Invisible text in Pages/iWork '08 on Mountain Lion

[Highlander-]

I installed iWork '08 with Pages, Numbers and Keynote on my newest Mac running Mountain Lion. I entered my serial number and the installation completed.

My problem is none of the applications are working properly: they all load and open but once opened they do not allow any noticeable input...

In Pages it appears like the text I type is not being inputted in the document at all, but when I highlight the page with the mouse I can see the text revealed. So the text is all white, or rather, invisible. I did not change the text colour or anything - it is set at default black. This problem happens both when creating a new document and also when opening an old one - all the text is invisible/hidden unless highlighted with the mouse. And when I try to change the highlighted text from black to red it still stays white/invisible.

It all worked fine before upgrading from Lion to Mountain Lion.

How can I fix this? Anyone else have the same problem?

[Alexey2]

Hey Highlander!

I experienced this problem too. The same scenario: I installed OS X Mountain Lion and then I installed iWork 08 from its installation media.

Eventually App Store app downloaded Pages Update 3.0.3 and Keynote Update 4.0.4 and problems with invisible text in Pages disappeared.

Strangely enough App Store did not give me any Numbers updates, so I went to the download area of the Apple's support site and downloaded and installed Numbers Update 1.0.3 manually. Here it is: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL809. This update fixed the Numbers problems.

So if App Store does not help you to get iWork 08 updates, here they are:
1. Pages 08 3.0.3: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL808.
2. Numbers 08 1.0.3: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL809.
3. Keynote 08 4.0.4: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL807.

[kalsta]

Originally Posted by Alexey2

So if App Store does not help you to get iWork 08 updates, here they are:
1. Pages 08 3.0.3: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL808.
2. Numbers 08 1.0.3: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL809.
3. Keynote 08 4.0.4: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL807.

Thanks so much for that answer… I don't know what happened to the OP, but it helped me! Those updates do indeed fix the crazy reversed colours.

I discovered that you also need to make sure all apps are contained within a folder named "iWork '08". (I had renamed it to just "iWork", and that prevented the updater from finding the apps. All a bit sloppy Apple!

Anyway, thanks again!

[Alexey2]

Originally Posted by kalsta

Thanks so much for that answer… I don't know what happened to the OP, but it helped me! Those updates do indeed fix the crazy reversed colours.

I discovered that you also need to make sure all apps are contained within a folder named "iWork '08". (I had renamed it to just "iWork", and that prevented the updater from finding the apps. All a bit sloppy Apple!

Anyway, thanks again!

I'm glad it helped you!

[The Economist]

Originally Posted by Alexey2

Hey Highlander!

I experienced this problem too. The same scenario: I installed OS X Mountain Lion and then I installed iWork 08 from its installation media.

Eventually App Store app downloaded Pages Update 3.0.3 and Keynote Update 4.0.4 and problems with invisible text in Pages disappeared.

Strangely enough App Store did not give me any Numbers updates, so I went to the download area of the Apple's support site and downloaded and installed Numbers Update 1.0.3 manually. Here it is: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL809. This update fixed the Numbers problems.

So if App Store does not help you to get iWork 08 updates, here they are:
1. Pages 08 3.0.3: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL808.
2. Numbers 08 1.0.3: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL809.
3. Keynote 08 4.0.4: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL807.

Thanks for posting the solution, I had the same problem as the OP.

[Alexey2]

Well, I looked into the problem a little bit more and found some rather interesting stuff.

First off, the Numbers update 1.0.3 was finally added to the Software Update's update list. So Software Update should now show this formerly missing one.

Speaking of update lists...

Mountain Lion on my Mac uses this one: https://swscan.apple.com/content/cat...1.sucatalog.gz.
Seems Leopard uses this one instead: http://swscan.apple.com/content/cata...1.sucatalog.gz.

Strangely enough some updates for iWork'08 and iLife'08 which are listed in Leopard's update list do not appear in Mountain Lion's one. Maybe they'll be added in future as it happened with Numbers update 1.0.3...

This is update list comparison:

                          Leopard   Mountain Lion
iWork '08
    Keynote 4
        Keynote_404       +         +
    Pages 3
        Pages_303         +         +
    Numbers 1
        Numbers_103       +         +

iLife '08
    iPhoto 7
        iPhoto_710        +         +
        iPhoto_714        +         +
        iPhoto_715        +         +
    iMovie 7
        iMovie_710        +         +
        iMovie_714        +         +
    iDVD 7
        iDVD_704          +         +
        iDVD7.1.2Update   +         +
    GarageBand 4
        GarageBand_411    +         - (!)
        GarageBand_412    +         - (!)
    iWeb 2
        iWeb_203          +         - (!)
        iWeb_204          +         - (!)

And here is the list of all iWork'08 and iLife'08 updates which can be found at Apple Support Downloads page:

• Keynote 4: 4.0.2, 4.0.3, 4.0.4.
• Pages 3: 3.0.2, 3.0.3.
• Numbers 1: 1.0.2, 1.0.3.
• iPhoto 7: 7.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4, 7.1.5.
• iMovie 7: 7.1, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.4.
• iDVD 7: 7.0.4, 7.1.1, 7.1.2.
• GarageBand 4: 4.1.1, 4.1.2.
• iWeb 2: 2.0.3, 2.0.4.

[MattMusical]

Hi,

Apologies for resurrecting a dead thread, but I could really use some help.

I'm having the exact same problem as described above. I've downloaded all three updates from the links provided; however, I can't activate them because, when I click on them, my Macbook claims they're from an unidentified developer (despite the fact that I downloaded them from Apple Support!).

I tried moving all three into the iWorks '08 folder, as suggested, but the Software Updater still can't seem to locate them.

Is there anything else I can do to update iWorks? It's really frustrating to have it sat on my computer and not being able to use it!

Thanks in advance!

[JediMeister]

You might be running up against GateKeeper, the security measure in Lion and Mountain Lion. Instead of double-clicking the installer packages, go to the folder where you downloaded the installer packages for each of the iWork applications and right-click and choose open. The OS will still complain about running an installer from an unidentified developer but you can continue with the installation.

I would not recommend disabling GateKeeper entirely by going into the Security preferences pane and allowing applications from any source to run unless you are already very careful about what you download and run on your Mac.