Why does the latest version of Pages create large files?

Question

Why does the latest version of Pages create large files?

Today I updated to the latest version of Pages and after saving my first new Pages document and exporting it as a Word (.docx) file I noticed that the file sizes were so much larger than when using the previous (iWork 09) version.

The document comprised of just one page with only 4 paragraphs but was over 400kb and when exported as a Word file it was over 900kb!

I have just used the 'old' Pages and the Pages document was 89kb and the Word version 18kb.

I did not change any export settings and cannot understand why I am now having to deal with much larger file sizes. I am going to revert to the older 'inferior' version of Pages until the new version drastically reduces the size of the files (in all formats).

I look forward to hearing from anyone that has experienced these problems.

I am running a 2011 MacBook Pro and I am running Yosemite 10.10.1.

Many thanks.

Simon

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10), 1TB HD 8GB RAM

Posted on Jan 13, 2015 8:21 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

PeterBreis0807

Level 8

41,170 points

Jan 13, 2015 1:29 PM in response to siphoneturton

Pages 5 is now 16 months old.

That and well over 100 other problems, omissions and downgrades have been well documented.

Pages 5 is a bloated, slow, incompatible and very inefficient format that will ultimately lead to grief as it trashes itself or Apple trashes it for you. Apple has already altered the file format several times and if you hit a problem, and many have, there is next to nothing you can do to rescue your work.

You should still have Pages '09 in your Applications/iWork folder, use that until something better comes along (not from Apple).

Peter

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Answer 2

Jan 13, 2015 5:46 PM in response to siphoneturton

I agree with Peter. Use Pages '09, but keep a document migration strategy present. When you create a Pages document in Pages '09, export it to Word .doc too. Export any current content in Pages v5.2.2, and then stop using it. That means no double-clicked documents.

Pages v5 is not an evolution of Pages '09 — it is an incomplete rewrite, and uses a different, internal document architecture than did Pages '09. This internal architecture is to blame for the export translation bloat into Word's different document architecture. It does not matter whether you type a single character, or multiple pages, you will get about a 500Kb .docx file.

Opening, and resaving this monster .docx file in MS Word in Office for Mac 2011, LibreOffice, or TextEdit will result in a very small .docx footprint.

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