Text with Facing Translation . . .

Question

Level 1

6 points

Text with Facing Translation . . .

How do I do it? Original Text on the left . . English Translation on the Right . . .

With independent Left & Right notes at the bottom. . . .

Is this doable in Pages? I need all the wisdom of you genius destop publishers on this one. I've been referred to Scribus but can't believe Apple wouldn't have thought of this problem for Pages.

Scribus can do it but it's so complicated. Is there a way to make columns flow independently of each other?

For instance if I set it up with a 11 x 17 page, with two columns of text the text from the first column flows to the right, whereas what I want is the left column to flow to the left column on the next page, and the right column to flow to the column on the right on the next page. . . .

iWork '09-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on May 30, 2013 2:05 PM

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Answer 1

Barry

Level 9

59,861 points

Apr 29, 2017 12:12 PM in response to Vinny64

Hi Vinny,

The solution above applies to Pages '09 (Pages v4).

Pages 5 was a from the ground up rewrite, not an update of version 4. When released, it was missing more than 100 features supported in Pages '09, including the ability to link text boxes, allowing text to flow from one to another.

Some features have returned in Pages 6, but this one—required for Peter's solution above—has not.

If iWork '09 was ever installed on you computer, and you have not deliberately removed it, Pages '09 will be in a folder named iWork '09 in your Applications folder. If it's not, you may still be able to purchase the iWork '09 retail set from Amazon (or from another supplier), install that, and immediately apply the iWork 9.3 updater, available here:

Apple - Support - Downloads

Note that the updater is for the retail boxed version only, not for the individual applications (Pages '09, Numbers '09 and Keynote '09) purchased as downloads from the app store.

Regards,

Barry

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Answer 2

May 30, 2013 2:17 PM in response to Mark Potter3

1. Construct a Layout document, using two textboxes linked to further pairs of textboxes below so they have two threads.

2. Use a 2 column Word Processing document with breaks to jump to the 2nd column. This will not give you continuous text as it will alternate.

3. A 2 column table. Again this will have interrupted text flow, because a cell can't span pages.

It is difficult to maintain parallel text with translations from English, as English is more concise and compact than nearly all other languages. You can adjust the size of the font for the foreign language or give it a wider column/textbox to allow for the extra space it occupies.

There are text applications for script writers which may suit the task better.

Peter

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Answer 3

Mark Potter3 Author

Level 1

6 points

May 30, 2013 2:52 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Peter much thanks,

I gather that you're offering three ways to accomplish this task.

I understand your point #2, have tried it but it is too cumbersome, If I have to I'll cut and paste text from two seperate documents (original and translation) alternating column breaks beetween them, to get a final document.

Your point #1. . . how do you link textboxes? I'm just using the column tool in the Inspector setting up two columns with facing pages. . . . Perhaps you're aluding to some feature I'm not aware of . . I hope so!! 😁

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Answer 4

May 30, 2013 3:18 PM in response to Mark Potter3

Open a blank Layout template to your liking. You can use a Word Processing template but the default text area will get in your way.

Click on the Textbox icon on the Toolbar to create a Textbox.

Resize it by dragging out the corners or using the Metric Inspector. Duplicate it by copy/pasting or the faster neater method of option shift dragging it sideways.

You can make a page the way you like it and Capture it to reuse as a Page from the Page icon on the Toolbar or just duplicate the Thumbnail in the sidebar.

When you have set up two or more pages with the side by side textboxes you can link the Textboxes by clicking on the blue overflow arrow on the bottom right of the Textbox and clicking on the next box you want to link to. The text in the Textboxes will follow the linkages.

Peter

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