Can I create a truly blank page

Hello George,

the header, the footer and the textfield are fixed parts of a Pages document and cannot be removed. If you want to have the most free area, do the following:
1) Set the document margins all to sero.
2) Set the header and footer distances all to sero.
3) Insert a word into the header and define a style for it with the font size if "0.1". Insert the word with the same style in the footer, too.

Now you have the biggest possible text field in Pages. Save it as a special "Empty" template so you can reuse it every time you need one.

Frank.

the truest answer is no, you cannot create a completely empty page. However, if you don't place anything in the various boxes and print a page, you will get a blank piece of paper.

Now, if you want a page that you can place anything on that will not interfere with text or accidentally become part of the normal flow, you can get a very close approximation of a 'blank' page.

First, use the view menu to show your layout.
Next, put your cursor in the main text area of your page.
With the Layout inspector click on the top arrow for the left side. Click until it doesn't click anymore (I would give a number, but it would be different for US and ISO and would depend on cm or inches.)
Also within the layout inspector click on the upperr arrow for the 'before' setting. You should see the box shrink with each click if you have the View Layouts on. Click until it doesn't click anymore.

This will give you a page where the text flow has been reduced to it's smallest possible setting.

If you are looking for a truly blank page, ask yourself why you need it. This will suit the purposes of most people who want to place items without the interference or confusion of the text flow. Capture the page and save the template. You should be able to copy and paste this page within another document, as long as the place it is cpoied into is separated by section breaks.

Gerry.

I absolutely agree with you that there should be a way to start out with a page with NOTHING on it . . no headers, footers or the word proccessor "layer".
At the very least there should be an option to turn these things off.
I suppose we need to send feedback . . . .

I absolutely agree with you that there should be a
way to start out with a page with NOTHING on it . .
no headers, footers or the word proccessor "layer".
At the very least there should be an option to turn
these things off.
I suppose we need to send feedback . . . .

Pages is, first and foremost, a word processor program. Removing the ability to use the words in the proper places makes it just a layout program.

If you need to have a page in the midst of text so that the text flows around it, say for a photo spread or general info-spread (tables, graphs, etc)there are ways to do that. I've just described one. Heck, using that method the text will continue around what you are placing.

If the visual representation of the layout is bothering you, turn off the view layout. You don't have to use the text areas, but they are there if you need to access them.

Forgive me if I do not understand something here, but why is it necessary to have a completely blank page if the unused areas are not showing up in the final output?

Removing the ability to use the words in the proper places makes it just a layout program

Not sure what you mean by "proper places" but having the option to make it like "just a layout program" is precisely what I want.

I know what you can do with Pages, and I'm sure that giving the option of "turning off" the ever-present word processing "layer" won't actually add any functionality at all. But it also wouldn't take anything away.

What offering that option would add is to give people like me, who use professional layout software on a daily basis, a way to get Pages to work in the way we're used to. When laying out documents I don't use the WP layer. I'd much rather draw everything on free-hand - text boxes, shapes . . . whatever. I know you can do this anyway, but the WP layer just gets in my way, I'd rather it wasn't there. It makes life more awkward for me.

How about this? I'd rather there was an option also for turning off not only that WP layer, but also the background itself. Then you could use the new drawing tool to make graphics to save for use in other Pages documents and iWeb, maybe even iMovie.

There's no harm in adding options, making it flexible . . . and never forget that just because you can't think of a reason to add this or that feature, doesn't mean no-one else can.

What you are describing is perhaps what Apple is considering for the possible Art-only program that would complimanet Pages and keynote.

Until then, since you can do anything in Keynote that you can in Pages, have you considered using both programs?

I routinely use Keynote to do just what youare describing. That shuffling of pixels and graphics to get what I want before copying it into Pages.

There are blank slides that work great as empty canvases.

Heck, I include all the graphics I create for Pages specific templates in a Keynote presentation because it is less distracting then working within the strict text-based format of Pages. To me, a Keynote presentation is like that old-time scrapbook that used to be included with the macintosh systems. The only difference is you can fit more on the page.

The only thing you cannot do with a Keynote presentation is set a placeholder image. What you can do is copy an image, masked or not, from Pages and it will retain the placeholder status when you copy it back into Pages, masked or not.

Is the blank Keynote slide the blank Pages dcument you are looking for? You can change the actual presentation size and delete the masters you won't be using...

Gerry

Hi,

I'm not sure why you'd want to have a "completely empty page", or even what an empty page actually is.

If you want to lay text boxes, et al - there's nothing to stop you.
If you want to use it to draw things, I think you're using the wrong piece of software
If you use "professional layout software" on a daily basis, why are you using Pages ??

When you say "new drawing tool", I think you misunderstand what Pages is - it's for text handling and layouts - NOT drawing things.
There are much better tools for that, and you can import the result to Pages.


Maybe, there should be an iApp for drawing - but only if there's a need for it. I don't think there is.
In the same way that the AVERAGE USER does not really use spreadsheets for very demanding things, I don't think many users use their computers for drawing with.

Having said that, I wonder if the clip art available for Keynote can be used in Pages ?? Hmmm...


Peter

Having said that, I wonder if the clip art available
for Keynote can be used in Pages ?? Hmmm...

Yes it can, but just remember the majority of it is made for display, and unless it is specifically available in higher res versions (like the Futura letters) you may notice rasterized pixels when scaling to a larger size.

As I said, I know what Pages can do. I know I can "lay text boxes et al". I just find that the ever-present text layer gets in my way. That's all. I'm not suggesting they take things away, just that they give me the option to turn it off if I want to.
I am also aware that there are better tools for drawing, but not for the same price. (Illustrator costs £500-plus, Pages costs £55 and you get Keynote free!)
And when I say "new drawing tool" I mean the new drawing tool. It's there. Trust me. And if it's not meant to be used for drawing, then explain to me what it is for . . .
I don't misunderstand what Pages is for, but I'm pretty sure you misunderstand what people out there are using it for. It is a extraordinarily flexible and useful piece of software, which can be used in a variety of different ways (Not just the way you use it!).
Oh, and this: "If you use "professional layout software" on a daily basis, why are you using Pages ??" Is a very cheap shot. Can you imagine a world in which a person is employed as a professional designer and uses professional layout/drawing software at work, but can't afford the £1,000-plus it costs to kit out their computer at home with the same software? I can.
And as for "I don't think many users use their computers for drawing with" . . . I DO! and I am absolutely 100% sure I am not the only one.

I have a template I designed whose main text are is set to have 9 inches in the 'before' box in the layout inspector with the word "scratchpad" at the very bottom. That way most of the text layer is blank. You may want to create a template like this for yourself.

And one of the main uses for the new bezier graphic tool is for tracing around pictures you import. You can now edit a person out of their background, mask the photo with the traced shape and then have that person's image only in your document. A big plus for many people and one which a lot of others will eventually discover.

One word of caution about designing graphics in Pages or Keynote (the tools work the same in either program) I am not sure if you can export the bezier shapes you create. In this way it may be more of a dead end project unless you plan on using them totally within the iwork suite of programs.

Message was edited by: Gerry Straathof