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CHAPTER 21 MAKING THE MOVE TO OPENOFFICE.ORG 321 File Compatibility As well as core feature compatibility, OpenOffice.org is also able to read files from Microsoft Office versions up to and including Office 2003, the latest version of Office at the time of writing. When a new version of Office comes out with a new file format, future versions of OpenOffice.org will support it. This is just one more reason why you should regularly update Ubuntu online in order to make sure you re running the very latest versions of each program. Note It s fair to say that many people still use the older Office file formats, even if they re using the latest version of Office. This is done to retain compatibility with other users who may not yet have upgraded. Although file compatibility problems are rare, two issues occasionally crop up when opening Microsoft Office files in OpenOffice.org: VBA compatibility: OpenOffice.org isn t compatible with Microsoft Office Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). It uses a similar but incompatible internal programming language. This means that Microsoft macros within a document probably won t work when the file is imported to OpenOffice.org. Such macros are typically used in Excel spreadsheets designed to calculate timesheets, for example. In general, however, only high-end users use VBA. Document protection: OpenOffice.org is unable to open any Office files that have a password, either to protect the document from changes or to protect it from being viewed. Theoretically, it would be easy for OpenOffice.org s programmers to include such functionality, but the laws of many countries make creating such a program feature illegal (it would be seen as a device to overcome copy protection). The easiest solution is to ask whoever sent you the file to remove the password protection. For what it s worth, OpenOffice.org s has its own form of password protection. If you find that OpenOffice.org isn t able to open an Office file saved by your colleagues, you can always suggest that they, too, make the switch to OpenOffice.org. They don t need to be running Ubuntu to do so. Versions are available to run on all Windows platforms, as well as on the Apple Macintosh. As with the Ubuntu version, they re entirely free of charge. Indeed, for many people who are running versions of Office they ve installed from borrowed CDs, OpenOffice.org offers a way to come clean and avoid pirating software. For more details and to download OpenOffice.org, visit www.openoffice.org. Once your colleagues have made the switch, you can exchange files using OpenOffice.org s native format, or opt to save files in the Office file format. Figure 21-1 shows the file type options available in OpenOffice.org s word processor component s Save As dialog box. Note OpenOffice.org also supports Rich Text Format (RTF) text documents and comma-separated value (CSV) data files, which are supported by practically every office suite program ever made.

320 CHAPTER 21 MAKING THE MOVE TO OPENOFFICE.ORG As such, it matches Microsoft Office almost blow-for-blow in terms of core functionality. See Table 21-1 for a comparison of core packages. Table 21-1. How the Office and OpenOffice.org Suites Compare Microsoft Office OpenOffice.org Function Word Writer Word processor Excel Calc Spreadsheet PowerPoint Impress Presentations Visio Draw1 Technical drawing/charting FrontPage Writer2 Web site creation Access Base3 Database 1 Draw is a vector graphics creation tool akin to Adobe Illustrator. Creating flow charts or organizational diagrams is one of many things it can do. 2 Writer is used for word processing and HTML creation; when switched to Web mode, its functionality is altered appropriately. 3 Writer and Calc can be coupled to a third-party database application such as MySQL or Firebird; however, Office.org also comes with the Base relational database. You should find the functionality within the packages is duplicated, too, although some of the very specific features of Microsoft Office are not in OpenOffice.org. But OpenOffice.org also has its own range of such tools not yet found in Microsoft Office! OpenOffice.org does have a couple of notable omissions. Perhaps the main one is that it doesn t offer a directly comparable Outlook replacement. However, as discussed in Chapter 27, the Evolution application offers an accurate reproduction of Outlook, with e-mail, contacts management, and calendar functions all in one location. In Ubuntu, you ll find Evolution on the Applications . Internet menu. Evolution isn t directly linked to OpenOffice.org, but it retains the overall Ubuntu look, feel, and way of operating. OpenOffice.Org Key Features Key features of OpenOffice.org, apart from the duplication of much of what you find in Microsoft Office, include the ability to export documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) format across the entire suite of programs. PDF files can then be read on any computer equipped with PDF display software, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. In addition, OpenOffice.org features powerful accessibility features that can, for example, help those with vision disabilities use the programs more effectively. For those who are technically minded, OpenOffice.org can be extended very easily with a variety of plug-ins, which allow the easy creation of add-ons using many different programming languages. Although OpenOffice.org largely mirrors the look and feel of Microsoft Office, it adds its own flourishes here and there. This can mean that some functions are located on different menus, for example. However, none of this poses a challenge for most users, and OpenOffice.org is generally regarded as very easy to learn.

CHAPTER 21 Making the Move to OpenOffice.org You might be willing to believe that you can get a complete operating system for no cost. You might even be able to accept that this offers everything Windows does and much more. But one stumbling block many people have is in believing a Microsoft Office-compatible office suite comes as part of the zero-cost bundle. It s a step too far. Office costs hundreds of dollars are they expecting us to believe that there s a rival product that is free? Well, there is, and it s called OpenOffice.org. It comes preinstalled with Ubuntu, as well as most other Linux distributions, making it the Linux office suite of choice. It s compatible with most Microsoft Office files, too, and even looks similar and works in a comparable way, making it easy to learn. What more could you want? Office Similarities OpenOffice.org started life as a proprietary product called Star Office. Sun Microsystems bought the company behind the product and released its source code in order to encourage community development. This led to the creation of the OpenOffice.org project, a collaboration between open-source developers and Sun. This project has released several new versions of OpenOffice.org, and at the time of writing, has just released version 2. This is the version supplied with Ubuntu. Note For what it s worth, Sun still sells Star Office. This is based on the OpenOffice.org code, so it s effectively the same program. However, in addition to the office suite itself, Sun includes several useful extras such as fonts, templates, and the all-important technical support, which you can contact if you get stuck trying to undertake a particular task. OpenOffice.org features a word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation package, drawing tool (vector graphics), web site creation tool, database program, and several extras.

PART 6 Office Tasks

CHAPTER 20 IMAGE EDITING 315 Animation: These filters aim to manipulate and optimize GIF images, which are commonly used to create simple animated images for use on web sites. Combine: Here, you ll find filters that combine two or more images into one. Toys: These are so-called Easter Eggs, which aren t designed to manipulate the image, but are present in the program as harmless animations for the user to enjoy. They re created by the programmers of The GIMP as a way of thanking you for using their program. Tip The GIMP also includes Script-Fu and Python-Fu, scripting languages that can be used to daisy-chain several commands together to produce a particular effect or to automate a particular image-editing process. For more information, search for script-fu or python-fu using your favorite web search engine. Summary In this chapter, we took a look at image editing under Ubuntu. This has involved an examination of one of the best programs available for the task under any operating system: The GIMP. You learned how to start The GIMP and about some of the basic principles behind it. Next, we discussed some of the functions contained within The GIMP, including the image filters provided with the program. In the next part of the book, we move on from multimedia to look at another core component of Ubuntu: the OpenOffice.org suite, which provides word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and other functions.

314 CHAPTER 20 IMAGE EDITING Artistic: These filters allow you to add painterly effects to the image, such as making it appear as if the photo has been painted in impressionistic brushstrokes, or as if it were painted on canvas by overlaying the texture of canvas onto the picture. Figure 20-9 shows an example of applying a filter for an oil painting effect. Figure 20-9. The Artistic effects can be used to give images an oil painting effect. Map: These filters aim to manipulate the image by treating it like a piece of paper that can be folded in various ways and also stuck onto 3D shapes (a process referred to as mapping). Because the image is treated as if it were a piece of paper, it can also be copied, and the copies placed on top of each other to create various effects. Render: Here, you ll find filters designed to create new images from scratch, such as clouds or flame effects. They obliterate anything that was previously underneath on that particular layer or within that selection, and the original image has no bearing on what is generated by the filter. Web: Here, you can create an image map for use in a web page. An image map is a single image broken up into separate hyperlinked areas, typically used on a web page as a sophisticated menu. For example, an image map is frequently used for a geographical map on which you can click to get more information about different regions.

CHAPTER 20 IMAGE EDITING Generic: In this category, you can find a handful of filters that don t seem to fall into any other category. Of particular interest is the Convolution Matrix option, which lets you create your own filters by inputting numeric values. According to The GIMP s programmers, this is designed primarily for mathematicians, but it can also be used by others to create random special effects. Simply input values and then preview the effect. Glass Effects: As the name suggests, these filters can apply effects to the image to imitate the effects that come about when glass is used to produce an image. For example, the Apply Lens filter will apply the same kind of distortion caused by various wide-angle lenses used on cameras, as shown in Figure 20-8. Figure 20-8. The Glass Effects . Apply Lens filter can be used to imitate a fish-eye lens. Light Effects: Here, you will find filters that imitate the effects that light can have on a picture, such as adding sparkle effects to highlights or imitating lens flare caused by a camera s lens. Distorts: As the name of this category of filters suggests, the effects here distort the image in various ways. For example, Whirl and Pinch allow you to tug and push the image to distort it (to understand what is meant here, imagine the image is printed on rubber and then pinching or pushing the surface). This category also contains other special effects, such as Pagecurl, which imitates the curl of a page at the bottom of the picture.

312 CHAPTER 20 IMAGE EDITING Color: This option includes many technical filters, mostly of interest to image technicians or those who want to uncover and otherwise manipulate the color breakdown within an image. However, Filter Pack might appeal to the general user. This filter can quickly adjust the hue, saturation, and other values within the image. Also of interest is Colorify, which can tint the image to any user-defined color. Figure 20-7 shows an example of using the Colorify filter. Figure 20-7. The Colorify filter can be used to add a sepia-like effect to a picture. Noise: This collection of filters is designed to add speckles or other types of usually unwanted artifacts to an image. These filters are offered within The GIMP for their potential artistic effects, but they can also be used to create a grainy film effect simply click Scatter RGB. Edge Detect: This set of filters can be used to automatically detect and delineate the edges of objects within an image. Although this type of filter can result in some interesting results that might fall into the category of special effects, it s primarily used in conjunction with other tools and effects. Enhance: The Enhance effects are designed to remove various artifacts from an image or otherwise improve it. For example, the Despeckle effect will attempt to remove unwanted noise within an image (such as flecks of dust in a scanned image). The Sharpen filter discussed in the previous section is located here, as is the Unsharp Mask, which offers a high degree of control over the image-sharpening process.

CHAPTER 20 IMAGE EDITING sharpening effect. Too much sharpening can ruin a picture, so be careful. Try to use the effect subtly. Figure 20-6. Sharpening an image can give it a professional finish by adding definition. The Sharpen filter is just one of many filters you can apply in The GIMP, as explained in the next section. Applying Filters Like other image-editing programs, The GIMP includes many filters to add dramatic effects to your images with little, if any, user input. Filters are applied either to the currently selected layer or to a selection within the layer. To apply a filter, right-click the image and choose the relevant menu option. If you don t like an effect you ve applied, you can reverse it by selecting Edit . Undo, or by pressing Ctrl+Z. The submenus offer filters grouped by categories, as follows: Blur: These filters add various kinds of blur to the image or selection. For example, Motion Blur can imitate the effect of photographing an object moving at speed with a slow shutter. Perhaps the most popular blur option is Gaussian Blur, which has the effect of applying a soft and subtle blur.

310 CHAPTER 20 IMAGE EDITING head and shoulders, or you might separate a group of people from their surroundings, as shown in Figure 20-5. Figure 20-5. You can use the Crop tool to remove any irrelevant details surrounding the subject of your photo. You might also want to use the Clone tool to remove facial blemishes. Start by using the Zoom tool to close in on the area. If the blemish is small, you might need to zoom in quite substantially. Then try to find an area of skin that is clear and from which you can copy. Hold down Ctrl and click in that area. Then click and draw over the blemish. The crosshair indicates the area from which you re copying. Sharpening One final handy trick employed by professional image editors to give their photos a shot in the arm is to use the Sharpen filter. This has the effect of adding definition to the image and negating any slight blur caused by things such as camera shake or poor focusing. To apply the Sharpen filter, right-click the image and select Filters . Enhance . Sharpen. As shown in Figure 20-6, a small preview window will show the effect of the sharpening on the image (you might need to use the scroll bars to move to an appropriate part of the image). Clicking and dragging the slider at the bottom of the dialog box will alter the severity of the