Columns in OpenOffice Writer: Balancing Columns, and Inserting a Page or Pages With Columns Without Resorting to Page Styles, Updated March 2006

I've talked about page setup before.  Specifically,  how the heck do you have one page set up so that it's got a cover design with no page number, and then the second page and the rest have page numbers, nothing fancy, and start with the page number 1?

The answer for that is here.

But what if your question is this: How do you  insert one or more pages of columns in your document, then switch back to regular layout?

Well, one answer is the same as before. Use page styles, switch between them.

But there's a simpler answer.

Use a section.

A section is a very easy way to set off text to be treated differently. You can give the text a different background, or suck in the content from an entirely different file, and many other options. The section can be one word or a dozen or more pages.

Just click Insert > Section, and you see the options.

Click the Columns tab, select the number of columns, set up spacing, and a separator line if you want.

Click OK. Here's what the empty section will look like.

Type some content in the section. You'll see the content appear in the section.

You can keep on typing in that section for a long time. Make it as many pages as you want. The text can be a little twitchy when typing in a section which is why you might consider the next thing, below.

Turning existing content into columns  You can also simply select a bunch of text that you want in a column, choose Insert > Section, select the Column tab as you did before and apply options, and click OK. Then the selected text will be put into columns without your having to retype or copy and paste it.

But what if your question is this: How do you  balance content in a normal document, that's just got columns all the way through?  How do you balance column content using the Page Format window?

There is, in fact a solution. I got it from Phil's comment. Thanks, Phil!

Hi. I'm just trying to learn Writer and have been experimenting with columns. If you want the 'Distribute evenly..' checkbox to appear before you do any real typing try typing the first word you want that will be in your first column - highlight it (select it) - then go to Format-Columns and the checkbox will be there. Pretty bizarre to me too but someone must have thought it was a good idea at the time :-)

If you just have a blank page, or you have some text with no text selected, and you choose Format > Columns or Format > Page > Columns, there's no option to balance columns.

BUT if you type then select even a small bit of text, then choose Format > Columns or Format > Page > Columns, there IS an option to balance columns.

Make your column selections, such as selecting the number of columns, and the checkbox will become enabled. Click OK and there you go.

The answer is, I don't think you can. Or rather, yet again, ya gotta use sections. Look at this page setup window.

There's no option to balance the columns.

How is it that there's an option to balance content in sections that have columns, but not in pages?
I don't know. I think it's kind of silly.

How do you choose whether to balance or not balance content in sections that have columns?

If you want to use sections to create columns, the balancing option is available there too. Choose Insert > Section, Columns tab. Evenly Distribute Contents to All Columns .

If you don't want balance, unmark it. Then your columnated sections will look like this -- content all the way to the bottom of the page, then restarting in the next column.

How do you  change a section once it's inserted?

Select some of the content in the section, then choose Format > Section. Click the Options button and you'll see everything you need.

 

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Comments

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[The Sheik]

Hmmmm. A section may not be quite such an easy way to do this.

I always start out writing the body of a document, and then decorate it with table of contents, cover page and so on.

When I set up a document in two column format using the default styles, then try to insert a section that has only column spanning the page, I get a single column within one of the two columns I already have, which is completely and frustratingly useless.

As far as I can tell, the sections are always a slave to whatever page style is in force -- true?

It strikes me that getting use to page styles is the more productive path in the long run.

Sheik

[Solveig Haugland]

I guess it all depends on your content, how much of it is in columns and how much not, how important balancing is to your document, etc.

If you want the section/column part to be different than the page size, use a frame and then drag it to a different size than the page. (Insert > Frame.)

HTH,

Solveig

[Umesh Jayamohan]

Hi,
How do you switch between columns. I have typed out text in the left hand column and now need to start text in the right. How do I get the cursor to goto the right hand column?

Thanks

[Solveig Haugland]

Hi Umesh,

You can try using the diect cursor. Choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Writer > Formatting Aids and mark the checkbox, then click OK. Now you can click anywhere you want. However, be sure to turn off the Autocorrect window's feature where it removes empty spaces. Choose Tools > Autocorrect and in the Options tab, unmark anything that removes empty spaces.

Otherwise, you can't control where in a column you click. If it's important to control where you click in a column, you might want to try borderless tables instead of columns.

Solveig

[Umesh Jayamohan]

Thanks Solveig. It worked. I did not necessarily want to click anywhere. I just wanted the cursor in the right hand column when i was done with the left hand column.

Thanks
Umesh

[phil n]

Hi. I'm just trying to learn Writer and have been experimenting with columns. If you want the 'Distribute evenly..' checkbox to appear before you do any real typing try typing the first word you want that will be in your first column - highlight it (select it) - then go to Format-Columns and the checkbox will be there. Pretty bizarre to me too but someone must have thought it was a good idea at the time :-)