Thomas Nelson Page is Apple ’s a la mode take on the countersign CPU , a production line that started with MacWrite on the very first Macs . Most recently , AppleWorks was carrying the countersign - litigate flagstone for Apple , but it was starting to show its years — it was written well before OS X come along , and as such , it took reward of very trivial of what OS X has to tender . Enter Pages , the word action package in the iWorks ’ 05 entourage . page was written from the ground up for OS X.
page might best be delineate as a watchword processor with page - layout skill , or a pageboy - layout programme with word processing skills . It does quite a bit of both , and yet is n’t completely one or the other . While that may sound confusing , what it means is that you get a good word processor that also happens to create great looking Thomas Nelson Page layouts .
Family Lineage
The same team that developed Pages also worked on Keynote 2 , the introduction software included in iWork . And if you ’ve spent any prison term with Keynote — which we ’ve already preview — you ’ll recognise that fact as shortly as you found Pages .
At launching , Pages looks a lot like Keynote : pick a theme that you ’d like to utilize for your document , and then turn from that starting breaker point to work up the terminal product . As you ’ll presently see , there are other features that Pages share with Keynote … and a key feature that you ’ll wish Pages had also adopt !
Word Processing Done… Different
Pages is not your typical word processor . In many ways , it ’s no threat to the authority of Microsoft Word . For instance , Pages is n’t for you if :
If Pages ca n’t do any of these things , then just who might want to use it ? Just about everyone , I ’m guess , since it makes the creation of professional - looking documents a comparatively trivial process .
Working in Pages is much different than working in any other word processor . In many style , it feels more like Keynote than it does Word . After picking your start template , Pages will drop you into the first page of your papers , where you might be surprised to find it already full of text edition and graphics , as seen here :
Adding another Sir Frederick Handley Page to your document is as simple as penetrate on the Pages icon in the toolbar . When you do , you ’ll most probably see a drop - down menu listing additional page design . ( Not every theme has more than one design . ) Choose one , and it ’s infix below the current pageboy in your papers . For example , this screenshot register a new “ feature film with 3 Items ” page being add to the existing papers , which was created using the Catalog theme . note that all the other pages are all matter you might want in a catalog , from a multiple - item page to a commodious order form .
By using the template , replacing text edition and graphics as you go , adding new pages when needed , you’re able to very apace build up a professional - looking last document in moment instead of hours .
Customizing Pages Documents
Just like Keynote , Pages utilize a floating Inspector window for ready changes to the textual matter and objects in your text file . This screenshot shows the Inspector with the Graphics panel active ; you’re able to use the panel to control all facial expression of a placed graphic ’s appearance . The other panel of the Inspector do by things such as overall papers selective information , text wrapping properties of placed nontextual matter , textual matter data formatting , tables and chart , hyperlink , and rule and tabs .
Multiple InspectorsYou may not make out it , but in Pages ( and Keynote ) , you may have more than one examiner onscreen at a metre . Just use View : New Inspector , and you ’ll get a second ( or third or 4th … ) floating pallet . This can be very useful , for example , if you ’re working with a graphic — open one Inspector to the Graphic tab , and another to the Wrapping tab . Or open an examiner and set it to show the Info part of the Document yellow journalism , and you ’ve got a live - updating windowpane establish total Holy Scripture , Page , identification number of artwork , entire fictional character , and more .
By using the various Inspector pick , you could really make what started as a similar template into something that wait very different while retaining the benefits of the overall design of the templet . When you ’re done tweaking your template , you could even save it as your own customized aim . Just choose File : Save as templet , and your customs design will show up in the Pages theme picker the next clip you open a new text file .
Workaround a hemipterous insect in Find and ReplaceThe Find and supersede panel in Pages suffers from a hemipteran in Cocoa ( the language Pages was written in ) . If you start the Find and Replace board ( printing press Command - F ) and then go in Word in both the Find and Replace boxful , and click Replace and Find , Pages will insert the “ replace ” tidings at the current cursor position . In add-on , if you press this button after the last “ observe ” word has been exchange , your replace password will be sneak in over and over , each time you click the clitoris . The answer ? Hitting Next before using the Find and Replace button the first metre will take tending of the first glitch . For the second , though , you ’ll likely only discover it when you see your replace word of honor add for a second clip , so just keep your eyes on the text file window !
Working With Media
Keynote ’s new Media internet browser windowpane has also been incorporated into Pages . The Media browser app constitute it dewy-eyed to include exposure , music , and picture in your Pages document . While lineal access code to iPhoto ’s picture collection is definitely a plus , the benefits of place movies and music in a Pages papers are much less absolved . Pages can only export to generally “ static ” formats : PDF , Word , HTML , RTF , and Plain Text . sound recording and video support in these formats range from non - existent to fair , but none do a good task with embedded audio and video objects from Pages . In general , if you want to work with audio and video , you should probably be using Keynote , not Pages .
Placing ImagesWhen post images into a Pages document , they are come out based on what you drag them into . While dragging the picture , a dingy border will play up the “ goal object ” that will receive the set down figure of speech . If you drop onto an exist look-alike , it will be replaced with the new figure of speech . If you drop into a table cellular phone , the icon will be shrivel up to outfit into the available size of the cell . If you drop into a textbook study , the image will be placed within that theater of operations in what ’s called “ inline mode . ” Inline images move as the text edition around them moves . The other option is “ fixed mode , ” in which the image ’s position on the page never changes even as textual matter is tote up and cancel .
To add a fixed image , drag the image into the white border area of the Pages document ; you ’ll see a blue border around the entire page when you ’re in the right spot . Drop the image , and it ’s now fixed on the page — adding and blue-pencil schoolbook wo n’t affect the trope ’s office . ( Only fix images can use Pages ’ cropping mode , which lets you conceal part of a place image . )
Deleting Images from Table CellsImages throw off into table cellular phone are treated differently than images dropped into other position . It seems they mislay their “ object ” status when dangle , and are instead win over into a ground “ fill ” for that cubicle . As such , you ca n’t just snap the image to choose and delete ( or move ) it . or else , you need to apply the Graphic tablet of the Inspector , and set the Fill soda water - up to None . When you do this , the image vanishes . If you just wanted to move it elsewhere , you ’ll first have to re - add the image .
Trouble with Getting the Words Out
Even with PDF exportation , though , you ’ll have problems with free fall shadow on objects — although they show and publish fine in Preview , they wo n’t expose or print in Adobe Reader on either the Mac or the PC . That is , you ’ll have these problems unless you find to own the full adaptation of Adobe Acrobat . If you do , you could print the Pages file and choose the Adobe PDF printer . When you do , the resulting PDF is really thwartwise - platform and pure with bead - shadows .
But if you ’re using Apple ’s provided Export feature , you ’ll miss the drop shadows in Reader on both Macs and PCs . This can be a big problem in sure templet , as the drop shadows tally definition to both text and epitome and help set object aside from the background . If you do n’t have Acrobat , there ’s not really a good way to share your Pages output other than via printed transcript . scarcely the ideal solution .
Should it be Called ‘OnlyAddPages’ Instead?
Pages works really well as a mixed page layout and word of honor processing program . That is , it does so right up until the stage at which you wish to remove a page from , or reorder the varlet within , your document . There ’s no easy style to blue-pencil an entire pageboy from , or to rearrange the ordering of the pages within , your document . On the one hand , this makes some sentiency — there ’s certainly no “ delete page ” option in Word , and rearrange your Word text file requires dragging and dropping large chunks of text . And if Pages were ‘ just ’ a word processor , the want of varlet direction features would be venial .
But Pages is also a page - layout broadcast . And Thomas Nelson Page layout programs , such as Quark and InDesign , have very simple methods of both deleting and reordering pages . Typically , an “ overview ” draftsman will show an iconized view of your undertaking , with one icon for each Sir Frederick Handley Page . require to delete a page ? Just highlight it and collide with Delete . To reorder the pages , just drag the ikon into a unexampled order .
Pages does n’t have these features . So if you ’ve add together a page to your text file , and you afterward wish to edit it , you have to do quite a fleck of work , and even then , it may not always cultivate ( depending on the template in use ) . The basic summons is this : go to the page you wish to cancel , and get going selecting objects on the page — text blocks , table , chart , and graphics . Once selected , press Delete to remove that object from the Sir Frederick Handley Page . You may have consequence if the objects are on the “ master ” level of the template . In that sheath , you ’ll need to enable Format : Advanced : Make Master Objects Selectable , and then make certain that the object are unlocked ( select the object , then opt Arrange : Unlock ) . At this point , they should be deletable .
If you ’ve removed everything from the page , hopefully the following Thomas Nelson Page will just “ slide up ” and take its place . But this does n’t always happen . Sometimes only the textual matter will move up , or the text and some but not all of the graphic will move . In short , deleting pages is far more trouble than it should be .
A Page Deletion WorkaroundSince deleting pages is so difficult , it signify you basically have to build up a thoroughgoing document on your first try , as going back is very difficult . Since none of us are perfect , you might wish to expend a simple “ versioning ” system of rules as you work up your Pages document .
alternatively of using File : Save to preserve your forward motion at sealed points , consider using File : lay aside As each time you ’re about to add a fresh page to the document . Name the files with the figure of Page in each interlingual rendition , something like “ MyPhotos_1 , ” “ MyPhotos_12 , ” “ MyPhotos_123 , ” etc .
Now if you make a mistake and require to erase a page , you ’ll be able-bodied to return to the “ anterior ” reading that has one less page , and set about over at that power point . This trick wo n’t help with deleting pages in a make out document , nor with reordering page , but it may make unnecessary a act of exacerbation until Apple free an update to Pages to handle Sir Frederick Handley Page direction .
The Missing (Keynote) Link
To solve the Sir Frederick Handley Page direction problems , Pages really needs to take vantage of a primal Keynote feature : the slide internet browser . As seen in the screenshot , Keynote ’s left - deal - panel use a thumbnail view of every slide in your presentation , along with thumbnail of the “ master ” swoop used to build each sliding board . Notice the indented slide , which are consociate with the one directly above .
This same metaphor would work quite well in Pages — substitute “ Master Pages ” and “ pageboy ” for “ Master Slides ” and “ Slides , ” and you ’ll get an idea of how simple varlet direction could be . Drag and drop to reorder ; highlight and press delete to remove . Given that Page was develop by the same team that wrote Keynote , it ’s surprising that some build of this feature is n’t already present . It would modify page management from a difficult and frustrative task to one that ’s as simple and elegant as is sliding board management in Keynote .
Thomas Nelson Page truly has the ability to redefine what a parole central processor should be . Its unlined desegregation of Thomas Nelson Page - layout and word processing features makes make brochures , reports , flyers , and other well - designed documents a piece of bar . With literally no training , anyone can produce professional looking output with a lower limit of ado .
Unfortunately , the want of a page management system within Pages means that using the program is more frustrating and troublesome than it should be . In plus , the bugs in discovery and Replace and PDF Export , along with the generally special capabilities of the Export feature , make using Pages a morsel frustrating . As good as all the other feature of speech are , these Version 1.0 bug and pretermit features may make Pages unuseable for many people . It ’s a disgrace , too , because it ’s a groovy programme . Hopefully a version 1.1 update will address the universal glitch and Sir Frederick Handley Page management features .
[ This article has been edited to update info on PDF exports and Adobe Reader in the “ Trouble with Getting the countersign Out ” section.—Ed ; ]
