How to make a pages document a pdf

Ryan Ariano

Ryan Ariano grew up in Baltimore when the Macintosh was cutting edge, lived in Los Angeles as Blackberries gave way to iPhones, and now lives in Jackson Hole where his life is held together by Bluetooth. He writes on a wide range of topics but especially loves nerding out across the tech spectrum.

.pages files are documents, created with Apple's word processor Pages, which is part of the iWork package. Pages is available for Mac OS X and iOS and is a competitor to Microsoft Word. .pages files can contain complex documents with tables, charts and pictures.

To open Pages documents in other apps, you may need to convert them to a PDF first. This article explains how, step by step.

If you use a Mac to create documents in the Pages app, you can convert them to PDFs, making them easier to share with others. You don’t need to use a different software program to make the conversion. It's as easy as exporting the document in PDF format right from Pages.

How to convert Pages to PDF files.

If you want to open a Pages document in another app or share it with someone else, you can use Pages to convert the document to a PDF. PDF documents are easy to share and manage using any word processing software or application. You can use them on a computer or a mobile device.

Use these steps to convert a Pages document to a PDF in Pages:

1. Open the Pages document you want to convert to a PDF.
2. Choose File, then Export To.
3. Select PDF as the format.
4. Click Next.
5. Choose a location to save your file to and enter a name.
6. Click Export.

A PDF can be opened on any device with any operating system without converting to a new format. You can view PDF documents using your word processor or on the web. This format uses very little space on your hard drive and can help you go paperless. You can convert many types of documents to PDFs quickly and easily with Adobe Acrobat online tools.

As a writer, I often get files emailed to me in the format of PDF. At first, I used to copy all the text from the PDF file and copy it to Pages, and do all the reformatting, but this is very time-consuming.  Especially when converting some scanned PDF files, you won't be allowed to copy and paste. 

However, I do find some ways and apps that convert PDF to Pages file with intactness and good formatting. Here are 5 solutions on how to convert PDF to Pages on macOS, no matter you want to convert PDFs on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or iMac. Also, we share extra method to convert PDF to Pages on iOS device, like iPad or iPhone if you need to.

 Cisdem PDF Converter OCR for Mac

Convert PDF to Pages with Formatting Retained

• Convert native and protected PDF to Word, Pages, Keynote, total 16 formats
• OCR scanned PDF to editable Pages, Keynote, PDF, Word, etc.
• OCR images to editable Pages, Keynote, PDF, MS Office, etc.
• Highly preserve original file quality
• Batch convert/OCR
• Save Word, PowerPoint, ePub, CHM and others to PDF
• Support new MacBook Air, Pro

Best PDF to Pages Converter for Mac 2022

You may have noticed there are quite a few solutions to convert a PDF to Pages directly. When you Google search, you are guided to convert PDF to Word, then Save Word as Pages, which takes time and scarifies quality.

After slogging through dozens of solutions to convert PDF to Pages, we finally pick the best one for you---PDF OCR Converter for Mac. It helps to perform the PDF-to-Pages conversion directly with least time and efforts, while with high quality retained. It works on MacBook Air, Pro or different iMac versions.

Main Featuers of Cisdem PDF Converter OCR

• Convert native PDF to Word, PowerPoint, Text, Pages, Keynote, image, more than 10 formats
• Convert scannd PDF to searchable PDF,  editable Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, Keynote, Text and so on
• Create PDF from 20 formats: image, Word, ePub, HTML, Text, CHM...
• Protect, compress PDF when saving documents as PDF
• Highly preserve original file formatting
• Support partial conversion on specified page range
• Batch convert PDFs to save time
• Merge all documents into one PDF
• Support 200+ file language when enabling OCR

Tutorial #1 How to Convert Native PDF to Pages on MacBook Air, Pro or iMac

1. Download and install Cisdem PDF Converter OCR to your MacBook Pro, Air or iMac.
   
   
   Free Download
2. Import PDF Files for PDF to Pages Conversion.
   Once you have installed and launched this PDF program on your Mac, go to "Converter", import PDFs into the program by drag&drop, you can import up to 200 files for one time.
   
3. Adjust the PDF to Pages Setting(Page Range, Output Format).
   Click on the blank area of any imported PDF to select it, or hold “Shift” while selecting to choose multiple files for conversion. Also,before converting the PDF to Pages on mac, fill the page range and set output format as Pages.
   If you need to preview the file to fill page range, please click on the PDF icon, the file will be opened with Preview.
   
   
4. Convert Native PDF to Pages on Mac Instantly.
   Once all the files are selected, click “Convert” to start PDF to Pages conversion.  Choose your output folder and check the Pages files once the status bar indicates the conversion finishes.

Tutorial #2 How to Convert Scanned PDF to Pages on MacBook Air, Pro or iMac

1. Download and install Cisdem PDF Converter OCR to your MacBook Pro, Air or iMac.
   
   
   Free Download
2. Drag and drop scanned PDF files to the program.
3. Turn OCR button ON, choose file language and select output as Pages.
   
4. (Optional) Use Advanced OCR.
   For advanced and more accurate OCR result, you can click the Settings icon, manually adjust the OCR applied zone as needed. For illustration, if you want to output a part of the file as Table, click on the “Mark Tables” icon from the OCR Applied Zone toolbar, drag and add a box to contain that part, then this marked part will be output as Table, instead of text or image.
   
5. Click Convert to turn scanned PDF to Pages on Mac.

Also, you can watch the video tutorial on how to convert PDF to Pages 

No worry on conversion quality, this PDF OCR converter steals nothing from your file, all the information, layout, images, tables, formatting will be kept as your original file. That's it, several clicks and wait for several seconds, you will get your PDF in Pages format, and you will be able to edit the Pages file on your iPad or Mac anytime, anywhere. 

Convert PDF to Pages on Mac Using Preview

Since Preview is the macOS utility tool to view, edit and manage PDF files, can users convert PDF to Pages on Mac for free using Preview?

The answer is, but only by copying and pasting, and this may lead to format loss. 

How to Convert PDF to Pages on Mac Using Preview?

1. Open PDF with macOS Preview.
2. Select and copy the PDF file.
3. Create a new Pages document, click Paste to save a PDF file in the Pages file.
4. Go to File>Save, your PDF file will be saved as Pages format.
   

How to Convert PDF to Pages on Mac Free?

You can also make full use of online free tools to convert PDF to Pages. Here we recommend to use CleverPDF or hipdf, also, these 2 online free PDF to Pages converters are the only 2 online free tools to save a PDF as Pages format directly, without doing 2 conversions (PDF to Word, Word to Pages).

#1 CleverPDF

It offers online free services to create, convert, protect, unlock, compress and organize PDF files. Its PDF Converter helps to convert native PDFs to Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and image formats. It supports batch convert PDF to Pages format.

Limitations of CleverPDF PDF to Pages Converter

• Convert native PDF only, not working on scanned PDF
• Don’t support batch OCR
• Require manually revise conversion errors
• Potential risk of information leakage

How to Convert PDF to Pages Online Free with CleverPDF?

1. Go to CleverPDF PDF to Pages.
2. Drag and drop PDF file to CleverPDF.
3. Then click Start conversion.
   
4. Then download the Pages document to your mac.

#2 HiPDF

An online free PDF to Pages converter to batch export PDFs as Pages format, it works on native PDFs only too.

Limitations of HiPDF PDF to Pages Converter

• Convert native PDF only, not working on scanned PDF
• Don’t support batch OCR
• 2 free conversions per day
• Too many ads on the webpage
• Require manually revise conversion errors
• Potential risk of information leakage

How to Convert PDF to Pages Online Free with HiPDF?

1. Go to HiPDF PDF to Pages.
2. Drag and drop PDF file to the program.
   
3. Click Convert to start the conversion.
4. Download the Pages document to mac.

Can I Open PDF in Pages?

You may wonder if we can convert PDF to Pages by opening PDF in Pages since it is the application comes free with macOS bundle. 

The answer is YES, and in fact, opening PDF in Pages is a smart trick to do the PDF to Pages conversion without a converter. But, with this method, the PDF imported to Pages can be only saved in image format. In other words, Mac Pages allows users to open and insert PDF to Pages, but the imported PDF files are not editable in Pages. If you feel all right, continue to get this trick.

Since iWork Pages cannot open PDF directly, you will need to open an existing Pages file, then insert the PDF file to Pages.

Steps to Open PDF in Pages on Mac

1. Open an existing Pages file with iWork Pages.         
2. Insert PDF to Pages on Mac.
   Once you have run iWork Pages, go to a new blank page and drag&drop the PDF file into the blank page. Only one page of PDF file can be imported at one time.
   Don’t drag and drop PDF files to pages that filled with contents,.Otherwise, these pages will be overlapped by inserted PDF.
   Also, you can double click on the PDF page or go to the right panel to adjust the settings.
   
3. Save PDF as Pages on mac.
   Once all are done, go to File>Save. Your PDF will be converted to Pages, though the imported PDF cannot be edited. 
   

Notes: If you want to edit PDF in Pages, you will need a professional PDF to Pages converter, or have a try on above-mentioned solutions.

Extended: Convert PDF to Pages on iPhone or iPad

You may use Pages on iPhone or iPad more frequently, since iOS devices are more portable. Then how to convert PDF to Pages on iOS devices? You will need a PDF to Pages application for iOS. Let’s say Lighten PDF to Pages for iOS.

Lighten PDF to Pages for iOS is a lightweight app to turn native PDFs into iWork Pages on iPhone and iPad, it is priced at $1.99. Users are allowed to upload PDF from iCloud, Dropbox, Email or other places for Pages conversion, then share the Pages to iCloud, Dropbox or just keep it in the app. 

Steps to Convert PDF to Pages on iPhone or iPad

1. Download and install Lighten PDF to Pages for iOS.
2. Add PDF to the application for conversion.
   
3. Tap on Convert button to start PDF to Pages conversion.
   
4. Once ready, share the Pages document to iCloud or other places as needed.
   

Conclusion

To convert PDF to Pages on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or iMac, you can choose free or paid tools. But a professional PDF converter app is always highly recommended when you need high quality conversion and want to convert scanned PDF to Pages document. 

How do I convert a Macbook document to PDF?

How do I convert a document to PDF on my iPhone?