Interesting tutorial. Worked perfectly for me and removed the pages to doc, doc to pages stress I was having before. I still marvel at the simplicity of changing functionality on a mac.

I think this needs digging.

Thanks for positive feedback, just submitted to Digg @ http://digg.com/apple/iWork_09_Pages_doc_Support so please Digg it if you find useful

Lee

Thank you!! I have been trying to figure this out for a while now. I work with .doc all the time because I have to transfer my files to a computer lab at my university and then print using MS Word. This is so much better. Thanks!!

You are a genius!

@Robert Thanks for the kind comments! I assume that this fix worked for you

Hello, I tried this and I cannot get it to work. I followed the “For the not-so-technically minded” procedure.

I try to export it and I can select all the files except for the “word” tab. And if I try to save it as .doc it says you can only save it as .pages.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. If it helps I used a resume template from pages.

Thanks,
Mark

Never mind, I’m using IWorks 08, I just figured it out. I should have tried exporting before I missed with the info file.

Isn’t is great how mac just makes everything so user friendly?? :rollseyes:

great guide – thank you! this was a real problem that you solved – thank you thank you!

I tried this in Pages ‘08 (though it appears that you need to expand #6 instead of 8 and 9). It appears to behave as you suggest, with one small problem: it saves to some TEMP folder that I can’t even locate with spotlight.

Any ideas on what to do to correct this?

@Clay Thank’s for the feedback, although unfortunately I am unable to help you as I don’t have access to Pages ‘08, and this tutorial was only written with the intention of supporting ‘09. Sorry about this, but maybe you could email a copy of the ‘08 version Info.plist (leefindlow {usual at symbol} gmail {guess what goes here} com). I could have a look at it for you, to see if there is any clues.

Lee

This is a great tip. With this modification, will Pages save the file in the same location as the original? For example, when I open a .doc file off a server and make a change and then try and save it, I would like it to save back on the server in the same place – I think your tip makes this happen, but just wanted to clarify.

Also, do you know if something similar to this will work for Numbers as well? (opening/saving .xls files)

Thanks again for sharing this.

Lee, I tried it in both Pages and in Numbers (for Excel files) – problem solved! Thank you for sharing this tip – I thought I was going to have to give up iWork otherwise due to the massive amount of Microsoft documents that I need to access and modify on our servers.

@ Derek Underwood I’m really glad this helped you out! In regard’s for the modifications to Numbers is it basically the same principle – look for the “xls” entries and change them to “Editor”?

Thanks so much! I just got my first MacBook + iWork ‘09 (with some trepidation, as it seems everyone I know uses Word or OpenOffice) and was just about to give up on ever saving files conveniently. This worked perfectly.

Lee, Yes – same technique for Numbers. Although in my installation I believe the plist entries do not start with “CF” – that may differ on some systems. Your tip here is really vital, especially for people trying to switch over from MS Office to iWork and looking to be productive. Also, as most people have Word and MS Office, it is really easier to just use the .doc (and .xls) formats for everything.

Great tip!
I would like to do the same thing with numbers for xls-files, but I’m not familiar enough with the plist-files to find out how…

please explain more clearly as to how we do this with numbers.
also – if this will work with keynote…please explain that too.
This was really great!
One thing…I have found that when I CREATE a word doc in pages and save it as a word doc…my document still says untitled. I then have to trash the untitled document in front of me and open the document I saved as a word doc and from then on I am good to go.
Seems VERY PC-ish no?

@michael

Open your plist editor and change Viewer into Editor on entries 2 & 3. Save and your done.

OK…that did great for Numbers – now could you please tell me how to do it for Keynote?? Thanks!

@michael I think it’s basically the same process, but change entries 5-8 in Keynotes’ Info.plist
Please note I haven’t tried this though, let me know how you get on!

Lee

5-8 doesn’t seem to work. Also…after doing this change…when I open a ppt document I made and saved in keynote, I notice it still has suffix .key.
Suggestions?
Thanks!

still hoping for guidance on Keynote…
thanks!

@michael Sorry about taking a while to get back to you, I can’t really think of what you can do … what happens if you manually add the .ppt suffix?

I tried that and got a message:
unknown error.

I don’t get it…if it could be figured out for pages and numbers – why not keynote? No complaints – I’m just surprised.

Thanks so much for posting this. That solved a very tedious problem, plus it was my introduction to .plist hacking. Very useful information all around.

Great tip! One question:

Apple recently issued an update to iWork 09 called “iWork ‘09 Update 1″ version 9.0.1.

If I update my iWork, will it erase the changes I made to my .plist files suggested here? I am afraid of screwing things up.

Thanks

Very interesting! But does it work the other way around? Can I save a Pages-document as a doc-file first and then – after a couple of revisions – save it again as a Pages-file?

@michael I think it could be because Keynote is built on different principles than PowerPoint, such as all the 3D stuff – making it hard to convert between the 2 formats. Sorry I’ve taken a long time (ooops, nearly 2 months) to get back – been busy with college work & stuff.

@Fritz Glad I could help you, this was actually the first plist hack I found too

@Presenz I’m pretty sure it should still work, if not just update iWork then follow this process again!

@Allie Parker Yeh, you just need to use the “Save As” dialogue – let me know if you have any problems!

Thanks so much for this information.

I asked about it on the Apple support forums and got practically cursed out by a bunch of fanboys who seemed convinced that Pages should not support saving to .doc at all, let alone without confirmation.

This makes Pages worth using for me.. Thanks a million! There are ten to fifteen separate unanswered threads about this problem on the Apple boards. Apple needs to post a direct link to your site!

Hello, can you please post some more information on this topic? I would like to read more.

@Lee. Thanks for your reply. But for some reason, if I try to save a doc file as a Pages document, the only options I get are:
- save as word document
- save as iwork 08 document

Do you know how I can save a doc file as a Pages 09 document?

@Will Bruce Glad this worked for you, was looking over the Apple threads the other day (saw in referrer), noticed a lot of people not understanding that Office comparability is almost a necessity for most, even though I’d rather not have to consider it!

Dear Lee, this is great, I have been looking for such a solution for years now. When I open an existing word document, it works. However, if I intend to create a new word document with Pages, how should I do that? I tried to create a new document and then export it in word format, but then the automated process does not work. I will see exactly the same window that you posted at the top of this page. I can exit Pages and then re-open it, and re-open the created new, blank document, but if there is an easier way, let me / us know.

Thank you!

Thank you.

Dear Lee, this is great, I have been looking for such a solution for years now. When I open an existing word document, it works. However, if I intend to create a new word document with Pages, how should I do that? I tried to create a new document and then export it in word format, but then the automated process does not work. I will see exactly the same window that you posted at the top of this page. I can exit Pages and then re-open it, and re-open the created new, blank document, but if there is an easier way, let me / us know.

Thank you!

Thank you.

Great tutorial Lee! Thanks. I also don’t understand why Apple doesn’t have it enabled by default…

@Barnabas
I think that is one of the issues with this workaround unfortunately!

@Rui Grilo
Yes, it does seem a bit daft for them not to have it enabled, although I think it may be due to the fact that there are a few little bugs with this workaround!

Great post and plist edit.

I am just discovering this now (using Pages 4.02). Perhaps you could update the post because as of the latest version of Pages 4.02, the two Word file entries in the plist have changed to numbers 9 and 10. I blindly followed the instructions and couldn’t figure out why it didn’t work, until I realized that entry 8 is now simple text and the Word entries have been shifted up a number to 9 and 10 respectively.

@Lee Findlow
Thank you so much. Just switched over from Office to Pages after just getting a macbook not long ago. This helps me out so much

@Derek Underwood
Is there anyway someone could share a corrected Numbers version so that my xls files will work this way? I don’t have the developer tool mentioned above.

Great stuff, thanks very much, it works well with Pages. However when I tried the suggested editing in Numbers it tells me the document failed to save (as XLS). To close the file I select “don’t save” but when I reopen the file the changes have in fact been saved. Any ideas?
Thanks.

@Scott Powell, that is something I must get round to, thanks for the heads up! I must confess that I’ve actually been using MS Office recently, so not picked up on these things.

@Frank Lester, unfortuantely I don’t think this “hack” works as well with the rest of the iWork suite as it does with Pages, seems a bit hit & miss, so unfortunately it looks like it’s not a possibility with Numbers.

Thanks a lot for the usefil tip, Lee. One question: I would like to save documents as rtf files. Can this be done in Pages 09?

@Harold Yup, it can be, albeit not as simple as saving as a Word doc, you have to go into the Export menu (File>Export), and then choose RTF.

@Lee Findlow, thanks for your quick reply. I know about the export option. But I was hoping that I would be able to open an rtf file, edit it and then simply save it again as rtf (similar to the doc workaround you describe on this page).

@Harold, ahhh, unfortunately I don’t think that will be possible, since the export RTF is within a whole different menu section, so probably not going to be possible to move it about, i’ll have a poke around see if you can though.

@Lee Findlow, Thanks in advance, Lee. I’ll be checking back frequently to see if you’ve come up with a solution.

@Harold, I’ve done some looking around and it unfortunately doesn’t look possible, sorry about that, although if you do come across anything I’d love to know, you can find my Email address on this site!

Lee

@Lee Findlow, Sorry to hear that there’s no solution but thanks very much for your time. If I ever find a workaround, I’ll let you know. BTW I did find out that the doc solution also works for docx files which is great.

Dear Lee, thnx for the tip, it’s really great.
Just anther question: when I create a new document (either in pages or in numbers) I have two problems:
1) can I save it automatically in DOC or every time I do have to select the “word document” option, flagging it?
2) everytime I save a file in DOC or XLS, then when I open it again it tells me: “some problems occured: import warning – character borders aren’t supported and were removed” what is that?

thank you
Luca

Very helpful. Thank you!

Very helpful. Thank you!

@Luca Lattanzio Unfortunately I think you have met one of the many bugs in this system, since it is essentially a “hack” support isn’t perfect, so I’m afraid there doesn’t seem to be a solution regarding any of your problems, sorry about that and taking so long to reply!

Thanks for the hack, Lee. This is something that’s always bugged me about Pages. Very useful!

Best tip ever, many thanks. Using PListEdit Pro I was able to get the values in terms of file type for the document type numbers in each program. I changed the value for Type 4 in Pages’ plist, and now RTF files show the same behaviour – when I open them in pages, they stay in RTF format. I’d guess when an iWork app opens a document of a particular type, it first checks the plist to see what mode it should open that document in. The default mode for non native formats is viewer, so it automatically converts the file on opening to a native file format for editing. However, if you create a file in Pages, say, and save it as Word, then the plist isn’t referred to so the behaviour doesn’t happen, hence needing to close the file and open it again to get the desired behaviour. Not so much a bug, more a missing feature. Anyway, here are the codes:

Pages:
0 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypeNativePublication)
1 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypeNativeSingleFilePublication)
2 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypeNativeStationery)
3 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypeNativeSingleFileStationery)
4 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypeRichText)
5 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypeRichTextBundle)
6 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypePlainText)
7 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypeSimpleText)
8 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Word document)
9 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Word 97 – 2004 document)
10 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Word template)
11 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Word 97 – 2004 template)
12 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypePDF)
13 (CFBundleTypeName = SLDocumentTypeAppleWorks)

Excel:
0 (CFBundleTypeName = LSDocumentTypeNativeDocument)
1 (CFBundleTypeName = LSDocumentTypeNativeSingleFileDocument)
2 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel workbook)
3 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel 97-2004 workbook)
4 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel add-in)
5 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel template)
6 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel 97-2004 template)
7 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel macro-enabled workbook)
8 (CFBundleTypeName = LSDocumentTypeTXT)
9 (CFBundleTypeName = LSDocumentTypeCSV)
10 (CFBundleTypeName = LSDocumentTypePDF)
11 (CFBundleTypeName = LSDocumentTypeAppleWorks)
12 (CFBundleTypeName = LSDocumentTypeOFX)
13 (CFBundleTypeName = LSDocumentTypeNativeStationery)
14 (CFBundleTypeName = LSDocumentTypeNativeSingleFileStationery)

Keynote:
0 (CFBundleTypeName = BGDocumentTypeShow)
1 (CFBundleTypeName = BGDocumentTypeSingleFileShow)
2 (CFBundleTypeName = BGDocumentTypeTheme)
3 (CFBundleTypeName = BGDocumentTypeSingleFileTheme)
4 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft PowerPoint presentation)
5 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft PowerPoint 97 – 2004 presentation)
6 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft PowerPoint slide show)
7 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft PowerPoint 97 – 2004 slide show)
8 (CFBundleTypeName = BGDocumentTypeAppleWorks)

Tried it with RTF in Pages, Excel in Numbers, and PowerPoint in Keynote. RTF and Excel work great, but Keynote refuses to play ball, still converts ppt files to a native representation

I’d guess some of the types are only there to support opening OR saving, not both. AppleWorks files open in pages, say, but I don’t think Pages can save AppleWorks so the editor mode would be redundant (I’d speculate). PDF files can be saved from Pages, but not opened, so again editor mode is redundant

could somebody upload the file for Numbers and Keynotes.
THANK YOU A LOT!!!

Hi thanks for the tutorial. I have a slighty diferent problem. I can save my pages doc as a word file, or at least it is giving me the option, but near the end of exporting it tells me it can’t save the doc because of an unkown error. That’s all it says. Pretty anoying.
Tried to save it to pages ‘08, same thing.
Any tips would be very welcome.

Ps i did try the things with the info. plist but no salvation yet.

Any ideas on how to make Pages save .docx as the default instead of .doc?

Thanks!

this is fantastic! Thanks.
Have you done a similar thing for Excel and Numbers for .xls files?
Thanks

@pepe Sorry, but I don’t have the files for Numbers or Keynote, don’t think that there is a working hack for Keynote either – as for numbers I have never looked into it, although I think if you browse through comments here there is some help

@JustB errm, thats a weird one … so you mean to say from a fresh install it doesn’t work correctly? Sorry but I’m not quite sure qhat to say to that, maybe worth contact apple/checking their support forums.

@Tom honestly, no ideas on that, I think it is probably set to .doc by default for greater compatibility, so not sure if it could be changed.

@Mark No I haven’t, maybe will do some day though – I think the comment from @Dai Jones will be helpful there though

thanks – I looked at Dai Jones’ comments but could not see how to make the changes that were needed.

@Mark I’ll have to look a bit further into it, but hopefully soon I’ll get another post up with info for Numbers too

I try change some files in numbers.app, but if change on editor so if want open some files .xls so numbers is open always on secon monitor. If a return settings so numbers open normaly on main display.

This issue is only in numbers.app, if change in pages.app so pages always open file on main display. I dont know where is problem. I change only this file:
2 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel workbook)
3 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel 97-2004 workbook)

This issue is only in numbers.app, if change in pages.app so pages always open file on main display. I dont know where is problem. I change only this file:
2 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel workbook)
3 (CFBundleTypeName = Microsoft Excel 97-2004 workbook)

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Great tip on changing pages. Works perfectly and has quashed one of my biggest bug bears with pages! (only multiple page table cell spanning to go!)

I downloaded your Info.plist file (not having a plist editor) and substituted it in the Pages package. The changes work as advertised, which is great.

But now, if I save a Word doc file as a Pages file, that new file won’t open. I get the message “The document “XXX.pages” could not be read. The document does not have a valid format.” I am using Pages ‘09 ver 4.0(727)

Re: my last comment.

As one of the previous commenters noted, I was saving in iWorks 08 format–which fails. Saving as iWorks 09 isn’t available.

Thanks again.

Thanks to both Lee and Christian for your help!

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