Anybody got Create Master Pages to work?

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Level 8

41,202 points

Anybody got Create Master Pages to work?

Just Testing Pages 7.0.

According to what it is supposed to do, actually work like a real master page retrospectively, Create Master Pages should be very useful, just I can not get it to work at all.

I've created a brand new document with a scattering of elements on it, followed the instructions, selected the thumbnail and:

Menu > Format > Advanced > Create Master From Current Page

Remains stubbornly greyed out.

I also tried modifying an existing page, separating it as its own Section and same deal.

Do I need to have High Sierra installed, because that is not mentioned?

Peter

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.6), iMac 27 mid 2011 24Gb RAM

Posted on Mar 27, 2018 5:09 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

PeterBreis0807 Author

Level 8

41,202 points

Mar 27, 2018 6:15 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

On further experimenting it turns out Master Pages only applies to Layout Documents!

Who thought this was a great idea? Even in theory if the retrospective application of Master Pages works, this is not a match for Pages '09's extremely productive Captured Pages.

The only way I can find to edit the Master Page/Rename it etc is to right click or control click on the thumbnails. This is not good UI because it is not obvious and remains hidden until you stumble on the combination of Actions to execute it.

Also you must know to click on the thumbnails, but only if there already is a Master Page. I didn't see them when I was hunting around. Nothing is visible in the Format Sidebar until Master Pages already exist.

This is extremely confusing and dysfunctional!

Seems like the programmers have gone with what is easier for them to program as opposed to what would be easier to use.

We really need WP document Master Pages particularly as Text Box threading is still handicapped in Pages 7.0.

Peter

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Answer 2

JernejCG

Level 1

38 points

Mar 28, 2018 8:43 AM in response to ishrugged

I have to confirm master pages works only with page layout documents it is not a feature that works in word processing mode. There is lack of documentation regarding it, I have been baffled by ti as well.

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Answer 3

Apr 2, 2018 10:43 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

For writing sales proposals I rely on keeping templates organized with "captured pages" and feel a bit let down I can't create a new proposal template which captures 8-10 page sections which I can mix and match. Frustrating to iterate on a document until styles, layouts, and sections are near perfect but be unable to make master pages out of them. It's so easy in Keynote any myriad other software packages. What an oversight to remove this helpful feature.

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Answer 4

Moscool

Level 1

41 points

Apr 3, 2018 10:35 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Actually you can... kind-of. I have done so for our standard work documents. The following applies in Word Processing mode:

1) Create as many Sections as you need in a blank document. For my need I just need two sections: cover and body

2) For each section decide if it's going to be same/different left/right page

3) Define/modify styles for your document as needed

4) Define your margins for the document, as well as your headers/footers for each section. You have options to hide on first page or start a section modelled on the previous one, etc.

5) Test with some dummy text to check how well the text flows in your documents/across your sections. You can use a text generator like this one (copy and paste/match style)

6) Once you are happy, save as a template

Note: works perfectly for me. Only problem is that I have my titles aligned differently (2 styles) depending if my page is left or right and I need to verify/apply this manually one the page count is complete

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