Pages actually makes formatting letters fun, doesn’t it? With all the templates for making newsletters, storyboards, even brochures and business reports, who could ask for more? Well Windows users, I guess.
Suppose my coworker has Microsoft Word and he needs to read the document I created in Pages. He won’t be able to open a .pages file on his Windows machine. In Pages, I can Export to Microsoft Word easily. But this comes at a price. The way Pages and Word format documents seems to be extremely different. They really do not like to talk to one another even. If I export a document from Pages to Word that has little formatting, like a standard letter, it will most likely export to and from Word nicely. But once I try to export a .pages file that contains a groovy design from one of the templates, Word freaks out and puts all the images where it thinks they should go.
The trick really is to do this like the professionals do: write the copy and design the document separately. If I must export from Pages to Word, then try to just include only the copy, or the text of the document. The export should work or be close to the original when opened in Word. When I want to make the document look fancy, copy and paste the text into the design template.
Here is the method to export a .Pages document to .Doc Word format:
Select File -> Export from the menu bar in Pages.
Click the Word Tab and Click Next…
Select where I want the .Doc to be saved.
Click Export.
If the guy using Word wants to print the .Pages document and doesn’t need to edit it, then exporting into a PDF would be the wiser idea. Just follow the direction above, but click the PDF tab instead of the Word Tab in Step #2.
I can open a .doc in Pages and even edit it and save as a .Pages file. If Pages isn’t set as the default application to open Word files, just Ctrl + Click the .doc file in Finder and Select Open With… Pages. Again, there may be formatting differences between the two applications.
Ever get annoyed by having a cluttered desktop full of windows? There’s a slew of applications out there for this very task. I’ve hand picked just two that I think are the best combination for distraction free use of my Mac.
The idea of the distraction free Mac is to single out the current window I am currently working with, hide the rest of my open Applications, hide the dock and menu bar, and make my desktop a single color.
Here is the result as I type this blog entry in Firefox:
Here is the result in Photoshop:
A distraction free setup in Photoshop is particularly useful with a grey background, since the neutral solid color allows for better viewing of gradients and color tones in photographs.
So, how did I obtain this distraction free environment? Well, first I
Select Turn Hiding On in the Dock preferences, located in the Apple menu bar, under Dock or I can just use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+Option+D to toggle the Dock on and off. Beyond this, I will need to install two applications to get the job done.
MenuShade
MenuShade is a free application that allows me to hide the menu bar at the top of the screen. I can mouse over the menu bar whenever I need to use it, otherwise it becomes a solid color.
Download MenuShade from the Nullriver Software site.
Drag MenuShade to my Applications folder and Open to watch your menu bar disappear! Clicking the MenuShade icon in the Dock will allow me to change it’s preferences. Ctrl+Click the MenuShade icon in the Dock and Select Open at Login, if I want MenuShade to open everytime I startup my Mac.
Think
Download Think from the Freeverse site.
Drag Think to my Applications folder and Open it for the first time. I am greeted by a list of icons of all my open applications, similar to the Cmd+Tab graphic.
I click the icon of the program I want to use.
Think is an amazing distraction free environment. Think creates a single color backdrop behind the application I am currently working in. Furthermore, Think provides a controller where I can set the opacity and color of the backdrop, and switch the front most application.
I was just a child when I started typing on an Apple IIe at my local library and elementary school. I remember typing was so much simpler than the typical Microsoft Word interface now. Typing used to be a dark screen with bright text, which is easier on the eyes than looking at a white screen with black text.
Enter WriteRoom.
WriteRoom simplifies typing. “Distraction free typing” is Hog Bay Software’s motto. Open up WriteRoom and you will find a simple interface, ready for a journal entries, note taking, letter writing, even a novel. Why sit around and be distracted by hundreds of buttons surrounding your masterpiece of literature?
WriteRoom 2.0 is a significant improvement over the original. “WriteRoom 2.0 adds a live word count, rich text, multiple documents, and lets you fine-tune your writing environment… Use WriteRoom on its own for all your text editing needs, or let WriteRoom be your ticket to full-screen editing for text in any program.”, according to Hog Bay Software. Worth every penny of the $24.95 price tag.
Download WriteRoom from Hog Bay Software.
If I use my Mac for multilingual projects, say I write a newsletter or do anything that’s not in English (i.e. Spanish, French, etc), and I’m trying to figure out how to set the language in Pages to fit my particular needs (including spell check and auto-correction). Here is how I do it.
1. In my document, select “Inspector”, which is the main control center of iWork.
2. Select whatever text I’ve already typed if any. If I haven’t typed anything yet, simply jump to step 3.
3. In Inspector, select the “T” for text. Here I will see all kinds of controls to change my text in different ways to fit any project I’m working on.
4. Within the Text controls, select “More”.
5. The second drop-down menu from the top is the Language menu. Select the appropriate language. Now, for this document everything I type within the text box I selected will be checked for the language I specified here.
Check back often for new tips and tutorials!
Cheers!
Leo
Now you can throw away your free trial version of Microsoft Office! OpenOffice.org is a multi-platform, multi-lingual, open source office suite compatible with Microsoft Office. Now it is available for PowerPC and Intel Macs. Great for students because it’s free.
Thanks to NeoOffice.org, OpenOffice.org has been optimized for OS X!
