Column Layout

In LibreOffice Writer a page can be formated with multiple columns. The default page layout is the one column layout which is the layout the majority of the documents use. However, some types of documents such as newspapers, leaflets, scientific papers and reports use two or more columns.

Page column layout

When formating a page with a two column layout for example, the page is divided in two columns. Text flows from the left to the right column.

To format a page with column layout, click on columns icon in the page properties pane of the Sidebar

Choose one of the predefined column layouts of click on More Options to open the columns tab in Page Style window.

Page section column layout

The problem with the previous method is that the layout applies to all pages of the document. Later in this course you are going to learn how to format individual pages using Page Styles.

A more practical use of column layout is to format with columns just a section of a page and keep the rest of the document with the normal layout, like the example shown in the image below.

Format a section of a page with columns.

First select the text of the section you want to create and format with columns

From the main menu click on Format > Columns menu command.

Make sure the Apply to Selection is selected and choose the number of columns. It's good also to put some spacing between the columns. You can also set a separator line.

Sections

When using the above method, Writer automatically creates a section. Sections are named blocks of text, including graphics or objects, that you can use in a number of ways. Sections can have different column layout than the current page style. A section is indicated by a gray border around the content. Sections are not covered in this course.

Deleting a section

If for some reason you choose to revert to one page layout for a section you must also delete the section using the menu command Format > Sections. Select the section and click remove. Note that this will remove the section, not it's contents.