Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Earlier I drew six straight lines, one at a time. It just so happens that those lines create a closed area, as perceived by the human eye - namely a hollow letter L. I want to fill that area with hatching. I guess the fill/hatching setup is primarily used to accommodate newly-created shapes rather than existing ad hoc areas defined by drawn lines. Am I out of luck here or is there a way? Thank you.

In order to fill an area, you must have a closed polygon object. Even if the lines have endpoints that share the same position, they are not connected as far as OO Draw is concerned, and they can't provide an area to be filled.

OO Draw distinguishes separate lines that share an endpoint from a "polyline" that connects two or more vertices. You can convert the separate lines into a polyline selecting two line objects, then Modify > Connect. The lines don't have to share any points; the operation simply changes each endpoint of each line into a vertex of the resulting polyline. What the Modify > Connect operation does not do, is to "close" the polyline: to convert the polyline (with two ends) into a closed polygon with no ends. To close the polyline, use: right-click > Close Object.

Once you have a closed polygon (or curve), the area fill property will take effect.

Edit: PS:

It can be quite difficult to get the lines connected into the desired polygon. You may have to work step-by-step, connecting two lines together, then adding one more line to the polyline, then finally closing it. In some situations, it may not be possible to get the connections you want and you have to swap a line segment around to get the necessary connection.

Yes, that worked perfectly. Wow, I thank you so much!