convert Appleworks to Pages

"I have waited for years and have not bought a new computer because of this very issue."

Sometimes it pays to pay attention to the writing on the wall. Apple announced End of Life for AppleWorks ten years ago.

"and I still have to use both computers?"

You do if you want to open AppleWorks documents in AppleWorks. And you do, at least in the short term, if you want to move your AppleWorks documents to Pages and/or Numbers. Your first step there will be exporting ("Save as…") to an MS Word or MS Excel format, then opening the exported file in Pages or Numbers.

Or, for AW6 files only, get iWork '09 (retail boxed set with family or individual licence, NOT the trial version), install it on the new Mac and immediately update it using the iWork '09 updater 9.3, then open AW6 spreadsheet files into Numbers '09 and AW6 word processor files into Pages '09. (You will eventually need to transfer these new files to newer versions of Pages and Numbers.)

OR, as Peggy suggests, get LibreOffice, which will open many AW5 and AW6 files directly.

Once you have the transferable files transferred, you will no longer 'have to use both computers,' a stage our household has almost reached.

Regards,

Barry

lrlangner writes:

"What is a draw layer?"

In AppleWorks, when an image is pasted into a word processing document in can be "inline" with the text or "floating" above the text. Another way to describe the "floating" image is to say it is in a "Draw layer" rather than 'in the text layer". Earlier version of Pages described a similar two states as "move with text" (inline) or "stay on page" (floating).

"I now have the iWork apps on my other computer. It is iWork 09 9.0.1 and I got it for free."

If it the version described above (originally sold as retail boxed DVD and under either a 'single user' or 'family' licence) then download and install the iWork 9.3 update from this page: Apple - Support - Downloads

Note that the update is for only the version described and will damage other iWork '09 versions.

Regards,

Barry

but the only iWorks I have is a 30 day trial and I cannot find any iWorks that will download to my computer which is a 10.6.8 version...

Because Apple never gave away the $79USD retail iWorks '09 DVD, so of course, you are not going to find a free retail copy of that on the Internet, or from Apple. That trial iWorks '09 is nothing but trouble, and will timeout on you. The retail iWorks '09 DVD will install on 10.6.8 (and even earlier) thru 10.13.2 (High Sierra). If you install the retail bits on 10.6.8, then you must use the Apple iWorks 9.1 updater, instead of the Apple iWorks 9.3 updater which is for OS X 10.7.4 thru 10.13.2.

Follow the advice that several responder's have volunteered, and you will be fine.

If you "could do this before" you probably had Pages 4 or earlier which can open AppleWorks 6 word processing files. When you "upgraded" to Pages 5 your earlier installation of iWork was not deleted. If you previously had iWork '09, those apps are still in your Applications folder in a folder named iWork '09 unless you deliberately deleted them. And you can try what works for me to set iWork '09 as the default. Be aware that you will not be able to open documents saved with the new versions unless you export them as iWork '09 or revert them to a previously saved version.

If you did deliberately delete the previous iWork apps, your best bet, as Niel said, is to use LibreOffice. It can open many, but not all, types of AppleWorks & ClarisWorks documents.

I have this same problem. Can't believe that the Apple applications people would not have the fore site to plan for the necessary changes. That' just stupidity. I have waited for years and have not bought a new computer because of this very issue. Now, I have a new computer (due to other issues that required it and I still have to use both computers? To quote Dr. Phil, "That is just stupid."

(You will eventually need to transfer these new files to newer versions of Pages and Numbers.)

Once you have the transferable files transferred, you will no longer 'have to use both computers,' a stage our household has almost reached.

For now, there is no need to update files from iWork '09. The apps continue to work in High Sierra. And, with the vast amount of features missing from the post-October, 2013, versions, there are a lot of reasons to continue to use Pages 4 & Numbers 2.

I don't have to use more than one Mac, but I choose to do so. I do have a Mac mini running Snow Leopard so that I can run various PowerPC apps, including AppleWorks 6, should I desire. I also have a G4 iMac running Tiger that I can run Classic apps on. That Mac will even boot into OS 9 but I'd have to find a bootable disk that I know I have somewhere in this "mom cave."

But I moved all of my AppleWorks word processing & spreadsheet documents to Pages & Numbers way back when. I've even moved draw documents to Pages by copying the contents in AppleWorks 6 & pasting them into a draw layer in AppleWorks 6 word processing documents. Most of my databases I converted to Numbers spreadsheets although there are a couple I have accessed on that Mac mini.

In response to Alice Dubiel regarding a post by Peggy, I am not trying to transfer any new files. These are old appleworks files. The apps do not work in High Sierra. Pages does not have a Drawing page which I used all of the time. A collection of someone elses little figures does no good when you need to draw something and then label it with dimensions so I do have to use two computers if I want to use that feature because apple hasn't included it in its new word programs. I am just trying to find a way to move all of my Appleworks word processing documents to Pages. I do not use Numbers and I don't use Keynote. I have never in 20 years had a need for them. I just want to create my own graphics and tables in the old Drawing page. What is a draw layer? I currently have to copy drawings and past them into a drawing page and then change the format somehow to get them to paste into either a a pages document or a microsoft word document which accepts them without making too many changes. I want to be able to use pages in iworks to be able to transfer Appleworks to Pages on my High Sierra but the only iWorks I have is a 30 day trial and I cannot find any iWorks that will download to my computer which is a 10.6.8 version.

Alright, I now have the iWorks app on my other computer. It is iWorks 09 9.0.1 and I got it for free. However, my biggest problem with pages is the lack of a drawing page. Apple royally screwed up the word processing game by not having this feature in pages. So, I guess I will have to keep my other computer just to be able to have that capability which is just stupid.

"However, my biggest problem with pages is the lack of a drawing page."

Have you tried the drawing tools supplied with Pages (and with Numbers)?

In Pages, open a Blank template (Blank Page Layout in Pages '09, plain Blank in more recent versions).

If using Pages 5 or Pages 6, click the Document button (top right) to open the Document Inspector, choose Document, then uncheck the Document Body checkbox to leave a blank canvas on which to draw or place objects.

In Numbers, open a new document, click on a cell to activate the supplied table, click the 'bullseye' at the upper left corner of the table to select the whole table, and press Delete to leave a blank (and theoretically 'limitless' canvas on which to draw or place objects.

The drawing tools are not organized into a single panel to the left of the window as they are in AppleWorks, so you'll need to do a little exploring in the Shapes button and in the Format Inspector (when a graphic object is selected).

Regards,

Barry

There is no Draw layer as such in Pages. They are just objects placed wherever you want them.

In Pages 6 objects, not just images, can be

1. Inline with a number of ways they fit, so they flow with the text

2. Anchored so they flow with the text but aren't in it. Whilst the object can be freely positioned on the page, even outside the margins, the anchor can be difficult to place. It seems to not want to go where you put it.

3. Floating so it stays on that page and does not move with the text.

4. On the Master objects layer, under everything, repeating on every page of that section.

Drawings are just objects, called Shapes, which can be coloured or have a wide variety of effects including multiple styles of shadows, or act as masks to images. There are a large number of ready made shapes under the Shapes menu and you can create your own and add them to the menu.

You create shapes by either drawing them as bezier objects with the Pen Tool under Shapes, or by combining any shapes using boolean operations in the Sidebar > Arrange panel. These tools are vastly superior to those in Appleworks and can have Styles that can be applied and updated just like Paragraph and Character Styles. The only thing they don't retain as Styles, which they do in Pages '09, is their Text Wrap.

If you intend to use Pages '09 update it to the latest (ultimate) version 4.3 to use on all the latest macOSes. iWork '09 will have issues and may actually freeze up. Pages '09 and Pages 5 or 6 can be used on the same Mac, just be careful which opens which document.

Peter

This does not help. I don't want predetermined shapes with shadows. I want drawings that I have created with measurements and labels. Pages just ***** because I have to transfer all documents to Pages and then use a writing page from Appleworks to edit or create new drawings and then copy and paste it into a Pages document.

Try using LibreOffice to open them.

(151875)

And where do you find this iWork 09?

You can usually find the boxed DVD on Amazon or eBay.

This page gives some information about transferring Appleworks Draw documents.

http://rfwilmut.net/notes/aw/page3.html