Drop Cap in Pages

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Level 1

25 points

Drop Cap in Pages

Does Pages support the use of drop caps? I want to accent the first letter in a paragraph. I can do it in MS Word, but cannot find a way to do it in Pages.

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Sep 23, 2017 3:48 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

VikingOSX

Community+ 2024

Level 10

111,341 points

Sep 23, 2017 8:39 AM in response to byzcath

All versions of Pages can do drop caps. It is a manual process that will require tweaking to get right. The following is possible, and was done in Pages v6.2 using the Champignon "A" and then Book Antigua for the paragraph.

And all Book Antigua:

Settings:

For this example using Hoefler Text Regular at 18 pt. Line spacing is exactly 22 pt. Pages v6.3.
Enter your paragraph. Set a new left tab mark at 0.55 in.
Insert cursor after first letter, and tab. Insert cursor before second line, and tab.
Select the ‘A’, and increase font size to 50 pt. The top of the character will clip.
1. From the advanced options menu (gear icon above character styles), set the Baseline shift to -27%. This is basically making incremental adjustments to align the top of the ‘A’ with the top of the paragraph text, and the bottom of the ‘A’ character with the bottom of the first descender ‘p’.
2. You also determine that paragraph fit to the drop cap by choosing the Format Text panel : Layout tab, and double-clicking the first tab stop, and directly entering the gap. I used 0.55 in.

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Answer 2

byzcath Author

Level 1

25 points

Sep 23, 2017 10:06 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you, Viking. I prefer Pages because I have a chip on my shoulder concerning Microsoft 😁, but also because it IS easier to use, boots up more quickly, and so on. On the other hand, I do use both products. Yes, when it comes to serious publishing, I will have to stick with Word.

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Answer 3

byzcath Author

Level 1

25 points

Sep 23, 2017 8:38 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you for your response. It’s a shame that MS Word does all this by choosing an option, and has been a feature for years. I noticed someone had asked this question back in 2008, so for 9 years, this feature hasn’t been of any interest for Apple. Kind of sad, really.

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Answer 4

Barry

Level 9

59,861 points

Sep 23, 2017 10:00 AM in response to byzcath

Hi byzcath,

Considering that the two most recent versions of Pages do not support Facing Pages wrt either inside/outside margin settings or different header content on right and left pages, one shouldn't be surprised that Drop Caps are also missing from the feature set.

Use the Provide Pages Feedback item in the Pages menu to make a feature request.

Regards,

Barry

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Answer 5

Sep 23, 2017 9:44 AM in response to byzcath

Although many users have dragged Pages kicking and screaming into business usage, it was only designed to be a consumer word processor. Apple never intended to compete with MS Word, a professional grade word processor that has been in continuous development and feature addition for over 35 years. This is why many features are missing from Pages, regardless of the many contrarian pleas over the years.

Stick with Word.

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Answer 6

byzcath Author

Level 1

25 points

Sep 23, 2017 10:02 AM in response to Barry

Thank you for your response. We can only hope that Apple will see, unless they have no interest in competing with MS Word, that putting more effort into software that they would prefer us to use entails actually putting forth that effort.

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Answer 7

Sep 23, 2017 5:16 PM in response to byzcath

Congratulations on solving your own question. 😉

I detailed this technique many years ago in Pages '09.

You can make the Drop Cap (any number of letters) a Character Style with a keyboard shortcut, but will still have to insert the tabs to clear the text adjacent.

It is doable, not the best though and as you have said is in just about every other DTP software.

Peter

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