Is there a way to quickly change text in Adobe® PageMaker®?

[< back]

View As PDF

Use the Change... feature in the Story Editor to search and replace specific text with new text. Character and paragraph attributes, such as typeface, size, style etc. can also be replaced.

Open Story Editor

  • Triple click on the story (copy block) with the pointer tool;
  • Select the story (copy block) with the pointer tool or have the text cursor within the story, then select Edit Story from the Edit menu;
  • Use the keyboard shortcut: Command+E on the Macintosh, or Ctrl+E in Windows.

Replacing text
For example, replace all occurrences of JV with Junior Varsity.

  • Select Change... (Command+H on the Mac, Ctrl+H in Windows) from the Utilities menu.
  • In the Change dialog box, enter the text JV in the Find what: field, and Junior Varsity in the Change to: field.
  • Under Search story:, select All Stories and the change will take place throughout the file.
  • Click Find to find the first instance, then click on Change and to change it and then display the next instance.
  • Click on Change All to have all instances changed but not shown on the screen.

Change text

Changing text attributes
Text with certain attributes can also be found and text attributes can be changed in the Change dialog box. This allows changing all instances of one typeface to another, but not changing the text itself.

  • In the Change dialog box, click on the Char attributes... button.
  • In the Change Character Attributes dialog box, a font style, size and type style (bold, italic, etc.) can be specified in the Find what: and Change to: sections.
    • In the Find what: section, choose the options for the text you want changed or you want to search for.
    • In the Change to: section, choose the new options you want for the text.
    • If the Change to: settings are left on Any, PageMaker will find text with those settings, but will not change the appearance of the text. Specifying in the Change to: section will cause PageMaker to make those changes.
  • Tabs, paragraph endings, em dashes, etc. can also be searched for. To do so, enter certain codes. Enter the caret symbol (^) and the code in the Find What: field. Below is a partial listing.
    • em dash............ ^_ 
    • em space......... ^m
    • en dash............. ^= 
    • en space........... ^>
    • paragraph end.... ^p 
    • tab.................... ^t
  • After the text has been found or has been changed, press Command+E on the Macintosh, or Ctrl+E in Windows to close the Story Editor and get back to the PageMaker page or choose Edit Layout from the Edit menu.

Change character