Using Google Drawings

One tool that I was reticent to use was Google Draw, an option that recently became available in Google Drive,
because I couldn’t think of how it could be used in the classroom. I decided to tackle this part of Drive head-on
and have found that it can be incredibly useful in all areas of the high school curriculum and can be embedded
into a Google Doc or a Google Presentation very easily. This tutorial will show you around Google Drawings.

Table of Contents
1. Creating a Drawing
2. Google Drawings Toolbar
a. Inserting/Editing Objects
b. Inserting/Editing Text
3. Changing the Size of the Default Canvas
4. Embedding a Drawing:
a. Into Google Docs
b. Into Google Presentations

Creating a Drawing
To create a drawing, click the red Create button while on the homepage of Google Drive:

Your drawing will open, along with your familiar white toolbar at the top of the page. I’ve retitled the drawing
to “Sample Drawing.”

Google Drawings Toolbar

Here are the toolbar’s functions:
Undo Redo Paint Format Zoom to Fit Zoom Select Draw Line Insert Shape Insert Text Box Insert Image Comment

When you insert an object, the toolbar changes—just like it did with Google Presentations, remember?

Objects

Select Add Text Box Add Image Add Shape Add Line Fill Color Line Color Line Weight Line Style

Line Weight: Thickness of line

Line Style: Dotted line, solid line, etc.

Text

Font Type Font Size Font Emphasis Font Color Font Background Color Hyperlink Comment Justification Line Spacing

Numbering Bullets Decrease Indent Increase Indent Clear Formatting

Changing the Size of the Default Canvas

I used Google Drawings for quite a while before I realized that it’s possible to change the size of the default
canvas. It’s pretty easy to do and is almost necessary if you’re working with a chart or diagram.

Tip: Unfortunately, there’s no stretch to fit option that would stretch out the objects you’ve already placed on
the canvas, so you might want to alter the canvas size first.

In your drawing, in the bottom right corner of the canvas, is an image that looks like this:
Click the bottom right corner and drag to resize the canvas.

Embedding a Drawing into Google Docs

To present your Drawing, you can either share it with other users via the blue Share button in the white toolbar
on your Drawing, or you can embed it into a Google Doc/Presentation. This is an especially useful tool if
you’re, say, completing homework for a paperless Biology classroom that requires you to write out Punnett
square problems and analyze the results on a Google Doc.

Use your mouse to draw a box around the whole drawing. Blue boxes will envelop all the objects on the
drawing’s canvas. Then, hold down the Ctrl key and press the C key to copy the drawing or click Edit, then
Copy:

Then, in the document where you’ll want the drawing, click Insert, then Drawing.
Paste the objects you just selected into the dialog box that opens, then click Save and Close. Your formatting
will automatically transfer into your Document.

Note: Currently, there is no way to make the canvas in this dialog box larger. Avoid formatting issues with
pasting all objects by keeping the canvas at its default size.

Embedding Drawings into Google Presentations

To embed a Google Drawing into a Google Presentation, open the Drawing you’d like to use in a Google
Presentation. Use your mouse to draw a box around the whole drawing. Blue boxes will envelop all the objects
on the drawing’s canvas. Then, hold down the Ctrl key and press the C key to copy the drawing or click Edit,
then Copy:

Next, open the Google Presentation to the slide where you want the Drawing to appear, then either click Edit
and Paste, or hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and press the V key. You may have to edit the
formatting, especially if your Drawing is larger than the default canvas.