House Under Construction!

Open: Programs / OpenOfficeOrg / Select the “Drawing” program

Save as: MyHouse.odg in your personal folder located in the LAB drive!!

Lesson: Explore the different tools in the Open Office Drawing Program by constructing a drawing of a house (any house).

Follow these Steps:

  1. First set your page to landscape (wide) format:
    Format / Page / choose the 'Orientation' to be Landscape. OK

  2. Your drawing must contain a house with a roof, chimney, door (with knob and window), and two windows with split panes. The picture must also have a tree, cloud, bush, and sun. You may add any other features you would like.

  3. Please experiment with the different tools on the tool panel (not just the rectangle and oval) located at the bottom of the screen. The polygon tool is ideal for the roof. Use the freehand tool for the tree and bushes. Let their imagination go.

Drawing Tips:

  • The polygon tool is ideal for the roof.

  • Use the freehand tool for the tree and bushes.

  • Roll over the little icons and find 'Basic Shapes'. Click the down arrow to see an assortment of different shapes you can use. 'Symbol Shapes' has some flowers!

  • Enhance your shapes with color or pattern. Select the object, right click and choose 'Area'. This is a tool box with everything you need to fill you object.

  • Check out the 'Bitmaps' in the Area tool box – it has fills for sky, water, stone, gravel and grass!

  • To put a new object behind an existing object, select it, right click and choose 'Arrange' to see options of putting an object in front of, in back of, etc.

  • To 'flip' an object, select it, right click and choose 'Flip' and select the orientation you want.

  • To combine 2 objects so they stay together, select both, right click, choose 'Combine'

  • How about 3D? Select an object, right click on it, choose “Convert / to 3D'!


When done, resave your work to your personal folder
located in the LAB drive!!