Last Updated: 22/07/2026
If you’ve ever needed a free, powerful alternative to Microsoft Word for creating business letters, client proposals, or project specs, LibreOffice Writer is an excellent choice. In this beginner-friendly walkthrough (based on the DCP Web Designers tutorial), we’ll build a reusable “master document” from scratch – one you can copy and reuse for every future client or project.
Getting Started
Before anything else, download LibreOffice by searching “LibreOffice” on Google, clicking the official download link, and selecting your operating system (Windows, Mac, or Linux). Once installed, open LibreOffice Writer – it loads with a blank default page.
Save your document immediately. Create a dedicated folder (e.g., “LibreOffice Writer Tutorial”) and save your file as something like Master-Document-01. This will become your reusable template for all future documents.
Setting Up a First-Page Layout
Most business letters have a logo and address only on page one — not on every subsequent page. To replicate this:
- Right-click the Default Style at the bottom of the screen and set it to First Page.
- Go to Insert → Page Break to create page two (which uses the Default Style).
- Go to Insert → Header and Footer → Header, and enable the header for First Page only.
- Click into the body of the document, then go to Insert → Header and Footer → Footer and enable it for All pages.
This gives you a header that appears only on page one, plus a footer on every page.
Creating Reusable Paragraph Styles
Rather than manually formatting text every time, set up your styles once:
- Type out sample text for Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, Default Style, and Body Text.
- Highlight each one, apply the matching style from the dropdown, then right-click → Edit Style to customise the font (e.g., Arial), weight (bold/regular), and size (e.g., 120pt for Heading 1, down to 12pt for body text).
- The Body style automatically inherits from the Default Style, so you don’t need to edit it separately.
Once your styles are configured, you can delete the sample text – the formatting stays saved and ready to apply anywhere with a single click from the dropdown menu.
Adding a Header with Logo and Address
- Click into the header and Insert → Table (2 columns × 1 row).
- Type your address and phone number into the right-hand cell.
- Select the table (click the small arrow that appears to the left of it) and set Border Style → None to make the table invisible.
- Drag and drop your logo image into the left-hand cell.
Pro tip: If your logo has excess white space around it, use free image-editing software (like GIMP) to select just the logo with the rectangle tool, then Image → Fit Canvas to Selection, and export it as a cropped JPEG. This makes it fit your header much more cleanly.
Add a bottom border line under the header row via Borders, and preview your work anytime with Print Preview.
Formatting Titles and Body Text
Once your styles are set, formatting is fast:
- Type a title, apply Heading 1 from the style dropdown.
- Press Enter – the next line automatically switches to Body Text.
- Apply Heading 2 and Heading 3 for subsections the same way.
If you prefer a clean, squared-off paragraph look, use the Block Justify button – it’s a matter of personal preference versus left-aligned text.
Inserting and Optimising Images
Large images (camera photos can be 15+ MB) will bloat your document size dramatically. Here’s the fix:
- Drag your image into the document and resize/reposition it (e.g., text wrapping on the right).
- Click the image → Styles and Formatting → Frame Style, and double-click to apply a frame – this adds clean spacing between the image and surrounding text.
- To remove the default border, right-click the frame → Modify → Line Style → None.
- Compress the image: right-click → Compress, keep it as JPEG, reduce resolution to around 75%, and click Calculate to preview the savings. A 15 MB image can shrink to under 2 MB with no visible quality loss.
Building a Footer with Page Numbers
- Insert a 2×1 table in the footer, remove its borders.
- On the left cell, insert Page Number.
- On the right cell, type your website address – LibreOffice will auto-detect and hyperlink it once you press Enter.
- Copy this footer table and paste it onto subsequent pages so numbering and branding stay consistent throughout the document.
Working with Bullet and Numbered Lists
- Use the Bullet List and Number List tools directly from the toolbar.
- Promote/Demote buttons let you indent list items (e.g., pushing sub-points to 2.1, 2.2, etc.).
- For multi-level numbered lists that don’t auto-format correctly, open Bullet and Numbering → Customise to manually set the “Show Sublevels” and tab position values.
Text Formatting Essentials
LibreOffice Writer includes all the standard tools you’d expect:
- Bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough
- Superscript (e.g., for “22ⁿᵈ”)
- Font color changes (black is recommended for print/readability)
- The Highlight tool for calling out key text
- Clear Formatting to reset any accidentally-applied styles
Tables for Project Documentation
Tables aren’t just for headers and footers – they’re great for documenting web forms or project specs for developers and clients. For example, create a 3-column table with Field Name, Field Type, and Notes to clearly spec out a contact form (Full Name, Email, Phone, Date, etc.) before development begins.
Comments, Hyperlinks, and Special Characters
- Insert Comment lets you leave notes for collaborators (tip: leave a few blank lines below the comment first to avoid formatting glitches).
- Highlight text and use the Link tool to insert clickable URLs – useful for directing clients to a portfolio or examples.
- Need a copyright symbol? Use Insert → Special Character to find symbols not available on your keyboard.
- The Draw Functions toolbar also includes a Text Box tool, handy for overlaying text on top of images.
Exporting to PDF
Once your document is finished, click Export as PDF. This is the version you should always send to clients – recipients can read and print it, but they can’t accidentally edit your content. It’s also dramatically smaller: in this tutorial, an 1.8 MB Writer document compressed down to just 247 KB as a PDF.
Managing Client Documents the Smart Way
The final – and most important – tip: never edit your original master document. Instead:
- Create a new folder named after your client (e.g., “ABC Client”).
- Copy your Master Document into that folder.
- Rename the copy (e.g., “ABC Client Proposal”).
- Edit and customise the copy as needed – all your fonts, styles, headers, and footers are already built in.
This workflow means every new project starts fully formatted and ready to go, saving you significant time on every future document.
Final Thoughts
LibreOffice Writer is a genuinely capable, free alternative to Microsoft Word for everyday business documents – client specs, proposals, letters, and more. By investing a little time upfront to build a well-formatted master template, you’ll save hours on every document you create afterward. Watch the full video tutorial from DCP Web Designers for a complete visual walkthrough of every step above.
