Change the background of your Pages, Numbers, or Keynote document

You can add a color, a color gradient, or an image as the background for your document, spreadsheet, or presentation.

  • iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

  • Mac

Change the background of your Pages, Numbers, or Keynote document on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

You can change the background of your documents in Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Pages

In a word-processing document, changing a page background also changes the background for all of the pages in the same section. In a page layout document, you can change the background of any single page.

  1. With a document open to the section or page you want to change, tap an empty space on the page so nothing is selected.
  2. Do one of the following:
  3. Tap Background, then tap a background option.

To change the background of just one page, make that page its own section and then change its background:

  • Add a section in Pages on iPhone
  • Add a section in Pages on iPad

Numbers

You can add a color to the background of individual sheets in a spreadsheet.

  1. With a spreadsheet open, select the tab for the sheet that you want to add a background to.
  2. Tap an empty space on the sheet so nothing is selected.
  3. Tap the Format button , tap Background, then choose a color.

Keynote

You can change the background color or image of individual slides in a presentation.

  1. With a presentation open, select the slide you want to add a background to.
  2. Tap an empty space on the slide so nothing is selected.
  3. Tap the Format button , tap Background, then tap a background option.

Background options for Pages and Keynote on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

  • To quickly choose a preset background, tap the color well next to Background, then choose a preset color, gradient, or image.
  • To choose a more specific color, tap Color, then choose a color from the swatch picker.
  • To create a two-color gradient background, tap Gradient, then use the color pickers to choose swatches. Tap Flip Color to change the direction of the gradient.
  • To add an image as the background, tap Image, then tap Change Image, then navigate to the image you want. You can scale, stretch, tile the image, and more.

View backgrounds in Screen View on iPhone

When Screen View is turned on for Pages on iPhone, some types of backgrounds behave differently in documents with multiple sections. If each section of your document has a different image or gradient background, the document's contents move when you scroll, but the background itself doesn't change or move. When you scroll from one section to another, the background switches at the section break.

Change the background of your Pages, Numbers, or Keynote document on Mac

You can add a color, a color gradient, or an image as a background in Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on Mac.

Pages

In a word-processing document, changing a page background also changes the background for all of the pages in the same section. To change just one page, make that page its own section and then change its background. In a page layout document, you can change the background of any single page.

  1. With the document open, click the View button in the toolbar, then choose Page Thumbnails.
  2. Select a thumbnail of a page you want to change. In a word-processing document, the other pages in the section are bordered in blue in the sidebar.
  3. Select Document in the toolbar. If necessary, click the Section button.
  4. To quickly add a background, click the box next to Background, then choose a preset color, gradient, or image.
  5. To customize a background, click the disclosure triangle next to Background, then choose an option from the pop-up menu.

Numbers

You can add a color to the background of each sheet of a spreadsheet.

  1. With the spreadsheet open, select the tab for the sheet that you want to add a background to.
  2. Click an empty space on the sheet so nothing is selected.
  3. Click the Format button, click the box next to Background, then choose a color. Or click the color wheel and choose a color.

Keynote

You can change the background color or image of each slide in a presentation.

  1. With the presentation open, click the View button in the toolbar, then choose Navigator.
  2. In the slide navigator, click to select a slide or select multiple slides.
  3. Click the Format button.
  4. To quickly add a background, click the color well next to Background, then choose a preset color, gradient, or image.
  5. To customize a background, click the disclosure triangle next to Background, then choose an option from the pop-up menu.

Custom background options for Pages and Keynote on Mac

  • To choose a more specific color, choose Color Fill, then choose a color from the swatch picker or the color wheel.
  • To create a two-color gradient background, choose Gradient Fill, then use the color pickers or the color wheels to choose the two colors in the gradient colors. For example, choose purple to start the gradient, and blue to end the gradient. Use the other controls to change the angle and direction of the gradient.
  • To add more than two colors to a gradient fill, choose Advanced Gradient Fill. Use the slider to add color stops to add more colors to the gradient. Click a color stop to change the color of that stop. Drag the color stops and use the other controls to change the blend, angle, and direction of the gradient.
  • To add an image as the background, choose Image Fill, click Choose, then navigate to the image you want. You can scale, stretch, tile the image, and more.
  • To add a color overlay to an image, choose Advanced Image Fill, then click the color picker or the color wheel and make your adjustments.

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