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Shocked and horrified

I am absolutely shocked that there is no way to rearrange or delete individual pages within a section.


Please someone, tell me I have missed something.


I just created 30 graphically rich pages in a section (and it took a long time to do). My client took a look and requested a few page deletions and rearranging a few pages.


This SHOULD be the simplest thing in the world. Grab a thumbnail and drag it to a new location, select a page (in a section) and hit the delete key.


Please again, tell me it IS as easy as that... then point me in the right direction?


Thanks,
Matt

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), Apple Fanboy, I own just about everything Apple has ever made

Posted on Mar 18, 2013 10:08 AM

Reply
18 replies

Mar 18, 2013 10:38 AM in response to mabou

When you use the word processing document you don't delete a page. You delete the content of the page. The document will adjust its pages to the remaining content. This is one of the ideas when using a word processor. The document adjust to how much you add and vice versa. It isn't an old typewriter where you trash the page.

Mar 18, 2013 11:06 AM in response to mabou

Use a Layout template instead of a Word Processing template if you do not want text to flow from page to page.


The two are distinguished in the sidebar of the Template Chooser.


You will however have to create textboxes to hold your text and if you choose to link those textboxes across pages you will be able to get yourself in a tangle still by shuffling the pages in a different order. As fruhulda has pointed out a computer is not a typewriter.


To "convert" pages to sections all you need to do is the obvious, insert section breaks between them:


click at the end of the prior page > Menu > Insert > Section Break


Peter

Mar 19, 2013 3:16 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate your time.


Unfortunately, your answers just confirm that Apple should improve the UI in this facet of Pages. I love Pages, but this scenario is really a surprise.


Having to go through and manually delete all of the contents on a page in order to delete the page is silly. I should be able to right-click the thumbnail and choose Delete Page. And if I want to rearrange the pages within a section, I should be able to click and drag the thumbnail... no fuss, no muss.


I'm unsure as to why anyone would want to use "Insert Page Break" since you are then locked into an inflexible paradigm of not being able to rearrange your pages.


The Pages team needs an intervention by both the "Preview" team and the Aperture team regarding User Experience and UI. In both Preview and Aperture, each page is an object that can be deleted or moved (drag and drop) at will. No need to delete the contents of a page just to delete the page.


For that matter, the Pages team needs to look at MS Word to see how easy it should be to delete a page in a section.


Anyway... end of rant. Love Pages, been a longtime user, but somehow never ran into this problem until now.

Mar 19, 2013 4:22 AM in response to mabou

Hi Mabou,


I made this document from a blank Word Processing template (my favourite). It took me longer to compose this reply than it did for me to create the document.


User uploaded file


Add content to a blank document. When ready to start a new section,

Menu > Insert > Section Break

(not a Page Break).


Add content, Section Break and so on.


Menu > View > Page Thumbnails

or choose from the View button on the ToolBar.


Click on Thumbnail 2 to bring Section 2 into view on the screen.


Menu > View > Show Invisibles

This will show Paragraph marks, Tabs, Section Breaks...

The blue line below Blah blah is the Section Break that separates Section 2 from Section 3.


Using Thumbnails, you can:


Press delete to remove the active Section.

cmd x to Cut the active Section to the clipboard and Paste into another document.

Drag the active Section to a new position within the document.


Anything else that Word can do and Pages Can't?


Regards,

Ian.

Mar 19, 2013 4:40 AM in response to fruhulda

woah.... never said I prefer Word. Just making a comparison.


As I said, I am a longtime fan of Pages... I usually create brochures, flyers, etc and had never seen this behavior of not being able to rearrange or edit the pages in a section.


@ Yellowbox, I've now learned about the behavior in Pages where you can manipulate sections. I've also learned that if I want to add a page to my document, I should "Insert Section" instead of "Insert Page" breaks.


I just don't understand why Apple doesn't allow the moving or deleting of pages within a section. I have yet to hear a reply as to what the logic is of not being able to manipulate pages within a section.


@ fruhulda,

without taking a defensive stance, re-read my previous post about pages. Used the word LOVE twice.. "longtime fan"... etc. Simply voicing my opinion about something I see as a shortcoming in a program that I love... to a group of people IN A FORUM who have a similar interest and might be able to shine a light on my concerns.


Telling me that complaining in a forum of like-minded people is kinda counter-productive. Where then should I complain about Pages in an effort to learn?... in the iPHone forum? :-)

Matt

Mar 19, 2013 5:00 AM in response to mabou

I suggested you insert a Section Break not a Page Break.


A Section Break divides a document into Sections (Chapters).


A Page Break simply jumps to the next page as its name suggests, without breaking a section, just as a line break jumps to the next line without breaking the paragraph.


There is a logical series of breaks:


Letter, word, tab, line, sentence, paragraph, column, page, section and document. With an additional Layout break which can cut across a page.


Since text flows from page to page in a Word Processing document and breaks wherever it fits, even in mid word if hyph-enated, deleting pages would have the same effect as ripping pages out of a book.


Preview is handling individual pdf pages, each an image. Deleting or shuffling those will tie any text flow into knots just as it would in the original document.


If you had used a Layout template, as suggested, you would be able to delete a page along with its content. You seem to have a layout that doesn't have text flow across pages. The default in a Word Processing document is that text does flow across pages.


If you had started with your usual Brochure or Flyer templates you would have had a Layout template, doing what you want, but somehow you have chosen a Word Processor template instead.


Peter

Mar 19, 2013 5:03 AM in response to mabou

Hi Matt,


Thank you for this healthy discussion. When I read a question in these forums, I take it as a challenge to learn how to do it myself. Your question prompted me to try out things I had not done before. We learn from each other.


Sorry that I thought you were one of those who use these forums to complain, to compare Word with Pages, and Excel with Numbers - and not really looking for an answer. But now I see you are not.


Keep posting!


Regards,

Ian.

Mar 19, 2013 5:15 AM in response to Yellowbox

Hi Yellowbox,

I get it. I hate it when people use forums as a grandstand to say how much they hate the program that the forum is based around. I also hate trolls. In looking back at my rant, I can see that it would be easy for my complaint to be perceived that way. I was just frustrated and surprised that this seemingly basic functionality doesn't exist... let alone that I now need to spend time to do a workaround on a 30 page (one section) document.


No more page breaks for me. Section breaks will rule my day.


Even with Peters excellent detailed answer above, I still don't understand what the purpose of not allowing pages within a section to be rearranged or easily deleted. If I can see a list of thumbnails, I should be able to rearrange or delete any page from the thumbnail drawer, regardless of the layout. If my attempted deletion of a page (in a section) could result in text flow chaos (since pages knows when content flows from one page to another), then a simple alert dialog telling me I am getting ready to reflow some content would take care of the potential problem. But barring that issue, seems that it should be a no-brainer that a simple move or individual page deletion from within a section would work.


Anyway, thanks again,

matt

Mar 19, 2013 5:33 AM in response to mabou

Suggestions?

Hi again,


I'm trying to change my 30 page (one section) document into a 30-section document. (There is no text or content flow from one page to the next).


Here is the problem I'm seeing....

I add a new section which gives me a new blank page with the header after my 30 page section. I go to the first page in Section 1 which has five graphical elements. I drag to select all of the elements and Copy them. I go to the new Section page, set the cursor on the page and Paste. Pages then makes five new pages in that section and pastes one of the graphical elements on each page.


Any suggestions as to how to make this work would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Matt

Mar 19, 2013 5:41 AM in response to mabou

program that the forum is based around. I also hate trolls. In looking back at my rant, I

Hi Yellowbox,

mabou wrote:

can see that it would be easy for my complaint to be perceived that way. I was just that Iissue, purpose of not allowing pages within a section to be rearranged or easily deleted.

need to spend time to do a workaround on a 30 page (one section) document.

I get it. I hate it when people use forums as a grandstand to say how much they hate the

No more page breaks for me. Section breaks will rule my day.

Anyway, thanks again,


section would work.

Even with Peters excellent detailed answer above, I still don't understand what the

the thumbnail drawer, regardless of the layout. If my attempted deletion of a page (in a

could result in text flow chaos (since pages knows when content flows from one matt

reflow some content would take care of the potential problem. But barring that If I can see a list of thumbnails, I should be able to rearrange or delete any page from

seems that it



Dragging each line from your post to another, and deleting a few, shows just how easily the effect could be achieved. 👿


I repeat, use a Layout template. As you have previously.


Peter

Mar 19, 2013 5:44 AM in response to mabou

Matt,


After reading this thread I thought it might be a good idea to re-emphasize a point made by Peter high up in the thread in case you missed it.


Any brochures, flyers, etc. that you may have started from a brochure or flyer template in Pages would have been based on a Page Layout Template, not a Word Processing Template. You would have had none of the troubles you wrote about if you had begun with a Page Layout Template for this recent project. If I were you and wanted to convert my document to 1-Page per Section arrangement, I would be converting to a Page Layout template at the same time. It's tedious to make the conversion, but you will find many benefits to using the right tool.


Jerry

Shocked and horrified

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