Custom paper size?

English
, ,
#1

New to LibreOffice (MacOS). I’d like to create a page layout document, and assume that can/should be done in Draw. The print size is 4"x5". In a regular Mac application, I can create a custom paper size using the Page Setup dialog under the File menu, or sometimes the Paper Size function in the Print dialog. (In fact, I can create a custom size there and then use it in any application that can access it.)

However, in LibreOffice there is no Page Setup dialog, and no Page Size in the Print dialog. I see a Format popup menu on the right side, with a long list of standard paper sizes, but no way to create a custom size. I’ve searched in Help, and the Getting Started and Draw Guides, but have found no information. Is there a way to create a custom paper size for a document in LibreOffice?

#2

Hello,

Try Format->Page Properties from the Draw menu.

#3

Hello

Here you are: go to the menu click on format → scroll down to Pages…, then click on the Page tab at the top, then you will see all you need.

Regards,
HerCorns.

#4

Page size is not a global document property, therefore it is not set through the print dialog.

In LO, every page can have a different size if you like. You achieve that with page styles. Ordinary documents use only one page size defined in page style Default Style.

As answered by @HerCorns, the quick way to change paper size is with menu Format → Page, Page tab which changes the current page style, usually Default Style.

The more general way implies to change specific page styles which you access with F11, fourth icon in the toolbar. With this second strategy, your document can be printed on various sheets, such as some pages in landscape inside a portrait document.

If this answer helped you, please accept it by clicking the check mark :heavy_check_mark: to the left and, karma permitting, upvote it. If this resolves your problem, close the question, that will help other people with the same question.

#5

The OP mentions Draw, which doesn’t have an ability to use different page sizes in one document.

#6

@mikekaganski: BTW: Why? LibO is based on the often stressed “monolithic” approach to OfficeSoftware. Nonetheless there are differences I don’t clearly see the rationale for. Do you know a text (blog e.g.) explaining this?

#7

Well, I don’t know the exact rationale (and I used to come across an RFE for changing that), but it might be simply the fact that Draw and Impress are in fact one application internally, and for Impress, this makes sense (it is designed to be used with presentation screens, that have static dimensions during single presentation).

The “monolithic” doesn’t mean there’s no module-specific code; it only means that some (multiple) core parts are shared. Page size is not among them.

#8

Quoting @mikekaganski: “…the fact that Draw and Impress are in fact one application internally…”
That’s what I also supposed, but: I personally never use Impress, but rather frequently Draw. (I didn’t feel urgent need to date wtr. The one value I would get: be able to switch orientation.)
And: In Impress there isn’t a Format > Page... menu item at all, but Slide > Slide Properties... instead. No “paper” but “screen”… The relevante difference is present already in the UI.

#9

In addition layers are not implemented for Impress. I feel sure that implementing the “multiple-page-formats-feature” for Draw would require much less extras than layers.

#10

No :slight_smile: the difference in “Page” and “Slide” is just UI strings, a tiny difference at the internals level :))

And layers aren’t “not implemented” for impress; they are simply hidden.

What effort would be needed is not relevant here. There’s no need to argue that it would be a good thing; it’s just a matter of fact that layers feature was deemed necessary by whoever implemented them.

#11

Sorry for my misinterpretation. Once again I was too quick, not reading every word.

#12

Thanks for all the responses. As Ratslinger first noted, the solution is found in Format ->Page Properties… ->Page. HerCorns said Format → Pages… ->Page; is that the Windows or Linux version? As noted in the OP, I’m in MacOS (10.12, the 2016 version). Why would such a simple thing be done differently in different platform versions of the application? Seems needlessly confusing.

As Mike Kaganski notes, indeed, the page size setting is document-wide; change it for any page and it changes the whole document. Which is fine for my purposes.

Anyway, as this is my first adventure with LO, what I found interesting was the difference in style. I’ve been in the Mac world exclusively for going on 30 years, but had heard that in Windows (and I’d guess in Linux, which generally follows Windows ways of doing things) procedures tend to be application-specific (and sometimes widely varying) where in Macintosh, where applications are more thoroughly integrated into the ecosystem, they are done globally in the OS. So this is an example.

Puzzled: ajlittoz wrote: “…change specific page styles which you access with F11, fourth icon in the toolbar.” Is that the fourth icon from the left in the toolbar across the top of the window? In the toolbar I see (default, unmodified) there is nothing labeled “F11” (the fourth icon is Export), nor is there anything with that name in the list under View ->Toolbars ->Customize…. If the reference is to the F11 key in the top row of the keyboard (MacBook Pro, early 2013), pressing that either (a) raises audio volume, or (b) (with fn key) clears the Desktop by moving all windows to the edge of the screen. No connection to the LO application.

However, while researching this, I ran into another problem: I inadvertently tapped on the icon for Zoom & Pan, which turned the cursor into a magnifying glass (over the document) – and then could find no way to turn it OFF. Clicking again on the tool icon didn’t do it, nor did double-clicking. I searched in the Draw manual for “Zoom & Pan”, found nothing; searched “Zoom” and found a bunch of mentions, but nothing relevant. The latest Draw manual is for v.4.3; maybe this tool is newer? Anyway, how can it be turned off? I finally figured out that if I closed the document and reopened it, the tool reverted to off; but I can’t believe this is the official method.

#13

As Ratslinger first noted, the solution is found in Format ->Page Properties… ->Page. HerCorns said Format → Pages… ->Page;

Perhaps he is using a different version. You didn’t state your version either. I wouldn’t call this a different location, but rather a changed string.

#14

Why would such a simple thing be done differently in different platform versions of the application?

To my knowledge, actual differences of this type most often cater to Mac users, for reasons you yourself stated.

#15

ajlittoz wrote: “…change specific page styles which you access with F11, fourth icon in the toolbar.” Is that the fourth icon from the left in the toolbar across the top of the window?

Presumably the buttons at the top of the styles deck of the sidebar, which is what is opened by pressing F11. (This question, especially, should have been a comment on his answer.) Look under the Styles menu to see if the shortcut is different on Mac.

#16

However, while researching this, I ran into another problem: I inadvertently tapped on the icon for Zoom & Pan,

Try the Escape key. (This should have been a brand new question.)

#17

Correction: Styles & Formatting is under Format in Draw. (It probably used to be there in Writer too before the Styles menu was created.)

#18

Yes, I meant the style sidepanel and its small private toolbar.

#19

Impressum (Legal Info) | Datenschutzerklärung (Privacy Policy)   Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license.