Google Docs Fundamentals

Digital Maestro Magazine
Google Docs
Fundamentals
Paragraphs & Text
We’ll learn how to properly format text and paragraphs
with a word processor.
Insert Images
We’ll learn how to insert images from a variety of sources,
and how to use placeholders for layouts.
Add Tables
Well add a table to our example and learn how
to format the cells and content.
Share & Collaborate
We’ll learn how to share and collaborate with Google Docs.
We’ll also learn about commenting and revisions.
April 15, 2015

Google Docs Fundamentals
Authors Note
In this issue we look at the fundamentals for using Google Docs. Along
the way we’ll explore some of the things that are essential for using any
word processing application. The lessons we learn here can be applied
to any document and should set the standard by which you and students
begin to create documents. These are the skills we all need to be aware
of and use regularly.
The typewriter as a writing instrument has disappeared from the scene
for several years now, but we still cling onto some of those old standards
for creating documents. I’m often surprised to see students using skills
meant for the typewriter. Most students have probably never seen a
typewriter in person or touched one. They probably picked up these
skills from a teacher that learned to type using a typewriter.
Back then many of us were fortunate enough to learn to use the typewriter
and learned skills we used in one way or another over the years.
Our students are not as fortunate. They don’t attend classes for word
processing skills. Sure, many students probably use some software for
keyboarding, but keyboarding is not the same as using a word processor.
When we learned to use the typewriter, we learned the various rules
needed to create a properly formatted document.
In the lessons for this issue we will learn some of the proper formatting
rules for documents when using a word processor. Those rules are similar
to the ones used on a typewriter but with slight changes and variations.
We’ll learn about fonts, spacing after punctuation and formatting of
paragraphs.
As teachers we feel we need to be experts, but that is far from the truth.
Learn along with your students. Put them to work. Act as their guide and
be aware of what can be done with technology.
– Alex Reyes
Designed by Freepik.com
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Google Docs Fundamentals
What is Google Docs?
Google Docs is part of your free gmail account. Google
and Gmail is more than a search engine and email.
Google provides an array of free tools for productivity,
entertainment and learning. Google docs has free apps
that fit neatly into productivity and education. Most of
the tools that are used in business and productivity can
be used in education by students and teachers.
Google Docs is a word processor and part of a collection
of free apps that includes spreadsheets and presentations.
These apps are all cloud services. Cloud services
are applications and storage provided by companies
like Google. This means the applications and storage
are managed by the company and we can use it on any
device that has access to the Internet. This is very true
for Google Docs.
There are many advantages to cloud services like
Google. The major advantage is that Google takes care
of managing the applications. They regularly update
the applications. They also take care of managing your
documents. The documents are stored on their computers
and they take care of securing them so they are not
lost or damaged. Documents in the cloud also provide
several advantages. These include the ability to share
and collaborate.
You might think that needing an active Internet connection
to work on documents might be a major drawback.
Of course it’s not, because Google provides applications
that can be installed onto most mobile devices. Mobile
devices include tablets, smart phones and Chromebooks.
Applications allow you to create and edit documents
if you have an Internet connection or not. When
there isn’t an Internet connection, the applications
saves your document on the device.
This next part is the beauty of services like Google Docs.
Once you are connected to the Internet, the documents
are automatically sent to the cloud. A copy remains on
the device to edit. Changes are regularly synced to your
cloud storage. If you work on the same document with
another device or computer, the changes are automatically
available on all devices connected to your account.
Cloud syncing provides advantages when sharing documents.
We’ll learn more about sharing later. Cloud syncing
also has advantages in collaboration. Collaboration
is one of the important tools I will spend time talking
about later.
Why should we use Google Docs in the classroom?
You should use it for all the reasons I just wrote about.
In addition, you should use it to make your life easier as
a teacher. How can Google Docs make your life easier?
That is what we will explore in this issue. You should
use it because it will engage your students. Students are
engaged by meaningful and purposeful learning. Developing
and creating provide avenues for meaningful
learning. This process engages higher levels of Blooms
and deeper levels of Depth of Knowledge.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Start At The Beginning
The focus here will be on using Google Docs with a
computer and a web browser. You can use any computer
that has access to the Internet. The computer
should have the latest operating system and the most
current browser. On windows computers that would
be Windows 7 or later. On a Mac that should be 10.8,
Mountain Lion or later.
Google Docs works on most browsers like Internet
Explorer, Safari or Firefox. I recommend you download
and install Google Chrome. I will be using Google
Chrome in this lesson. If you can’t install Google
Chrome, that’s fine. Use the browser you prefer.
A New Document
If you don’t have a Google email account, go and create
one for yourself. Sign into your account.
The Google Apps Launcher is a square button made of
nine smaller squares. Click on the Apps launcher.
Click on the Drive button. This will open your Google
Drive cloud storage. This is where all your documents
will be created and saved.
On the left side is a panel of folders. These folders are
titled My Drive, Shared with Me, Recent, Starred, and
Trash. Above these folders you’ll find a menu button
titled ‘New’.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Start At The Beginning
Click on ‘New’ menu and a list of selections will display.
We can create a folder, upload files, upload a folder of
files or create one of three documents. These documents
include Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google
Slides. Click on Google Docs.
The Toolbar
The toolbar has a basic set of formatting tools. These
include a font selector, font size and font styles. The
font, font size and style are automatically set to Arial 11
regular. Google Docs refers to the regular font style as
Normal text. The other font styles available include bold
and italic.
The toolbar includes buttons on the left to print, undo
an action, redo an action and a button to copy and
paste formatting style information.
A new document will automatically be created and
opened. The document is given the generic name ‘untitled’.
Let’s provide a meaningful name for the document.
Click once on the document name. Type a name
for the document and press enter.
The other buttons include a link tool and a comment
tool. The link tool is used to link to web sites or locations
within the same document. The comment tool
is used to comment on documents. This is very useful
when sharing and collaborating on documents. You’ll
find it useful when editing and grading student papers.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Start At The Beginning
To the right of the link and comment tool are buttons
to align text. Text is automatically left-aligned. The
other options include center, right and full or justified.
Justified text gives even text on the left and right side.
Normally, when we left-align text, it is straight on the
left and leaves ragged or un-even edges on the right.
When the menu is collapsed a search box is available
on the left. This search box is there to help access menu
options that are hidden when the menu is collapsed.
For example, if we want to align text, type align in the
search box. A list of text align options will appear. Use
the mouse to select a text align option.
To the right of the text align buttons we have the line
spacing button, the numbered list button, the unordered
list button, and the indent buttons.
To the right of the indent buttons is the clear formatting
button. This button is useful when you want to return
your text to regular text without any formatting.
Above the toolbar we have several menu options. All
the toolbar options are available in the menu options.
Most of the time we can do most formatting with the
toolbar.
If you find yourself using the toolbar more than the
menu, you can click on the hide menu button. This
comes in handy if you have a computer with a small
screen and need more space for text. The same button
can be used to show the menu again.
The mouse isn’t the only way to select items. When a
list of options is displayed in the menu, you can use the
up and down arrow keys to highlight the option and
press the enter key to run the selection.
Shortcut keys are another way to avoid using the
mouse. In this example we see a list of shortcut keys
that can be used to execute the option. The ‘command’
plus ‘shift’ plus ‘E’ keys can be used to center-align text.
On Windows computers this would be ‘Control’ plus
‘Shift’ plus ‘E’. You would press all these keys at the
same time.
Some people like shortcut keys while others don’t care
for them. I personally like them because they are a
time saver. People that don’t like them usually don’t
like them because they can’t remember the keys and
because it requires some finger acrobatics.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Web Fonts
Google provides eight basic fonts. These include Arial,
Comic Sans MS, Courier New, and Georgia. These fonts
are a mix of sans serif fonts like Arial and Verdana.
There are also serif fonts like Georgia and Times New
Roman. Comic Sans MS and Impact are considered
decorative fonts. The default Arial font is good for most
purposes.
What’s the difference between fonts? Serif fonts have
little tails at the ends of each letter. These tails make
it easy to read letters and words in physical print. Sans
Serif fonts don’t have those tails. These fonts are commonly
used for small blocks of text like titles and headings.
They are more commonly used today on digital
documents, which don’t have as high a resolution,
although this is changing.
Sans Serif fonts are easier to read on digital devices
like computer screens and book readers. Screens and
devices are available with greater resolutions now and
it’s just as easy to read digital documents in either serif
or sans serif fonts. Sans serif fonts are still used for titles
and short blocks of text. Serif fonts tend to be used for
longer text.
Decorative fonts like Comic Sans MS or Trebuchet MS
are meant for small bits of text. This would be text in
flyers, invitations or signs. This font is difficult to read
for long blocks of text.
More Web Fonts
At the bottom of the font menu list is a more fonts
option. Clicking on this option will open a module with
a list of fonts.
These are additional fonts we can use in documents.
They are referred to as web fonts. Web fonts are not
installed on your computer but are available to use
through the Internet. There are hundreds of fonts available.
Scroll down the list to see many more.
At the top of the module is a search box to search for
fonts.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Web Fonts
To the right of the search box is a font category menu.
Click on the show all fonts pull down menu. The fonts
are categorized into display, handwriting, monospace,
serif and sans serif.
Adding Fonts
We can easily add fonts to use in our documents. To
add a font, find a font and click it once. The font will be
listed on the right under the ‘My Fonts’ section. We can
add several fonts at once.
Click on the handwriting fonts category. These are fonts
that resemble hand written characters.
To the right of the category pull down menu is a sort
option menu. This menu will sort the fonts by popularity,
alphabetically, by date added and by the font most
trending at the time.
Click on date added. These fonts are the ones most
currently made available by Google. This list is likely to
change regularly.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Adding
too many fonts could make it difficult to find the fonts
you need. Instead of adding lots of fonts all at once,
select the fonts you want to use now and add more as
you need them.
To get rid of fonts from the my fonts section, click on
the ‘x’ next to font name. Don’t worry about accidentally
deleting a font you’ve used in a document, Google
will remember and use it when you open the document.
A benefit of using web fonts in Google is that they are
available to anyone that opens the document with a
Google account. They don’t have to install the font.
Google will load the font automatically.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Formatting Text
Google Docs automatically use Arial 11 point font. Fonts
are measured in a system called points. When formatting
text, we usually change the font using the font
selector menu. Once we’ve selected a font we usually
change its point size from the font size pull down menu.
We can stylize a font by selecting bold or italics. Bold
and italics are really other fonts in the world of typography.
Bold and italics are a way to change the appearance
of text. Bold text is often used to add emphasis to
a word or a line of text. Italic fonts are used for titles or
worlds that can stand on their own. Both of these are
used to add emphasis. Citations are another common
use of bold or italics.
An underline option is available in most word processors
like Google Docs. Underline text is used less often
today. Underlining was used with typewriters to add
emphasis or in citations. It’s used less often today because
underlined words are often seen as links to web
site or resources. Don’t use underline to add emphasis
to words unless used in a citation or you are told to do
so.
With the advent of computer technology we have other
ways to add emphasis to words. We can change the
color of text. Next to the underline button we have a
color palette selector. Like bold or italics, its important
to use color in text to add emphasis sparingly. Don’t use
color in all your text unless its applied a high contrast
background. Black text on a white background is the
easiest to read because there is a lot of contrast. Colorful
text is often used in flyers, magazine covers and with
very large text. It is also used sparingly.
Text Styles
Each time you start a new document, Google Docs uses
the Arial font at 11 points. This is called the default font.
It can be tedious to change this font each time you create
a new document. Google, like most modern word
processors, uses styles to format bodies of text. To the
left of the font selector pull down menu we see a style
menu that reads normal text. This normal text is set to
Arial 11 point.
Let’s change this style to another font and size. Use the
font selector to choose Georgia and change the size to
12 points. Click on the arrow next to normal text. On
the right side of the word normal text is an arrow pointing
to the right. Move your mouse over to this arrow
and click on it.
We have two options. We can apply the normal text
style, in which case the font and size will be changed
back to Arial 11 point. We can update normal text style
to match our current font choice. This means that the
normal text will change from Arial 11 point to Georgia
12 point. Click on the option to update normal text to
match.
Click on the normal text pull down menu. The Normal
Text is now set to Georgia 12 point. Type Hello World or
anything you like.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Formatting Text
At this point we’ve only changed and applied this style
to the current document. To make sure this style is
available to all future documents, we need to set this as
our default style. Click on the styles format menu and
go to the bottom of the styles and options. Click on save
as my default styles. This style will now be applied to all
future documents.
We can repeat the same process to change the font and
size for the other available styles. These styles include
title, subtitle, and heading.
Styles are very powerful. When using styles we can
change the style and all the text that used the style
will automatically be updated with the new style formatting.
This means that if we decide to switch back to
Arial 11 point, all we need to do is change the normal
text style and all the text that uses this style will automatically
be changed to match.
Styles are useful if you plan on having a table of contents
or on publishing the document as an Ebook.
Let’s see how this worked. To create a new document,
click on file in the menu and select new document. If
you’ve hidden the menu, type new in the search box
and select new document. Look at the font selector and
the point size. It is set to Georgia 12 point.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Formatting Paragraphs
We’ve learned about fonts, formatting text and styles
in the previous lessons. In this lesson we bring it all
together and learn about formatting paragraphs. Paragraphs
are of two kinds. There are paragraphs with the
indented first line and paragraphs without a first line
indent. The later paragraph format is often referred to
as block formatting. Paragraphs with indented first lines
tend to be used for fiction text and block formatting is
often used for non-fiction text.
When formatting paragraphs there are some basic
rules. Those rules have changed over time to adapt to
modern technology. When we were in school teachers
told us to indent our first paragraph about half an inch
or about the width of your thumb. This is because we
were often using pen or pencil and paper. When we
took keyboarding in a typing class we learned that the
first line indent was one tab stop.
With technology, the rules have changed for a variety of
reasons and the biggest reason has more to do with the
fonts we use to compose on computers. I won’t go into
that here but at the end of the issue I have a brief overview
of why fonts have changed the world of writing
with word processors.
The first line indent with modern word processors is
one Pica. Picas are used in the world of desktop publishing
but are often used with plain old word processing.
A pica is equivalent to two spaces. This is different from
a tab stop which is five spaces. Why two spaces or one
Pica? I explain all that at the end of this issue. In brief,
five spaces is too much of an indent and leaves a large
hole in our writing.
What about the spacing between paragraphs? In school
we were taught to skip one line on our paper between
paragraphs. On a type writer we were taught the same
thing. There was some difference and it depended on
how you were taught. If you indented paragraphs, you
might have been told not to skip a space. In the world
of word processing the rules are similar but modified
to accommodate modern typography. The common
way most people are taught to skip a space between
paragraphs is to press the enter key twice. This is a hold
over from the type writer days and old habits are hard
to break.
Another hold over from the days of the typewriter is
the use of two spaces after a period. There is only one
space used after a period.
Now that we’ve reviewed how it used to be, let’s learn
how it should be done.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Block Paragraphs
Let’s begin by setting our normal text style. Select a font
and font size for your body text. In my example I’ll stay
with Arial 11 point font. Most people use Times New
Roman or Georgia 12 point font. This font and size is
easy to read. Once you’ve updated the body text font
and size, select update normal text to match.
Let’s work on the paragraph. Go to the menu and select
format. Go down the list of options to line spacing. In
the options menu for line spacing, select custom spacing.
A line spacing customization box will open with options
to change the spacing before or after paragraphs. In the
box that reads ‘after’, enter the number 6.
Why six? We set our font size to 12 points. If we were
to press the enter key twice we would have a space of
12 points plus some additional space above and below
the line so we don’t crowd the letters like g or q, which
have descenders. The tails that make the letter g and
the letter q are descenders because they go below
the imaginary line where all the other letters sit. That
leaves a large space between paragraphs. If we enter
the number 6, we are telling the word processor to use
6 points instead of 12 points for a line once we hit the
return key. When we do this there is still space used by
the font for descenders, and enough space between
paragraphs to know there are separate paragraphs.
Without going into a lot of detail that’s the basic reason
for setting this paragraph styling option.
After you type the number 6, click the ‘apply’ button.
Type a few lines of text for a paragraph and press the
enter key once. Type a few more lines for the next paragraph.
Notice the spacing between paragraphs. Google
Doc styles does not keep this information as part of the
normal text style. The good news is that if you create
this style in a document it’s automatically applied it to
all the text in the document.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Indented Paragraphs
Paragraphs with indented first lines are much easier to
setup. Keep in mind that extra space after a paragraph
is used to separate paragraphs. First line indents are
used to indicate the start of a new paragraph. Using a
first line indent and extra space between paragraphs is
too much. When using first line indents, don’t use extra
space between paragraphs.
To create the first line indent in paragraphs we’ll use
the ruler. In the ruler there are two shapes. The upside
down triangle is used to set the left indent. The left
indent will indent all the text in a paragraph. Above the
upside down triangle is a small bar. This is used to set
the first line indent. It recognizes the first line in a paragraph
and applies the indent to the first line.
In my example you’ll see the first letter of the paragraph
is above the third letter of the sentence below. That’s
all you need to do to set the first paragraph indent.
All paragraphs you create from this point will have the
same first line indent.
Click and drag the rectangle to the right. As you move
the rectangle it will snap to points on the ruler. Move it
until it snaps to one point then to another. This should
now place your first line indent two character spaces
into the paragraph.
Here’s something to keep in mind. The first paragraph
is not indented. Indents are used to show the start of a
paragraph. You don’t need to show that the first paragraph
is a paragraph. I hope that makes sense.
Google Docs is still a little primitive in what it can do
compared to industry standards like Microsoft Word.
You will need to help it along. If you’ll be using block
paragraphs then you can set the font, font size and
spacing after paragraphs. Once this is done all you need
to do is compose your content.
If you’ll be using first line indents, you can set the font
and font size. Write your first paragraph and when you
are ready to write your second paragraph, set the first
line indent. From this point forward the first line of the
paragraph will automatically be indented.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Image Placeholders
We just went through something a little complicated so
I thought we’d do something fun. Let’s put some pictures
into our document. Google Docs provides several
ways to place images into a document. We’ll explore
each option and talk about what that means for teachers
and students.
As a teacher I recommend students write out content
before they go through the process of inserting any
images into the document. Placing images in the document
should be the very last thing they do before
publishing. If you don’t do this, students will spend
more time getting pictures and putting them into place
and almost no time creating content. I recommend they
write out the content, edit and revise for publishing.
Once the content is ready and polished, students can
begin looking for pictures and placing them into the
document.
This does not mean they should not think about where
to place images in the document. As they write out the
content of the document the location for images will
be very easy to figure out. I go through this every time I
write this magazine. The content is first and it leads me
to the images and where they should go.
It’s important to keep this teachable moment in mind.
Make your students aware of copyright and citing
their sources for media they plan to use in documents.
Whenever possible try to use images and media that is
in the public domain or part of the creative commons.
The first option we have for inserting images into our
document is the option to upload an image from the
computer. This option requires you to plan ahead a little
and gives you the opportunity to prepare the image.
Thinking of where images go is a big part of publishing
anything that contains images. The placement and size
of images is very important. Documents have a finite
amount of space. Digital documents we create still
conform to their physical counter parts. Documents are
typically 8.5 inches wide and 11 inches tall in the United
States. This is often a balancing act between the space
for content and the space for images. Images have as
much to say as content and vise versa.
Once the content is created, placing images on the document
can be a decision made by students as they work
either individually or as a group. I will give you some
ideas to help students decide where to place images.
Providing a guide to students that is visual and easy to
manipulate can be very helpful.
It might seem that the easiest thing to do is to click the
insert option in the menu and select image. I’m going to
recommend you resist that temptation and follow me
through a process you might find more useful.
As I produce this magazine I use an application called
InDesign to layout my content. This application helps
me see where I can place images and what they might
look like. Before I place an image in the document I set
placeholders for the images. These placeholders are
rectangular boxes that represent the eventual location
of my images. The rectangular boxes represent not only
the location but the width and height of the image.
We can do the same thing right here inside of Google
Docs. This will make students work look more polished
and teach them a few more things in the process. This
process has an added advantage is that it will give you
a little more control over the images you place onto the
document.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Image Placeholders
In my example I have some lorem ipsum text. Lorem
Ipsum text is often used to provide filler text for a document
so that those deciding on the layout of a document
can have an idea for where text and images will
go. The lorem Ipsum text will be replaced by the actual
content later.
With some text in your document, click on the insert
menu option and select drawing. The Drawing tool in
Google Docs will help us create place holders for our
image and eventually help us prepare the images for
placement onto the document.
The mouse arrow will change to a cross-hair. Click and
drag out a rectangle. The size doesn’t matter. Just don’t
make it too big.
We now have a rectangle to use as a place holder.
Click the save and close button.
Click on the shape menu option.
The rectangle will be placed in the document where we
had our cursor. Images, drawings and media are automatically
placed at the location of the cursor. They’re
also placed as in-line elements. This means that the
document treats the image as just another piece of
text. In my example the rectangle pushed the text to
the right and is on the same line as the text.
Hover over shapes and choose the rectangle.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Image Placeholders
Text Wrap
Click once on the placeholder.
Below the rectangle you will see a menu of options
appear. The first option is the in line option. The option
next to it is the wrap text option. Click once on this
option.
Click on the wrap text option and move the rectangle
back to the left edge of the page. As you move the
rectangle, red lines will appear near the edges of the
document. These are guides to let you know you are at
the edge of the printable document or the margins.
The text will wrap to the right of the box.
We can resize this rectangle by using the handles. Use
the right handle to make the rectangle thinner by moving
it to the left. Use the top or bottom handle to make
the rectangle shorter.
Click and drag the box over to the right. The text will
wrap around the box to the left and to the right if there
is still more space on the right. With the rectangle
selected, click on the break text option. The break text
option pushes the text either up or down below the
rectangle.
Which one do you use? That depends on how you want
the image and the content to look on the document.
In most situations you will probably use the wrap text
option.
Move the rectangle around and the text will automatically
wrap around.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Image Placeholders
This is our placeholder. We can create as many of these
placeholders as we want, and use them in our document
to give us an idea where images can or should go.
The placeholder is very useful because it gives us immediate
feedback for what will happen to the text when
we place an image onto a location.
Most images we’ll place onto our document are either
oriented as portrait or landscape. Portrait oriented images
have a narrow width and a tall height. Landscape
images have a wide width and a short height. Images
can also be square.
We can control the flow of text around place holders
and images. To the right of the text break option is a
pull down menu with several measurement options.
On my document these measurements are in inches.
In the rest of the world that used metrics, these measurements
will be in centimeters. Click on the smallest
measurement 1/16 and the text will get closer to the
placeholder or image. Choose other measurements to
find one that will work in your document. I usually select
the 1/8 inch option, which is the automatic spacing
selected by Google Docs.
In this example I have the place holder frame close to
both the top and left margin. The text that flows around
the place holder looks awkward on top because there
is a 1/8 space at the top. To avoid this awkward look,
try not to place your images where text and margins
conflict.
The spacing is applied uniformly around the image. This
is fine for most situations but can cause problems when
working with text along the edges of the margin.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Adding Images
Now that you have decided where to place images, let’s
get images and place them on the document. In this
example I will place images from my computer. Later we
will explore adding images from other locations.
Click once on the placeholder and click on edit in the
menu below the placeholder.
Click on the ‘choose image’ button or drag and drop an
image into the upload area.
The drawing app will open. Click on the ‘add image’
button.
In this example I’ve selected an image of the Earth from
space. The image is very large at 1280 by 1280 pixels. I
mention this for two reasons. People will usually select
images that are way too big or too small. Very large
images are easy to resize and not loose quality. In this
image I can resize it and it will still look very good.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Adding Images
I’ve uploaded a smaller version in this example to
demonstrate. This image is much smaller than the place
holder.
With the larger image the image quality looks very good
when we make it smaller.
After I resize the image we can see that the image quality
has suffered.
Using the drawing program we can use the placeholder
to help us resize the image. When resizing the image
it’s important to use the corner handles. The corner
handles will help resize the image proportionally. This
means you won’t accidentally make the image too fat or
too thin.
Resize the image and place it next to the place holder.
When its next to the place holder move the image up
or down until a red smart guide appears that helps you
align the top edge of the image with the top edge of the
placeholder. The smart guide helps snap the image to
match the top of the placeholder.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Adding Images
Drag the lower right corner of the image to the left until
smart guides help you snap the lower part of the image
to the lower part of the placeholder. These smart guides
are blue and they will appear on either side of the image.
They are measurement guides to let you know that
the image height matches the placeholder height.
Now I need to get rid of the place holder. Click once on
the placeholder and tap the delete key on your keyboard.
Click the save and close button.
In my example I’ve modified the placeholder so it’s
square. This makes it easy to use this image in my document.
The image will be placed into the same location as the
place holder.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Cropping Images
In our next image we will be using an image that is a
rectangle placed for a landscape image. Click once on
the place holder and click the edit option.
We will crop out parts of the image we don’t need and
keep the area we do for the rectangle. Click once on the
image to select it and click the crop tool in the menu.
Click on the import image button.
I’ve selected another very large image. This image isn’t
in the landscape format. We will be using some of the
draw tools to help us crop and place this image in the
area we’ve designated.
Black handles will appear around the inner part of the
image.
I’ll resize the image and place it next to the placeholder.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Cropping Images
I’ll drag the top black handle until the top red smart
guide aligns to the top of the place holder. Make sure to
use the black handle.
Click once outside the image to see what the image
looks like.
Click and drag the image below the place holder until
the left smart guide helps align the image to the left of
the placeholder.
At this point it doesn’t matter where in the image the
cropping takes place. We will be fine tuning the selection
later. I’ll repeat the process using the bottom black
handle.
The blue smart guides will let us know that the height
of our image matches the placeholder.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Cropping Images
The image is much wider than my place holder. Let’s
use the crop tool to adjust the width. Click the image
once to select it and click the crop tool.
Notice that the complete image is still there. The drawing
tool is non-destructive. Use the black handles to
move the right crop area to match the width of the
placeholder. Don’t worry yet if the image isn’t looking
the way you intend.
Use the blue corner handles to drag in the image and
make it smaller. I’ll make mine smaller so that the right
of the image fills in the rectangle. The smart guides will
help you align the edges of the image to the cropped
area.
The image has been cropped to match the placeholder.
My image is missing a large part on the right and isn’t
centered on what I want to show.
After resizing the image, the area I want to show is not
in the cropped area of the rectangle. To move the image,
click inside the cropped area and move the image
around. Click outside the image to see what it looks like.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Cropping Images
If you need to adjust the image, double click the image.
The crop and resize handles will be available to adjust
as needed.
Get rid of the placeholder and click the save and close
button.
This process of using placeholders did take a few extra
steps but you’ll find it will be more helpful than just
dumping images into the document.
If you were to simply insert an image, Google Docs
would place the image into the insertion point and
move all your text to accommodate the image. This
causes problems when adding multiple images. Your
text will jump all over the place because it will try to accommodate
the text wrapping options for other images.
Try inserting multiple images without using this process
and you’ll see why this is much better.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Other Image Options
Snapshot
A snapshot uses the web-cam on your computer to take
a picture. In the draw program click on the insert image
button. Click on the take a snapshot option.
Google and your browser use the Adobe Flash player to
access your computer’s screen and devices. You need
to grant the Flash player permission. Click on the ‘allow’
radio button and click the ‘close’ button.
If you have a web camera connected to your computer,
it will display anything that is shown in front. Mine is
covered so you see the orange Post-It I put in front.
Place something to take a picture of in front of the web
cam. Below the web-cam stream is a button to take a
snapshot. Click on this button.
To use this snapshot, click the select button. The image
will appear in the draw area. Use the same tools we
learned about earlier to prepare this image.
The web-cam snapshot option is great if you don’t have
a digital camera handy. If you have access to take a
picture with a digital camera I highly recommend you
use it. The pixel resolution on web-cams is very low.
With smart phones you can take a picture and use the
Google Drive app to upload it into your drive for access
here.
A Picture From A URL
URL is an acronym for Universal Resource Locator. A
URL is a link to anything on the Internet. Using the URL
for an image is not very common. There are several
drawbacks when linking to a URL. The owner of the
image can remove it or change the image location. In
which case the image will no longer appear in your
document. The image itself can be changed and the
replaced image may not be what you want. You need
to have the exact URL to the image in order for it to
appear in your document.
The benefits of using a linked image means you don’t
have to download the image onto your computer. It’s
best if you link to an image on your own Google Drive
or web site.
I’ll be using an image from Wikimedia Commons. The
images in Wikimedia Commons use the Creative Commons
License for its media. Find an image you want to
use and right click on it. Select copy image location or
copy image URL from the contextual menu.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Other Image Options
Paste the URL into the URL box. If the image URL is correct,
you will see the image appear below the link.
Click select to place the image into the drawing application.
Your Albums
This option accesses your images in Google Plus.
Through Google Plus you can take images with your
smart phone and upload them for use in your documents.
Google Plus is a free app from Google that can
be used on most smart phones and tablets.
Google Drive
Your Albums with Google+ may not be accessible in
your district because it’s a social networking site. In this
case you can use Google Drive. Google Drive is for more
than just documents. Google also provides free apps for
most smart phones and tablets.
Find the image you want to use and click on it to select
and place in the drawing application.
Search
Google provides a link to many images in the public domain
and the Creative Commons. Search for an image,
click on it, and click select to place it into a document.
There are many resources to gather and place images
into documents. Encourage your students to take their
own images or use the Google search option to make
sure they don’t violate copyright. Use a combination of
these methods to place images into documents.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Tables
Tables are very useful for organizing information. When
we insert tables into documents they are always in-line.
Remember when we started adding images. In-line images
were the automatic option when new images were
inserted. Images have text wrap options available, but
these options are not available for tables. Tables will
automatically wrap text above and below. Tables cannot
be moved unless you copy and paste the table to a new
location on the document.
Once you have a table in place there are several tools
to help format the table and the contents of the table.
Let’s place a simple table into our document. Click once
in the location where the table will be placed. Make
sure you have enough room on the page for all the
information in the table. We can make the table longer
but it might run across pages and this doesn’t look very
good.
Click on Insert in the menu and move over the table option.
A fly out menu will open with a grid. This grid will
help you select the number of columns and rows for the
table. If you don’t know how may rows or columns you
will need, it’s okay, we’ll learn how to add or remove
columns and rows later. For this example let’s create a
table with four rows and four columns.
When the table is inserted each row and column is
uniform in size and the entire table takes up the space
between the page margins. The cursor appears in the
first cell. Each box of a table is called a cell. The top row
is usually used for the column headers. These are the
titles for the columns of information.
This table will hold data for the Apollo Lunar Landings.
We’ll place the Apollo mission, landing date and location.
Our table has one too many columns. Let’s delete the
last column.
Click once on the top cell in the last column. Once the
cursor is in the cell, right click to get a contextual menu
Select delete column from the menu options.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Tables
You can also go to the menu and click on Table. The
option to delete the column is available here too.
The columns are automatically resized to fill in the
space of the missing column.
There were six Apollo landings and we only have three
rows. Let’s add rows. Click once on the first cell of the
last row. Either right click to get the contextual menu or
click on table in the menu.
Select the option to insert row below. Repeat this step
two more times.
We have a nice table but it’s a little plain. Let’s add
some color. Select the first column by clicking on the
first cell then dragging to the right to highlight all three
cells.
Right click for the contextual menu or go to the menu
and click on table. Select table properties from the
menu options.
In my example the table has run off the page and onto
the next page. That’s okay we’ll learn how to adjust this
later.
The table properties module will open. Click on the cell
background color option. A palette of colors will display.
Let’s select a color.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Tables
Once you’ve selected the color, click the Ok button.
Highlight the cells again and let’s make the text bold.
Click on the bold style button in the menu.
When selecting colors for your table cells make sure the
text is legible. I say this because my students like to pick
very dark colors where mere 51 year old mortals like
myself can no longer see the text!
To force the table onto the next page, click on an empty
line before the table. In the menu click on insert and
select page break. The table is forced onto the following
page.
We still have a problem where the table runs from one
page to another. You should avoid this when possible.
There are several ways to fix this issue. We can edit our
text so there is room for the table. In most situations
this may not be a good option, because it requires a
great deal of editing. Another way is to force the table
to go onto the next page. This leaves us with a large
blank space at the bottom of the page. It’s better than
breaking up the table across pages.
There is one more way to fix this table problem. We will
touch on that in the next lesson.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Page Setup
Google Docs still assumes you will one day choose to
print this document. To that end, it uses standard page
preferences when new documents are created. Click on
file and select page setup
The page is automatically setup for 8.5” by 11”. The
margins are set to one inch all the way around. If you
don’t plan to print this document, we can add some
real-estate for our content.
Default Page Setup
We can change the page size and margins for all future
documents. Click on File and select page setup.
In my example I’ll keep the standard letter size but
adjust the margins. I like to have a larger margin at the
bottom of the page for footers. Students will place their
citations in the footer. I’ll leave three quarter inches at
the bottom and half an inch on the other sides.
To set this as my default for future documents, I’ll click
the ‘set as default’ button. Once the default is set, click
the OK button. The changes will be applied to this document
and all future documents.
In my example I’ll change the top and bottom margins
to a quarter inch. I’m doing this because I don’t want to
disturb the placement of my images along the left and
right margins.
In the previous lesson we had difficulty with the table
going across pages. Our solution was to force the table
onto another page. We can avoid this by adjusting the
top and bottom margins. With the margins adjusted I’ll
click the OK button.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Share and Collaborate
A very powerful feature of using cloud services like
Google Docs is the ability to share and collaborate on
documents. This is becoming more common place as
the Internet is available to more people.
Students can share their documents with teachers or
other students. Sharing a document with the teacher
is one way to submit a finished assignment. Sharing
documents with other students is a way for students to
collaborate.
Sharing documents is very easy. A share button is available
within the document while you are editing. It is
part of the menu options. The share button is located
on the far right. Let’s click the share button.
To the right of the email field is a pull down menu with
the can edit option automatically selected. This means
that the recipient will be able to make changes to the
document.
If we don’t want the recipient to make changes, we can
select the can view option. This means that the recipient
will be able to see the document but cannot make
any changes.
The pull down menu also provides a ‘can comment’
option. This option can be used for collaboration if you
don’t want to give the other person edit rights but you
want feedback.
You will be prompted to provide the email address of
the recipient. The email address should be another
gmail account so the recipient can view the document
or edit as needed.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Share and Collaborate
Can Edit Privileges
When you give someone privileges to edit a document,
he or she can do anything to the document that you
can. The person that receives the shared document
can delete it from their Drive account but it will not be
deleted from your account. You are the owner of the
document and it cannot be deleted by anyone but you.
Keep in mind that if you delete a document owned by
you and shared with others, they will no longer have
access to the document. This is true when the owner of
a document deletes any original shared document.
A document can be edited live with other collaborators.
When someone is working on a document, you will see
their Google avatar in the upper right side of the document.
You will also see a color coded cursor when the
person is editing the document.
View Only Privileges
When a user has view only privileges, that’s all the
person can do. The menu options of the person are very
limited. The document can be copied, or downloaded.
It can also be shared but the owner must approve the
sharing.
Can Comment
The option to give comment privileges is a cross between
edit privileges and view only privileges. The
person can make changes to the document like someone
that has edit privileges, but the changes are only
suggestions. On the right side of the page the person
will see a green menu option that reads suggesting. The
changes or additions are surrounded by a green box.
The owner of the document or the ones that have edit
privileges can decide to accept or reject the changes.
Those with edit privileges can edit the suggestion
before applying them. A document can have multiple
suggestions from multiple people that have comment
only privileges. Those with edit privileges can switch
over to suggesting mode and provide suggestions to a
document.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Share and Collaborate
Integration
The suggesting option is a great way for teachers to
provide feedback to students. Teachers can made suggestions
or leave notes about specific words, sentences,
paragraphs or media in a document. Students can take
the recommendations and apply changes as needed.
Students can reply to teacher suggestions if they are
unsure about what to do with the suggestions.
This two way communication is much more efficient
than the traditional paper and pencil. Students are
more willing to make updates and changes in a living
document. You can see their updates and provide more
feedback regularly. This means you don’t have to wait
until assignments are due.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Revision History
Google Docs automatically keeps a revision history. Any
significant changes to a document can be tracked back
in time from the time the document was created.
To access the revision history, you will need to click the
link that reads ‘all changes saved in Drive’. A panel will
open on the right side of the browser with all the saved
changes. The revision history also contains the revisions
made by collaborators and suggestions.
The revisions represent significant changes to the document.
If we want to look at more detailed changes to
the document there is a show more detailed revisions
button at the bottom of the panel.
If we don’t want to restore a version all we need to do
is close the revision history panel.
We can click on one of the revisions and it will update
on the document.
If we want to return to this version of the document,
click ‘restore this version’ link.
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Google Docs Fundamentals
About Fonts
The topic of fonts is a very long topic and not one that
I can fully cover here. I want to explain why we have
changed the way we write sentences and paragraphs in
word processors as apposed to type writers.
Typewriters
Back when Gutenberg developed the printing press,
all the letters were etched onto metal. Each letter was
fashioned to print clearly and legibly onto paper. There
were bits of metal used to space sentences and even
lines between sentences. Most of the names used for
these spacers are still used in typography today.
With the advent of the typewriter anyone could quickly
create printed works. The typewriter was a machine
that needed standardization to work properly. This
standardization meant that the space between each
letter was exactly the same. There was only one font on
the typewriter until the advent of electric typewriters
and movable type options at the end of a ball, but these
were still limited to two or three typefaces. The fixed
space between letters had more to do with the rail that
slowly advanced the roller across the page. The notches
were evenly spaced and so was the space between
each letter.
Because the space between each letter was the same,
we needed a way to separate paragraphs. Five spaces
was used to indent paragraphs. If a paragraph was not
indented, then the roller was advanced two lines by a
handle to separate paragraphs. The electric typewriter
removed the lever and provided a motorized advance
of the roller with a return key. That’s why people still
press the enter key twice on a computer to space out
blocked paragraphs. The typewriter used the same
space for each letter and the same space between each
line. Rules had to be created to deal with paragraphs.
Similar rules had to be created for emphasizing text.
With typewriters we used the back space to go over the
word we wanted to bold and type over the same letters.
Wow! Did we really do that? We also used the underline
key to underline words. To do this we did the same
thing. We back spaced and used the underline key to go
over the same word.
Computers
Modern word processing didn’t come right away with
the advent of the computer. Text on the screen was
pretty much like the text on a type writer. The resolution
of monitors was very primitive back then and
letters were placed in blocks of pixels. Computers used
monospaced fonts. This means that each letter took up
the same amount of space as each other letter. This was
pretty much the same way as with typewriters.
Computers became more sophisticated and companies
developed software for desktop publishing. They developed
software to create documents that looked like
those in magazines and newspapers, which used type
setting metal letters much like the old Gutenberg’s original
printing press.
Word processors started appearing and so did the variety
of fonts. With better technology we could now get
better type setting. Instead of using monospaced fonts,
word processors and desktop publishing software could
use proportional fonts. Proportional fonts don’t use the
same space as every other letter. The space allotted
to each letter is proportional to the letter. The space
between letters is also proportional. With proportional
fonts the average person could create professional
quality looking documents just like news papers and
magazines.
Proportional fonts changed the way we write documents.
Proportional fonts made the five spaces in
front of a paragraph look awkwardly large. Pressing the
return key twice between paragraphs also produces a
large space between paragraphs.
We still use styles to add emphasis to words. These
styles include bold, italics and underline. With the advent
of the Internet and hyper-links we encountered another
issue. An underlined word means a link to a web
Digital Maestro 34

Google Docs Fundamentals
About Fonts
page. As a result, we don’t underline text anymore. The
citation styles have been changed to reflect the need to
move away from the typewriter to the modern world of
word processing.
This is a very simplified version of the evolution of fonts
and producing documents. We still carry a lot of the
old type writer habits. I’m always fascinated when my
students, who have never seen a typewriter, still indent
five spaces and press the enter key twice between paragraphs.
Proportional Font
Monospaced Font
Sans Serif Font
Serif Font
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Google Docs Fundamentals
Copyright, Public Domain and Creative Commons
Copyright should be part of any lesson we have with
students. Copyright is more important when using
technology. It’s very easy for students to copy and paste
content from anywhere. Copyright is easy as long as you
sight sources.
There is plenty of content in the public domain and part
of the creative commons. Content that is in the public
domain is content that is no longer covered by copyright
law. This often includes older works from authors
like Mark Twain and Shakespeare. There is plenty of
media in the public domain from early years of movies
and music. Plenty of images are also in the public domain.
To find content in the public domain do a search
on the Internet for the term public domain.
More recent content is often covered by copyright.
There is a small and growing segment of content that is
covered by a Creative Commons license. Content that
falls under the Creative Commons License is free for
you to use and in some instances modify as long as you
give credit to the creator of the content. That’s the idea
behind sites like Wikimedia Commons. All the media
on this site falls under the Creative Commons license.
Students can use the content on this site and provide
citation for the source.
Digital Maestro 36