically change based on the percentage. This technique saves a lot of effort when changing font sizes in a document.

The key is to know what style is used as the base style for the heading styles.

Virgil

#2

Hi :slight_smile:
Styles rock!!! :))

I didn't know they could go that extreme and usually try to switch-off
the relative font-sizes because the idea freaks me out. It feels like
everything goes outside of my direct control! However that means i
would have to adjust each heading-level individually which now seems
really dumb. If i have a case where i don't like the headings i could
just re-adjust just the one rather than always having to do them all!
lqtm. I feel i've been being a bit of a moron tbh
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#3

Hi Virgil, all

Virgil Arrington wrote

I just thought I’d share a neat feature I recently discovered in Writer.

The ability to set font sizes in styles as a percentage of the font size
of a base style.

Thank you for sharing. It is a great idea to share this kind of positive
information.

In the particular case of your today's tip, I think this is the kind of
features that could convince more users that styles are actually useful and
time saving :wink:

I have a suggestion for you: why don't you also add this to the knowledge
base stored in the Ask LibreOffice platform?

You can create a question and then answer it yourself :wink:

Kind regards,
Pedro

#4

Tom wrote:

I didn't know they could go that extreme and usually try to switch-off
the relative font-sizes because the idea freaks me out. It feels like
everything goes outside of my direct control!

Ahh, control. That's one of the reasons I like LO; it gives me control over *everything*. By comparison, when I've used LaTeX, I've been overcome by the beautiful results, but the trade-off is that I lose control.

But, one of the things I've always liked about LaTeX is that, by changing one parameter, like the base font size, everything else automatically changes (heading sizes, page margins, ... everything). I was thrilled to find out I had a similar ability with LO's relative font size controls.

Just another way styles provide even *more* control with fewer steps.

Virgil

#5

I think it is a very old option, from Ooo times, that we can find out in the
help.

<http://nabble.documentfoundation.org/file/n4097058/Captura.png>

Maybe we need to recover the habit of read the manuals. I know it was
easier, when long time ago, programs came with a heavy book.
Miguel Ángel.

#6

Hi :slight_smile:
I think some people here do read the manuals
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications

But i agree that it might be good for certain people (mostly thinking
about me tbh) to dip in and read-up even on just 1 feature per week or
month or however long. Actually part of the reason i joined this list
was because i hoped to learn how to solve issues that people find
problematic in the here&now and maybe learn a few tricks or quirks.
Kinda a cheats way of learning without trying. However i really need
to knuckle down to some proper reading at some point.

Perhaps we could have a quick little weekly "gem" (or "find") maybe
from a different person each time (ish)? but i think some of the
various blogs are trying to do that already. Would it be
"duplication" to do something similar on this list or would it be just
a good thing to try out for a bit because we handle things differently
here?

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#7

Advice of the week Tom .... RTFM!!!! LOL!!

IanW
Pretoria RSA

#8

Ahh, control. That's one of the reasons I like LO; it gives me control over

*everything*. By comparison, when I've used LaTeX, I've been overcome by the

Not convinced.

beautiful results, but the trade-off is that I lose control.

What control is lost in latex?

#9

e-letter wrote,

What control is lost in latex?

Fair question, and I probably should have worded it better. Yes, with LaTeX, you can control everything, but (at least in my experience) the learning curve to gain that control can be daunting. The GUI of LyX makes things easier, but even then, if you want total control, you're mixing in raw TeX commands with options selected from a menu, all the while throwing in a long list of preamble commands, all of which can take a long time to learn. The point and click options in LO make things *so* much more accessible. Of course, I'll be the first to admit that LO can't match the professional final output of LaTeX, (especially with LaTeX's OSF font options and the Microtype justification package), but it's getting closer, and certainly acceptable for my purposes.

So, to make matters easier, when using LaTeX, I try to stick with the its default formatting, which results in a (voluntary) loss of control.

Virgil

#10

OK, fair enough but as a latex user, was amazed to read a claim that
LO provides greater control! :slight_smile:

#11

TeX (and LaTeX) is one of those things I was always "gunna" learn to use. More power to you.

#12

That's the first gem of the series! :wink:

#13

​They are tools. Power users of each tools will find that they are on the
"better" side.
Some peoples feel that latex, with all the commands everywhere is too
​complicated, but when you learn a bit about it it's ok. Same for
LibreOffice; there's properties dialog everywhere, multiple levels of
styles, and not-always intuitive page management, but when you learn a bit
about it it's ok.
And in both case, doing anything that's more advanced will require more
learning. Setting up the "best" template for your work can be tedious with
any tools, LO and latex included. But writing a ~100 lines latex class file
to match an (imposed) template is as tedious as setting the correct chain
of styles in LO...

Regarding the "greater control" statement, it's the same. You can have a
lot of control in both, but it's gonna be some work. But I'll concede, one
of latex advantages is that it have sensible default settings for various
usages :slight_smile: