LibreOffice Getting Started Guide

You don’t need to pay big bucks or for a regular subscription to access high-quality office software. Available on all major platforms, LibreOffice is a fully fledged office suite that includes apps for word processing (Writer), spreadsheets (Calc), presentations (Impress), vector graphics editing (Draw), mathematical formulae (Math), and databases (Base). The whole suite is included in the full version of Raspberry Pi OS, so you can get straight to work on your new Raspberry Pi 400 (or any other model).

Although the main office programs will feel fairly familiar to many users, this official guidebook (also available as a free PDF download) from the makers explores the suite in detail to help you get the most out of it. A setup chapter goes through various general settings, before the book shows how to create and apply styles and templates (a key feature of LibreOffice) to help speed up document formatting. Subsequent chapters take you through each individual office app, followed by guides to printing, images, HTML files, macros, and customisation.

Creator: The Document Foundation

Price: $11

URL: magpi.cc/librebooks

LibreOffice Help

Clicking the Help option within LibreOffice takes you to this comprehensive online resource that should help you solve most issues. Every aspect of the suite is covered in detail and it’s easy enough to navigate. As well as a drop-down list of modules (apps) and a search facility, there’s an index list of keywords for all LibreOffice modules: click on a keyword to open the linked Help page.

In addition, there’s a handy section for Common Help Topics, such as configuration, version tracking, printing, charts/diagrams, working with PDFs, and automatic functions. A particularly useful topic in this section covers compatibility with documents in Microsoft Office formats – they can all be imported without issue, although some special features may not work in exactly the same way.

Creator: The Document Foundation

Price: Free

URL: magpi.cc/librehelp

Udemy LibreOffice courses

There’s no end of online courses available to learn LibreOffice, at a wide range of prices – you can pay hundreds for some. Udemy’s courses start at a reasonable £19.99 – at the time of writing, many were available at £9.99, so it’s worth looking out for special offers.

Most of the courses cover a single app and all comprise a series of short video lectures, so it’s bite-size learning that you can dip in and out of easily when you have time. There are also assignments or exercises to complete and example files on which to practise your new-found skills. Complete the course and you’ll receive a certificate, although it can't be used for formal accreditation.

Creator: Udemy

Price: From £19.99

URL: magpi.cc/libreudemy