The default fontsize for presenter Notes is too small. You can enlarge it separately for every slide, but there should be a way to set the default larger. Any suggestions?
Richard Dawkins
There is indeed a way to do change the default notes size (and font), but it means editing the XML file for the theme of the presentation. This task is relatively straightforward, although it does involve a few steps.
First, you will need to create a copy of the Theme to be changed. The simplest way to do this is to go into Keynote and create a new presentation using the theme that you want changed. Don't create any new slides or edit the presentation in any way, just go to the File menu and choose "Save Theme...". Put the theme somewhere you can easily locate, such as the Desktop (you can always move it later).
Now, hold down the Control key while clicking on the new Theme file. This action will bring up the contextual menu -- select the option "Show Package Contents". The Finder will now open a new Finder window showing many files. Themes, just like many other OS X applications and files, are actually folders that are collections of files called "packages", and such packages are usually seen by the Finder as a single file. When you ask the Finder to Show Package Contents, you reveal the interior structure of the package.
In the package Finder window, you will see one file named "index.apxl.gz". This file is the heart of the Theme -- it is an XML file that specifies all the default attributes of the Theme. It is written in XML, which may at first seem like nonsense, but which is actually human-readable.
The XML file is compressed (that is the ".gz" extension on the end). Double-click the file to uncompress it -- you should now see a new file named "index.apxl" in the package's Finder window. This is the file you will edit.
Open "index.apxl" in TextEdit. You should see a mess of "tags" (text enclosed in angle brackets), with some indenting of these tags. In TextEdit, search for the text string "slideNotes". This search should find one instance of this string, in a tag with the text "slideNotesParagraphStyleID". A few tags below that you should see a tag with the string "sf:fontSize". Immediately after that is a tag labelled "sf:number", with the text "sfa:number=" and a number. Change the number to the font size you want.
As the final steps, save the file you have edited ("index.apxl"). Once this is done, be sure to delete the original "index.apxl.gz" file. (You do not need to compress the "index.apxl" file in order for the Theme to work properly.
Having done all this, you should now be able to double-click on the Theme file and thus create a new blank Presentation that has the presenter notes at the size you specified.
If you want this Theme available in your Theme Chooser within Keynote, in the Finder go to your Home folder (in the Finder's Go menu, choose "Home"), and go to the folder Library, then Application Support, then iWork, then Keynote, then Themes. Move the edited Theme into this last folder.
This process may seem a bit cumbersome, and it certainly is relative to a GUI option for doing this, but the steps look more complicated that they actually are, and it should only take a few moments to do the actual change, and the problem will be solved.
There is indeed a way to do change the default notes size (and font), but it means editing the XML file for the theme of the presentation. This task is relatively straightforward, although it does involve a few steps.
First, you will need to create a copy of the Theme to be changed. The simplest way to do this is to go into Keynote and create a new presentation using the theme that you want changed. Don't create any new slides or edit the presentation in any way, just go to the File menu and choose "Save Theme...". Put the theme somewhere you can easily locate, such as the Desktop (you can always move it later).
Now, hold down the Control key while clicking on the new Theme file. This action will bring up the contextual menu -- select the option "Show Package Contents". The Finder will now open a new Finder window showing many files. Themes, just like many other OS X applications and files, are actually folders that are collections of files called "packages", and such packages are usually seen by the Finder as a single file. When you ask the Finder to Show Package Contents, you reveal the interior structure of the package.
In the package Finder window, you will see one file named "index.apxl.gz". This file is the heart of the Theme -- it is an XML file that specifies all the default attributes of the Theme. It is written in XML, which may at first seem like nonsense, but which is actually human-readable.
The XML file is compressed (that is the ".gz" extension on the end). Double-click the file to uncompress it -- you should now see a new file named "index.apxl" in the package's Finder window. This is the file you will edit.
Open "index.apxl" in TextEdit. You should see a mess of "tags" (text enclosed in angle brackets), with some indenting of these tags. In TextEdit, search for the text string "slideNotes". This search should find one instance of this string, in a tag with the text "slideNotesParagraphStyleID". A few tags below that you should see a tag with the string "sf:fontSize". Immediately after that is a tag labelled "sf:number", with the text "sfa:number=" and a number. Change the number to the font size you want.
As the final steps, save the file you have edited ("index.apxl"). Once this is done, be sure to delete the original "index.apxl.gz" file. (You do not need to compress the "index.apxl" file in order for the Theme to work properly.
Having done all this, you should now be able to double-click on the Theme file and thus create a new blank Presentation that has the presenter notes at the size you specified.
If you want this Theme available in your Theme Chooser within Keynote, in the Finder go to your Home folder (in the Finder's Go menu, choose "Home"), and go to the folder Library, then Application Support, then iWork, then Keynote, then Themes. Move the edited Theme into this last folder.
This process may seem a bit cumbersome, and it certainly is relative to a GUI option for doing this, but the steps look more complicated that they actually are, and it should only take a few moments to do the actual change, and the problem will be solved.
It is not clear to me whether this is being sent to Tulse, who told me how to change Font Size in Keynote notes, but if so I would like to thank you very much indeed.
Would I be right in assuming that the same principle would work for my other question, posted immediately adjacent to the last one. I had a look down the XML file to see if I could see any likely words, but failed to.
Anyway, very many thanks for your help, and extremely clear instructions.
Richard Dawkins
