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# Format

You can choose among various options for formatting a LibreOffice Math formula. The format options are displayed in the lower part of the Elements pane. These options are also listed in the context menu of the Commands window.

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Choose View - Elements; then on the Elements pane select Formats from the listbox.

The following is a complete list of all available formatting options in LibreOffice Math. The icon next to the formatting option indicates that it can be accessed through the Elements pane (menu View - Elements) or through the context menu of the Commands window.

The letter "a" refers to the placeholder in your formula which you would like to assign to the respective formatting. You can substitute this character for any other you like.

### Formatting options

Superscript left

Inserts a superscript to the left of a placeholder. You can also type <?>lsup{<?>} in the Commands window.

Superscript top

Inserts a superscript directly above a placeholder. You can also type <?>csup<?> directly in the Commands window.

Superscript right

Inserts a superscript to the right of a placeholder. You can also type <?>^{<?>} directly in the Commands window, or you can use rsup or sup.

Vertical stack (2 elements)

Inserts a vertical stack (binomial) with two placeholders. You can also type binom<?><?> directly in the Commands window.

New line

Inserts a new line in your document. You can also type newline directly in the Commands window.

Subscript left

Inserts a subscript to the left of a placeholder. You can also type <?>lsub{<?>} in the Commands window.

Subscript bottom

Inserts a subscript directly under a placeholder. You can also type <?>csub<?> directly in the Commands window.

Subscript right

Inserts a subscript to the right of a placeholder. You can also type <?>_{<?>} in the Commands window, and the subscript dash can be replaced by rsub or sub.

Vertical stack (3 elements)

Inserts a vertical stack with three placeholders. You can also type stack {<?>#<?>#<?>} in the Commands window.

Small gap

Inserts a small gap between a placeholder and the next element. You can also type ` directly in the Commands window. The command must appear to the left or right of a symbol, variable, number or complete command.

Align left

This icon assigns left-alignment to "a" and inserts a placeholder. You can type alignl<?> directly in the Commands window.

Align to horizontal center

Assigns horizontal central alignment to "a" and inserts a placeholder. You can also type alignc<?> directly in the Commands window.

Align right

Inserts the command for right alignment and a placeholder. You can also type alignr<?> in the Commands window.

Matrix stack

This icon inserts a matrix with four placeholders. You can also type matrix{<?>#<?>##<?>#<?>} directly in the Commands window. The position of an element inside this diagram is indicated by two coordinates; the first specifies the line number and the second the column number. You can expand this matrix in any direction in the Commands window by adding characters.

Gap

This icon inserts a gap or space between placeholders. You can also type ~ directly in the Commands window. The command must appear to the left or right of a symbol, variable, number or complete command.

For alignment, the alignl, alignc and alignr commands are especially effective, if you are

- aligning numerators and denominators, for example {alignl a}over{b+c}

- constructing binomials or stacks, for example binom{2*n}{alignr k}

- aligning the elements in a matrix, for example matrix{alignr a#b+2##c+1/3#alignl d} and

- beginning a new line, for example a+b-c newline alignr x/y

When using the align instructions, note that

- they can only placed at the beginning of expressions and can only occur once. Therefore you can type a+b alignr c, but not a+alignr b

- they affect each other, which means that typing {alignl{alignr a}}over{b+c} aligns a on the right.

### To align using the "matrix" command

matrix{

alignr sin^2 x + cos^2 x#{}={}#alignl 1 ##

alignr cos^2 x #{}={} #alignl 1 - sin^2 x

}

### Aligning to the left

If a line or an expression begins with text, it is aligned on the left by default. You can change this with any of the align commands. An example is stack{a+b-c*d#alignr "text"}, where "text" appears aligned to the right. Note that text must always be surrounded by quotation marks.

The standard centralized formulas can be aligned to the left without using the Format - Align menu. To do this, place an empty character string, that is, the inverted commas which surround any text "", before the section of formula that you want to align. For example, typing "" a+b newline "" c+d results in both equations being left-aligned instead of centered.

When typing information in the Commands window, note that some formats require spaces for the correct structure. This is especially true when entering values (for example, a lsup{3}) instead of placeholders.

Click Brackets and Grouping for more information about formatting in LibreOffice Math.

Useful information about Indexes and Exponents and Scaling, helps you organize your document in the best possible way.