Typing Text Backwards

Question

Level 1

8 points

Typing Text Backwards

Does anyone know if it is possible to type backwards in any of the iWork applications? I can flip an image, but I want to be able to type backs (so words AND letters are backwards). I need to be able to read the words in a teleprompter and I really like the aqua prompt freeware, but it doesn't flip the text, so I need to paste it in there backwards (seems like there are a lot of apps that allow for flipping or typing the words backwards, but NOT the letters).

Any suggestions? Thanks!!

macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Jul 18, 2009 4:11 PM

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Answer 1

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,819 points

Jul 19, 2009 12:33 PM in response to jor17

jor17 wrote:
thanks. how did you copy it into the email? when i try to paste in another document it just posts normal. Thanks!!

Look at:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1251912

At this time I don't know which option was the wanted one 😉

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE dimanche 19 juillet 2009 21:33:38)

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Answer 2

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,819 points

Jul 19, 2009 8:58 AM in response to jor17

To get the first proposal, use this script:

--


on run
 my activateGUIscripting()
 
 tell application "Pages" to tell document 1
 my shortcut("Pages", "ac", "c")
 set the clipboard to (reverse of (characters of (the clipboard as text)) as text)
 my shortcut("Pages", "v", "c")
 end tell -- Pages
end run
--=====
on activateGUIscripting()
 tell application "System Events"
 if not (UI elements enabled) then set (UI elements enabled) to true (* to be sure than GUI scripting will be active *)
 end tell
end activateGUIscripting
--=====
(*
==== Uses GUIscripting ==== 
*)
on shortcut(a, t, d)
 local k
 tell application a to activate
 tell application "System Events" to tell application process a
 repeat with k in t
 if d = "c" then
 keystroke (k as text) using {command down}
 else if d contains "c" then
 if d contains "s" then
 if d contains "k" then
 keystroke (k as text) using {command down, shift down, control down}
 else
 keystroke (k as text) using {command down, shift down}
 end if
 else if d contains "k" then
 keystroke (k as text) using {command down, control down}
 end if
 end if
 end repeat
 end tell
end shortcut
--=====
--

To get the second use "Flip Horizontal".

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE dimanche 19 juillet 2009 17:58:40)

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Answer 3

jor17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 19, 2009 3:06 PM in response to KOENIG Yvan

Thank you so much for helping me out with this. This seemingly simple task has become EXTREMELY frustrating.

Basically, I am trying to make a 50-page document look like this:

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1238907/Picture%202.png

I am trying to get this text to work in a teleprompter and needs to be formatted like this to work. There is a nice scroll feature in Adobe Acrobat Pro, which would work perfectly if I could get the text to flip vertically like in the picture. I have tried the following with no success:

1) Preview (can flip the pages and save it, but when I open in Adobe, it only shows the first page)
2) Create text boxes in Word/Pages, but running into serious formatting errors because I have to make text boxes for every page, and sometimes it doesn't flip, or can't get to the next page
3) tried some online websites that do this, but then I lose all the formatting in my document.

I think putting it in preview, saving as a picture, flipping vertically would be the easiest way to do it. But when I open in Adobe, it just will open the first page.

Any thought? Again I really appreciate this! (in case you didn't figure it out, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on new software, especially since it looks so good in Adobe;)

Thanks!

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Answer 4

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,819 points

Jul 20, 2009 5:55 AM in response to jor17

My own choice would be Pages in Layout mode or Word processor used as Page Layout.
This means that every text items are stored in text boxes.
When it's ready, apply 'flip vertically' to every box.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE lundi 20 juillet 2009 14:54:34)

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Answer 5

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,819 points

Jul 20, 2009 7:19 AM in response to KOENIG Yvan

I just wrote an enhanced version of my original script:

--


on run
 tell application "Pages" to tell document 1
 set the selection to (reverse of (characters of (get contents of the selection))) as text
 end tell
end run
--

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE lundi 20 juillet 2009 16:19:10)

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Answer 6

Jul 20, 2009 7:30 AM in response to jor17

jor,

All this flipping business is fine, except that your document is multi-page. If the content is to flow for scrolling, wouldn't the last page have to come first, etc.? Then the document would have to be read from last (vertically flipped) page to first (vertically flipped) page. All quite confusing. Isn't there a control on most video projectors that will do this electronically?

The workflow to make a flipped multipage document is straight forward but laborious...

1. Print each page of the Pages document to a separate PDF document.
2. File > Save As each of the PDF documents to a graphics document such as PNG.
3. Flip Vertically each PNG document.
4. For each flipped PNG document, File > Save As > PDF
5. Assemble all the flipped PDF documents into one master PDF document, putting the pages into the proper order. You can do this by dragging files in to the Preview Sidebar or by dragging the page thumbnails from open documents into the Sidebar.

This master document will open as one multipage PDF in Adobe Reader.

Jerry

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Answer 7

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,819 points

Jul 21, 2009 10:06 AM in response to Jerrold Green1

Hi Jerrold

If the document is a Word processor one without picture like the sample posted by the OP, my script does the trick in a single task.

If the document is really long, it appears that AppleScript is fooled so I wrote a modified version:

--


on run
 tell application "Pages" to tell document 1 to set enTexte to (get contents of the selection)
 set enListe to characters of enTexte
 set enliste2 to reverse of enListe
 set enTexte to enliste2 as text
 set the clipboard to enTexte
 my shortcut("Pages", "v", "c")
end run
--=====
on activateGUIscripting()
 tell application "System Events"
 if not (UI elements enabled) then set (UI elements enabled) to true (* to be sure than GUI scripting will be active *)
 end tell
end activateGUIscripting
--=====
(*
==== Uses GUIscripting ==== 
*)
on shortcut(a, t, d)
 local k
 tell application a to activate
 tell application "System Events" to tell application process a
 repeat with k in t
 if d = "c" then
 keystroke (k as text) using {command down}
 else if d contains "c" then
 if d contains "s" then
 if d contains "k" then
 keystroke (k as text) using {command down, shift down, control down}
 else
 keystroke (k as text) using {command down, shift down}
 end if
 else if d contains "k" then
 keystroke (k as text) using {command down, control down}
 end if
 end if
 end repeat
 end tell
end shortcut
--=====
--

I ran it on a text with 21420 words.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mardi 21 juillet 2009 19:06:50)

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Answer 8

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,819 points

Jul 21, 2009 10:49 AM in response to Walt K

Sure but it may be too short for a multipage document 😉

And it's really easy to do the trick with Pages.

Of course as you carefully wrote (it may) the OP was supposed to be aware of such limit.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mardi 21 juillet 2009 19:48:22)

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Answer 9

jor17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 21, 2009 7:13 PM in response to jor17

Thank you guys so much for the info. Sorry I am really new to Pages (I still have not changed over from Word and Open Office). I tried the pages layout view from the view box, but I could not get the flip option to work in the inspector. Since I probably will not use pages for anything other than this, I don't really want to spend hours trying to figure out how to use this program. So, where can I find the view that will let me create multi-page text boxes to insert my document text, and then flip?

Thanks again for all of your responses!:)

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Answer 10

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,819 points

Jul 22, 2009 12:37 PM in response to jor17

I tested an other track.

I ran Numbers.
I removed the default table.
I created a text box and pasted a text in it.
I adusted it so that it fits in the width of a page in portrait mode.
I adjusted margins too.

The result is a 114 pages document.

From time to time, I inserted an extraneous return because Numbers is able to display half characters at the bottom of a page and the other half at top of the next page.
Then I applied Black as background, white as text color.
Inspector of Measures > flip vertically and bingo.

If you want to see the result,
I put it on my idisk:
<http://idisk.me.com/koenigyvan-Public?view=web>

Download:
For_iWork:Backwards.pdf.zip

I assume that, scrolling from the bottom to the top, you will achieve your goal.

In Pages, the creation of text boxes is described page 100 of the Pages User Guide delivered with iWork '08.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mercredi 22 juillet 2009 21:37:08)

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Answer 11

fruhulda

Level 6

15,167 points

Jul 18, 2009 11:21 PM in response to jor17

You can write it normal and then Flip it either horizontally or vertically. You do it in a text box which you can make as large as the paper.

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Answer 12

jor17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 19, 2009 10:39 AM in response to KOENIG Yvan

thanks. how did you copy it into the email? when i try to paste in another document it just posts normal. Thanks!!

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Answer 13

Walt K

Level 4

2,946 points

Jul 20, 2009 7:52 AM in response to jor17

Before you do anything else with your script, checkout this free online service. It may — I stress "may" — do all the work for you.

http://www.cueprompter.com/

Walt

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Answer 14

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,819 points

Jul 21, 2009 10:09 AM in response to Walt K

Hello Walt

It's limited to: _(max. 2000 characters)_

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mardi 21 juillet 2009 19:09:01)

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Answer 15

Walt K

Level 4

2,946 points

Jul 21, 2009 10:33 AM in response to KOENIG Yvan

I guess that's why it's free. 🙂

Walt

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