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82 Open an Existing Presentation

When you open a document in most programs, such as Writer or Calc, you usually start the program and then select File, Open from the menu. Opening a presentation from within Impress usually differs somewhat due to the importance of AutoPilot and its appearance every time you start Impress.

Before You Begin

80 Set Impress Options

81 Create a New Presentation

The opening AutoPilot dialog box gives you the option to open an existing presentation instead of creating a new presentation. If you want to open an existing presentation, Impress's AutoPilot dialog box helps by displaying a list of presentation files from which you can choose.

See Also

83 Run a Presentation

Remember that Impress presentations use the .sxi filename extension, and all filenames with that extension in the detail folder displays for you to choose from when you want to open an existing presentation.

NOTE

1. Request a Presentation

   Select Presentation from the OpenOffice.org Windows menu. Impress opens the AutoPilot dialog box from which you can start a new presentation or, in this case, select an existing presentation. Click the option labeled Open existing presentation to see a list of presentations in your default folder.

   Impress lists any Impress presentations you have in your folder by name , and it lists any PowerPoint presentations that might exist in your folder with the cryptic PowerPoint Presentation title. It's obvious (as long as you gave your presentations meaningful names ) what the Impress presentations are because you see their filenames. Fortunately, Impress also gives you a way to see a graphic preview of any presentation, whether it's an Impress or a PowerPoint presentation. Just click to select any presentation in the list, and Impress shows a preview of the presentation's first slide in the dialog box's preview area.

   NOTE

   Microsoft PowerPoint uses the .ppt file extension, and PowerPoint presentations appear when you open presentations from within Impress.

   Although you would think Impress would give you an Open button, instead you must click the Create button to open your selected presentation.

   TIP

   You can browse to a different folder to find a presentation by double-clicking <Other position> and selecting a file from the Open dialog box that appears.

2. Edit or Run the Newly Opened Presentation

   Once Impress loads the presentation, you are free to run or edit it.

3. Open Another Presentation

   Once inside Impress, if you want to open a second presentation, select File, Open from the menu. Impress displays the Open dialog box from which you can select a presentation to open.

   TIP

   If you want to close your existing presentation before opening another one, select File, Close to do so. If you've made changes since you last saved the presentation, Impress gives you the opportunity to save the presentation before closing it.

4. Select a Presentation

   From the Open dialog box, select the presentation you wish to open and click the Open button. Impress opens the presentation, and you can edit or run the presentation.