Chapter 1: Introduction to Styles

Class 10 Information Technology (402) – Notes

1. Introduction to Styles

A style is a collection of all formatting information that you want to save and then apply to a document.

For example, the following font details can be stored as a style with the name “Title style”:

Once the Title style is created, it can be consistently applied to all titles in the document.

Advantage of Using Styles

• If you want to change the appearance of all titles in a document, you do not need to format every title separately.
• You simply need to:
  • Update the Title style → Apply it to the document.
• Similarly, to change the formatting of the complete document, the required style can be changed.
• Using styles allows you to shift your focus from the appearance of the document to its content.

This chapter explains how to create and apply styles in LibreOffice Writer.

2. Style Categories

LibreOffice Writer provides six Style categories:

1. Page
2. Paragraph
3. Character
4. Frame
5. List
6. Table

2.1 Page Style

All documents in Writer are based on pages. Therefore, Page Style is used to format pages.

It defines the basic page layout, such as:

• Page size
• Margins
• Placement of header and footer
• Footnote
• Borders
• Background

A document can have one or many page styles.
If a page style is not specified, Writer uses its built-in Default page style.

2.2 Paragraph Style

After deciding the page format, the document content is organised into paragraphs.
A paragraph begins and ends by pressing the Enter key.

Paragraph formatting includes:

• Tab stops
• Text alignment
• Line spacing
• Borders

It usually also includes Character styling attributes.

2.3 Character Style

Character styling is used to work on a block of letters, such as a word or words within a paragraph, instead of the whole paragraph.

Using Character Styles, you can change the appearance of a part of a paragraph without affecting the other part.

Character styles allow you to:

• Change text colour
• Change text size
• Highlight text
• Emphasise text

2.4 Frame Style

Frames can be used to organise a document into sections so that each section of the page can have a different appearance.

Frames are like containers that can hold:

• Text
• Graphics
• Lists

Applying Frame Styles allows you to format a frame by specifying:

• Size
• Position
• Border
• How text is placed around the picture

2.5 List Style

Writer provides a separate category for styling lists.

List Style can be used to:

• Apply numbering
• Apply bullets
• Use different types of numbering or bullets
• Specify numeric formats

2.6 Table Style

Tables allow a large amount of information to be organised and presented effectively.

The Table Style category allows you to format a table by:

• Adding borders
• Using different text colours
• Using different border colours
• Aligning text inside the table
• Using different patterns

3. Choosing the Appropriate Style Category

Different parts of a document require different Style categories.

After understanding the Style categories, the next step is to learn how to access and apply styles.

4. Styles and Formatting

LibreOffice Writer provides many options and tools to style or format a document.
The formatting options learned earlier can also be applied using the Style menu.

Writer provides many predefined styles that can be accessed in different ways.

Methods to Access Styles

1. Using Style option from Menu Bar
2. Using Style Drop Down list box from the Toolbar
3. Using Sidebar Menu
4. Using keyboard shortcut — F11

4.1 Style Drop Down List

The Style Drop Down list box is available on the Toolbar.

• The current paragraph style is displayed in the textbox.
• If the Toolbar is not visible, it can be enabled through:

View → Toolbars → Formatting / “Formatting (Styles)”

4.2 Styles through Sidebar

On the Sidebar, clicking the Styles icon displays the Style sub-menu.

4.3 Styles using Keyboard Shortcut

The F11 function key can be used to access Styles.

5. Style Categories in the Styles Window

The first six icons at the top of the Styles window allow you to select a category of style:

1. Paragraph Style
2. Character Style
3. Frame Style
4. Page Style
5. List Style
6. Table Style

Clicking any category displays the list of existing styles under that category.

6. Show Preview

At the bottom of the Styles window, the Show Preview option can be selected.
It displays the appearance of the style along with its name in the list.

• Without Preview:
  The list displays the names of the styles.
• With Preview:
  The list displays the style appearance along with its name.

7. Style List Filter

At the bottom of the Styles menu, there is a Drop Down list used to select the filter for the style list.

By default, the filter is set to: Hierarchical

8. Applying Styles

Styles such as:

• Paragraph
• Character
• Frame
• Page
• List
• Table

can be applied to selected content.

The selected content may be:

• Characters
• Words
• Lines
• Paragraphs
• Pages
• Frames
• Tables

Steps to Apply a Style

Step 1: Select the text or object to be formatted.
The selected content may be a collection of characters, words, lines, paragraph, page, frame or table.

Step 2: Choose the appropriate style category by clicking the required button from the top of the Styles bar.

Step 3: A list of styles for that category appears.
Double-click the desired style to apply it to the selected text or object.

9. Fill Format

When the same style needs to be applied to words or other content at different locations in a document, applying the style separately at each location can be inconvenient.

Writer provides the Fill Format option for this purpose.
It is the second icon from the right on the Style menu.

Fill Format can be used to apply a style to scattered:

• Pages
• Frames
• Tables
• Lists
• Paragraphs
• Characters

Steps to Use Fill Format

Step 1: Open the document to be styled.

Step 2: Open the Styles window.
Select the required:

• Style category
• Style

from the drop-down list.

Step 3: Select the Fill Format button.

Step 4: Move the mouse pointer to the desired location and click to apply the selected style.
The style should be applied to the appropriate type of content.

Step 5: Repeat Step 4 until the style has been applied to all required locations.

Step 6: To quit Fill Format:

• Click the Fill Format button again, or
• Press the Esc key.

10. Custom Style

Writer provides predefined styles, but sometimes the existing styles may not match the user’s requirements.
In such cases, it is possible to create a Custom Style.

The material explains two methods:

1. From Selection
2. Using Drag and Drop

10.1 Creating a Custom Style — From Selection

The Style Action button can be used to create a new style or modify an existing style.
It can also be used to load a style defined in a document or template into the list.

Steps to Create a New Style

Step 1: Select the portion of the document whose appearance needs to be changed.
This may be a:

• Page
• Paragraph
• Character

Format it according to the requirement.

Step 2: From the buttons at the top of the Style menu, choose the appropriate category:

• Paragraph
• Character
• Page
• etc.

Step 3: Select the Style Action button.
A list of options is displayed.
Click: New Style from Selection

Step 4: The Create Style dialog box appears.
Enter a name for the new style, for example: MyStyle.
The names of existing styles are also displayed in the window.

Step 5: Click OK to save the name of the new style.
The newly created style, such as MyStyle, appears in the list of styles.

10.2 Creating a New Style — Using Drag & Drop

A new style can also be created using the Drag and Drop method.
In this method, the formatted text is dragged from the document and dropped into the Styles menu.

Steps

Step 1: Select the text in the document and apply the formatting you want for the new style.

Step 2: In the Styles menu, select the category of style you want to create, such as Paragraph Style or Character Style.

Step 3: Select the existing style under which you want to create the new style.

Step 4: Drag the selected and formatted text from the document and drop it into the Styles menu.

Step 5: The Create Style dialog box appears.
Enter a suitable name for the new style.
The names of existing styles are also displayed in this dialog box.

Step 6: Click OK to save the new style.

The Create Style dialog box also displays the list of custom styles.
To modify an existing style, select its name from the list and make the required changes.

Note: While dragging the text, observe the shape of the cursor. It changes to indicate whether the selected operation is possible.

Important: The Drag and Drop method can be used to create or update a style, but it cannot be used to create a Page Style.

11. Updating a Style

Updating a style allows you to change its formatting properties and have those changes automatically apply across all instances where that style is used in your document.

The key idea is that an existing style can be modified when its formatting does not meet the required appearance.
The updated style can then be used to maintain the desired formatting consistently.

Steps: Update Style from Selection

Step 1: Select or click inside the paragraph, word, or element that has the style applied and contains the updated formatting (font, size, color, spacing, etc.).

Step 2: Open the Styles Deck/Sidebar by pressing F11 (or clicking the Styles icon in the Sidebar).

Step 3: Select the appropriate category icon at the top (e.g., Paragraph Styles, Character Styles).

Step 4: Click the arrow next to the Style Actions button (the icon with a plus/downward arrow at the top right of the Styles pane).

Step 5: Click Update Selected Style (or press Ctrl + Shift + F11).

Every instance in the document using that style will update immediately to reflect the new formatting.

12. Load Styles

The Load Styles option is the last option in the Style Action button of the Style Menu.

It is used to copy styles from an existing template or document.

Once the styles are copied, they become available in the list of styles and can be used to create a new document with the same appearance without extra effort.

Steps to Load Styles

Step 1: In the Styles Menu, click Load Styles.

Step 2: The Load Styles dialog box opens.
Select the category of your document.

Step 3: Find and select the desired template from which the styles are to be copied.

Note: There are no templates stored in the My Templates category.

Step 4: From the same dialog box, select the types of styles to be copied.

These include:

• Text — for Paragraph and Character styles
• Frame
• Pages
• Numbering — for List styles

The Overwrite option can also be selected.
If Overwrite is selected, the copied styles will replace existing styles having the same name.

Step 5: Click OK to copy the styles.

13. Loading Styles from a File

Styles can also be copied from an existing file.

Steps

1. Open the Load Styles dialog box.
2. Instead of selecting the Template option, click From File.
3. A File Selection dialog box appears.
4. Select the desired document from the computer.

The styles from the selected file can then be loaded.

14. Applying Styles in a New Document

Whenever a new document is created, Writer automatically applies default style(s) to it.

The applied style is displayed in the Status Bar.

The user may:

• Retain the default style, or
• Change it according to the requirement.
  
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By Anjeev Kr Singh – Computer Science Educator
Published on : September 9, 2026 | Updated on : September 9, 2026

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Anjeev Kr Singh

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