About TheLibreOffice.com

TheLibreOffice.com is an independent guide to LibreOffice Writer, Calc, Impress and Draw. Clara Mitchell writes it for people who need documents and spreadsheets that still behave when someone edits, shares or prints them.

TheLibreOffice.com is an independent guide to LibreOffice for people who write, calculate and present in it and then have to send the result to someone else. I'm Clara Mitchell, and I write it around one question: when you move a paragraph or add a row, what does the document reveal about the structure underneath? A successful open is only the beginning of the check, especially when a file travels between LibreOffice and another office suite.

What the guides cover

Impress and Draw: editing a PDF in Draw, from checking what the import kept to changing text and separate images and exporting the whole file again.
Compare and choose: LibreOffice against Microsoft Office, ONLYOFFICE and Apache OpenOffice, judged by file formats, macros, shared editing and the platforms you work on.
Install, platforms and updates: Linux install routes, from distribution packages to Flatpak and Snap, and the download, branch, macro and extension choices that keep a copy safe.
Office files and PDF: opening DOCX, XLSX and PPTX files, saving a return copy in the format the recipient needs and deciding when a PDF should go instead.
Extensions, macros and themes: dark mode for the interface, the page and the icons, plus custom themes and controls that don't match.
Writer and Math: the Templates dialog, importing a downloaded template, making your own and setting the default for new Writer documents.
Calc: how Calc and Excel differ on formulas, newer functions, pivot tables, charts and macros, and how to check a workbook that moves between them.

How I write a LibreOffice guide

When a file behaves unexpectedly, I separate its content from its formatting first. Each needs a different fix. The examples come from ordinary documents that someone will revise, share and print again, and I'd rather show the style or data type behind a problem than a quick repair that hides it.

The Document Foundation's LibreOffice help is my reference for how a feature works. It can explain a feature without proving that a particular imported document will keep its layout, so the guides add the checks that depend on the file format and on the version the recipient uses.

About Clara Mitchell

Clara Mitchell, with shoulder-length dark wavy hair and dark-rimmed glasses, smiling in a teal blouse beside a market stall of tomatoes, peppers and radishes — Clara Mitchell, LibreOffice document and spreadsheet editor at TheLibreOffice.com

My role here covers Writer styles and long documents, Calc formulas and imported data, templates and PDF export, and compatibility with Microsoft Office formats. A heading that only looks like a heading can cause trouble several pages later, and a spreadsheet can hold dates or numbers that arrived as text; details like these are where I start.

The reader I have in mind needs a document that stays usable when someone edits or shares it, and wants the limits stated plainly. A file that opens successfully may still need a careful layout check, and the editable file and the final PDF are two different deliverables.

TheLibreOffice.com is an independent guide and is not affiliated with The Document Foundation. LibreOffice is a trademark of The Document Foundation.