How to change default font in Numbers?

Question

Level 1

20 points

How to change default font in Numbers?

Is it possible to somehow change the default font when creating new documents in Numbers from "Helvetica Neue" to just "Helvetica", size 11? Changing the font and saving the document as new template simply does not work since the font in newly created tables in the new document using the new template still falls back to "Helvetica Neue".

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 3:16 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

jaxjason

Level 5

5,035 points

Jan 24, 2009 3:44 PM in response to mikkec

I think your basic solution is in this thread:

Discussion link

Barry, to do that, you need to change the default template (use styles to change the default typeface & font, and then save the blank document as a template - you can then set it as your default template for new documents in the Preferences window).

Jason

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Answer 2

mikkec Author

Level 1

20 points

Jan 24, 2009 3:50 PM in response to jaxjason

Hi!
Thanks, it worked. The exact solution is (for Numbers) that you have to redefine all the table styles (in Pages, for example, this would of course mean redefining the Body style). However, at first I haven't thought at this option, I just changed the font for the whole empty table and saved the document as template, without actually redefining the styles.
Regards,
Mike

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Answer 3

Jan 28, 2009 10:10 AM in response to mikkec

Jason and Mike,

Changing the default font in Numbers takes more than creating a new template.

If Numbers 09 behaves like Numbers 08, when you create a new table or sheet in the template, the font defaults to Helvetica Neue.

Yvan Koenig devised a method (which involves digging deep into Numbers' package contents) and replacing a specific file which contains the default font setting. He developed an AppleScript to simplify the process.

Although this approach works for Numbers 08 in his hands, it has not worked for me.

It also does not work in Numbers 09.

We need to submit a feature request to Apple and see whether they will implement it.

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Answer 4

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Jan 28, 2009 10:54 AM in response to Barry Fass-Holmes

I'm working on that.

It seems that the problem is with the in thebox templates.
I make complementary tests but at this time, with the custom template it behaves correctly.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mercredi 28 janvier 2009 19:53:47)

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Answer 5

mikkec Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 4, 2009 1:12 AM in response to mikkec

The partial solution is to change the fonts in all table elements in all different table styles and saving this as the new template. However, in some cases/elements (e.g. in table footers) the font still falls back to Helvetica Neue.

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Answer 6

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Mar 7, 2009 7:54 AM in response to mikkec

This script will do the trick.


set myTemplate to "Blank.template"
set myLocale to "fr.lproj"
set theApp to "Pages"
set p2a to (path to applications folder as text) & "iWork '09:" & theApp & ".app:Contents:Resources:Templates:" & myTemplate & ":Contents:Resources:" & myLocale & ":Localizable.strings"
tell application "Finder" to open file p2a
(*
If theApp is "Pages" you will see:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_Helvetica-Bold" = "Helvetica-Bold";
"FONT_Helvetica-Oblique" = "Helvetica-Oblique";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
Edit this way:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "<yourFontName>";
"FONT_Helvetica-Bold" = "Helvetica-Bold";
"FONT_Helvetica-Oblique" = "Helvetica-Oblique";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
For instance, to use Palatino, the name is "Palatino-Roman"
Save the file (cmd + S)
The named font will be used as the default one for the text body, the notes and the tables.
If theApp is "Numbers" you will see:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "HelveticaNeue";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue-Bold" = "HelveticaNeue-Bold";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin"; 
edit it this way:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "yourFontName";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue-Bold" = "HelveticaNeue-Bold";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin"; 
to change your default table's font name.
Here are some true font names:
Arial-Black 
Arial-BoldItalicMT 
Arial-BoldMT 
Arial-ItalicMT 
ArialHebrew 
ArialHebrew-Bold 
ArialMT 
ArialNarrow 
ArialNarrow-Bold 
ArialNarrow-BoldItalic 
ArialRoundedMTBold 
ArialUnicodeMS 
Didot
Didot-Bold
Didot-Italic
Georgia
Georgia-Bold
Georgia-BoldItalic
Georgia-Italic
Helvetica
Helvetica-Oblique
Helvetica-Bold
Helvetica-BoldOblique
HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold
HelveticaNeue-CondensedBlack
HelveticaNeue-UltraLight
HelveticaNeue-UltraLightItalic
HelveticaNeue-Light
HelveticaNeue-LightItalic
HelveticaNeue-Regular
HelveticaNeue-Italic
HelveticaNeue-Bold
HelveticaNeue-BoldItalic
Julius
LucidaGrande
LucidaGrande-Bold
Palatino-Roman
Palatino-Italic
Palatino-Bold
Palatino-boldItalic
*)

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE samedi 7 mars 2009 16:54:00)

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Answer 7

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Mar 7, 2009 9:44 AM in response to KOENIG Yvan

Here is the enhanced version which creates a backup of the "Localizable.strings" for safe.


set myTemplate to "Blank.template"
set myLocale to "en.lproj"
set theApp to "Pages"
set p2f to (path to applications folder as text) & "iWork '09:" & theApp & ".app:Contents:Resources:Templates:" & myTemplate & ":Contents:Resources:"
set theStrings to "Localizable.strings"
tell application "Finder"
 set p2fo to (p2f & myLocale) as alias (* the template's package *)
 set nb to count of (files of folder p2fo whose name starts with "localizable")
 if nb = 1 then duplicate file theStrings of folder p2fo (* as there is no backup, duplicate "localizable.strings" for safe *)
 open file theStrings of folder p2fo
end tell -- Finder
(*
If theApp is "Pages" you will see:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_Helvetica-Bold" = "Helvetica-Bold";
"FONT_Helvetica-Oblique" = "Helvetica-Oblique";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
Edit this way:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "<yourFontName>";
"FONT_Helvetica-Bold" = "Helvetica-Bold";
"FONT_Helvetica-Oblique" = "Helvetica-Oblique";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
For instance, to use Palatino, the name is "Palatino-Roman"
Save the file (cmd + S)
The named font will be used as the default one for the text body, the notes and the tables.
If theApp is "Numbers" you will see:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "HelveticaNeue";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue-Bold" = "HelveticaNeue-Bold";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin"; 
edit it this way:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "yourFontName";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue-Bold" = "HelveticaNeue-Bold";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin"; 
to change your default table's font name.
Here are some true font names:
Arial-Black 
Arial-BoldItalicMT 
Arial-BoldMT 
Arial-ItalicMT 
ArialHebrew 
ArialHebrew-Bold 
ArialMT 
ArialNarrow 
ArialNarrow-Bold 
ArialNarrow-BoldItalic 
ArialRoundedMTBold 
ArialUnicodeMS 
Didot
Didot-Bold
Didot-Italic
Georgia
Georgia-Bold
Georgia-BoldItalic
Georgia-Italic
Helvetica
Helvetica-Oblique
Helvetica-Bold
Helvetica-BoldOblique
HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold
HelveticaNeue-CondensedBlack
HelveticaNeue-UltraLight
HelveticaNeue-UltraLightItalic
HelveticaNeue-Light
HelveticaNeue-LightItalic
HelveticaNeue-Regular
HelveticaNeue-Italic
HelveticaNeue-Bold
HelveticaNeue-BoldItalic
Julius
LucidaGrande
LucidaGrande-Bold
Palatino-Roman
Palatino-Italic
Palatino-Bold
Palatino-boldItalic
*)

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE samedi 7 mars 2009 18:44:43)

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Answer 8

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Mar 8, 2009 5:08 AM in response to KOENIG Yvan

Here is an enhanced version.

You may use it with the three components of iWorks.

It is also available for free on my iDisk:
<http://idisk.me.com/koenigyvan-Public?view=web>

Download:
For_iWork:iWork '09:set iWork_defaultfont.zip

--[SCRIPT set iWork_defaultfont]


(*
Si vous choisissez "Pages" vous verrez:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_Helvetica-Bold" = "Helvetica-Bold";
"FONT_Helvetica-Oblique" = "Helvetica-Oblique";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
La police utilisée par défaut dans les textes, les notes et les tables est celle dont le descripteur est "FONT_Helvetica"
éditez la ligne correspondante comme suit:
"FONT_Helvetica" = "nomDeVotrePolice";
Par exemple, pour utiliser Palatino, remplacez nomDeVotrePolice par "Palatino-Roman"
Enregistrez le fichier ainsi modifié par (cmd + S)
Vous trouverez plus bas une liste de noms de polices.
Si vous choisissez "Numbers" vous verrez:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "HelveticaNeue";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue-Bold" = "HelveticaNeue-Bold";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin"; 
La police utilisée par défaut dans les textes, les notes et les tables est celle dont le descripteur est "FONT_HelveticaNeue"
éditez la ligne correspondante comme suit:
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "nomDeVotrePolice";
Si vous choisissez "Keynote" vous verrez:
"STYLESeries2" = "Series_2";
"STYLE_None" = "Aucun";
"STYLESeries5" = "Series_5";
"STYLESeries3" = "Series_3";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"STYLE_Free Form" = "Format libre";
"STYLESeries1" = "Series_1";
"FONT_GillSans" = "GillSans";
"STYLE_Normal" = "Normal";
"STYLESeries0" = "Series_0";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin";
"STYLESeries4" = "Series_4";
La police utilisée par défaut dans les textes, les notes et les tables est celle dont le descripteur est "FONT_GillSans"
éditez la ligne correspondante comme suit:
"FONT_GillSans" = "nomDeVotrePolice";
******************
If you choose "Pages" you will see:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_Helvetica-Bold" = "Helvetica-Bold";
"FONT_Helvetica-Oblique" = "Helvetica-Oblique";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
The font used as default for tables is the one whose descriptor is "FONT_Helvetica"
edit the line as:
"FONT_Helvetica" = "yourFontName";
For instance, to use Palatino, replace "yourFontName" by "Palatino-Roman"
Save the file (cmd + S)
If you choose "Numbers" you will see:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "HelveticaNeue";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue-Bold" = "HelveticaNeue-Bold";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin"; 
The font used as default for tables is the one whose descriptor is "FONT_HelveticaNeue"
edit the line as:
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "yourFontName";
If you choose "Keynote" you will see:
"STYLESeries2" = "Series_2";
"STYLE_None" = "Aucun";
"STYLESeries5" = "Series_5";
"STYLESeries3" = "Series_3";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"STYLE_Free Form" = "Format libre";
"STYLESeries1" = "Series_1";
"FONT_GillSans" = "GillSans";
"STYLE_Normal" = "Normal";
"STYLESeries0" = "Series_0";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin";
"STYLESeries4" = "Series_4";
The font used as default for tables is the one whose descriptor is "FONT_GillSans"
edit the line as:
"FONT_GillSans" = "yourFontName";
Here are some true font names:
Arial-Black 
Arial-BoldItalicMT 
Arial-BoldMT 
Arial-ItalicMT 
ArialHebrew 
ArialHebrew-Bold 
ArialMT 
ArialNarrow 
ArialNarrow-Bold 
ArialNarrow-BoldItalic 
ArialRoundedMTBold 
ArialUnicodeMS 
Didot
Didot-Bold
Didot-Italic
Georgia
Georgia-Bold
Georgia-BoldItalic
Georgia-Italic
Helvetica
Helvetica-Oblique
Helvetica-Bold
Helvetica-BoldOblique
HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold
HelveticaNeue-CondensedBlack
HelveticaNeue-UltraLight
HelveticaNeue-UltraLightItalic
HelveticaNeue-Light
HelveticaNeue-LightItalic
HelveticaNeue-Regular
HelveticaNeue-Italic
HelveticaNeue-Bold
HelveticaNeue-BoldItalic
Julius
LucidaGrande
LucidaGrande-Bold
Palatino-Roman
Palatino-Italic
Palatino-Bold
Palatino-boldItalic
Yvan KOENIG (Vallauris, FRANCE)
5 mars 2009
*)
on run
 if my parleFrancais() then
 set prompt1 to "Choisir l'application"
 set prompt2 to "Choisir un modèle"
 set prompt3 to "Choisir une localisation"
 else
 set prompt1 to "Choose the application"
 set prompt2 to "Choose a template"
 set prompt3 to "Choose a localization"
 end if
 (*
choose the application *)
 set theApp to choose from list {"Pages", "Numbers", "Keynote"} with prompt prompt1
 if theApp is false then error -128
 set theApp to item 1 of theApp
 (*
define some parameters *)
 if theApp is "Pages" then
 set allowed to {"com.apple.iWork.Pages.template", "com.apple.iWork.Pages.sfftemplate"}
 set sub to "Templates"
 set theStrings to "Localizable.strings"
 else if theApp is "Numbers" then
 set allowed to {"com.apple.iWork.Numbers.template", "com.apple.iWork.Numbers.sfftemplate"}
 set sub to "Templates"
 set theStrings to "Localizable.strings"
 else (* it is "Keynote" *)
 set allowed to {"com.apple.iWork.Keynote.kth", "com.apple.iWork.Keynote.sffkth"}
 set sub to "Themes"
 set theStrings to "fontsAndText.strings"
 end if
 (*
choose the template *)
 set p2f to (path to applications folder as text) & "iWork '09:" & theApp & ".app:Contents:Resources:" & sub
 set p2f to (choose file with prompt prompt2 default location (p2f as alias) of type allowed) as text
 (*
choose the localization folder *)
 set p2f to p2f & "Contents:Resources"
 set p2f to (choose folder default location (p2f as alias) with prompt3) as text
 (*
open the localizable.strings file *)
 tell application "Finder"
 set nb to count of (files of folder p2f whose name starts with "localizable")
 if nb = 1 then duplicate file theStrings of folder p2f (* as there is no backup, duplicate "localizable.strings" for safe *)
 open file theStrings of folder p2f
 end tell -- Finder
 
end run
--=====
on parleFrancais() (* Check if Pages is running in French *)
 local z
 try
 tell application "Pages" to set z to localized string "Cancel"
 on error
 set z to "Cancel"
 end try
 return (z = "Annuler")
end parleFrancais
--=====
--[/SCRIPT]

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE dimanche 8 mars 2009 13:07:38)

Reply

Answer 9

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Mar 8, 2009 1:46 PM in response to KOENIG Yvan

What a mess.

I forgot an infamous bug of Mac OsX 10.5 which can't apply the good old filter upon files Universal Type Identifiers.

Here is a revised version 😟

--[SCRIPT set iWork_defaultfont]


(*
Si vous choisissez "Pages" vous verrez:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_Helvetica-Bold" = "Helvetica-Bold";
"FONT_Helvetica-Oblique" = "Helvetica-Oblique";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
La police utilisée par défaut dans les textes, les notes et les tables est celle dont le descripteur est "FONT_Helvetica"
éditez la ligne correspondante comme suit:
"FONT_Helvetica" = "nomDeVotrePolice";
Par exemple, pour utiliser Palatino, remplacez nomDeVotrePolice par "Palatino-Roman"
Enregistrez le fichier ainsi modifié par (cmd + S)
Si vous choisissez "Numbers" vous verrez:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "HelveticaNeue";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue-Bold" = "HelveticaNeue-Bold";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin"; 
La police utilisée par défaut dans les textes, les notes et les tables est celle dont le descripteur est "FONT_HelveticaNeue"
éditez la ligne correspondante comme suit:
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "nomDeVotrePolice";
Si vous choisissez "Keynote" vous verrez:
"STYLESeries2" = "Series_2";
"STYLE_None" = "Aucun";
"STYLESeries5" = "Series_5";
"STYLESeries3" = "Series_3";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"STYLE_Free Form" = "Format libre";
"STYLESeries1" = "Series_1";
"FONT_GillSans" = "GillSans";
"STYLE_Normal" = "Normal";
"STYLESeries0" = "Series_0";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin";
"STYLESeries4" = "Series_4";
La police utilisée par défaut dans les textes, les notes et les tables est celle dont le descripteur est "FONT_GillSans"
éditez la ligne correspondante comme suit:
"FONT_GillSans" = "nomDeVotrePolice";
Une liste de 564 noms de polices est disponible sur mon iDisk:
<http://idisk.me.com/koenigyvan-Public?view=web>
Téléchargez:
ForiWork:despolices.numbers.zip
******************
If you choose "Pages" you will see:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_Helvetica-Bold" = "Helvetica-Bold";
"FONT_Helvetica-Oblique" = "Helvetica-Oblique";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
The font used as default for tables is the one whose descriptor is "FONT_Helvetica"
edit the line as:
"FONT_Helvetica" = "yourFontName";
For instance, to use Palatino, replace "yourFontName" by "Palatino-Roman"
Save the file (cmd + S)
If you choose "Numbers" you will see:
/* ----- Font Names */
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "HelveticaNeue";
"FONT_HelveticaNeue-Bold" = "HelveticaNeue-Bold";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin"; 
The font used as default for tables is the one whose descriptor is "FONT_HelveticaNeue"
edit the line as:
"FONT_HelveticaNeue" = "yourFontName";
If you choose "Keynote" you will see:
"STYLESeries2" = "Series_2";
"STYLE_None" = "Aucun";
"STYLESeries5" = "Series_5";
"STYLESeries3" = "Series_3";
"FONT_LucidaGrande" = "LucidaGrande";
"FONT_Helvetica" = "Helvetica";
"STYLE_Free Form" = "Format libre";
"STYLESeries1" = "Series_1";
"FONT_GillSans" = "GillSans";
"STYLE_Normal" = "Normal";
"STYLESeries0" = "Series_0";
"FONT_MarkerFelt-Thin" = "MarkerFelt-Thin";
"STYLESeries4" = "Series_4";
The font used as default for tables is the one whose descriptor is "FONT_GillSans"
edit the line as:
"FONT_GillSans" = "yourFontName";
A list of 564 names is available on my iDisk:
<http://idisk.me.com/koenigyvan-Public?view=web>
Download:
ForiWork:despolices.numbers.zip
Yvan KOENIG (Vallauris, FRANCE)
5 mars 2009
*)
on run
 if my parleFrancais() then
 set prompt1 to "Choisir l'application"
 set prompt2 to "Choisir un modèle"
 set prompt3 to "Choisir une localisation"
 else
 set prompt1 to "Choose the application"
 set prompt2 to "Choose a template"
 set prompt3 to "Choose a localization"
 end if
 (*
choose the application *)
 set theApp to choose from list {"Pages", "Numbers", "Keynote"} with prompt prompt1
 if theApp is false then error -128
 set theApp to item 1 of theApp
 (*
define some parameters *)
 if theApp is "Pages" then
 set permitted to {"com.apple.iWork.Pages.template", "com.apple.iWork.Pages.sfftemplate"}
 set sub to "Templates"
 set theStrings to "Localizable.strings"
 else if theApp is "Numbers" then
 set permitted to {"com.apple.iWork.Numbers.template", "com.apple.iWork.Numbers.sfftemplate"}
 set sub to "Templates"
 set theStrings to "Localizable.strings"
 else (* it is "Keynote" *)
 set permitted to {"com.apple.iWork.Keynote.kth", "com.apple.iWork.Keynote.sffkth"}
 set sub to "Themes"
 set theStrings to "fontsAndText.strings"
 end if
 (*
choose the template *)
 set p2f to (path to applications folder as text) & "iWork '09:" & theApp & ".app:Contents:Resources:" & sub
 if 5 > (system attribute "sys2") then (*
it's Mac OS X 10.4.11 *)
 set allowed to permitted
 else (*
it's Mac OS X 10.5.6 with a bug with Choose File *)
 set allowed to {}
 end if
 set p2f to (choose file with prompt prompt2 default location (p2f as alias) of type allowed) as text
 (*
choose the localization folder *)
 set p2f to p2f & "Contents:Resources"
 set p2f to (choose folder default location (p2f as alias) with prompt3) as text
 (*
open the localizable.strings file *)
 tell application "Finder"
 set nb to count of (files of folder p2f whose name starts with "localizable")
 if nb = 1 then duplicate file theStrings of folder p2f (* as there is no backup, duplicate "localizable.strings" for safe *)
 open file theStrings of folder p2f
 end tell -- Finder
 
end run
--=====
on parleFrancais() (* Check if Pages is running in French *)
 local z
 try
 tell application "Pages" to set z to localized string "Cancel"
 on error
 set z to "Cancel"
 end try
 return (z = "Annuler")
end parleFrancais
--=====
--[/SCRIPT]

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE dimanche 8 mars 2009 21:45:14)

Reply