[Solved] Apple Pages to OpenOffice procedure

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Dudley Henriques
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[Solved] Apple Pages to OpenOffice procedure

Post by Dudley Henriques »

Just bought a new Apple Macbook Air. I've always used Pages on prior Macs but this time around I've decided to switch to Open Office for all my work.
This leaves me with a slight problem. :-)
I have on the new Mac many files that I made with pages. They all carry the .pages extension of course.
Open Office won't open them using the .pages extension and I really don't want to have to change each file to Microsoft Office if I can avoid doing that. (Many files involved)
Is there any way at all that I can solve this using Apple's software and Open Office?????
Many thanks;
Dudley Henriques

If it helps others, my solution was to try everything suggested. It is notable that I do NOT have Pages installed on the Mac during the period involving this issue. The .pages issue had to be handled without Pages on the system.

The result (for me personally in my situation) was to gather the .pages files that needed to be dealt with and put them in a dedicated folder on the desktop. Those that were NOT requiring future editing were changed to a PDF format through the print dialog drop down and refiled. Those needing editing down the line were simply (restructured) as a new file in OO by copying the text into a new document and simply inserting imaging where required. These files are now stored as OO files and can be converted to any available extension required at the time they need to be emailed.
I deeply appreciate your help as a group and look forward to future dialog with you as situations require.
Dudley Henriques
Last edited by Dudley Henriques on Wed Nov 20, 2013 5:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Dudley Henriques
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Villeroy
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Re: Apple Pages to Open Office procedure

Post by Villeroy »

Just bought a new Apple Macbook Air. I've always used Pages on prior Macs but this time around I've decided to switch to Open Office for all my work.
This leaves me with a slight problem.
This is the problem with all proprietary software since the beginning of computing. There will never be any cure except one: Do not use proprietary file formats unless you are happy to use the proprietary software for the rest of your life. Stick with what you have.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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Dudley Henriques
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Re: Apple Pages to Open Office procedure

Post by Dudley Henriques »

I have to wonder after reading this why the hell people like you even bother to volunteer for forums like this one.
Your answer not only reiterates the question without even an attempt to answer it, but insults the intelligence of the person offering the question.
Good job!
As it happens, switching to a new system AND new software has simply posed a procedures issue, thus the question for the forum.
Open Office seems like a wonderful program and I'd like to use it, thus my presence here.
As relates to your "advice" on proprietary software, I believe I have some experience in that direction............just not with Open Office as it might have to deal with the situation on which my post was based.
Now if there happen to be any less insulting people here on this forum, and I'm sure there are lots of you who can handle my simple request without lecturing me on general computing, I would be eternally grateful for your valuable time and expertise in helping me solve this little problem of mine.
Thank you very much for any further assistance I might receive after this rather direct but necessary reply.
Dudley Henriques
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Mark Nelson
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Re: Apple Pages to Open Office procedure

Post by Mark Nelson »

Can you change the extension to something like .txt for example? I know that Open Office can understand .txt and .doc files. I am not sure about .pages files. I will have to check on that one.
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Dudley Henriques
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Re: Apple Pages to Open Office procedure

Post by Dudley Henriques »

Mark Nelson wrote:Can you change the extension to something like .txt for example? I know that Open Office can understand .txt and .doc files. I am not sure about .pages files. I will have to check on that one.
Thanks. I think it might be a Pages problem as I did try changing the file extension to reflect Open Office with a negative result. I didn't however try a .txt extension. That very well might work. I'll try it and post back.
Thank you very much for your reply.
DH
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Greengiant224
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Re: Apple Pages to Open Office procedure

Post by Greengiant224 »

Dudley Henriques:
Have you tried this?
I don't know if you can do this on a mac or you may need the use of a Linux/M$ PC.

The trick is to move the file to a PC, then add .zip on the end of the file name.
Then double click to open the file, and there should be several files, including

Thumbnail.jpg
Preview.pdf
index.xml

These files can then be extracted. Thumbnail.jpg shows what the document looks like.
Preview.pdf provides the document in Adobe PDF format. From there, you can simply
select the text, then copy and paste it into Word, or any other editing program.

It appears that .pages are nothing more than a zipped container.

Good Luck

Greengiant224

Win 7, Portable AOO 4.1.14, LibreOffice 6.2, 7.4.5 & 7.6.1 (Java 1.7.81 & 1.8.0_281) utilising HSQL 1.8.10 & 2.4.*, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite
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Hagar Delest
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Re: Apple Pages to Open Office procedure

Post by Hagar Delest »

I'm sorry but I don't see what is insulting in Villeroy's reply. There is no judgement, this is just a fact. We often advise users to stick to MS Office if they need to exchange documents in .docx format for example.

Have you tried to google a bit about the .page format? Its wikipedia page tells a bunch: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pages_%28word_processor%29, especially the Compatibility section.

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the edit button if your issue has been fixed.
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Dudley Henriques
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Re: Apple Pages to Open Office procedure

Post by Dudley Henriques »

Hagar Delest wrote:I'm sorry but I don't see what is insulting in Villeroy's reply. There is no judgement, this is just a fact. We often advise users to stick to MS Office if they need to exchange documents in .docx format for example.

Have you tried to google a bit about the .page format? Its wikipedia page tells a bunch: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pages_%28word_processor%29, especially the Compatibility section.

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the edit button if your issue has been fixed.
I'm not entirely blameless in that reply. I deal in public relations all the time and am VERY sensitive to replies that tend toward lecture while completely avoiding an asked question. I see too much of it and react accordingly.
Being a bit less aggressive and more constructive I would strongly advise Villeroy to give serious thought to avoiding the type of reply he gave to my post in the future. His post was not constructive in that it addressed completely an issue not at all related to the question asked and avoided the question asked entirely. (You will note he made zero effort to deal directly with the question asked)
Look.........I'm a newbie here on this forum. I'm new to Open Office and I came here seeking friendly advice. I have no wish at all to be combative with anyone, including Villeroy. I am deeply appreciative of any and all advice I receive here. I am NOT however, appreciative of replies that lecture me while avoiding my question.
It is my sincere hope that this post puts an end to the discussion. I welcome friendly and informative discourse with all of you............including Villeroy. :-)
Dudley Henriques
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Re: Apple Pages to Open Office procedure

Post by Dudley Henriques »

Greengiant224 wrote:Dudley Henriques:
Have you tried this?
I don't know if you can do this on a mac or you may need the use of a Linux/M$ PC.

The trick is to move the file to a PC, then add .zip on the end of the file name.
Then double click to open the file, and there should be several files, including

Thumbnail.jpg
Preview.pdf
index.xml

These files can then be extracted. Thumbnail.jpg shows what the document looks like.
Preview.pdf provides the document in Adobe PDF format. From there, you can simply
select the text, then copy and paste it into Word, or any other editing program.

It appears that .pages are nothing more than a zipped container.

Good Luck

Greengiant224
Thanks. I'll give this a try. We have a PC downstairs.
DH
Dudley Henriques
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ingosp
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Re: [Solved] Apple Pages to OpenOffice procedure

Post by ingosp »

Hi, besides the encountered rantings, this thread helped me to decipher some .pages files I've been sent. However, I didn't find a PDF, it was just a "preview.jpg". Browsing the internet for advice left me with awkward procedures including installation of some apple software. But now it's easy.

So in case someone else gets such .pages files from a different universe, here in short:

Just rename the .pages files to a .zip (or add .zip). Open them, and you will find what's inside. As a .jpg or maybe even a PDF.

Id'd like to suggest that in the future openoffice will consider to get an input filter for .pages as well. Thank you.
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Hagar Delest
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Re: [Solved] Apple Pages to OpenOffice procedure

Post by Hagar Delest »

ingosp wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:13 pm Id'd like to suggest that in the future openoffice will consider to get an input filter for .pages as well.
There are no developers in this forum. You should ask for it, see: [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions.
But don't hold your breath for AOO new features. LibreOffice has taken over.
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MrProgrammer
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Re: [Solved] Apple Pages to OpenOffice procedure

Post by MrProgrammer »

Dudley Henriques wrote: Tue Nov 19, 2013 4:38 pm Is there any way at all that I can solve this using Apple's software and Open Office?????
Q59: Can I exchange documents between OpenOffice and iWork, Apple's office suite?
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Hagar Delest
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Re: [Solved] Apple Pages to OpenOffice procedure

Post by Hagar Delest »

As a reminder, this topic is 10 years old.
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