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malcolm · May 29, 2005, 02:24 AM

Hi there,
I just installed Pages... only to find that all the templates are in, of all languages, Latin! I did study Latin for a year in high school, but I don't remember enough to get by... so I checked Pages Help, which advised me to check my International Pref pane. I did, and it specifies one language - English.
So why are all these templates coming up in Latin, and how can I change them to English?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Malcolm

malcolm · May 29, 2005, 02:39 AM

searched the Pages FAQ (which I should have done in the first place, I admit), and found a simple, satisfying answer:

"The text that you see is gibberish Latin. Those of you who have advertising or design backgrounds will immediately recognize Lorem Ipsum as placeholder text, to be replaced by the real text later on. When you use placeholder text, it's known as "greeking" in text. The purpose of greeked text is to present layouts or templates without the viewer being distracted by the content or the quality of the text. It just demonstrates how text will be layed out once the real text is inserted. So go ahead ... click in a text area and you'll see an entire text block highlighted, ready for you to replace it with your own text"

Thank you Dennis G., I think it was.
Malcolm

Sharky K. · May 29, 2005, 03:14 AM

more information: http://www.lipsum.com/

TETENAL · May 29, 2005, 04:47 AM

Originally Posted by malcolm

how can I change them to English?

You click them and type your own text.

The Pages templates give you a template for the layout of the page not for text content.

Diggory Laycock · May 29, 2005, 06:59 AM

Originally Posted by malcolm

... so I checked Pages Help, which advised me to check my International Pref pane. I did, and it specifies one language - English....

A Latin localisation - yeah.. the buisiness case for that is very stong

Apparently Mac OS X is the OS of choice for Consuls and Senators.

Anyway - Lispum is in Latin - to make you concentrate on the layout rather than content of the text. If it were English, you might read it - or mistake it for real useful data.

Cadaver · May 29, 2005, 08:16 AM

Simon X · 08:58 AM

---

hyperb0le · May 29, 2005, 04:57 PM

This thread made me lawl

Chuckit · May 29, 2005, 05:32 PM

Yet another sign that the Illuminati really do control it all.

- - e r i k - - · May 30, 2005, 03:43 AM

This thread calls for a

Cadaver · May 30, 2005, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by Simon X

iSpartacus

Randman · May 30, 2005, 05:18 PM

Vivamus lacus wisi, tincidunt quis, vulputate sit amet, placerat vitae, massa. Etiam quam tellus, pharetra at, tincidunt id, commodo quis, ipsum. Maecenas pretium quam aliquet turpis. Ut pharetra venenatis pede. Vestibulum.

Goldfinger · May 31, 2005, 04:16 AM

Aaahh the stupidity of some people !

Millennium · May 31, 2005, 06:39 AM

Originally Posted by Simon X

iSpartacus

No, iSpartacus!

Millennium · May 31, 2005, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Diggory Laycock

Anyway - Lispum is in Latin - to make you concentrate on the layout rather than content of the text. If it were English, you might read it - or mistake it for real useful data.

It's not actually Latin, though it's based on real Latin. It's a very old tradition among English-language publishers to use this text when you have to fill in boxes with "junk", for example when previewing a layout. The reason is that although it doesn't mean anything in English, it looks like an average block of English text in terms of the general shape and flow of the letters and spaces. Because it doesn't mean anything, your eyes are drawn to this overall shape and flow rather than the text itself, which gives you a good idea of what someone who just gives the page a quick glance without reading anything will see. You also don't have to worry about it ever being an inappropriate example for any given audience.

Cadaver · Jun 1, 2005, 08:19 PM

Sustrud nonum tio, aliscin dio sequat rud quatie pulvinar, tincidunt exerat ac.

There's a MacOS X application/service called LipServiceX that will auto-generate a Lipsum sentence or paragraph for you in any app (any app that supports services, that is).

CaptainHaddock · Jun 1, 2005, 10:03 PM

I believe the common "Lorem ipsum" text is actually based on some speeches by Cicero, the great Roman senator and philosopher. The text has been used by printers for centuries.

The only downside to using it as placeholder text in serious design is that Latin and English don't look that much alike. English uses more ascenders and descenders, more capitals, and a few letters that Latin doesn't. As a result, it typically needs a bit more spacing than Latin (though not as much as some languages).