Taming OpenOffice.org

Writer can export documents to PDF (Portable Document Format).

Be sure to check with your print-on-demand service for any special requirements they may have regarding PDFs. For example, at the time of writing, Lulu.com says:

• Graphics must not have transparency. If necessary, use your image processing program to remove the transparency. (Consult that program’s documentation for how to do this.)
• Graphics/images should be in grayscale, not color, at a resolution of no more than 600 dpi (300 dpi preferred). You can set this during PDF export.

Note that the best settings for PDFs intended for printing may be different from the best settings for PDFs to be read onscreen (for example, as an e-book), so if you want to make your book available in both printed and e-book forms, you may want to create two PDFs using different settings.

Quick export to PDF

Click the Export Directly as PDF icon to export the entire document using your default PDF settings. You are asked to enter the file name and location for the PDF file, but you do not get a chance to choose a page range or the print quality; direct export uses the last set of selections made through the PDF Options dialog.

Controlling PDF content and quality

For more control over the content and quality of the resulting PDF, use File > Export as PDF. you are asked to enter the location and file name of the PDF to be created, and then the PDF Options dialog opens. This dialog has five pages (General, Initial View, User Interface, Links, and Security). Make your selections, and then click Export.

General tab of PDF Options dialog

On the General tab, you can choose which pages to include in the PDF, the type of compression to use for images (which affects the quality of images in the PDF), and other options.

Range section

All
Exports the entire document. This is the setting you would normally use for creating a PDF of a book.

Pages
For testing purpose, you might want to export only a few sample pages. For a range of pages, use the format 3-6 (pages 3 to 6); for single pages, use the format 7;9;11 (pages 7, 9, and 11). You can also export a combination of page ranges and single pages, by using a format like 3-6;8;10;12.

Selection
Exports whatever material is selected.

Images section

Lossless compression
Images are exported without any loss of quality. Tends to make large files when used with photographs, and may not be suitable for print-on-demand.

JPEG compression
Allows for varying degrees of quality. A setting of 90% tends to work well with photographs.

Reduce image resolution
For print-on-demand publishing, you may need to set this for 300 or 600 dpi (dots per inch). Lower-dpi images are suitable for Web pages but not for printed books, and higher dpi may be rejected by printers.

General section

PDF/A-1
This is the format especially designed for long term preservation. The fonts used will be embedded in the PDF file, therefore the document will appear exactly as the author intended even if the machine where it is viewed does not support the chosen font types. Note that PDF/A-1 forbids transparency, and includes PDF tags automatically.

Tagged PDF
Exports special tags into the corresponding PDF tags. This option is relevant only for onscreen viewing of PDFs.

Create PDF form
Choose the format of submitting forms from within the PDF file. Not relevant to print-on-demand or most e-books; do not select.

Export bookmarks
Creates PDF bookmarks for all outline paragraphs and for all table of contents entries for which you did assign hyperlinks. Not relevant for printed books. If you plan to sell your book as a PDF, select this option.

Export notes
Exports notes in as PDF notes. You probably do not want this!

Use transition effects
Not available in Writer.

Export automatically inserted blank pages
If selected, automatically inserted blank pages are exported to the PDF. Books usually have chapters set to always start on an odd-numbered (right-hand) page. When the previous chapter ends on an odd page, Writer inserts a blank page between the two odd pages. For printed books, select this option or your book might be printed incorrectly.

Initial View, User Interface, and Links tabs

These tabs are relevant only for books to be distributed as PDFs, not printed. See Getting Started with OpenOffice.org 3 or the Writer Guide for details.

Security tab

PDF export includes options to encrypt the PDF (so it cannot be opened without a password) and apply some digital rights management (DRM) features.

For PDFs to be printed, do not set any passwords. Printers cannot handle passworded files. If you are planning to distribute your book as a PDF, you may wish to set some of these passwords. See Getting Started with OpenOffice.org 3 or the Writer Guide for details.

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