In pages how do I set the default paper setting as A4 instead of US Letter?

Pages ignores the default paper setting in System Preferences : Printers & Scanners, and uses the default printer setting from the template used when creating a new document. In the U.S. the Blank Portrait Template would use US Letter.

Hi abulfromkrypton,

Please follow the advice given by SG.

Open the default template (it will open as a new document) and change the paper size as suggested by SG, or you can change the paper size here:

Set the Paper Size to A4

to change the measurement units between metric and inches, change that in Pages >Preference > Rulers

Menu > File >Save As Template.

It will be saved in Template Chooser under My Templates.

In Pages > Preferences > General > For New Documents > Use template

With those settings, Menu > File > New (command N) will automatically open that template.

Note: with those settings, you must hold down the option key to see "Menu > File > New" change to "New from Template Chooser"

Regards,

Ian.

The setting, as you probably already know, is here:

One way would be to change the setting there, save the document as a template, and use the template when you start a new document.

Note you can also set 'Default paper size' in System Preferences > Printers & Scanners. I don't have a printer so I can't test whether Pages will respect that preference.

SG

abulfromkrypton wrote:

Is there no way to change the paper size in the default template to A4? Changing region settings/Printer paper settings/ A terminal command?

There may be a way by setting your Mac to a different region.

But I am reluctant to test that because simply setting up the document the way you want and saving it under My Templates (File > Save as Template ...) does the job nicely.

SG