OpenOffice Impress: Free Presentation Software Explained

OpenOffice Impress is the free, open-source presentation program built into the Apache OpenOffice suite, and it is the suite’s answer to Microsoft PowerPoint. It lets you create slide decks with text, images, charts, animations and transitions, then present them on screen or export them to formats like PDF. Like the rest of Apache OpenOffice, Impress is developed by the volunteer-driven open-source community and is free to download and use in New Zealand and everywhere else, with no licence fee, subscription or account required. This guide explains what Impress is, how it works, what file formats it handles, what it needs to run, and where it fits against the alternatives.

What is OpenOffice Impress?

OpenOffice Impress is a desktop application for making and delivering presentations. A presentation is a sequence of slides — individual screens that usually hold a heading, some bullet points, and often an image, chart or diagram — that you show one after another to an audience. Impress gives you the tools to build those slides, style them consistently, add movement and media, and then run the finished deck full-screen on a monitor or projector.

Impress is published by the Apache Software Foundation, the non-profit that also maintains many of the web’s most widely used open-source projects. Because it is released under the permissive Apache License 2.0, anyone can use it for personal, educational or commercial work at no cost, and the source code is open for anyone to inspect or improve. Its native file format is the OpenDocument Presentation (.odp), an international open standard, which means your slides are not locked inside one vendor’s software.

It is worth setting expectations about pace. Apache OpenOffice is mature but updated slowly. The current release, version 4.1.16, arrived on 10 November 2025 as a security and bug-fix update, but the last release to add major new features was 4.1.0 back in 2014. Impress is dependable and familiar, but it is not where the newest presentation features appear first.

How Impress fits into the Apache OpenOffice suite

Impress does not install on its own. It ships as one of six applications inside a single Apache OpenOffice download, alongside Writer (word processor), Calc (spreadsheets), Draw (vector graphics), Base (databases) and Math (formula editor). When you run the installer you can choose a custom setup and deselect the components you do not want, but the download itself is the full suite — roughly 130 MB — so you cannot grab Impress by itself.

The upside of that bundling is integration: you can drop a Calc chart or a Draw diagram straight into a slide, and all six apps share the same OpenDocument foundation. If you are weighing the whole package rather than just the presentation tool, our overview of how to download Apache OpenOffice walks through getting the suite onto your computer, and our comparison of LibreOffice vs OpenOffice explains how the two free suites diverged from the same original project.

Key features of OpenOffice Impress

Impress covers the core of what most people need from presentation software, from organising slides to animating them and presenting with speaker notes. The features below are grouped by the task you are trying to do.

Creating and organising slides

You start from one of more than ten built-in slide layouts that arrange titles, text and content areas for you, then build from there. Several views help you work at different stages: the normal editing view, an Outline view for drafting your text quickly, a Notes view for speaker notes, a Handout view for printed audience copies, and the Slide Sorter, which shows every slide as a thumbnail so you can drag them into a new order. You can hide individual slides so they stay in the file without appearing in the show, and you can build custom shows that present only a chosen subset of slides.

Master pages, styles and formatting

Master pages (also called slide masters) let you set the background, fonts and layout once and apply them across every slide, so a deck stays visually consistent and is quick to restyle. Impress includes the usual formatting controls — font type, size, colour and alignment — plus deeper style options for transparency, bullets, numbering, tabs, font effects and background objects. Headers and footers carrying the date, slide number or custom text can be added to slides, notes and handouts, and a batch case-change tool can switch selected text to uppercase, lowercase or capitalised wording in one step.

Animations, transitions and multimedia

Impress offers a wide set of slide transitions — the effects between one slide and the next, such as Wipe Down or Uncover Left — that can be triggered by a click or after a set time. Within a slide, you can animate individual objects with entrance, exit, emphasis and motion-path effects. You can insert images, tables and charts, and embed sound and video directly onto slides; a built-in media player handles playback of audio and video during the show. The Gallery panel supplies ready-made clip art and graphics you can drag in.

Presenting: Presenter Screen and rehearse timings

When you connect a second display, Impress can show the audience the slides on the projector while you see a Presenter Screen on your own laptop with the current slide, the next slide, your notes and a timer. That mirrors the idea behind PowerPoint’s presenter mode — if you are coming from Microsoft’s app, our guide to Presenter View in PowerPoint covers the same concept there. The Rehearse Timings tool records how long you spend on each slide as you practise, so the show can later advance automatically using that pacing.

Templates, extensions and customisation

Free templates give you pre-designed decks to start from, and free extensions add functionality such as extra export options or specialist tools. The interface itself is adjustable: you can detach, show or hide toolbars, reassign keyboard shortcuts, and tune advanced options including hardware acceleration, graphics memory, macro security and how often AutoRecovery saves your work. Power users can automate repetitive tasks with macros.

Which file formats does OpenOffice Impress support?

Impress reads a broad range of presentation formats but saves to a narrower list, and the gap between the two is the single most important thing to understand before you rely on it.

Formats Impress can open

Impress can open OpenDocument files (ODP, OTP, ODG), its older StarOffice/OpenOffice formats (STI, SXI, SXD), the Unified Office Format (UOF, UOP), computer graphics metafiles (CGM) and — importantly for anyone switching from Microsoft Office — the PowerPoint family, including PPT, PPS, POT and the modern PPTX, POTX, PPTM and POTM files. In practice that means a .pptx deck a colleague sends you will open in Impress.

Formats Impress can save

For saving, Impress supports its native ODP along with OTP, ODG and the legacy STI, SXI, SXD and UOP formats. It can save to the older PowerPoint 97-2003 format (PPT) and the matching template (POT). It also exports to PDF, to HTML, to the Flash SWF format, and to a range of image types including PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, SVG and RAS, so you can turn any slide into a picture.

The PPTX limitation and safe workarounds

OpenOffice Impress cannot save to the modern PPTX or POTX format — it can open those files but only save PowerPoint decks back as the older .ppt. This is a long-standing limitation of Apache OpenOffice, not a bug you can fix with a setting. If you need to hand a file to a PowerPoint user, you have three safe options: save as .ppt (which modern PowerPoint still opens), export to PDF when the recipient only needs to view it, or use LibreOffice Impress, the closely related free suite that can export directly to .pptx. Avoid random “free online converter” sites for anything confidential, because they require you to upload your file to an unknown third party. If your work centres on the OpenDocument format itself, our explainer on the ODP file format covers how to open, edit and convert it cleanly.

System requirements and how to download Impress

Apache OpenOffice is light on hardware but specific about operating systems, and the macOS situation is the main catch. The suite is a free download from the official openoffice.org site; never download it from mirror or bundle sites that may wrap it in unwanted extras.

• Windows: Windows XP through Windows 10 (and it generally runs on Windows 11), 256 MB RAM minimum (512 MB recommended) and about 650 MB of free disk space for a default install.
• macOS: officially supported only up to macOS 10.13 High Sierra on Intel Macs. It does not run natively on macOS Catalina or later, or on Apple Silicon (M-series) Macs, because those dropped the 32-bit support Impress relies on. Mac users on a modern system should treat LibreOffice or another app as the practical choice.
• Linux: kernel 2.6 or newer with glibc 2.5 or newer, 256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended) and around 400 MB of free disk space.

A display of 1024 x 768 or higher is recommended across all platforms. A portable edition packaged by PortableApps.com also exists, which runs from a USB stick without installing to the host computer — handy for shared or locked-down machines.

How to get started with OpenOffice Impress

Getting from download to a finished slide takes only a few steps:

1. Download the full Apache OpenOffice installer for your operating system from the official site and run it; choose a custom install if you want to deselect the apps you will not use.
2. Open Impress. A template picker appears so you can start from a blank presentation or a ready-made design.
3. Pick a slide layout, then type your title and bullet points. Use the Outline view to draft the wording of a whole deck quickly.
4. Add images, charts, tables or media from the Insert menu, and apply a master page so every slide shares one consistent look.
5. Add transitions and object animations where they genuinely aid understanding, then use Rehearse Timings to check your pacing.
6. Save your working copy as .odp, and export a PDF or .ppt copy only when you need to share it.

OpenOffice Impress compared with other presentation software

Impress is one of several ways to build a deck, and the right choice depends on whether you want a free offline install, deep PowerPoint compatibility, or browser-based collaboration. The table below sets out the main options with concrete specifics. For a Microsoft-focused view, see our guide to Microsoft PowerPoint in New Zealand; for a browser-first design tool, our walkthrough of a Canva slides presentation covers that route; and for the wider field, our roundup of OpenOffice alternatives compares full suites.

Common mistakes to avoid with Impress

Most problems with Impress come from format and workflow choices rather than the software itself. Watching for a few recurring mistakes saves time and avoids broken files.

• Assuming you can save as .pptx. You cannot. If a recipient insists on .pptx, plan ahead: use LibreOffice for that export, or agree on .ppt or PDF instead.
• Editing a .pptx in place and expecting perfect fidelity. Complex PowerPoint decks with heavy animation, SmartArt or embedded fonts can shift when opened in Impress. Check the layout before you present, and keep a copy of the original.
• Installing on an unsupported Mac. On macOS Catalina or later, or on Apple Silicon, Impress will not run natively. Choose a different app rather than fighting the installer.
• Downloading from unofficial sites. Only the official openoffice.org download is guaranteed clean. Third-party “download managers” often bundle adware.
• Overusing transitions and animations. Heavy effects distract audiences and can stutter on older hardware. Use movement sparingly and deliberately.
• Not saving a native copy. Keep your master file in .odp so you never lose formatting to a round-trip through PowerPoint formats.

Security and privacy

Impress is a fully offline, local application: it does not require an account, does not sync your files to a cloud by default, and does not send your presentations to a server to work. For anyone handling sensitive or personal information under New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020, that local-only model is an advantage over cloud presentation tools, because the data stays on your device unless you choose to share it. Two cautions apply. First, macros can carry malicious code, so keep macro security at a sensible level and do not enable macros in files from unknown sources. Second, the slow release cadence means security fixes arrive less often than in actively developed suites, so always run the latest version — 4.1.16 or newer — and download only from the official source.

Who is OpenOffice Impress for?

OpenOffice Impress suits people who want a genuinely free, no-account, offline presentation tool on Windows or Linux and who are comfortable with a traditional interface rather than the latest features. It works well for students, community groups, schools and small organisations that mainly share decks as PDF or print, and for anyone who values the open OpenDocument format and the ability to run a portable copy from a USB drive. It is a weaker fit if you exchange editable .pptx files with PowerPoint users constantly, if you need real-time collaboration, or if you are on a modern Mac — in those cases LibreOffice Impress, Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint will serve you better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is OpenOffice Impress free?

Yes. OpenOffice Impress is completely free to download and use for personal, educational and commercial work. It is released under the Apache License 2.0, with no subscription, licence fee or account required. It comes bundled in the full Apache OpenOffice suite rather than as a separate download.

Can Impress open and save PowerPoint files?

Impress can open PowerPoint files, including the modern .pptx format. However, it can only save presentations back to the older .ppt (PowerPoint 97-2003) format, not .pptx. To produce a .pptx file you would need LibreOffice Impress or PowerPoint itself; otherwise share your deck as .ppt or PDF.

Does OpenOffice Impress work on a Mac?

Only on older Macs. Apache OpenOffice officially supports macOS up to 10.13 High Sierra on Intel processors. It does not run natively on macOS Catalina or later, or on Apple Silicon (M-series) Macs. Mac users on a current system should use LibreOffice, Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint instead.

What is the latest version of OpenOffice Impress?

The latest version is Apache OpenOffice 4.1.16, released on 10 November 2025 as a security and bug-fix update. Impress follows the suite’s version number. The last release to add major new features was 4.1.0 in 2014, so the software is stable but slowly developed.

What file format does Impress use by default?

Impress saves by default to the OpenDocument Presentation format (.odp), an international open standard. Keeping your working copy as .odp preserves all formatting; you can then export to PDF for viewing or to .ppt for PowerPoint users when you need to share the file.