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Apple iWork 08

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Anthony Fiti
Beth
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Aug. 26, 2007

Specifications

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Pages

The Pages application has two distinct modes of operation; one for normal word processing and the other for page layout. The word processor side gets added features like change tracking, as well as a contextual format bar that I'll get into later.

When you open pages, the application provides a template chooser. It is divided into two main categories: word processing templates for things like letters and resumes, and a page layout area for flyers, posters, and even business cards.

One of the first things I noticed when using Pages was that, during highlighting of text, it will display certain formatting characters like paragraph breaks. I found this to be a brilliant idea because often I find myself having to select very carefully to either include or exclude the return after the line. The previous version of Pages ('06) also did this, so it is not a new feature if you're an iWork pro, though all of us coming over from the Office suite would find this feature interesting.

A feature that I enjoy is new from iWork '06. Pages starts up in word processing mode - similar to how Word starts in terms of appearance. The ruler at the top and the side, along with the dynamic format bar above the top ruler, gave me a good frame of reference for things like page and font size.

The biggest difference between Pages and Word is that, in Pages, there is a toolbar and several toolboxes. In Word, there are 15 toolbars to choose from. Usually, you'll need one of these many toolbars to perform manipulation on an image or a table, but then you don't need it anymore and it becomes an annoyance. Pages compensates for this by having a dynamic format bar.

The dynamic format bar is a very simple way to modify basic attributes of what you have selected. If you select text, the ability to change font, size, color, justification, spacing, column, and list controls are all available. When you select a picture, the ability to change some of the basic properties like picture alignment and image adjustment (brightness, contrast, etc) appear, as well as the new instant alpha feature, which allows you to take out the background of a photo. However, instant alpha only works on a color-by-color basis, similar to how a green screen works in television production. So, if something you want to keep in the foreground is the same color as the background, you'll need to use an image-editing tool to remove the background instead.

The image mask feature is new to iWork '08. Importing a picture is easy; just drag it over from your iPhoto library or insert it from a file. Then, you can edit the image mask and select only a portion of the image to display in the document without having to open the original, crop it, and then move it into place. You can also add other effects like picture frames, reflection, and transparency.

Pages also includes comments, change tracking, tables, and charts functionality. It also has a mail merge feature that retrieves data from your OS X address book.

The other half of Pages is the Page Layout capability. While I don't have a copy of Microsoft Publisher to compare it with, I can definitely tell you that I am impressed with the additional features, which move above and beyond what is provided by the word processor functionality.

The text flow tools allow users to chain different textboxes together and have text flow between them. Although it doesn't add the "continued on page..." portion, it's still a huge leap in functionality and ease of use. Instead of having to manage moving text back and forth, you can just link it and be done.

The final aspect I tested was the ability of Pages to open up Microsoft Word documents, as well as to save Pages documents as Word documents. Opening up this review (created in Word 2004 for the Mac) created no problems whatsoever. Likewise, I was able to save out Pages documents to Word files, as long as the feature in Pages was supported in Word (items like text box chaining and other page layout style functions aren't supported by Word).

Unfortunately, I don't own a copy of Word 2007 for the PC in order to test firsthand if Pages opens documents that are based on the Microsoft Open Office XML standard. However, there have been several reports throughout Mac blogs, indicating that Pages does open Word 2007 documents.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Pages
Page 3: Keynote
Page 4: Numbers
Page 5: Conclusion

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3 User Comments

1 - Posted by Splash6 on August 28, 2007 - 6:59 am

Numbers is definitely a noteworthy application. It is the biggest change in spreadsheets since their creation. By creating a series of standalone tables it will soon be possible to use standard libraries of modular tables. It will no longer be necessary to check through every individual cell of a spreadsheet to ensure it is correct, just to check the tables have been wired up correctly. This will be the biggest step forward in the quality of spreadsheets that will ever have occured and can not be far off.

2 - Posted by Max Slowik on August 28, 2007 - 12:56 pm

So it's a database with a spreadsheet interface?

3 - Posted by Vic on October 2, 2007 - 1:46 pm

Is there a "Password protect a document" feature in iWork 08 - I can't find it. Help please

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