This tutorial will help you to create bulletin with LibreOffice Writer. You will make one with example documents you can download below. We name it "Humanity", will use Wikipedia article as source text, and simply use available fonts on Ubuntu like Ubuntu Font as well as FreeSerif. Now let's exercise!
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Expected Result
You will create a bulletin by following this page layout. You will later fill the empty boxes with text and place the pictures like the example.
Tools
- Software: LibreOffice Writer
- Tools: Frame, Rectangle Drawing
Materials
- Fonts: FreeSans, FreeSerif, Ubuntu
- Logo: Ubuntu.png
- Pictures: Pic1.png, Pic2.png
- Text: BulletinText.txt
- Frame: 4x
- Rectangles: 2x
Method
1. Create a new Writer document.
2. Setup the Page Layout as A4 Portrait with 2 cm margins.
3. Create one rectangle (black) covering 1/4 page area top and let the rest 3/4 bottom as is. See sample picture.
4. Insert Ubuntu logo to the top-right of the top area of page. Arrange it nicely.
5. Create 1 frame to the top-left of the top area of page. Write the title of your bulletin in it:
UBUNTU BULLETIN
Humanity
01/2023 EDITION
See the sample picture:
6. Create 3 frames as columns to the bottom area of page. They will contain your bulletin text.
7. Connect frame #1 with frame #2 using Link tool. Do the same from frame #2 to frame #3. This way, the three frames are now connected.
8. Copy and paste text from your text editor into Writer in the frame #1. This will automatically render all frames full with the text. Notice the red arrow in the end of frame? Notice the text not fully displayed? That's the sign that your text overflows the frame. You can continue it to the next page later.
9. Print preview. Does it look nice? Does it not?
10. To create footer, create the last rectangle (black) to the bottom across the width of your page.
12. Create two frames to the left and right of the footer. Write your footer as the following:
Left part:
Humanity | The Ubuntu Bulletin
Right part:
01/2023 Edition
See sample picture:
13. Cleanup everything else if you need.
14. Save as ubuntu-bulletin-writer.odt. Export as PDF.
15. Insert Page Break. You created a new page.
16. Repeat steps 3-12 without Ubuntu logo and without Link between frames (you can copy-paste if you wish).
14. Save as ubuntu-bulletin-writer.odt. Export as PDF.
Create Second Page
If you want to create two or more pages:15. Insert Page Break. You created a new page.
16. Repeat steps 3-12 without Ubuntu logo and without Link between frames (you can copy-paste if you wish).
17. Link the #3 frame in first page to #1 frame in second page. Then link the rest of page 2 from there. This will make your text spreads automatically from page 1 to page 2. To this point, you text should be plain and unformatted.
18. Format the text following these rules:
- Font: FreeSerif 12pt
- Alignment: Justified
- Hyphenation: yes
- Headings: 1 for title and subtitles
- Drop caps: yes for first paragraph only
To this point, you have a two-page bulletin.
Insert Pictures
Now you just need to add pictures to the blank spaces prepared.18. Insert Pic1.png into first page. Arrange it up nicely around the text.
19. Insert Pic2.png into second page. Arrange it to cover most of top area.
20. Give Captions to pictures. For example:
- Picture 1: Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron
- Picture 2: Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish
Add Article Title
21. Create a frame to the blank area on top of first page's text columns.
22. Write the title of the article:
Introducing Ubuntu
A World Class Computer Operating System
Use the following rules:
- Heading: Heading 1
- Font: FreeSerif
- Spacing: 1
See sample picture:
Final Result
Now you just made a bulletin with Writer. You should have the document as ODT and PDF. It is ready for printing and emailing, too. Happy writing!
Download
Feel free to download all the materials used in this tutorial as the following. The document can be edited in LibreOffice Writer & Microsoft Word.
Bulletin (PDF)
Logo (PNG)
Text (TXT)
Font FreeSerif (TTF)
Font Ubuntu (TTF)
Picture 1 (PNG)
Picture 2 (PNG)
All in one (ZIP)