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Changing Pages Font

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jweakley

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Is there a way to set something other that Helvetica as the default font in Pages? It's always a pain to have manually change the font.

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Tim SPRACKLEN

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Is there a way to set something other that Helvetica as the default font in Pages? It's always a pain to have manually change the font.

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Another 'Tim cringe factor = 10' workaround....

I have a number of 'prototype' documents in 'My Documents' with the font set to the size/style I want and then simply duplicate these.

But, hey, that's just me....why choose an elegant solution when an ugly one will do the job....

But, I don't think there's another way to do it from within Pages......

However, I hope I'm proved wrong!

Tim
Scotland....it must be something in the water...
 
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jweakley

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Tim,

I hope someone at Apple reads these threads. Perhaps someday soon Apple will modify it's apps and OS to make the iPads what they are capable of becoming. Thanks for your help.

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AppleFan1

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I wish they'd update Pages so you could do this. It's really annoying having to change the font each time I write a document. But I still think it's a great word processor, by far the best in the App Store in my opinion.
 

giradman

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I wish they'd update Pages so you could do this. It's really annoying having to change the font each time I write a document. But I still think it's a great word processor, by far the best in the App Store in my opinion.

Well, re-activating a 2 1/2 y/o thread - just checked Pages on my iPad which has the most recent version - looked in Settings under the app & in the app itself - cannot see a way to really change the default font! I guess that Tim's solution would still be a fine fix (at least @ the moment) - :)
 

twerppoet

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It's been so long since I used the older version of Pages I can't remember how you changed fonts. Now, it's relatively easy. The ruler at the top has a font button. You tap it and choose the new font. Do it when you first open a blank document and it will be the default font for that document.



But you are right. There is no way to change the font so that new documents open with it as a default.

Then again, there's no way to change the default font in the OS X version either.

I believe this is because Apple went all in with the template concept for new documents, and templates contain all the defaults for that document. Even a new blank page is just another template.



While Tim's solution of creating documents and copying them each time is sound, you can improve on the method just a tad.

After you create the document with the fonts and/or other defaults you want, tap the wrench icon, Share and Print, then Copy to iTunes. Use the Pages format to save it. This places a copy of the document in a special area reserved for coping files to and from a computer using iTunes. It will stay there unless you intentionally delete it either on the iPad or in iTunes when the iPad is connected.

The next time you want a document with those defaults choose the Copy from iTunes option instead of Create Document. It takes the same number of steps as Create Document, so it's not a big hassle once you've set it up.

The advantage of doing it this way is that you never have to worry about accidentally editing your original, because a new copy created each time you do this, just as if you had used one of the templates.



Another similar solution is to use a cloud file service that supports WebDAV. Box.com does this, and I use it this way fairly often. The steps are exactly the same, except you use the WebDAV menu items instead of iTunes. The first time you do it you will have to set up the WebDAV service. Instructions should be on that service's site, somewhere.

The advantage of doing it this way is that you are also creating a backup copy of your templates. One that won't get deleted if something happens to your iPad. It's also a good place to save the important documents that you can't afford to lose, for the same reason. You can't rely on iCloud for this because iCloud is mostly meant to sync your documents between devices; it updates much to fast to be considered a backup. Mistake become irretrievable very quickly.

The disadvantage is that your templates are online and can not be used without an internet connection.

Personally I use all three methods in a mixed up sort of way. I keep copies of special templates in a Template folder on the iPad. If I use them frequently I copy them to iTunes (haven't done this recently), and all my important documents get saved via WebDAV to Box.com whenever I update them. I keep a template folder on Box.com as well, but that is mostly so I can share them if requested.



DropBox can also be used, but since it does not have WebDAV you have to use the DropBox app as an intermediate. Use the Open In option to save a template to DropBox. To create a new document start in DropBox instead and select the template there. You will be able to use Open In to make a copy in Pages. Other than that it has the same advantages and disadvantages as using WebDAV.


Ok, that was a much longer post than I intended, but hopefully it's given you an idea or two on how to make your iWorks workflow a bit easier.
 
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twerppoet

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Oh, forgot to mention. If you want to delete a document copied to iTunes on the iPad, start out by choosing the Copy from iTunes option when creating a new document. Once you see the list of documents you can swipe them to get a Delete button.

I'm not sure how stable the iTunes file sharing buffer is. It may be possible to delete it through some sort of reset (though I've never seen it happen). That means you should also have a copy of your templates saved elsewhere, preferably not on the iPad, just like any other important document.
 

giradman

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Hi TP - thanks for the excellent posts - being retired now, most of what I produce on the iPad is non-crucial so backups are not that important for me, but I'm going to take a good look @ some of your suggestions - I've seen the iTunes & WebDAV choices but have never explored using them, BUT the information should be extremely useful to those who need this type of backup support.

This is actually apropos to me being unable to open Keynote tonight on my iPad (after 2 years of carefree use) - did the usual Force Close, Restart, & Reset to no effect; so just deleted & reinstalled the app - worked fine then but if I had a lot of important data, this would have needed to be backed up - your suggestions would be quite helpful. Thanks - Dave
 

twerppoet

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No problem. To be honest, I don't really depend on my iWorks apps either; but I have put a fair amount of work into a few documents experimenting or on whim. It would irk me to no end to have them disappear. :)
 
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If Apple wants to promote it's iPad Pro as a laptop replacement, they really should fix this kind of software issue. It's these little things that make it annoying to use an iPad as a main computer.
 

J. A.

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This thread was started in 2011, and continued in 2013. Many things have changed since then. Thread closed.
 
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