Keyboard shortcut to change font color in Libreoffice to a specific color

Question

I have to do a fair amount of writing in red and black in the same document. In MS Office I would set a keyboard shortcut to switch between colors so I don't have to take my hands off the keyboard. Something like Alt+R for red and Alt+B for black.

How can I set up something similar in LibreOffice Writer? I've poked around in Tools -> Customize -> Keyboard but I can't figure it out.

Solution

Muru's suggestion is close, but use Character styles, not Paragraph styles.

1. Press F11 and click the icon for Character styles.
2. Right-click Default Style and select New... Change the font color to red. In the Organizer, name the font color Red, then press OK.
3. Tools -> Customize, select the Keyboard tab. Find Alt+R and select it.

4. Under Categories, choose Styles / Character. Under Function, select Red. Then click the Modify button.

   

5. The Default Style Character Style is already black, so assign it to Alt+B. Then press OK.

6. Finally, select words and press Alt+R.

   

Comments

[muru]

One way I tried just now is to create two custom styles (call them Red and Blue) with appropriate font colours, and then assign shortcuts to them. But it seems the styles work on the entire line, so if you switch in the middle, the entire line's colour changes. Is that acceptable? If not, you might want to try creating macros.

[web.learner]

@muru Unfortunately I need to have both colors in the same line, although not the same word. I'm not sure how to work with macros in LO, but I'll poke around.

[WinEunuuchs2Unix]

+1 for a very nicely formatted answer. When I delve into LO keyboard shortcuts this will also be valuable.

[mLstudent33]

my version does not have this menu when I push F11

[Jim K]

In my current version, the menu option is View -> Styles, or find the Styles and Formatting icon in the sidebar on the right-hand side.

[lucian]

@JimK can you please update your guide for the latest LO version? after I create the style like you suggest, I cannot find it in the function section when I want to define the shortcut. Cheers

[Jim K]

@lucian: It still works in 6.4.3.2. Try following the directions again and see if you made a mistake. If that doesn't help, ask a new question with a link to this one.

[lucian]

thank you! you are correct, I did make a mistake! it works with the latest version too!

[Paul Erlenmeyer]

Thanks, answer still works.