Canadian Mac Forums at ehMac banner
Cancel

Search and Destroy (at least export) new iWork files

1379 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  pm-r, 
Zoiks
Hello ehmac peeps,

I need help. Like so many of you, I blindly upgraded to the new iWork in October 2013 - trusting apple to deliver us a decent product. Since then, I have tried to become as efficient with the new iWork as I was with the old, but now it is almost May, and I find it as cumbersome as before. My workflow has never been so sluggish. I miss my toolbar and inspector.

I am a teacher, and as a result, create and tweak many files on a daily basis. I am now at the point where I would like to revert back to iWork '09 to reacquaint myself with my awesome workflow which saw me creating units, lessons and assessments in 1/3 the time it is taking me with the new iWork.

I have files I have created with iWork '09 which I have not opened yet, though I fear about half I have. They are stored on my Dropbox and are frankly too numerous to all fit on iCloud. Luckily, I have not purchased a new mac yet, and I have copies of the old iWork application files on my HDD somewhere (at least apple didn't delete those).

Is there a way to use Finder to search for all the files created with the new iWork so that I may painstakingly export them to the old iWork versions? Also, is there a program that will convert a batch list of files (pages, numbers and keynote) for me?

Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen of ehmac.

:)
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
CubaMark
Zoiks, I feel your pain. I've been helping a friend who "inadvertently" upgraded to the new Pages, and has been converting all of her old files to the new format because she didn't know better (well, she did, after ample warnings on my part, but you can't monitor someone's every mouseclick).

So since she's already quite far along with the work, I just bit the bullet and have been working with her via screen sharing in the new pages. And yeah - I really do miss the inspector. There seems to be little logic behind where certain formatting tools have been hidden. There are at least three different spots where you can turn on the drop shadows o_O

At least the most recent update to Pages brought back the ability to customize the toolbar. That helps a lot...
Reply
Save
Like
chas_m
I was a little bewildered by the changes at first, but adopted an open mind on it and quickly learned that I *LOVE* the inspector-less tools, the new commenting system, and some of the other features. I appreciate that the older version was comfortable, but come on: we're Mac users. We get this happening every few years (remember how people howled about iMovie? Final Cut X? Heck OS X itself?).

As is traditional, when Apple decides to renovate the kitchen they start by setting fire to the house. But, like most home renos I've experienced, you have to call the contractor back about three revisions but once that's done what you end up with is measurably better than what you lost. I have no doubt that this is exactly where we're going with Pages/Numbers/Keynote, and FWIW I've got very quickly back up to speed on Pages and Keynote (never used Numbers much) and am doing the same stuff I was doing in the old version.
Reply
Save
Like
Zoiks
Nice try Chas, a little Chas pep talk doesn't cut it. The new iWork sucks in my opinion. No amount of Chas-a-riffic Chasaroo Chas-a-maraan will change my mind.

How about some real help.

Thanks for trying Chas.

I agree CubaMark, apple seriously dropped the ball here.

Can anyone aside from Mr. Chastastic offer some real help?

Thanks.
Reply
Save
Like
pm-r
I have to admit that Apple's implementation is a PITA and it would sure be nice if they or someone would come up with some sort of solution and help sort the two different formats. And I'm sorry I don't have any solution.

I have no idea why they kept the same '.pages' extension for the two similar but quite different Pages.app. They did the same thing years ago with Claris/AppleWorks, which could be overcome for a while using the BOBO resource fork until they made all versions as BOBO. If they still used the same system, I would suggest they use DODO as the resource name!!

If you had the iWork '09 on your boot drive, it should still be there after you installed the new Pages 5 app, and why not just keep using it?

I have both installed, the iWork '09 from the install disk and the Pages 5.2 from the Apple site.

But I have a question as to why the Pages version from the latest iWork '09 install on my Mavericks partition is still v. 4.0.1 when the versions on my SL partition is 4.1 and the ML partition (which I have hardly ever used) is version is 4.3?? Mavericks Software Update says everything is up to date. That's just crazy.

Or am I supposed to manually download and install the iWork Update 9.3 to get the Pages 4.3 etc. from:
Apple - Support - Downloads

"iWork 9.3 is recommended for users of iWork 9.0 and later when using OS X Lion v10.7.4 and above. Update 9.3 adds support for iWork for iOS 1.7 apps. ..."

And why hasn't Software Update mentioned it has been available for some time????? :(
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
chas_m
Sure.

1. Manually convert all the "new" iWork documents to the old iWork document format. There's probably fewer of these than you think.

2. Remove the new iWork apps.

3. For good measure, make the old iWork version the default for opening all iWork documents.
Reply
Save
Like
CubaMark
chas_m said:
3. For good measure, make the old iWork version the default for opening all iWork documents.
Click to expand...
Chas, the last time I attempted this it wouldn't "stick". iWork '09 files would continue to open in iWork '14 (or whatever it is). The Get Info--> Open With --> Change All setting wasn't being recognized.

There was an update issued to the new iWork suite, but it made no change (for me) in this regard.
Reply
Save
Like
SINC
If I were the OP, I would delete the new version of iWorks and revert to iWorks '09 which he says is still on his HD, being careful never to upgrade. If the copies of your files on dropbox still exist, be sure to open all in the old program. I am not aware of any quick fix for this issue. When it happened to me, I copied and pasted each file I had opened in the new and wrote them back to the original version, then deleted those files. I was lucky as I had only used about 100 files that I had to convert back so I did five minutes a day at it until I had them all returned to their original state.

Good luck with whatever you wind up doing. In my case, once the revised version of Pages came out reinstating much of its former capability, I switched to the new version for all future files, but carefully guard those old files in case I ever need them.

Like CubaMark, I have nothing but disdain for Apple screwing with something that worked so well. They ought to have left it alone. If it ain't broke, why fix it?
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
pm-r
CubaMark said:
Chas, the last time I attempted this it wouldn't "stick". iWork '09 files would continue to open in iWork '14 (or whatever it is). The Get Info--> Open With --> Change All setting wasn't being recognized.

There was an update issued to the new iWork suite, but it made no change (for me) in this regard.
Click to expand...

Well WT....!!! What gives with Apple's recent "updates" and changes anyway??

As I posted above, I discovered that my recently installed Pages from iWork '09 disk on my Mavericks partition was still at v. 4.0.1 so I used the Apple suggestion I finally found to download and run the iWork Update 9.3. So I now have Pages v. 4.3 that Software Update should have done months ago.

I have a file created from the Pages 4.x version and one from the "new" Pages 5.2. Now, just as CM found, the Get Info will not allow me to change either file to the Pages 4.3 and 'change all'. They just keep defaulting on their own back to and insisting that the "new" Pages 5.2 be used.

I'm sure I could and did make the Get Info change work before I did the iWork Update 9.3.

Now I'm really P'd off and it just makes so much more work opening/saving.

I had installed the new Pages 5.x as some files I had received as attachments created with the 5.x version wouldn't open or display properly with the Pages 4.0.1 version I had installed.

Sorry Apple and Chas, but what a PITA mess!!

Why on earth couldn't they have at least updated and provided a modern working version of AppleWorks????? :roll eyes: :(
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
Paddy
The business of defaulting to the newer version of Pages isn't new - it happens with other apps too. (I did some testing way back in October...)

Double clicking on a .pages doc in the Finder to open it can't be done if you want to open it in Pages 4.3 instead of Pages 5 on a Mac with both of them installed. You have various other options:

1. Open the document from WITHIN Pages 4.3
2. In the Finder, drag the document onto the Pages 4.3 icon
3. Remove Pages 5 or zip it so that it's effectively disabled

I opted for #3 - it's too easy to just double click on something in the Finder without thinking.

Note: if you remove or zip Pages 5, the annoying App Store notifications will start informing you every *&^$^ day that your iWork apps need updating. Why, oh why, doesn't Apple make it so you can choose to selectively disable update notifications for apps???? I don't mind being reminded for things like OS updates, but it is a pain in the rear end to have to dismiss this nag every single day.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
pm-r
Thanks for the info and suggestions Paddy and I had reviewed most of yours and others previous comments, but unfortunately for your suggestions #1 and #2 - Cupertino we have a problem - and it doesn't work for me.

Using any of those methods I'm met with a stupid dialog, and the OS isn't even smart enough to suggest using the newer Pages 5.2 that's already downloaded and installed on my hard drive. Gheese!! :(

Attachments

See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
pm-r
And BTW, and it may help CubaMark using the Get Info option to change any Pages '09 doc, but I found that one could set each such doc separately and it would stick, but if one clicked the 'change all', it would default to the newer Pages 5.x.

But the other stupid thing I found, if Pages '09 was still running, even in the background, and one clicked to open a later Pages 5.x file, the stupid dialog message as I posted will pop it's stupid message once again.
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Canadian Mac Forums at ehMac
A forum community dedicated to Canadian Mac owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about collections, iOS, models, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Everything Else, eh! Anything Mac All iOS - iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV &... Classifieds
Top