Question

Apple Pages: Create a table of contents

Answer 1

Create a table of contents in Apple Pages: Here's how
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Set the Pages table of contents without a page number
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Apple's Word processor Pages has grown into an effective alternative to Word over the years. Tables of contents are not a problem either..

When the author of this article wrote his thesis on the Mac over 12 years ago, Apple Pages already existed in the form of the iWork suite. However, word processing could do little to nothing: tables of contents and footnotes were very difficult to implement, if at all. And with the 150-page document, Microsoft Word did what Word always does: destroy the layout. Much has gotten better today: Pages has matured over the years and is definitely an alternative for professional work. Tables of contents are essential for this.

• Create a table of contents in Apple Pages: Here's how
• Set the Pages table of contents without a page number

Create a table of contents in Apple Pages: Here's how

To create a table of contents in Apple Pages, you must first format your document. The paragraph styles that are displayed on the right in every document are suitable for this purpose:

1st step:

Write a text with several chapters that you would like to provide with a table of contents. You can also just use dummy text to practice with a test document. You can find a dummy text generator at http://www.loremipsum.de, for example .

2nd step:

Next, show the page numbers . This is not absolutely necessary, but of course makes sense for a longer document with a table of contents. To do this, move the mouse down to the footer of the document: Three fields are displayed there. Here you can click on " Insert page number " to select the type of display, for example "X of Y". You can format this page number using the Pages formatting tools. Pages sets the page numbers automatically.

3rd step:

Now insert a page break at the very beginning of the document to create a blank page in front of the actual document. To do this, click in front of the very first letter of the document and select " Insert "> " Page break " from the menu .

4th step:

Now format all headings with a paragraph style. This is necessary so that Pages treats all headings equally and automatically recognizes them. To do this, select the heading and set the style, for example, " Heading ". Repeat this for all other headings in the document. You can also define “ sub-headings ” or something similar.

5th step:

Now click on the new blank page at the beginning and choose " Insert "> " Table of Contents "> " Document " from the Pages menu . A table of contents is then created at the beginning of the document. Depending on the speed of the computer and the size of the document, this can take a few seconds. The table of contents automatically maintains all headings formatted using the paragraph style. If you add something to your document so that the page breaks, it will update itself automatically.

6th step:

The table of contents has now been created. If you click on it, you will get an overview of the paragraph styles it contains. In this way, you can specifically include or exclude elements in your table of contents: Simply check the style field on the right. At the same time, you can drag certain paragraph styles into the table of contents. To add headings, you just have to format them in one of the ticked styles.

7th step:

You can now embellish the table of contents. To indent sub-headings , for example , you must first display the "ruler" in the document: To do this, click on " View "> " Show ruler" in the menu bar .

8th step:

Now select one of the entries with the desired paragraph style, for example, for sub-items such as “3a”, “Heading 2”. All elements with that paragraph style are highlighted. Now just slide the blue arrow in the ruler a little to the right.

9th step:

To format the text, select the " Text " tab at the top right of the window and set the formatting you want. Then click on a different paragraph style and repeat steps 8 and 9 to format the directory nicely.

10th step:

Of course, you can also change the paragraph styles in the text yourself . To do this, highlight a heading with a paragraph style and change the font style as you like.

11th step:

Pages then shows the paragraph style in the upper right with an asterisk (*), which means that the style has been changed. Now click on “ Update ” to automatically adapt all headings of the paragraph style to the new setting. You can repeat this step with any paragraph style. For example, if you format a piece of body text using the Text paragraph style and then click Update, all of the body text in the document will be reformatted.

Set the Pages table of contents without a page number

Tables of contents usually do not have their own page numbers or have their own numbering. If the directory is prepended, you still have to make sure that the document is divided into two sections: table of contents pages and "regular" pages. This is done with just a few clicks:

1st step:

First remove the page numbers by clicking on one and then delete it . Then select “ Document ” on the right and then the “ Section ” tab . If you do not need this function, remove the check mark next to " Header & Footer ".

2nd step:

Now place the cursor on the first letter of your text. Then select " Create new section "> " From this page " in the bar on the right .

3rd step:

At first nothing happens, you will only see the result when you set the page number at the bottom of the first page of text : The numbering starts from the page on which you have marked the section. You can now give the table of contents your own page numbering if necessary.

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