OpenOffice.Org 1.0 Resource Kit

One of the most dynamic and exciting things you'll be asked to add to a presentation is the new org chart. See Figure 26-16 for an example of a small one created in Impress.

There's nothing particularly complicated about doing it, but here are some tips to make it easier.

The lines to connect names

Use the connector tools. These tools keep their ends attached to whatever boxes you attached them to in the first place. So if by some wild chance there's a reorg in your division, Rich Williamson is out and Patty from Figure 26-16 is in charge instead, all you'd have to do is move her box around and change her arrow so she's now in charge of the whole group and reports to the CEO. See Figure 26-17.

Click on the main toolbar at the left as shown to find the connector tools. See Drawing a Connector on page 796.

Easily combining names and boxes

Type inside boxes. Just double-click inside the rectangle or anything else you've drawn and start typing. Right-click on the border of the box and choose Text, and mark Fit to Frame, to make the text stay inside the box. See Writing Text Inside an Object on page 684.

Using just names, without boxes

If you want a plain org chart that doesn't have boxes around the names, you can still use the connector lines. Just connect the connector lines to the text frame instead of a box. Right-click the frame and choose Text, then enter the separation you want between the text frame and the text itself, so you can keep the connector line from being right up against the side of the text. See Figure 26-18.

Fancier effects for the boxes names appear in

Want fancy effects for the top brass? Use a shadow for his or her box. Get fancier with shadows, transparency (to show the power behind the thrown) and other fills by choosing Format > Area.

Make 3D objects, then type in them, using the 3D tools. Apply effects by right-clicking in the shape and choosing Effects.

Positioning the names and boxes

To align and distribute the names in the org chart, select three or more objects to distribute, or select two or more objects to align, and right-click to select Align or Distribute. See Aligning Objects on page 774 and Distributing Objects Evenly on page 774. For more specific positioning, see Positioning Objects on page 775.

Actually, everything in the main heading Positioning and Resizing Objects on page 773, Rotating and Flipping Objects on page 782, and Setting Drawing Scale and Unit of Measurement on page 784 is going to be useful.