Why can't I change the right margin in Pages?

Question

Level 1

8 points

Why can't I change the right margin in Pages?

I am using Pages 5.5.2 under OS Yosemite 10.10.2 on an iMac. I chose "Informal Letter" as the style, because I am trying to write a SIMPLE letter. It says the right margin is set to 0.5 inches, but the program WILL NOT allow the text to go beyond 6.5 inches. I have turned on the ruler and when I click in the paragraphs there is a blue upside down triangle in the upper ruler showing the limit of the text. If I click on that I can move it to the left, but it WILL NOT let me move it to the right. It forces the text to end at 6.5 inches from the left margin leaving a huge blank area on the right side of the page. This is ridiculous! In WORD it is extremely easy to move the right margin to the limits of the printer. Why won't Pages allow me to move the text limit of the line past the 6.5 inch mark?

HELP!

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Mar 21, 2015 10:50 AM

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Answer 1

pmiles

Level 6

16,014 points

Mar 21, 2015 11:04 AM in response to Bush444

Should post this in the iWorks forum.

Pages for Mac 5.0: Set margins

Try selecting the text and under Document, change the the Right Document Margins to 0 and you will be able to drag the ruler margins.

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Answer 2

Bush444 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 21, 2015 11:11 AM in response to pmiles

I will try that forum, but what you suggested does not work. I set the right margin to 0 in the Documents settings, but still can only move the blue triangle to the left.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

685,209 points

Mar 21, 2015 11:12 AM in response to Bush444

I'll ask the hosts to move your post.

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Answer 4

pmiles

Level 6

16,014 points

Mar 21, 2015 11:30 AM in response to Bush444

I opened the very same template you said, changed the right margin to 0 and I can drag the right margin all the way to 7 inches. If you do not manually change the setting, it will not allow you to adjust the margin with the ruler beyond 6.5 inches. And the text in question must be selected first.

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Answer 5

Mar 21, 2015 12:13 PM in response to Bush444

There is a bug in this and several other templates.

You can quickly observe it by:

Menu > View > Show Layout

and

Toolbar > Document > Document > Document Margins > set all margins to 0

Pages 5 was never thoroughly checked by Apple at any stage before or since it was launched over 18 months ago. It is full of this stuff.

Provide feedback to Apple, but I doubt anything will be done about it. Better to create your own template from the Blank template or use one of the other templates.

Peter

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Answer 6

Bush444 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 21, 2015 12:19 PM in response to pmiles

OK, I finally got it to 7 inches, but that appears to be it. I agree with PeterBreis0807. I've found a lot I don't like about Pages. It isn't nearly as flexible as Word. I still miss WordPerfect. Now THAT was a good word processing program!

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Answer 7

Mar 21, 2015 8:09 PM in response to Bush444

Pages '09 is an excellent Word pPocessor/DTP/Spreadsheet App. Pages 5 has been a PoS since it was launched 18 months ago and is still missing 100+ features as well as all the bugs.

I suggest getting a DVD set of iWork '09 from Amazon for under $20 if you don't have it already, and install that making sure you update to v 4.3

Peter

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Answer 8

Yellowbox

Level 7

21,915 points

Mar 22, 2015 4:55 AM in response to Bush444

Hi Bush,

what you suggested does not work. I set the right margin to 0 in the Documents settings, but still can only move the blue triangle to the left.

Yes, I agree that there is a bug in the Informal Letter template.

Peter wrote:

Better to create your own template from the Blank template or use one of the other templates.

A hint that might help you (in templates other than Informal Letter)

My advice is the same as Peter's. Give up on the Informal Letter template and create your own template from Blank in Template Chooser:

You will find that Document Margins and Insets on the Ruler actually work!

Regards,

Ian.

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