Apple Works basics

Question

I'm just moving from Microsoft to Mac and have only been using it for about one month. I'm very "computer-challenged" to begin with. So, you'll probably be hearing from me. Either I have no idea how to use Help, or it's of no use.
For starters: In MS-Word, when I click on Print, I can specify the quantity of copies, specify the pages to print, etc. How do I do this in AW? How do I get to see a 'palette' of characters when I choose Symbol or Wingding as the font? How can I get my most-used fonts to appear at the top of the font choices? When I click on AW on the dock it tells me AW has quit unexpectedly and asks if I want to relaunch, report it, or ignore. If I go to Apple, Recent items and choose a file it opens fine, but gives me this message when I close the file.

Answer 1

HI CC,
Welcome to Apple Discussions and the AppleWorks forum.
"For starters: In MS-Word, when I click on Print, I can specify the quantity of copies, specify the pages to print, etc. How do I do this in AW?"
When you press command-P (or go File > Print) the Print dialogue will open and allow you to specify the number of copies and choose to print All (pages) or specify a range of pages. The Copies and Pages popup has other options as well, including one that is specific to the software you are using. In AppleWorks, this menu (called AppleWorks) lets you choose to print only the left (even) or right (odd) pages.
The Print dialogue is part of the system's toolbox, and works the same way with all software that uses it.
"How do I get to see a 'palette' of characters when I choose Symbol or Wingding as the font? How can I get my most-used fonts to appear at the top of the font choices?"
You can get the full palette of characters in any font using the Character Palette. Go Apple menu > System Preferences > International > Input menu. Check the Character Palette (and Keyboard Viewer if you'll be using AppleWorks*) You can also check any number of keyboard layouts which you can then change 'on the fly' using the Input Menu which will appear toward the right end of the menu bar as a small flag corresponding to your currently selected keyboard layout.
BUT AppleWorks is legacy software, and cannot use the full Unicode character set or any of the Unicode encoded keyboard layouts. For AppleWorks you are restricted to Roman encoded KB layouts and the Mac Roman character set. Anything available from the keyboard in any font can be seen using Keyboard Viewer. Extra characters are available using the modifier keys (mostly option and shift-option, but try other combinations as well).
Characters useable by AppleWorks can be dragged from the Character Palette into an Apple
works document. Characters outside the range useable by AppleWorks will show in the Character Palette, but cannot be dragged into an AppleWorks document.
"When I click on AW on the dock it tells me AW has quit unexpectedly and asks if I want to relaunch, report it, or ignore. If I go to Apple, Recent items and choose a file it opens fine, but gives me this message when I close the file."
This is probably a corrupted preferences issue. See Peggy's User Tips Library post AppleWorks has stopped working correctly for details and the cure.
Regards,
Barry
PS: Although AppleWorks is a terrific piece of software, it has not been updated since 2004, and has been declared EOL by Apple (ie. Apple no longer sells or supports it). If you are just starting to use it, and particularly if you are using only the word processor module, I would recommend that you look for an alternate application.
B