Need to compare two versions of a Pages document? We previously provided a solution based on Shortcuts, but recent updates to Pages (version 14.4 at the time of writing) have rendered that workflow unusable. Specifically, the AppleScript command Pages offers to export unformatted text—an essential part of our shortcut—no longer produces any text output. As a result, we’ve developed a new, simple workflow, which we’ll guide you through in this article.
If you’re using an older version of Pages, the original solution may still work. If your Pages app is up to date, please continue reading.
Recap: The Underlying Problem
Pages uses a proprietary file format. While Kaleidoscope can extract text from Word files, there is no documented method to open or read Pages files directly—only Apple’s software can do that. Nonetheless, many Kaleidoscope users want to track changes between versions of a Pages document or compare text within different Pages files.
Although the previous method no longer works, you can still compare Pages documents using functionality already included in Kaleidoscope: the Kaleidoscope Sharing Extension. However, you must enable this extension manually before you can use it.
Prerequisite: Enable the Kaleidoscope Sharing Extension
A Sharing Extension is functionality that apps can provide to macOS, enabling content to be shared with services and apps. Kaleidoscope includes a Sharing Extension that lets you send supported content directly to Kaleidoscope for comparison. However, you must enable this extension manually in System Settings, in a somewhat hidden place. Follow these steps to enable the Kaleidoscope Sharing Extension:
- Open System Settings. (for example, via the menu > System Settings…)
- Select General in the Sidebar.
- Scroll down and click Login Items & Extensions.
- Scroll down to the Extensions section and find Sharing.
- Click the ⓘ button on the right side of Sharing.
- In the sheet that appears, find the entry for Kaleidoscope.
- Turn on the toggle switch on the right side of Kaleidoscope.
- Click Done.
- Quit System Settings.
Sharing from Pages to Kaleidoscope
With the Kaleidoscope Sharing Extension enabled, sharing your document to Kaleidoscope is straightforward. The extension lets you send a copy of your document directly to Kaleidoscope without managing extra files.
Also part of that sharing is a conversion to a format that Kaleidoscope can understand. Ideally, we want to compare Plain Text, as that’s what Kaleidoscope uses for text comparisons.
Word Processing vs. Page Layout
Pages distinguishes two kinds of documents: Word Processing and Page Layout.
To check which type you have, open the File menu in Pages. If you see an option Convert to Word Processing in the lower third of the menu, your document is currently a Page Layout document. If it says Convert to Page Layout, you have a Word Processing document.
The distinction matters because Page Layout documents cannot be exported to Plain Text, our preferred format. This is likely because their content doesn’t flow linearly and may include text inside graphical elements.
However, the simple workaround for Page Layout documents is to use PDF as intermediary format. While this may butcher some text or get the order of elements wrong, it typically works perfectly fine when you’re trying to find differences between two versions of a document.
Steps
For each document or version of a document that you want to compare, follow these simple steps:
- Have the document open.
- Select the appropriate export option from the menu:
- File > Export To > Plain Text… for Word Processing documents.
- File > Export To > PDF… for Page Layout documents.
- The Export Your Document sheet appears, with three buttons at the bottom.
- Click Send a Copy…
- Select Kaleidoscope from the menu. If Kaleidoscope does not appear, ensure the Sharing Extension is enabled (see above).
- The exported text or PDF content will open in Kaleidoscope for comparison.
- Now repeat for the next document/version.
Caveats
- Kaleidoscope compares Plain Text, so formatting differences in Pages documents will not be visible.
- For Page Layout documents, the PDF intermediary format can potentially cause some issues in your Kaleidoscope comparison, like text being lost, text using hard line breaks, or even the order being wrong. But still, for most cases where you care about text differences between two documents, this solution should work just fine.
- If there is a lot of time between two uses of the Kaleidoscope Sharing Extension, content shared to it may appear in a new Kaleidoscope document, instead of the one already open. In that case, use the File Shelf to drag content to the target document.
In Summary
Although Pages uses a proprietary format that Kaleidoscope cannot open directly, you can effectively compare Pages documents by sharing exported copies from within Pages. Use Plain Text exports for Word Processing documents and PDFs for Page Layout documents. Remember to enable the Kaleidoscope Sharing Extension in System Settings before starting.
If you find a better method or want Kaleidoscope to support other document types, please let us know.
