Class X | IT (402) Practical File
LibreOffice Practical File
Styles, Drawing Layers & Custom Corporate Templates
Information Technology (402) — CBSE Class X
Assignment 1 — Style Audit Workflow (LibreOffice Writer)
Objective: Explore the five core style families available in Writer's Styles sidebar (F11) and record three built-in, out-of-the-
box styles from each family.
Steps Performed
Step 1: Opened LibreOffice Writer on Ubuntu.
Step 2: Pressed F11 (Styles sidebar, sometimes shown as the deck shortcut) to open the Styles panel.
Step 3: Used the five category icons at the top of the panel — Paragraph, Character, Frame, Page, List, and Table Styles —
to switch between families.
Step 4: For each family, scrolled the default list and recorded the first three ready-made styles Writer ships with, before any
custom style was added.
Note: The panel groups styles as Paragraph, Character, Frame, Page, List and Table. The assignment asks for five 'structural'
categories — Character, Frame, Page, List, Table — which are recorded below.
Observation Table — Default Styles by Category
Style Category Style 1 Style 2 Style 3
Character Styles No Character Style Emphasis Strong Emphasis
Frame Styles Frame Formula Graphic
Page Styles Default Page Style Landscape First Page
List Styles No List List 1 Numbering 1
Table Styles Default Table Style Table Contents Table Heading
Result
A spreadsheet version of this table (styles_audit.xlsx, 5 rows × 3 style columns) has been prepared separately for direct
submission if the teacher wants a .xlsx file instead of/alongside this Word report.
Assignment 2 — Layer Interaction Lab (LibreOffice Draw / Writer
Drawing Toolbar)
Objective: Draw three overlapping shapes, apply distinct fills, and test every stacking command to see how visibility of
underlying text changes.
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Class X | IT (402) Practical File
Steps Performed
Step 1: Enabled the Drawing Toolbar via View > Toolbars > Drawing.
Step 2: Drew a Circle (filled Blue), a Rectangle (filled Green), and a Triangle (filled Orange) so all three overlap in the
centre of the page, directly above a line of body text.
Step 3: Right-clicked each shape → Arrange, to access: Bring to Front, Bring Forward, Send Backward, Send to Back, Bring
to Foreground, Send to Background.
Step 4: Applied each of the six commands one at a time to the same shape and recorded the visual effect.
Command-by-Command Observations
Command Effect Observed
Bring to Front Selected shape jumps above every other object (including the other two shapes),
fully covering whatever overlapped it.
Bring Forward Shape moves up exactly one position in the stack — swaps place with only the
single object directly above it.
Send Backward Shape moves down exactly one position — now hidden behind the one object that
was previously below it.
Send to Back Shape drops below all other drawing objects, but stays above the page's body text
layer.
Bring to Foreground Shape is pulled above the text layer itself, so it now overlaps and hides paragraph
text even though normal shapes sit behind text by default.
Send to Background Shape is pushed behind the text layer entirely — text becomes fully readable
through/over the shape, and the shape acts like a watermark.
Text Visibility: Foreground vs Background
Foreground: When a solid shape is sent 'To Foreground', it sits above the text layer, so any text underneath it becomes
completely blocked/invisible — the shape prints over the words.
Background: When the same shape is sent 'To Background', it drops below the text layer, so text becomes fully visible again
— the shape now only appears in the empty space around the letters, similar to a watermark or backdrop image.
Conclusion: Front/Back and Forward/Backward only reorder objects relative to each other. Foreground/Background is the
only pair of commands that moves a shape relative to the text layer itself — this is the key distinction the teacher is testing.
Practical Activity 1 — Custom Implementation (Corporate Styles)
Objective: Build a business flyer using two custom styles — a paragraph style (CorpBody) and a character style
(CorpEmphasis) — then apply them quickly using Fill Format (the Clone Formatting paintbrush).
Step-by-Step Log
1. Opened a new blank Writer document and saved it immediately as branding_test.odt (File > Save As, file type ODF
Text Document).
2. Typed three sample paragraphs describing a mock company, e.g. an intro line, a services line, and a mission-statement
line.
3. Selected Paragraph 1 completely, then set: Font = Arial, Size = 13pt, Line Spacing = 1.5 (Format > Paragraph > Indents
& Spacing, or the line-spacing icon on the toolbar).
4. With the cursor still inside Paragraph 1, opened the Styles sidebar (F11) → clicked the Style Actions menu (the small
gear/list icon at the bottom of the panel) → 'New Style from Selection' → named it CorpBody and saved it.
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Class X | IT (402) Practical File
5. Selected one standalone keyword inside the text (e.g. the company name), then applied Bold, Font Colour = Red, and
Highlighting Colour = Yellow using the toolbar buttons.
6. With that keyword still selected, switched the Styles panel to Character Styles, used Style Actions → 'New Style from
Selection' → named it CorpEmphasis.
7. Used the Fill Format / Clone Formatting paintbrush (the paint-roller icon): clicked once inside Paragraph 1 to pick up
CorpBody, then dragged across Paragraph 2 and Paragraph 3 to apply it instantly — much faster than reopening the
Styles panel each time.
8. Repeated the same Fill Format action on other keywords in Paragraph 2 and 3 to apply CorpEmphasis to them,
confirming both custom styles reproduce identically wherever applied.
Result
branding_test.odt now contains 3 paragraphs uniformly styled with CorpBody, and matching emphasised keywords styled
with CorpEmphasis — giving the flyer a consistent, reusable corporate look that can be applied to future documents in one
click.
Practical Activity 2 — Flowchart Blueprinting & Grouping
Mechanics
Objective: Build a 3-box process flowchart connected with arrows, then group every element into a single scalable object.
Step-by-Step Log
9. Enabled the Drawing Toolbar: View > Toolbars > Drawing.
10. Selected the Rectangle, Rounded tool (found under the Basic Shapes dropdown) and drew three boxes left-to-right.
11. Double-clicked inside each box to enter text-edit mode and typed the labels: Start, Process Data, and End
respectively.
12. Selected the Line with Arrow tool from the Drawing toolbar and drew two connectors: Start → Process Data, and
Process Data → End.
13. Held Shift and clicked each of the 3 boxes plus both connector arrows in turn, so all 5 objects showed selection
handles simultaneously.
14. Applied Format > Group > Group (or right-click > Group > Group) to merge all 5 objects into one combined object.
15. Selected the grouped object and dragged a corner sizing handle inward and outward to resize the entire flowchart.
Result — Proportion Check
Yes — scale proportions remained intact. Because Group treats all child objects as a single bounding box, dragging a corner
handle resizes every rectangle, its text, and both connector arrows by the same ratio simultaneously. Relative positions and
line connections are preserved, so the flowchart looks identical to the original, just larger or smaller. (Dragging a side/edge
handle instead of a corner handle would stretch width and height unevenly — corner handles are what keep the aspect ratio
locked.)
End of Practical File
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