Highlighting Text In Pages 4 and 5: How To/Best Methods?

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Level 1

17 points

Highlighting Text In Pages 4 and 5: How To/Best Methods?

Hello Fellow Macers:

I need advice on the best way to highlight text in Pages 4 and 5:

I use and prefer Pages 4.3. Yes, I have Pages 5.2, and I find that using it good for some things (dictating into a document), but not so good for others - highlighting text.

For example, I read tons of documents and like to make notes, comments and especially highlight text according to a color-code scheme that I have used for years.

For those who use Word, this process of highlighting text is pretty straight-forward:

You highlight your text and then simply click your highlight box on the Word toolbar (choose a default color, usually yellow) and you're done. If you need to use another color, just use the pull-down, as seen above. The drawback in Word - no Orange, or sectrum option.

But let's face it - Word as a program is just too much. As someone who has used every word processing program under the sun, I find Pages excellent. It does what I need.

However, I find highlighting text in Pages clumsy. Here's what I need to do to highlight text in Pages 4.3:

Go to your toolbar, and then choose a highlight/background color. It's more labor intensive then Word, above, but you do have the option of more colors.

Then there's this method, where basically you get to simply use yellow as your color:

IMHO both are clumsy methods compared to Word, but have become even more so in Pages 5.2....

Lots of clicks to achieve simple color highlights.

Am I missing something, or is there a simpler way, in either Pages 4 or Pages 5, to achieve the above results???

Any suggestions appreciated!

Logic Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)

Posted on Apr 22, 2014 5:12 PM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,446 points

Apr 23, 2014 4:17 AM in response to erniesfo

Your choice of Highlight in Pages v5 is not a true highlight, but rather an author comment color. The true highlight is found as Character Fill Color from the drop down Advanced Options panel (gear icon next to underline) in Pages v5. There is no toolbar icon, or keyboard shortcut available to simplify this process.

If you want direct access to a highlight (background) color palette, then use Pages ’09 v4.3, LibreOffice, or Word. Here is the palette from latest LibreOffice:

I do not understand how clicking a single color well [ a ] on the Pages ’09 toolbar to get a richer palette of background colors is more labor intensive than a direct click on a toolbar icon in Word to get fewer colors?

Dictation works fine in Pages ’09 v4.3.

If you were creating content, and only using a few highlighting colors, I would create new paragraph styles in a template, where each style would be named, Background Yellow, Background Red, Background Cyan, etc. These could be applied with a keyboard shortcut.

Personally, I would not bother with Pages v5+ unless/until Apple makes serious improvements. Stay with Pages ’09 v4.3 with an alternate document (.doc) backup strategy for future-proofing your documents from Apple.

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Answer 2

Apr 23, 2014 4:58 AM in response to erniesfo

erniesfo wrote:

…Yes, I have Pages 5.2, and I find that using it good for some things (dictating into a document)…

Dictation is a Mavericks function.

You can dictate in Pages '09 just as you can in Pages 5.2.

Peter

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Answer 3

Apr 23, 2014 11:51 AM in response to VikingOSX

I totaly agree, my wife highlights text all the time how can this be easier V4+. We are very frustrated because some of the features in the new Pages

V5+ are very good but if apple can't make everything at least as easy as before or better then why switch forward. Clicking on an icon and having a color grid come up... how do you get easier then this? Where is the ease of use Apple? I am not switching forward to go backwards this is a big deal to us even if it is only one feature it is a feature that we use all the time.

Big mistake and I'm pro Apple but when the lack of a previous feature negatively affects our productivity this much.... unbelievable. I too am not moving forward from V4+ to V5+ until there is way better functionality when highlighting text!

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Answer 4

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,446 points

Apr 23, 2014 11:55 AM in response to rockman99

There is no requirement to upgrade to v5.2. Keep using the more functional Pages ’09 v4+.

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Answer 5

erniesfo Author

Level 1

17 points

Apr 23, 2014 2:55 PM in response to VikingOSX

Dear VikingOSX:

As Ed MacMahon once said (before your time?) re Pages 5 Character Fill Color: "You are correct, sir!!"

The gear icon IS where the function that I'm talking about is located. Still, it's annoying.

Q: Why?

A: Because from a work-flow perspective as someone who is highlighting it makes no sense. We in the Western world read and write from top to bottom, left to right. Making a mark on a doc should follow the same flow.

You should not have to keep looking over to the right side of the doc to find your function. Logically it should be at the top (e.g., toolbar), on the left, or perhaps some contextual pop-up option.

Furthermore, it's more "labor intensive" from this point of view: In Word, once you set the color (which, granted, you may need to change from time to time IF you, like me, use multiple colors as part of your highlighting workflow), you just click the box after highlighting the text - 1 click vs 2, and possibly 3.

The "richer color" part of my comment was just to note that a flaw, in my view, of Word's basic scheme is that:

1) It lacks an Orange. And we've all used an Orange highlighter at somepoint, right? Or perhaps, you were like me in High School and threw them instead. But you get the point...and

2) Having a wider pallatte available as an option - which you do in Apple's scheme - is nice. I use color coding/highlighting to make notes and save time. The colors tell me what's important, what's next important, key terms, etc. Also, for example, if I wanted to outline my highlighting notes, the color scheme (which has a heirarchy based on color, right?) allows me to do this quickly because it's already there.

As for the Dictation function working on Pages '09/4.3 - again, you are correct, sir! And that's great to know. I had tried to use it before when the new Pages 5 (hitting fn twice on Pages 4.3) but it didn't activate. I tried it after reading your response and Bingo! It's Alive! So thanks for that tip.

Your keyboard shortcut scheme is an interesting idea, and I may try it as an experiment. My intuition is that it will not work as straight-forwardly as Word's toolbar pull-down will, but I might be wrong. We'll see.

And yes, I do use Pages '09 (4.3) instead of Pages 5 for exactly this reason (see my discussion)

Great reply! Thanks!

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Answer 6

Apr 23, 2014 2:58 PM in response to rockman99

There are 100 other reasons not to "upgrade" to Pages 5, and this is the only one that has bothered you?

I will ask the same question I ask everyone who says Pages 5 is better or even "good", exactly what makes you say that?

This particular badly designed User Interface is the same for most everything in Pages 5, several well hidden steps, mostly undocumented, to do what one did before.

Peter

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Answer 7

erniesfo Author

Level 1

17 points

Apr 23, 2014 3:01 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Thanks Peter!

As I mentioned above, when I first got Pages 5 I tried dictation on 4.3 and it wouldn't activate. Now that I think about it, perhaps I hadn't actually installed Mavericks at that time. After installed, that must be why it was suddenly active with Pages 4.3.

And btw, what's going on with the music from down under?

From EastOz (Jagwar Ma) to WestOz (Tame Impala) there is some great stuff coming out. There must be something in the water!

Thanks again.

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Answer 8

erniesfo Author

Level 1

17 points

Apr 23, 2014 3:04 PM in response to rockman99

Rockman, you pretty much covered what I put in Apple's feedback re Pages 5. I suggest that us Pagers keep letting Apple know what's up, and what's not.

Thanks for response.

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Answer 9

erniesfo Author

Level 1

17 points

Apr 23, 2014 3:07 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Peter:

Our comments must have passed one another on the infobahn. I agree. It's why I say with 4.3. I wish I could speak with the development team of Pages 5 to try to see what they were looking at and ask them what they were thinking.

Seriously.

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Answer 10

erniesfo Author

Level 1

17 points

Apr 23, 2014 3:08 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

...I meant STAY with Pages 4.3. Thanks again.

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