easier way to remove formatting

You may use my good old huge script.

--{code}

set the clipboard to the clipboard as text

--{code}

step 1 : select all the document's contents

step 2 : press cmd + x to move the contents from the document to the clipboard

step 3 : run the script

step 4 : paste in the document.

You may also use this new one which does the complete trick in a single call.

--{code}

--[SCRIPT remove_formatting]

(*

Enregistrer le script en tant que Script : remove_formatting.scpt

déplacer le fichier ainsi créé dans le dossier

<VolumeDeDémarrage>:Users:<votreCompte>:Library:Scripts:Applications:Numbers:

Il vous faudra peut-être créer le dossier Numbers et peut-être même le dossier Applications.

Aller au menu Scripts , choisir Numbers puis choisir “remove_formatting”

It will save it as a dumb text file which it will open immediately.

--=====

L’aide du Finder explique:

L’Utilitaire AppleScript permet d’activer le Menu des scripts :

Ouvrez l’Utilitaire AppleScript situé dans le dossier Applications/AppleScript.

Cochez la case “Afficher le menu des scripts dans la barre de menus”.

Sous 10.6.x,

aller dans le panneau “Général” du dialogue Préférences de l’Éditeur Applescript

puis cocher la case “Afficher le menu des scripts dans la barre des menus”.

--=====

Save the script as a Script: remove_formatting.scpt

Move the newly created file into the folder:

<startup Volume>:Users:<yourAccount>:Library:Scripts:Applications:Numbers:

Maybe you would have to create the folder Numbers and even the folder Applications by yourself.

Open a Pages document at front.

Go to the Scripts Menu, choose Numbers, then choose “remove_formatting”

It will save it as a dumb text file which it will open immediately.

--=====

The Finder’s Help explains:

To make the Script menu appear:

Open the AppleScript utility located in Applications/AppleScript.

Select the “Show Script Menu in menu bar” checkbox.

Under 10.6.x,

go to the General panel of AppleScript Editor’s Preferences dialog box

and check the “Show Script menu in menu bar” option.

--=====

Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France)

2011/07/20

*)

--=====

on run

set temp_path to (path to temporary items from user domain as text) & (do shell script "date +_%Y%m%d_%H%M%S.txt")

tell application "Pages"

save document 1 as "SLDocumentTypePlainText" in temp_path

openfiletemp_path

end tell

end run

--=====

--[/SCRIPT]

--{code}

Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 20 juillet 2011 16:09:10

iMac 21”5, i7, 2.8 GHz, 4 Gbytes, 1 Tbytes, mac OS X 10.6.8

Please : Search for questions similar to your own before submitting them to the community

To be the AW6 successor, iWork MUST integrate a TRUE DB, not a list organizer !

Thank you

(1) for the feedback

(2) for the correction of the typo related to my first name 😉

To be honest, I was surprised by the efficiency of the script.

I tested it with my good old test doc with 12131 words, 58 pages and I had no time to breathe before getting the bare text on the screen.

Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 20 juillet 2011 17:05:20

iMac 21”5, i7, 2.8 GHz, 4 Gbytes, 1 Tbytes, mac OS X 10.6.8

Please : Search for questions similar to your own before submitting them to the community

To be the AW6 successor, iWork MUST integrate a TRUE DB, not a list organizer !

Apple, this is a pretty basic feature that needs to be incorporated in the product.

Pete,

This is a user-to-user forum, not actively monitored by Apple, and when monitored, it's usually in connection with compliance with the TOUse.

Go to the Page menu in Pages, choose Provide Pages Feedback, and make this feature request directly to Apple.

Regards,

Barry

In response to PeteMacca, yes, it is a basic feature included in the product.

For future reference, the simple answer is Pages, File, Export, Plain Text, Next...

Save As (and if you wish, select a location to save the file, and rename the document from the default, Untitled.txt) Export.

Voila.

Plain text.

No hyperlinks.

The font even looks like 8-bit dot-matrix!

Message was edited by: kostby

Hi Pete,

But wait, there is more!

Created in Pages with lots of formatting:

Select All, Copy, then Paste into TextEdit.

Format > Make Plain Text

Regards,

Ian.

Thanks guys. I have been using document markup and WP for 30 years, and I know there are a number of ways to export and strip format from text.

Point is I use Apple products that I expect to have useful and intuitive features. It's not uncommon to cut/paste from multiple sources and so i expect it to be easy. So if I paste some text into a paragraph, by default I think it shoud just merge in with the formatting of the paragraph - dont you think that would be a sensible default. If I want bright orange large scale font matching the source text, make that the next option and make it easy to action.

Barry, I will pass on this sugestion to feedback - thanks.

I find myself using the basic googledocs word processor more and more - its basic, it lacks a few really useful features but its productive.

Have to say - Macbook Pro Retina 13" is the nicest laptop I've ever used 🙂

Hi Pete,

So if I paste some text into a paragraph, by default I think it shoud just merge in with the formatting of the paragraph

Yes. Edit > Paste and Match Style:

Does that also answer your point about cut/paste from multiple sources?

Your second question (that did not appear in your first question):

make that the next option and make it easy to action.

What is not happening?

Regards,

Ian.

Hi Ian,

Two issues 1) I cant figure out the difference betwen paste and Paste matching style 2) That would only work before I have pasted.

1) I have a fresh pages document open with only the text "blah blah blah". I selected "This helped meRe: easier way to remove formatting" from Softwater's star entry a couple of posts above. When I "Command+v" or Edit>Paste or "shift+option+command+v" or Edit>Paste and Match Style" I get the same result. Maybe I have a bug, but would be interested to see if you get the same result?

Using latest pages 4.3 and Safari on latest OSX 10.3

PS - Further testing - I can get some web page text to cut/Paste-and-Match OK, but the 1st example I used here doesnt work?? Textedit strips the text out OK.

2) If I have already pasted, or are trying to fix a document with inconsistent formatting, there is no way other than a painful extract to plain test editor and repaste back. Try that with a document containing 10's or 100's of poorly constructed paragraphs - as in the situation where you are finalising a tender with many different authors, or with people's CV. Word seems to work better at forcing a paragraph format. Googledocs provides a single button to remove formatting in ablock of text.

Cheers, Pete.

Hi Pete,

I had a play with your suggestions. Paste and Match Style works only when you insert into the style you want (plain). If you Paste (without Match Style) the source format is inserted and you have changed the style; further inserts will follow that style.

I started with a bank document (my default font Times New Roman) and typed this:

After playing (oops, different zoom. Don't pay attention to that):

Paste and Match Style forced the inserted text to Times New Roman. The final Paste (without Match Style) has set the font to the copied text and further paragraphs will follow that.

It seems that Kostby's solution is the way to go. Export as Plain Text, open the text document, Edit > Select All (command a) then Edit > Copy (command c).

Edit > Paste (command v) into a blank Pages document.

My playing with your ideas has demonstrated the philosophy of Mac: it remembers, it remembers, it remembers. And it does.

Pity about the lack of that splendid "Remove Formatting" command in Word.

Regards,

Ian.

Ian, I can now see that in the two cases that the font is matched to the paragrah - just that the hyperlink is still there 😟

Softwater - followed your video, setup and working OK - thanks - I can see automator getting a workout 🙂

So basically now down to a 4 step operation to strip formatting from a paragraph:

1) Select paragraph (triple click anywhere in a paragraph)

2) ⌘x

3) ⌘'

4) ⌘v

I'm betting there is a way to do automate steps 2-4 in one easy "plainTxt" blast 🙂

I tried setting up plainTxtParagraph as below - works except I get a double up of the section selected.

-- Press ⌘X

delay 0.064039

set timeoutSeconds to 2.0

set uiScript to "keystroke \"x\" using command down"

my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)

-- Press ⌘'

delay 0.055891

set timeoutSeconds to 2.0

set uiScript to "keystroke \"'\" using command down"

my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)

-- Press ⌘V

delay 0.111988

set timeoutSeconds to 2.0

set uiScript to "keystroke \"v\" using command down"

my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)

on doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)

set endDate to (current date) + timeoutSeconds

repeat

try

run script "tell application \"System Events\"

" & uiScript & "

end tell"

exit repeat

on error errorMessage

if ((current date) > endDate) then

error "Can not " & uiScript

end if

end try

end repeat

end doWithTimeout

I think you can replace steps 2 through 4 with this AppleScript:

tell application "Pages"

tell front document

set selection to (contents of selection as text)

end tell

end tell