The template images are well hidden in the Pages application package. Right-click on it and select Show Package Contents. Go to Resources > Templates. Each of the template is a package in itself. Right-click on each and select show Package contents, and you will be able to find the pictures. You can copy them from there, but do not remove them, or you will destroy the templates.
If you create templates yourself, they will by default be stored in your home directory: ~/Library/Application Support/iWork/Pages/Templates/My Templates.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Why were Pages documents directories and not files?
Before Pages '09, Pages files were "packages" instead of files. There were some good reasons for that, but also a lot of inconveniences.
MacOS X is full of "packages" which in fact are directories.
Almost all MacOS X applications, including iTunes, Adobe Photoshop and NeoOffice are all packages. This makes it easy for developers to add and remove components and to see what files are included and what can be changed and needs to be improved. It also makes it easy to include a lot of information, which otherwise might have been spread over many files.
The main applications of MS Office 2004 are not based on packages. MS Office contains thousands of files. iWork '08 contains only 3 visible files: Keynote, Numbers and Pages.
So much for applications. But why use packages for documents?
The same reason. It is simpler. One can easily open the package of a Pages file and see what it contains if needed. If a picture does not display correctly, one can open the package and verify that the image file is there and that it works.
The drawback is that the files are difficult to attach to mails using webmail. But it takes just a right click to zip the file, and then it becomes both small and easy to attach.
MacOS X is full of "packages" which in fact are directories.
Almost all MacOS X applications, including iTunes, Adobe Photoshop and NeoOffice are all packages. This makes it easy for developers to add and remove components and to see what files are included and what can be changed and needs to be improved. It also makes it easy to include a lot of information, which otherwise might have been spread over many files.
The main applications of MS Office 2004 are not based on packages. MS Office contains thousands of files. iWork '08 contains only 3 visible files: Keynote, Numbers and Pages.
So much for applications. But why use packages for documents?
The same reason. It is simpler. One can easily open the package of a Pages file and see what it contains if needed. If a picture does not display correctly, one can open the package and verify that the image file is there and that it works.
The drawback is that the files are difficult to attach to mails using webmail. But it takes just a right click to zip the file, and then it becomes both small and easy to attach.
How can I set the Multilingual dictionary as default?
You create a new template, change the language of all the styles to "All", save the template, and in the Preferences, choose this template as default for new documents.
Where is the "Multilingual" spelling dictionary?
When TextEdit's spelling module talks about a "multilingual" dictionary, Pages' spelling module simply says "All". To use it, go to the Inspector > T (for Text) > More and choose "All" as language.
How do I remove words from the spelling dictionary?
If you accidentally add a word to the spelling dictionary, you can remove it by opening the spelling dialogue (Edit > Spelling > Spelling...), typing the word, and clicking on the "Forget" button.
How do I change the default font?
If you are not happy with the default font in Pages' templates, you can correct it by changing the styles in the template and saving it. Then go to Preferences and select the changed template as default for new documents.
Is there a Pages Viewer for Windows?
No.
If you only have a Pages document and a Windows PC, it is very difficult to see the Pages document as the author intended it. You have only two options:
1. Get a Mac with Pages, or call the original creator of the document and have the Pages document saved in a format that can be read on Windows. That usually means Word or PDF. If you want to edit the document on Windows, only Word or RTF formats work. RTF files with images and tables are not supported.
2. If the file was saved as a package, you can look at the files inside the Pages document directory and try to make something out of the different pictures and xml files that are there. You may at least get an idea what the document is about. If the author set the checkbox "Include preview in document", when the file was originally saved, this may work out reasonably well.
If you want to see what the Windows user will see in a Pages document you can control-click on the file in the Finder and Show Package contents.
You will see the included images and other files in their directory structure. If you clicked the checkbox "Include preview in document" when you saved the file, you will even get a PDF file with all the text and some very compressed pictures in the QuickLook folder.
Anyhow, there is currently only one application that can open Pages files, and that is Pages.
(The situation is the same for Numbers and Keynote documents. There is no available reader for Windows.)
If you only have a Pages document and a Windows PC, it is very difficult to see the Pages document as the author intended it. You have only two options:
1. Get a Mac with Pages, or call the original creator of the document and have the Pages document saved in a format that can be read on Windows. That usually means Word or PDF. If you want to edit the document on Windows, only Word or RTF formats work. RTF files with images and tables are not supported.
2. If the file was saved as a package, you can look at the files inside the Pages document directory and try to make something out of the different pictures and xml files that are there. You may at least get an idea what the document is about. If the author set the checkbox "Include preview in document", when the file was originally saved, this may work out reasonably well.
If you want to see what the Windows user will see in a Pages document you can control-click on the file in the Finder and Show Package contents.
You will see the included images and other files in their directory structure. If you clicked the checkbox "Include preview in document" when you saved the file, you will even get a PDF file with all the text and some very compressed pictures in the QuickLook folder.
Anyhow, there is currently only one application that can open Pages files, and that is Pages.
(The situation is the same for Numbers and Keynote documents. There is no available reader for Windows.)
Friday, October 05, 2007
How do I make Pages autosave my documents?
With the new Mac OS X, Lion, released in July 2011, Pages '09 automatically saves all open documents using Auto Save and Versions. The basic functionality is very easy: open the document, edit, close. That's it. To use Versions and the more advanced functionality, it is a good idea to have a look at Apple's description of the functionality.
However, the autosave functionality is not problem free. There have been reports of people who have lost some data. The data is not autosaved continuously, but at regular intervals, and if you crash your machine between those intervals, text will obviously be lost.
For older versions, there was a problem, which is described below:
Pages '09 before Mac OS X Lion could not automatically save documents, so if you had typed for 5 hours without saving and there is a power failure, you would have lost all your work.
The safest way to handle this is to press ⌘-S to save the document manually as often as possible.
For those who do not trust themselves to remember this, there are a few Applescripts to do this at Apple's discussion forums, for example here and here.
However, the autosave functionality is not problem free. There have been reports of people who have lost some data. The data is not autosaved continuously, but at regular intervals, and if you crash your machine between those intervals, text will obviously be lost.
For older versions, there was a problem, which is described below:
Pages '09 before Mac OS X Lion could not automatically save documents, so if you had typed for 5 hours without saving and there is a power failure, you would have lost all your work.
The safest way to handle this is to press ⌘-S to save the document manually as often as possible.
For those who do not trust themselves to remember this, there are a few Applescripts to do this at Apple's discussion forums, for example here and here.
Monday, October 01, 2007
How do I use a VCS with Pages?
The following was written before Pages '09, when Pages files were "packages" and not real files. The problem is probably gone with Pages '09 or later.
The problem with using Concurrent Versions System (CVS), Subversion or another version control systems with Pages, is not only that Pages "files" in fact are directories in the disguise of packages. The problem is that Pages erases the content of the directories at each save. The VCS usually saves control data in the subdirectory (package), but it is all wiped out when you save - something that makes the whole process moot.
For Subversion, there is a script available to solve it.
SVK is also said to handle Pages' directory structure.
Apart from that, a solution is to store the files as zip files - something which of course is not very convenient.
The problem with using Concurrent Versions System (CVS), Subversion or another version control systems with Pages, is not only that Pages "files" in fact are directories in the disguise of packages. The problem is that Pages erases the content of the directories at each save. The VCS usually saves control data in the subdirectory (package), but it is all wiped out when you save - something that makes the whole process moot.
For Subversion, there is a script available to solve it.
SVK is also said to handle Pages' directory structure.
Apart from that, a solution is to store the files as zip files - something which of course is not very convenient.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Why does the layout change when I import a Word document?
When you import (or export) a Word document, the layouts in Pages and MS Word are not identical. Some things do not simply transfer, as described here.
However, even when all present document features are supported in both programs, the layout may differ.
Text that fits on one page in one application may not do so in the other. Still, all the metrics is the same: font, font size, line spacing, character spacing, and so on.
If you look closely on the picture above, you will see that the characters have the same height in both applications, but the space between the lines is slightly off.
My guess is that this is for the historical reasons described in this article. MacOS and Windows calculate the line height in slightly different ways. MacOS uses the variables Ascender, Descender and LineGap, while most Windows applications use usWinAscent and usWinDescent. The variables mean almost the same thing, but not quite. There is more information in this article from Adobe.
MS Word needs to be 100% compatible with the layout of Word for Windows. It is MS Word, after all. And Pages clearly needs to use the MacOS way of doing things. The result is that the lines do not have exactly the same height.
Friday, September 28, 2007
How do I type characters from foreign languages?
For some simple accents and variants of the basic Latin alphabet it is very easy. The steps below will tell you how to see which characters are easy to type with your keyboard.
1. Activate the Keyboard Viewer. (System Preferences > International > Input Menu. Check the checkbox before Keyboard Viewer.)
2. In the flag menu in the upper right corner of the screen, choose Show Keyboard Viewer .
The Keyboard Viewer shows what character will be printed when you use a specific key combination.
3. Hold down a modifier key, like "alt" (⌥).
All accents that are available using "alt" with that keyboard layout are highlighted in orange. In the picture above, I am using U.S. Extended as keyboard layout, but you may have another one.
4. Now press one of the keys that were highlighted in orange, like "e" (acute accent ´ in the picture).
You now see all characters that take an acute accent with this keyboard layout. To type for example á, you would consequently first hold down ⌥ at the same time as you type e, and then press the a-key.
Chances are the characters you want are available with your standard keyboard. Following the steps above you can tell if that is the case.
To learn more about which languages and language features are supported, go to this page.
For instructions for most languages of the world, see the excellent page Unleash Your Multilingual Mac.
1. Activate the Keyboard Viewer. (System Preferences > International > Input Menu. Check the checkbox before Keyboard Viewer.)
2. In the flag menu in the upper right corner of the screen, choose Show Keyboard Viewer .
The Keyboard Viewer shows what character will be printed when you use a specific key combination.
3. Hold down a modifier key, like "alt" (⌥).
All accents that are available using "alt" with that keyboard layout are highlighted in orange. In the picture above, I am using U.S. Extended as keyboard layout, but you may have another one.
4. Now press one of the keys that were highlighted in orange, like "e" (acute accent ´ in the picture).
You now see all characters that take an acute accent with this keyboard layout. To type for example á, you would consequently first hold down ⌥ at the same time as you type e, and then press the a-key.
Chances are the characters you want are available with your standard keyboard. Following the steps above you can tell if that is the case.
To learn more about which languages and language features are supported, go to this page.
For instructions for most languages of the world, see the excellent page Unleash Your Multilingual Mac.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Which font is that really?
You are writing a text in Pages, where one character is unusual. Let's say you have chosen Party LET as font, and you type the phrase 'In Romanian an apple is called “măr”.' Everything goes fine, until you type the Romanian word măr.
All the characters display fine in Party LET, but the ă looks very different. And yet you can see from the font Palette that it is the same font as the rest of the document. Pages knows that Party LET does not contain the character ă, and therefore uses another font, but which one?
You find the answer by pasting the text into TextEdit. If you highlight the ă in TextEdit and display the Font palette, you can tell that the font used to render the character is Lucida Grande.
All the characters display fine in Party LET, but the ă looks very different. And yet you can see from the font Palette that it is the same font as the rest of the document. Pages knows that Party LET does not contain the character ă, and therefore uses another font, but which one?
You find the answer by pasting the text into TextEdit. If you highlight the ă in TextEdit and display the Font palette, you can tell that the font used to render the character is Lucida Grande.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Which fonts are included with iWork '09?
Unless you already have them installed, iWork '09 and iWork '08 will install the following fonts on your system:
- Academy Engraved LET
- Bank Gothic
- Blackmoor LET
- BlairMdITC TT-Medium
- Bodoni Ornaments ITC TT
- Bodoni SvtyTwo ITC TT
- Bodoni SvtyTwo OS ITC TT
- Bodoni SvtyTwo SC ITC TT
- Bordeaux Roman Bold LET
- Bradley Hand ITC TT-Bold
- Capitals
- Jazz LET
- Mona Lisa Solid ITC TT
- Palatino
- Party LET
- PortagoITC TT
- Princetown LET
- Santa Fe LET
- Savoye LET
- SchoolHouse Cursive B
- SchoolHouse Printed A
- Snell Roundhand
- Stone Sans ITC TT
- Synchro LET
- Type Embellishmnt One LET
- ITC - International Typeface Corporation
- LET - Letraset
- MD - Medium
- OS - Old Style (used for the kind of figures that sometimes go below the baseline)
- SC - Small Capitals
- SvtyTwo - 72. The Bodoni 72 fonts are designed after Giambattista Bodoni’s 72-point “Papale” font.
- TT - TrueType. Also see Apple's Developer Connection.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Why are some glyphs missing in Pages?
Glyphs are variants of characters in a font. One example is "fi", which in some fonts may use special glyphs to look like "fi". (Increase the text size in your browser, if you cannot tell the difference.) Sometimes glyphs are used to make superscripts like ² instead of 2. Sometimes, but not always, what you achieve with a glyph could also be achieved with standard unicode characters.
In a standard MacOS X application, you access glyph variants like Ligatures and other variants from the Font Palette's Typography option.
Each font can contain a large number of glyph variants or no variants at all. You can see exactly which glyphs are available in a font using the Character Palette.
There are of course different ways of handling glyphs in different kinds of fonts. Adobe and Microsoft use mainly OpenType fonts. Apple uses mainly TrueType fonts. OpenType fonts mostly work in MacOS X, but there may be some glyphs that MacOS X does not support.
For example, if you have Adobe InDesign, you can see a section of "Ornaments" glyphs in the OpenType font Adobe Caslon Pro. The selected pointed hand in the picture above is actually a "P" - something you can tell by copying it and pasting it to another application. You can also see that the unicode for the hand is 0050, and that is upper case P.
You can also see that the GID (Glyph ID) in Adobe's InDesign is 642. However Apple's Character Palette gives it GID 523. Clearly, something strange is going on.
If you access the Typography Palette for Adobe Caslon Pro in TextEdit, you do not have any Ornaments section. However, you can still double click the glyph in the Character Palette and display it in TextEdit.
In Pages you cannot even add it by double clicking it in the Character Palette, when you are running Mac OS X 10.4.
And why? Well, because it is an unsupported feature. It may not be a very exhaustive explanation, but that all there is right now.
In a standard MacOS X application, you access glyph variants like Ligatures and other variants from the Font Palette's Typography option.
Each font can contain a large number of glyph variants or no variants at all. You can see exactly which glyphs are available in a font using the Character Palette.
There are of course different ways of handling glyphs in different kinds of fonts. Adobe and Microsoft use mainly OpenType fonts. Apple uses mainly TrueType fonts. OpenType fonts mostly work in MacOS X, but there may be some glyphs that MacOS X does not support.
For example, if you have Adobe InDesign, you can see a section of "Ornaments" glyphs in the OpenType font Adobe Caslon Pro. The selected pointed hand in the picture above is actually a "P" - something you can tell by copying it and pasting it to another application. You can also see that the unicode for the hand is 0050, and that is upper case P.
You can also see that the GID (Glyph ID) in Adobe's InDesign is 642. However Apple's Character Palette gives it GID 523. Clearly, something strange is going on.
If you access the Typography Palette for Adobe Caslon Pro in TextEdit, you do not have any Ornaments section. However, you can still double click the glyph in the Character Palette and display it in TextEdit.
In Pages you cannot even add it by double clicking it in the Character Palette, when you are running Mac OS X 10.4.
And why? Well, because it is an unsupported feature. It may not be a very exhaustive explanation, but that all there is right now.
Does Exact Line spacing work?
The problem described below applies to Pages '08 and earlier. It is fixed in Pages '09.
Unfortunately this means that the layout of a document can change between the two versions, if you used fonts that did not work properly before.
The text below was written for Pages '08:
Sometimes.
You activate Exact Line spacing for a text in the Inspector > Text > Spacing > Line, where you choose "Exactly" instead of the default "Single".
Once you have selected it, a line is supposed to stick to the same height regardless of which font is used. Unfortunately, it does not work on all fonts in Pages 3.0 with Mac OS X 10.4.10. It is not fixed with Mac OS X 10.5 either.
In the image, the black text is Helvetica, Regular, 12. The red text uses the Zapfino font. As line spacing is set to exact, the rest of the text flows correctly with the same spacing, even though the Zapfino font is taller than the surrounding text.
The blue text is set to Adobe Caslon Pro. As the exact line spacing does not work with this font, there is a white additional space that breaks the paragraph in two parts.
It seems OpenType fonts never work with exact line spacing. Many other fonts fail as well, but many work. You just have to try it out, to see if it works for your favourite fonts.
Unfortunately this means that the layout of a document can change between the two versions, if you used fonts that did not work properly before.
The text below was written for Pages '08:
Sometimes.
You activate Exact Line spacing for a text in the Inspector > Text > Spacing > Line, where you choose "Exactly" instead of the default "Single".
Once you have selected it, a line is supposed to stick to the same height regardless of which font is used. Unfortunately, it does not work on all fonts in Pages 3.0 with Mac OS X 10.4.10. It is not fixed with Mac OS X 10.5 either.
In the image, the black text is Helvetica, Regular, 12. The red text uses the Zapfino font. As line spacing is set to exact, the rest of the text flows correctly with the same spacing, even though the Zapfino font is taller than the surrounding text.
The blue text is set to Adobe Caslon Pro. As the exact line spacing does not work with this font, there is a white additional space that breaks the paragraph in two parts.
It seems OpenType fonts never work with exact line spacing. Many other fonts fail as well, but many work. You just have to try it out, to see if it works for your favourite fonts.
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