iWork '09: The Missing Manual

Basic Text Editing in iWork

Pages, Keynote, and Numbers all follow the Mac’s basic conventions for adding, editing, selecting, and moving text. If you’re familiar with other Mac software, you’ll feel right at home here. But even if you’re a longtime Mac user, you might not be aware of all the handy shortcuts available for working with text. Here’s the skinny.

Inserting Text

Inserting text or spaces in a document is the most basic editing task of all. Move the I-beam cursor to wherever you want to insert text, click the mouse, and then type. Pages nudges the words following your new text over to the right to make room for your new typing.

Note

In text boxes, you may need to click the text a second time before you get the I-beam cursor. Clicking a text box once selects the entire text box, which lets you move and resize it. Editing the text inside the box requires a second click. When you’re done, click anywhere outside the box to deselect it. See Adding Objects for all the secrets about selecting and editing text boxes.

UP TO SPEED: Un-Typewriter Class

Even though most computer owners haven’t touched a typewriter for years—if ever—many bad habits persist from that earlier technology. Here are a few of the more egregious examples of typewriter style that you’re better off forgetting:

1. Underlining: Although Pages makes it simple to format text with underlining, don’t use this style for emphasis. Use bold or italic, which are much more stylish—and just as easy to apply. (Seriously, when’s the ...