LibreOffice-Suite-Calc-6.3/C2/Introduction-to-LibreOffice-Calc/English

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Title: Introduction to LibreOffice Calc

Author: Arvind Pillai

Novice reviewer: Nikita Misal

Domain reviewer: Praveen S

Keywords: LibreOffice Calc, Installation of Calc, Toolbars in Calc, Open new spreadsheet in Calc, Open an existing spreadsheet, Save a spreadsheet, Close a spreadsheet, Save Calc file as MS Excel spreadsheet, Export Calc file as a PDF document


Visual Cue Narration
Slide: Title Welcome to the spoken tutorial on Introduction to LibreOffice Calc.
Slide: Learning Objectives In this tutorial, we will learn:
  • About LibreOffice Calc
  • Various toolbars
  • How to open a new and existing spreadsheet.
  • How to save and close a spreadsheet in Calc
  • How to save as MS Excel spreadsheet
  • How to export as a PDF document
Slide: What is LibreOffice Calc?


What is LibreOffice Calc?
  • LibreOffice Calc is the spreadsheet component of the LibreOffice Suite.
  • It is the equivalent of Microsoft Excel in Microsoft Office Suite.
  • It's free and open source software.
  • It can be shared, modified and distributed without any restrictions.
Slide: OS and versions LibreOffice Calc can run on any of the following operating systems:
  • Microsoft Windows 8 or higher versions
  • GNU/Linux OS and
  • Mac OSX
Slide: System Requirements This tutorial is recorded using
  • Ubuntu Linux OS version 18.04 and
  • LibreOffice Suite version 6.3.5
Slide: LibreOffice Installation
  • By default the latest Ubuntu Linux OS has LibreOffice pre-installed in it
  • To install a specific version, refer to the LibreOffice Installation series on this website.
Narration only Let us learn to open LibreOffice Calc.
Click on Show Application >>search bar type Calc >>

Click on LibreOffice Calc icon

In Ubuntu Linux OS, click on the Show Applications icon at the bottom left corner.


In the search bar type Calc.


From the displayed list, click on the Libreoffice Calc icon.

Click on Start menu >>search bar type Calc >>

Click on LibreOffice Calc icon

In Windows OS, click on the Start Menu icon located at the bottom left corner.


In the search bar type Calc.


From the displayed list, click on the Libreoffice Calc icon.

Only Narration: This will open an empty spreadsheet document in the main Calc window.


Now let us learn about the main components of the Calc window.

Point to title bar, menu bar, standard toolbar,

formatting bar, formula bar, status bar and Sidebar

The Calc window has various toolbars.


Title bar, Menu bar, Standard toolbar, Formatting bar, Formula bar, Status bar and Sidebar.


We will learn about these as the series progresses.

Narration only The entire spreadsheet document in Calc is called a workbook.
Click on cell C6.



Highlight a row and a column with the cursor.

The work area where the data is to be typed, contains various cells in the form of a grid.


In other words, the cells are arranged in rows and columns.

Highlight cell referenced as A1 with the cursor.


Highlight upward to the column and left-ward to the row.

A particular cell refers to an intersection of a row and a column.


It is identified by its relevant row number and column alphabet.

Point to the highlighted cell referenced as A1 with the cursor.


Cells can hold information like text, numbers, formulae, and many other data elements.


Cells can be used to display and manipulate the data.

Point to Sheets tab




Point to Sheet1


We can see a sheet tab at the bottom left corner of the spreadsheet.


This tab enables access to the sheet.


By default, we see one sheet on the interface and it is named as Sheet 1.

Point to the Sheets tab below.


Text on screen: One million rows and one thousand columns.


Text on screen: One billion cells in one sheet

Each spreadsheet can have several sheets.


Each sheet can have little more than one million rows and one thousand columns.


Which is, more than one billion or hundred crore cells in a single sheet.

Click on the cell referenced as “A1




Highlight column headers and row headers.


Each row is identified by a number and each column by an English alphabet.


There are a series of grey boxes containing letters at the top of the column.


Likewise, we see grey boxes containing numbers at the left end of the rows.


These are the column and row headers.

Click on the column starting with “A” and go on to the right.

Click on the row starting with “1”and go down.

The columns start from “A” and go on to the right.


And the rows start from “1” and go down.



Point to Name box and Input line.

Along with the toolbars, we have two additional fields also at the top.


Name box and Input line.

Click on the cell referenced as “A1”-> Point to “Name Box” at the top-left. The column and row headers form the cell references.


And these will appear in the Name box field.

Only Narration This was a brief description of the various components in Calc.


Now let us learn how to open a new spreadsheet in Calc.

Click on New Icon We can open a new spreadsheet by clicking on the New icon in the Standard toolbar.
Click File menu


Click New >> Spreadsheet


Alternatively go to the File menu in the menu bar.


Then click on the sub menu New and select the option Spreadsheet.

Only Narration



Close the spreadsheet named “Untitled 2”.


Click on the X icon

A new Calc spreadsheet named Untitled 2 opens up.


Close the newly opened spreadsheet named “Untitled 2”.


By clicking the X icon on the top right corner.

Only Narration Now we will learn how to build a “Personal Finance Tracker” in the spreadsheet.


We will do this in the Untitled 1 spreadsheet.

Only Narration Let us learn how to input data in a few cells in the spreadsheet.
Click on cell A1



Type “SN” in cell A1.

Click on the cell referenced as A1 in the spreadsheet.


Type the heading as “SN”.

It denotes the serial number of items which we will input in the spreadsheet.

Click on cell B1 ->Type “Items”.


Now click on the cell referenced as B1 and type another heading “Items”.


All item names which we will use in the spreadsheet, will be under this heading.

Click on cell C1->write “Cost

Click on cell D1->write “Spent

Click on cell E1->write “Received

Click on cell F1->write “Date

Click on cell G1->write “Account

Similarly, click on the cells C1, D1, E1, F1 and G1 one after the other.


Type the headings as “Cost”, “Spent”, “Received”, “Date” and “Account” respectively.

Only narration We’ll add some data for each of these headings in later tutorials.
Only Narration Once done typing our document, we should save it for future use.
Click on File To save the file, click on the Save icon in the Standard toolbar.
Dialog box



Point to Name >> type “Personal-Finance-Tracker

A dialog box appears on the screen.


It prompts us to enter the name of our file in the Name field.


I will type the name of the file as “Personal-Finance-Tracker”.

Select Desktop location On the left side, I’ll select Desktop as file location to save my file.
Point to the File type drop-down



Click on File type drop-down

Notice, we have a File type drop-down at the bottom right corner.


Click on this drop-down.

Scroll the options



Point to “ODF Spreadsheet” and then on “ods”.


It shows a list of file types or file extensions in which we can save our file.


The default file type in LibreOffice Calc is ODF Spreadsheet (.ods).


ODF stands for Open Document Format which is an open standard.

Click on ODF Spreadsheet (.ods). I will click on the ODF Spreadsheet option to save my file.


Do so likewise on your machine.

Click on Save button. Click on the Save button at the top right corner of the dialog box.
Calc window We will be redirected back to the Calc window.
Point to “Personal-Finance-Tracker.ods” in the title bar. Observe the change in the title bar now.


It has changed to Personal-Finance-Tracker.ods

Point to “Microsoft Excel 97/2003/XP(.xls)”


Point to “Microsoft Excel 2007 XML(.xlsx)

Besides saving in dot ods format, we can also save our file in dot xls and in dot xlsx format.


Files with these formats can be opened later in MS Excel application.

Click Save icon dropdown >> Save As. Click on the dropdown arrow beside the Save icon and then on the Save As option.

Click on File type drop-down


Click on Excel 2007-365 (.xlsx)

In the Save As dialog box, click on File type drop-down at the bottom right corner.


Select Excel 2007-365 (.xlsx) format.

Click on the Save button. Click on the Save button at the top right corner of the dialog box.
Point to Confirm File Format dialog box



Put a check on “Ask when not saving in ODF format”.

If we save the file in any other file format, Confirm File Format dialog box opens up.


Put a check on “Ask when not saving in ODF or default format” option.

Click on Use Excel 2007-365 format Then click on the Use Excel 2007-365 format button.
Calc window


Point to the Title bar

We will be redirected back to the Calc window.


Notice the change in the filename in the Title bar.

Point to Export Directly as PDF icon. The spreadsheet can also be exported to PDF format.

To do so, click on the Export Directly as PDF icon in the Standard toolbar.



Click on File >> >> Export as PDF


Alternatively, we can do so by clicking on the File menu in the menu bar.


And then on the Export as PDF option.

Point to PDF Option dialog box





PDF options dialog box opens up.


In this dialog box, we will see various settings to customize the PDF option.


Keep the default settings as it is and click on the Export button at the bottom.

Click on Export button


Click on Desktop >> click on Save button

Choose the location where we wish to save and then click on the Save button.


A pdf file will be created in that folder.

Click File >> Save As.


Click on File type drop-down


Point to “Text CSV(.csv)


Another popular file extension which opens in most applications is dot csv.


This is often used to store spreadsheet data in a text file format.


This will reduce the file size hugely and is easily portable.

Only Narration Additionally, we can save the spreadsheet in dot html format, which is a web page format.


This is done in the same way as explained above.

Scroll the File type drop-down


Click on HTML Document (Calc) (.html).

In the File type drop-down, scroll down and select HTML Document (Calc)(.html).


This option gives the dot html extension to the spreadsheet.

Choose Desktop as file location >> Click on Save. Again choose the same file location to save.


Then click on the Save button at the top right corner of the dialog box.

Point to Confirm File Format dialog box


Put a check on “Ask when not saving in ODF format”.

The Confirm File Format dialog box opens up.



Put a check on “Ask when not saving in ODF or default format” option.

Click on Use HTML Document (Calc) Format. Then click on the Use HTML Document (Calc) Format button.
Point to title bar. We see that the file gets saved with dot html extension.


This format is used when we want to show our spreadsheet as a web page.


It can be opened in any web browser.

Click File >> Close Let’s close this spreadsheet by clicking on File menu and then Close.
Only Narration Next we will learn how to open an existing spreadsheet in LibreOffice Calc.
Only Narration Let's open the spreadsheet Personal-Finance-Tracker.ods
Click on Open File



File browser dialog box opens >> Desktop

Click on the Open File menu on the left of the LibreOffice interface.


The file browser dialog box opens up.


Go to the location where our file was saved.

Click on Personal-Finance-Tracker.ods

>> Click on Open

Now in the list of filenames that appears, choose Personal-Finance-Tracker.ods.


Then click on the Open button at the top right corner.


The file Personal-Finance-Tracker.ods opens in the Calc window.

Only Narration Likewise, we can also open files with dot xls and dot xlsx extensions in Calc.
Narration Only Next let’s see how to modify a file and save it under the same filename.


So let us modify the file by making the headings bold and increasing their font size.

Click on the cell A1


Click on the B icon from the standard toolbar


Point to SN

To do so, first click on the cell referenced as A1.


Now click on the Bold icon in the Standard toolbar.


The heading SN becomes bold.


Click on Font Size -> Select 14



Point to heading SN

Click on the down-arrow in the Font Size field in the Standard toolbar.


In the drop-down, let us select 14.


The font size of the heading SN increases to 14.


Click on Font Name >> Arial.

Next, let us change the font we are using.


Click on the down-arrow in the Font Name field in the Standard toolbar.


From the drop-down select Arial as the font.

Repeat the above actions Bold, Font Size and Font name for rest of the headings Likewise, modify the rest of the headings.
Click on the Save icon. Let us now save the changes that we have made.


To do so, click on the Save icon in the Standard toolbar.

Only Narration Let's close the spreadsheet now.
Click on File >> Close Click on the File menu in the menu bar and then click on the Close option.
Only Narration This brings us to the end of this spoken tutorial.


Let us summarize.

Slide: Summary In his tutorial, we learnt:
  • About LibreOffice Calc.
  • Various toolbars in Calc.
  • How to open a new and existing spreadsheet.
  • How to save and close a spreadsheet
  • How to save as MS Excel spreadsheet
  • How to export as a PDF document in Calc.
Slide: Assignment


As an assignment
  • Open a new spreadsheet in Calc.
  • Save it under the name Spreadsheet-Practice.ods
  • Type the headings as “SN”, “Name”, “Department” and “Salary”.
  • Underline the headings and bold them.
  • Increase the font size of the headings to 12.
  • Save and close the file.
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Slide: Acknowledgement The Spoken Tutorial project is funded by MHRD, Govt. of India.
Slide: Thank you

Acknowledgement to DesiCrew

This tutorial was originally contributed by DesiCrew Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in 2011


This is Arvind along with Spoken Tutorial team from IIT Bombay signing off.

Thank you for watching.

Contributors and Content Editors

Arvindpillai90, Nancyvarkey, Pravin1389