Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Hey everyone,

I tried searching for this both on Google and in the forum so apparently I am the only one with the problem which suggests it's me not the software so any help would be appreciated.

I am seem to be missing something as it pertains to the use of the format paintbrush. its either that or I have something wrong with my install or setup.

I am using writer 3.0.0 on windows xp sp2 with all the other patches and according to "add remove programs" java 6 update 11 and java 2 runtime environment SE v1.4.2_04

When I use the format paintbrush, I select some text, click the format paintbrush icon on the tool bar, the cursor changes to the bucket pouring out stuff, I select some different text, and Nothing.

The formatting differences in the text are simple. One, the source, is default style, times new roman 12, the other, that I want to change, is default style, arial, 12.

Well, not "nothing", it seems to paint other formatting like font size, text color, etc. it just doesn't change the font.

Is it not suppose to change the font? Wouldn't the font be part of the formatting? or do I have some box somewhere checked incorrectly causing it to not "paint" the font?

The paintbrush works fine for me, using OOo 3.0 on Fedora Linux. It copies the font, font size, style, color and background color (that's all I've tested).

It may not copy some attributes if the source selection is not pure for that attribute. E.g. if you have more than one font in the source selection, it may not copy the font.

Works fine for me using OO.org 3.0 on Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6.

i think you are missing a step. The format paint-can doesn't pick up styles from the document text in that way.

It is used to paint styles that have been created and are present in the Style list. You can highlight some text and then click the 'New Style from Selection' button next to the paint-can icon and then seelct 'New Style from Selection' from, the menu. A dialog appears. Give the style a name etc and then save it.

Then you pick the style from the Style list and then click the paint-can to apply it. They style is then there for you to use whenever you need it in that document.

If this has answered your question please go to your first post and use the Edit button, and add [Solved] to the start of the title. You can use the green tick icon at the same time if you like.

I am a second victim of the same problem. Running Windows Vista and OO3.0. According to http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/ ... e-for.html the format paintbrush should simply pickup a format from one place and then paint another.

I follow the instructions to the letter and nothing happens. I use this feature continually in MS Word, so I know it well there, but here it seems completely non-functional. My guess is there is something very basic we are doing wrong, but so far no luck pinning it down.

Can you upload a sample file (see: How to attach a document here) showing what kind of format you want to paste to what text. Then we will try with that very file.

Thanks for the replies,

To acknak, all of the source text had the same font and other attributes, the destination text, that I know of, should all be changed to the source regardless of whether it was all the same or not.

To theGurkha, I am not 100% sure I see what your saying. I know how to use styles but that is not how the “format paintbrush” says it works in the “help”

To LouCostello, we may be experiencing the same thing, and we may not, check the update.

To Hagar de l'Est, actually, In this case, I can't upload the document because I didn't save the document, I was not editing a document, I was using OOo Writer as a text editor to create a lengthy reply to lengthy e-mail.

I use yahoo web based e-mail (my e-mail address doesn't change just because my isp does and I can get my mail anywhere I go as long as I can find a browser) The Yahoo editor is OK for short messages, the window is pretty small for large ones. In fact, I am typing this up in OOo 3.0 Writer. I will then copy it and paste it into the reply text box.

I copied the text from the yahoo mail web page and pasted it into the document. Then I started typing my reply. The original text was formated, sometimes with color, different fonts, and bold. I wanted to make all my replies consistent (so it could be easily detected amongst the original message text) so I set the first line to what I wanted, selected some of the text and tried to format paintbrush all my replies to the same. Color and bold all went away, but the font didn't change.

Now that I have done another test. I typed a couple lines of text and changed one of them to arial font. I then selected part of the “unchanged” text that was in times new roman, clicked the format paintbrush and then selected some text in the line I had changed to arial. This time, it did change the font, however, it changed the entire line, not just the selected text.

Like LouCostello, I use this feature in MS Office Word fairly often. Word “paints” the formatting only for the text selected by the paint cursor. Not saying that MS Word is or should be the “gold” standard but the help in OOo 3 indicates it should work that way.

That's why I'm asking for a sample file. This is a rather specific context and pasting a text from the Yahoo mail web page may import a specific formatting that is 'stronger' than the OOo formatting. Can't you send you a dummy email with text then copy and paste it in a new Writer document, save it as .odt and upload it here?

To theGurkha, I am not 100% sure I see what your saying. I know how to use styles but that is not how the “format paintbrush” says it works in the “help”

From the help:

You can quickly apply styles, such as paragraph and character styles, in your document by using the Fill Format Mode in the Styles and Formatting window.

1.Choose Format - Styles and Formatting.
2.Click the icon of the style category that you want to apply.
3.Click the style, and then click the Fill Format Mode icon in the Styles and Formatting window.
4.Move the mouse pointer to where you want to apply the style in the document, and click. To apply the style to more than one item, drag to select the items, and then release.
5.Press Esc when finished.

So what it says is:
1 - Open the style list. you can also do this using F11.
2 - Click the icon of the style type you want to have listed: character styles, paragraph stylers, etc.
3 - Click the name of the style in the list (not some highlighted text in the document), then click the paint can icon.
4 - Apply the style to the text in the document .
5 - Press Esc to go back to normal text entry.

However, I think Hagar might be right - the embedded formatting of the pasted text might be over-riding anything that OOo is trying to apply.

OK, I went back and created a document, and tested it to make sure it is doing what I say, even when I re-open it. it is attached. the document describes in fair detail what I am doing.

I have attached a jpeg image of the help that I get for the format paintbrush, it differs from what TheGurkha posted. Though his help info came from help on styles which would work but the format paintbrush is faster for what I am trying to do, well, it would be if it was working for me.

This is the help documentation I am going on for what I think should happen.

Having re-read the help and holding <CTRL> while both while selecting the text to copy, and while clicking the format paintbrush and while selecting the text to be painted, in every combination I could think of, I still do not get the results indicated. I either get the entire line being changes or nothing.

In fact, the text in Times New Roman is the default formatting. And you're trying to paste its formatting (that is non existent since it's the default format without other formatting) to another part of the text which has a direct formatting. So it can't work. Select the text and clear its formatting first with CTRL+M.

For the whole line being changed, I don't really know what is causing that. But again, if I clear it's formatting, then applying a formatting with the paintbrush changes only the word/text selected.

Thanks to add '[Solved]' at beginning of your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.

OK, I guess I can understand that but it seems a little lame to me. It seems to me like when you select text with no formatting, then copy it to the paintbrush and paint over some other text with it, the destination text should then also have no formatting and should look like the default text. I guess they never thought anyone would want to use "clear" paint.

I will mark the thread as solved, I just don't much like the answer.

Howard.

I see your point. But the best way is to use styles and that paintbrush feature should not be used in fact. But I agree that's very convenient sometimes.

I agree as well: it's how one would expect the format paintbrush to work.

It has been reported as a problem, several times already; see: Issue 29524: Default attributes should be written expressively in paragraph/charcter styles - keyword: paintbrush
You can register there and add your vote (up to two) or comment.

So, given this discussion, does the format paintbrush do anything that selecting text and applying a particular style doesn't do?

If not, it is basically useless. (It is called a 'format' paintbrush, not a 'style' paintbrush, after all!)

As it is currently named and presented, users will expect it to work as it does in MS Office, but it clearly does not.

Yes.

The paintbrush does not depend on styles. Styles are the best way to work in Writer, but if someone only knows direct formatting, the paintbrush can be quite useful, despite the flaws. Further, the paintbrush makes it simple to copy certain formatting (like list properties) that is awkward or complicated to handle otherwise.

What the paintbrush can't do is remove properties that are set in the destination text but not in the source text. For example, you can't use the paintbrush to remove the bold property by copying default formatting and applying that to bold text.

You can usually get the job done by first using Format > Default to remove all direct formatting from the destination, then copying any formatting you want to apply. Even so, there are some situations where the paintbrush won't give the destination the same appearance as the source.

Styles are the most effective way to work in Writer. If you work with styles, the paintbrush (and its flaws) are entirely beside the point.

I've been using OpenOffice for years now and the one issue that I have been annoyed with is the format painter. I always assumed I was doing something wrong or there was a setting some place that would make it work the way I assumed it was supposed to. So finally after years of low level annoyance I decided to try to figure it out.

1. Thank you to whoever mentioned ctrl-M in the post above. I wasn't figuring that out anytime soon without some help
2. If somebody thinks this is the way it is supposed to work would it be possible to document it in the help under the painter section?
3. Based on the above posts, I guessed that if text is explicitly formatted with Times New Roman that the format painter might pick it up. It does.
4. It is sort of interesting that it works this way, but I suspect that the majority of people don't figure it out and it just annoys them. One of the reasons is that there is no indication of whether Times New Roman text has been explicitly formatted or is being displayed in Times New Roman because that is the default font for unformatted text. Maybe an indication could be provided when text is unformatted and is being displayed in the default font.
5. I noticed a lot of comments to the effect that styles are the way to go most of the time. Maybe so. I've generally found in smaller documents it's just more straightforward to format directly. Maybe I should work a little harder at becoming adept at using styles.