The Format text action in the Apple Keynote package enables you to modify the appearance and style of text elements on a Keynote slide. This action allows you to change font type, size, color, alignment, and other text properties to customize how your text looks in the presentation.

Settings

  • Use the Session name field to select one of the following options:
    • Session name: Enter the name of the session used to open the presentation with the Open action.

      (Optional) Click the Insert a value icon to select an existing variable that you have used to store the default session name.

    • Variable: Enter the name of the variable that you have used to store the session name.
  • In the X coordinate and Y coordinate fields, specify the coordinates. Specify the X and Y coordinates to locate the text to be modified. X (from left) sets the horizontal position; Y (from top) sets the vertical position.
  • In the Format options, select one of the following settings to format your media.
    • Basic: Enable the Text formatting option to change any of the following styling options:
      • Font name: Specify the font name, for example, Helvetica Neue UltraLight, where Ultralight is the font's width.
        Note: Use the Font Book application to get the information about a typeface.
      • Font size: Specify the font size, for example, 16.
        Note: Changing the font size will also adjust the position of the text.
      • Text color: Specify the text color, for example, #FF5733
      • Text width: Specify the width of the text, for example, 440 to control wrapping width.
    • Script: Specify instructions for formatting a media object in Keynote.

Example script syntax and structure

You can use the Script option to write structured formatting commands using AppleScript directly, rather than filling form fields. This enables you to:
  • Combine multiple formatting parameters in one command.
  • Apply conditional formatting.
  • Reference variables for font, color, or position.
  • Reuse logic across multiple slides.
Note: When specifying a script, the properties within quotation marks currently cannot be set. For example, 
set its font to "Futura-CondensedMedium"
To set such properties, for example, the font name, use the Basic option.
A general structure of a Format text script looks like this:
tell the object text
   set its color to {6930, 44461, 63799}
   set its size to 46
end tell
set position to {100, 100}
set width to 400
set opacity to 70
set reflection showing to true
set reflection value to 100
set rotation to 10
set locked to true