For example, if you enter 50%, the separator lines will be half as high as the columns. If you want the separator lines to be shorter than the columns, use the Height box to enter the height of the separator lines as a percentage of the height of the columns.

The default format is for the separator lines to have the same height as the columns.

From the Line drop-down list in the Separator line area, select the type of line that you want.

Eighteen separator line options exist: None or various lines of thicknesses which range from 0.05 to 9 pt).

To display separator lines between the columns: If you specify more than three columns, use the arrow keys on the Column line to scroll among the columns.

On the Spacing line, enter the amount of space that you want between each pair of columns.

On the Width line, enter a width for each column.

In the Width and spacing area, clear the AutoWidth checkbox.

To customize the width and spacing of the columns, follow these steps: To create evenly-spaced columns that are all the same width, check the AutoWidth checkbox in the Width and spacing area. See Changing the number of columns for existing text. This check box is not always displayed in the Settings area. In this case, the changes are being applied to the Default page style.

Notice the Apply to box on the right-hand side of the dialog box.

The preview box, located to the right of the Settings area, shows how the column layout will look. You can use one of Writer's predefined column layouts, or you can create a customized column layout.

On the Columns dialog box, choose the number of columns and specify any spacing between the columns and whether you want a vertical separator line to appear between the columns.

Choose Format > Columns or go to the Columns page of the Page Style dialog box.

To define the number of columns on a page:

You can then either define extra page styles for pages with different numbers of columns or use sections (described in Using sections for page layout) for pages or parts of pages with different numbers of columns. It is a good idea to define your basic page style (such as Default) with the most common layout to be used in your document, either single-column or multiple-column.

Switch between one-column and multiple-column layouts on the same page.You can use columns for page layout in these ways:

Openoffice columns on part of page