[Issue] [Workaround] Center text on page vertical

[RoryOF]

I tried the help docs and forum search already but didn't find results: In help "center text" talked about a frame which I don't want. Forum search gave me posts on page numbering.

In page format I don't see option to center the text vertically on the page. Is there such an option? My assumption was page format as I want this for the entire document if more than one page.

PS: I'm using 4.1.1 (trying to find edit signature to update my signature)

[acknak]

There is no direct vertical centering capability for text on a Writer page.

As a workaround, you can ...

Eyeball it.

Or, tables can vertically center their contents. Insert a table covering the full height and use that to do the vertical centering.

Or, frames can center themselves vertically. Wrap the text in a frame and set the frame to be vertically centered.

[rbc]

There is no direct vertical centering capability for text on a Writer page.

I hereby would like to add this as a wishlist item! It's invaluable for so many pages I create. tried the frame workaround and found it cumbersome, will try table.

[acknak]

I think I've needed it once in over ten years of using OO.

What sort of work are you doing that requires vertical centering?

[rbc]

I think I've needed it once in over ten years of using OO.

What sort of work are you doing that requires vertical centering?

Man times, like this time I was doing title pages (from official documents). Other times I may do signage.

[acknak]

There is an open request for it, here:
Issue 20386: Support vertical centering of text in a page
You can register there and add your vote (up to two) or comment.

Given that the request was made over ten years ago, I'd say the priority for this seems pretty low. And I believe it would require a file format change (there is no vertical alignment property for plain paragraphs AFAIK), which adds a lot of inertia.

Personally, I prefer not to put any of the running text (such as a title) in a frame. I just eyeball the spacing above a title; it's not critical (for me) that it be perfect. If I needed it to be automatically adjusted, I'd use a frame. I'm not sure I understand what would be particularly cumbersome about that.

For signs and other more graphical layouts, I use Draw. It manages pretty much any sort of alignment easily.

[Adr01t]

I find your question asking what kind of work is the user doing very unhelpful. Does it matter, and why do you want to know?
Perhaps there's someone out there who can understand that it is a useful feature and is needed by some of us.
Maybe they could devote some time to adding this function.

[RoryOF]

Frequently the reason a question such as this is asked is because, if we know what is being done, we can make a suggestion of an alternate route to achieve the desired end.

[Adr01t]

For myself, the answer is simple.
I want to place the title, or text in the middle of the page, for the visual effect when the document is printed.

[rbc]

For myself, the answer is simple.
I want to place the title, or text in the middle of the page, for the visual effect when the document is printed.

Exact reason I raised the question. I often want to make a title page, signs, or other pieces of text that I want both centered vertical and horizontal on the page. Was very surprised it wasn't part of page formatting.

[RoryOF]

I work out the space above/below needed and set that by hand, as I would have done if setting lead display type or rub down lettering. It only takes a moment to figure it out.

[Zizi64]

There is a lot of workaround methods for this task. There is three method in my attached example file:

Centered title.odt

(12.61 KiB) Downloaded 233 times

[floris v]

rbc and Adr01t:
Apologies if the following sounds somewhat condescending.
You have just met some of the most helpful people on this forum. You can trust them to have your best interests in mind. You want to get your work done. Excellent. Just don't try to do it in the way you think best if that way isn't the best way to do it. OpenOffice is complex software and it takes time to learn to get the most out of it. Take that time. It's worth it - much of that time spent will still be of use if you switch to MS Office, because there's a lot of overlap.

Learn to be pragmatic and to think rationally. If some tool doesn't do what you want, use a tool that does do what you want, even if you think it's clumsy or because you don't like its name. If you want to vertically align a single line of text on a page, don't wait for that feature to be implemented but use the workarounds that are offered.
Why should you care about the frame containing your line of text if the text is vertically aligned on the printed page? Is it wasteful? No. Having a vertical alignment property in every single paragraph in all the documents that you will ever write with OO, most of which will never have any vertically aligned paragraphs, only to have it here, that's a waste of resources, disk space etc. IMO it's a completely useless feature, even possibly harmful if its implementation would introduce new bugs. OO has plenty of bugs already. People have managed to get their text vertically aligned for ten years or longer, using frames or eyeballing. I'd say: use that frame and spend less time to get your work done than it'd take by voting for that issue and waiting for its implementation.

[RoryOF]

There is a useful article on this from Solveig Haugland at
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2005/12/centering_text_.html

Note that text on a (printed) title page is often set with the emphasis to the upper portion of the page.

[floris v]

Come to think of it, if you want the best optical effect, vertical centering of the title may not be such a good idea. You should consider using the golden ratio instead, so roughly 61% of the remaining space on the page should be below the title and 39% above it.

[Zizi64]

You should consider using the golden ratio instead, so roughly 61% of the remaining space on the page should be below the title and 39% above it.

+1

[floris v]

Made that a feature request: https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=126465

[John_Ha]

Maybe they could devote some time to adding this function.

There is no paid "they" in OpenOffice. If this is so essential for you, and you believe it is a critical requirement for OpenOffice, why don't you volunteer to implement it - you can do here. You should get lots of thanks from any others who, like you, consider it essential.

Highlighting the text and Format > Paragraph > Indents and spacing > Spacing above paragraph ..., allows you to set the spacing above the paragraph to whatever you want ...

If this solves the problem, please edit your original post title to [Solved].

[jrkrideau]

I think I've needed it once in over ten years of using OO.

What sort of work are you doing that requires vertical centering?

Man times, like this time I was doing title pages (from official documents). Other times I may do signage.

Once you get a page set up with, say the table that works, why not create a new template with that page style included? Then every time you need a new title page just use that template.

[rbc]

rbc and Adr01t:
Take that time. It's worth it - much of that time spent will still be of use if you switch to MS Office, because there's a lot of overlap.
.

I really appreciate having OpenOffice, don't get me wrong. But what I thought would be a very, very simple task seems not to be. In comparison, MSWord has a one-click option to center text on page. I have temporary access to MSWord and tried doing this. (Although I'm totally in the dark with the newest version, I found this option quite easily.)

[Zizi64]

In comparison, MSWord has a one-click option to center text on page. I have temporary access to MSWord and tried doing this. (Although I'm totally in the dark with the newest version, I found this option quite easily.)

...and there are many method for solving (for workaround) this task in AOO and LO, if you need it urgently. (See the suggestions, and my attached example file above.) I think: this feature will not achieved in a short time in the open source office suites.

[KentonS]

FWIW:

I very frequently use a word processor to write business letters and other formal communications. When I do so I like to center the text vertically on the page. It looks more professional. (I also use left & right justification.)

In earlier versions of OpenOffice, Write simply added blank lines to center text vertically. This was fine up to and not including the time when text was added or deleted, at which time it was necessary to delete all the added lines and center the text vertically again.

Interestingly, it seems that MS Word centers text vertically by adding a pad (under the control of MS Word) to the header. As text is added or deleted, this pad is adjusted accordingly.

I don't know what the goals of OpenOffice are, but if one of those goals is to provide a worthy competitor to commercial products <cough>MS Word<cough>, some of the less-fun-to-program but more-important-to-the-user functions must be provided. IMO, vertical centering is such a one. Much as I am absolutely not a fan of Microsoft, I (grudgingly) acknowledge that their Office product is really Best In Class. I currently need to upgrade, and I would love nothing more than to be able to discard MS Office in favor of an Open Source alternative. And also FWIW, being a software developer myself, I am a firm believer in paying for/supporting products and/or services, including Open Source products. I would willingly contribute - and have contributed - amounts equivalent to what it would cost to purchase a commercial product to organizations whose Open Source products I use.

As I said: FWIW.

[John_Ha]

acknak's workaround using a frame to hold the text seems to be trivial to do.

1 Insert > Frame > Type
- Size > Width > Relative = 100%;
- Position > Vertical = Centre to = Page Text Area
> Borders > set Spacing to contents = 0, Borders = None
2 Save file as a template for further use

All done!

Alternatively, record a macro to do Step 1 and save it as an icon on the toolbar. You now have a "1-click vertically centred text" icon to click on.

[m13m13]

I, too, consider the ability to center the text on a page vertically to be essential. It doesn't seem like it should be done as a "workaround." Advising that the solution is to "eyeball" it defeats the very purpose of word processing software. When edits become necessary, you shouldn't have to continuously re-eyeball it because the edited text is no longer the same size as the original text. That's about as relevant as suggesting we resort to Gutenberg typesetting.

[John_Ha]

It appears that you have not bothered to read my post before making your incorrect comment

Advising that the solution is to "eyeball" ...

- Position > Vertical = Centre to = Page Text Area

There is nothing "eyeball" about that. It is a method to do EXACTLY what you want.

We are not developers and we cannot alter the code. All we can do is help you to use the code as it is. If you don't like the help freely given, then ignore it.

[RoryOF]

Also "Gutenberg" or manual typesetting is almost always carried out on a completed manuscript, so it is done once and does not need to be re-adjusted. Recollect that the layout facilities of any word processor are an attempt to replicate the years of training and experience of a compositor; for detailed page layout there are more specialised programs, which can be absolute pigs when (if) used as word processors for text composition.

[Edison1205]

Given that the request was made over ten years ago, I'd say the priority for this seems pretty low. And I believe it would require a file format change (there is no vertical alignment property for plain paragraphs AFAIK), which adds a lot of inertia.

[Zizi64]

I, too, consider the ability to center the text on a page vertically to be essential. It doesn't seem like it should be done as a "workaround."

Fortunately the AOO and the LO are opensource office suites. You can download the source code, you can modify it, and you can build your own version - if you need a new function.

[AnrDaemon]

What sort of work are you doing that requires vertical centering?

Typical documentation work.
http://prnt.sc/f6pk07

[jrkrideau]

I'd suggest using Zizi64's approach and spend a bit of time setting up perhaps three templates. It should not take too long to create the templates.