A new version of ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, a free, open-source, and cross-platform office suite, is now available to download.

If you’ve not yet found a reason to try this productivity powerhouse out, this latest update could well change that.

Last autumn’s ONLYOFFICE 7.5 release added a new PDF application to the suite. This could open/view PDF files, and handle basic PDF editing, like form filling, highlighting, simple annotations, and scribbling on documents with a pen tool.

ONLYOFFICE 8.1 PDF editor editing a magazine PDF file
Ever wanted to edit text in a PDF? Now you can!

In ONLYOFFICE 8.1, the PDF app matures into a fully-featured PDF editor, expanding the kinds of annotations and edits which are possible: –

  • Edit PDF text
  • Add, rotate, and delete pages
  • Insert and edit objects (tables, shapes, images, TextArt, links, etc)
  • Add text comments with callouts
  • Switch between Edit and View modes

Although I don’t edit PDF files regularly, these sound like a a solid set of changes. They might not be everyday essentials, but those using ONLYOFFICE will appreciate having them on hand, reducing the need to find, install, and use a separate PDF editor tool.

Elsewhere, ONLYOFFICE’s presentation editor picks up a slate of appreciable changes.

New animation pane in ONLYOFFICE Presentation Editor v8.1
New animation pane in ONLYOFFICE Presentation Editor v8.1

A new ‘Slide Master’ feature makes it easy to apply changes to multiple slides by editing the master slide; the new ‘Animation Pane’ gives an overview of effects applied to slides via the timeline, and an accompanying side panel surfaces more settings.

Word processing is done in the Document Editor which, in this update, boasts a new toolbar button to quickly switch document mode from Editing to Reviewing to Viewing, depending on what’s needed.

Additionally, every component in the suite has been fitted out with new tooltips. These call attention to/explain new/updated features added in this update.

Tooltips in ONLYOFFICE 8.1
You won’t miss new functionality thanks to new tooltips

Other improvements to ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors 8.1 include:

  • ‘Use graphics acceleration’ option in settings
  • Ability to open a file by specifying its name in the terminal (Linux)
  • Updated images for error pages
  • Button to select local file in hyperlink insertion dialog
  • Minor menu reordering/relocations
  • Updated set of colour themes
  • Support for Serbian (Cyrillic and Latin)

With new features/notable changes in specific components:

  • Configurable format for page numbering (Document)
  • Set page colour (Document)
  • Updated paragraph styles, line spacing options (Document)
  • New algorithm to handle numbers & punctuation in Arabic text (Document)
  • Updated media player (Presentation)
  • Forms now created/saved as fillable PDF form (Form)
  • Fixed form is inserted without wrapping in front of text (Form)
  • Toolbar button to quickly switch edit mode (Form, Document)
  • Ligature support (Spreadsheet)
  • GETPIVOTDATA & IMPORTRANGE functions (Spreadsheet)
  • Ability to copy/move sheets between open books (Spreadsheet)

More details in the Github changelog.

ONLYOFFICE offers cloud connectivity which, if you’re heavily into the ONLYOFFICE ecosystem, is useful (these editors are available online as well as in standalone apps). But since not everyone needs or wants cloud bobbins, this update lets you hide the ‘connect to cloud’ screen.

Though fair warning: it’s not exactly “user-friendly” – launch the app (from a terminal or by editing the launcher) with the --lock-portals flag to hide the ‘Connect to cloud’ screen. To bring the screen back, launch the app with --unlock-portals.

Download ONLYOFFICE 8.1

ONLYOFFICE is free, open-source software available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

You can download ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors as a DEB package for Ubuntu from the official website or via the GitHub release pages (be sure to unfurl the ‘assets’ to see the DEB file).

Also, Snap, Flatpak and AppImage builds of ONLYOFFICE are available but, at the time of writing, have not been updated to v8.1 — keep an eye out for an update.

This suite is also available as a web-based edition (ONLYOFFICE Docs) but the ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors (to give them their full name) work without any caveats, and don’t require a signup to access, or a login to use.

If you’re seeking an alternative to LibreOffice that is also free, open-source software, updated regularly, and compatible with Microsoft Office file formats, then ONLYOFFICE is worth checking out (once you get past the SHOUTY name).

Thanks Tati