iWork '09: The Missing Manual

Creating Templates from Scratch

If you’re a real do-it-yourselfer, you can create templates from scratch, by starting with the Blank template and building up a sample document exactly the way you want it. Even though you’re starting with the Blank template, it still contains a complete set of standard settings for all the document elements listed on Template-Building Basics. You can accept these factory settings or change some or all of them for your custom template.

Start by opening a new document, using a blank template from either the Word Processing or Page Layout category in the Template Chooser, depending on the type of file you’re building. This empty canvas will become the model document that you build to create a template. Choose File → Save right off the bat to save the file as a regular Pages document (don’t choose Save as Template just yet), and give it a title. If you’re making a template for Up & Away’s new series of secret fortress catalogs, for example, you might call it, “Fortress catalog model.” Then, as you work on it, periodically press ⌘-S to save your work. You’ll save it as a template file only after you’re done creating the model document.

Begin by choosing File → Page Setup and selecting the paper size and orientation. Then start defining all the styles and standard settings for the document’s various elements: text styles, text box styles, shape styles, connection lines, table styles, chart styles, image styles, and movie styles.

Defining Text Styles

Choose ...