Dropbox with Pages & Keynote

Why do I need this?

If you use Dropbox as a way to share your files between PC/MAC and iPad, you know that there is no simple way to open and save documents to Dropbox from apps like Pages. Pages does though have a facility to open from or save to what’s called ‘Webdav’. Just think of WebDAV as a bridge from Pages to your Dropbox account.

Set up is simple, and just requires a few steps, assuming you already have your Dropbox account. If you don’t , grab one at www.dropbox.com

Note: iOS6 users have a simpler ability to save documents to dropbox by using Share and Print > Open in another App > Dropbox. But – there is no way to open files directly other in Pages , so its best to follow the instructions below for a full workflow.

Step 1 – register for Otixo

Otixo is a free service that acts as the ‘WebDAV’ bridge we talked about. Just head over to www.otixo.com and tap Register.

Fill in the form and choose a username and password.

Once you tap create account, you will receive an email, open that and click to confirm your account.

Step 2 – Link up with Dropbox

Tap the Dropbox icon in the right hand window, then just type ‘Dropbox’ into the display name text box. Now tap ‘Authorize with Dropbox’. You may be asked for your Dropbox login – key it if required and then tap ‘allow’

That’s it! The set up is complete, and you can now use Dropbox to open files from and save files to.

Note : the very first time you want to use this within Pages etc, the app will ask you for your Otixo password and address – the address is: https://dav.otixo.com . You only ever have to key this once per app.

Using it

For Pages, Keynote and Numbers, here’s how:

To open a file from Dropbox:

  • Tap the ‘+’ icon
  • Now tap ‘Copy from WebDav’
  • Browse to your file
  • Done!

To save a file to Dropbox:

  • Tap the spanner icon
  • Tap Share and print
  • Tap Copy to WebDav
  • Select your format
  • Browse to the folder you require.
  • Tap Copy
  • Done!

Comments are closed.