Change the Default Font in Apple's Pages
That title is a little misleading because you can't actually change the default font in Apple's Pages. I find that very frustrating because I find Gill Sans to be much more pleasing to the eye than Helvetica. Although you can't change the default font you can implement a simple work around that achieves the same effect as say setting a new default font in Microsoft Word would.
1. Open a blank document in Pages
2. Set your font settings to whatever you want the new default to be
3. Save this document as a template
4. Go into Preferences (General Preferences specifically)
5. In the "For New Documents" section click the button for "Use template:"
6. Click the choose button and select the template you saved a few steps ago
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Michelle published this on October 4, 2007.
Working with Movable Type 4.0 Templates: Sidebar was the previous entry.
Forget MT:OtherBlog Let’s All Use MT:MultiBlog Instead is the next entry.
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Thanks, this was just the info I was searching for!
You're very welcome. I'm glad you found it useful.
Useful information. Thanks. I hope that Apple would add the "set default font" feature on its next version.
Thanks very much! This is great, except that it doesn't work for footnotes. What was Apple thinking?
Yes. THANKS THANKS THANKS. I love when folks like you (smart!) post information for us dummies. I've tried and tried, and this way's going to work perfectly. Really, thanks for posting this.
You're totally welcome. Glad I could help.
This is very frustrating. How DO you set a different default font for footnotes?!
You could set the default font for footnotes the same way you're setting the other default font. Create a new template with the proper font chosen for both the main content and footnotes. The problem with this is that you have to insert a footnote and you don't want a visible footnote on every new document so you'd just save the template with the footnote as a template, not the default template, and then just select that template when you're creating a new document that you know will need footnotes.
It's not a very elegant work around but it's a work around nonetheless.
Thanks for this handy tip. I'm not a fan of Helvetica either and I'm glad to know there is a work around. Hopefully the programmers will include this feature in the next update.
Agreed. Hopefully the next version of Pages will make this workaround obsolete.
Thank you Michelle
I just got my Mac (originally a PC user) and poking around this new system is so different! I was trying to find a way to change the default in Pages 08 and couldn't do it so checked the 'Net and found your information and followed it.
Being a writer, I have to stick with Courier New and 12 font.
I guess I have to stop thinking along the lines of Word and get around any problems like this your way.
Thanks again for the tip!