Click the buttons in the interactive below to become familiar with the drawing tool's commands.

Transcription

1 Google Documents Inserting Text Boxes and Shapes Introduction Page 1 Google Documents has a drawing tool designed for inserting text boxes and shapes into your document. Although not necessary for every document, text boxes and shapes can be used to set important details apart from the rest of your document or to organize information. For example, rectangles, lines, and arrows can be used together to create a flow chart. In this lesson, you will learn the drawing tool's commands and how to insert a drawing or text box into your document. You will also learn how to format and change the order of text boxes and shapes. Creating Drawings Watch the video to learn how to create drawings in Google Documents, using shapes and text boxes. Page 2 Watch the video (3:48). Need help? About the Drawing Tool When you are ready to add a text box or shape to your document, you will work with the drawing tool. It offers a large variety of shapes, arrows, callouts, and line styles that are easily customized for your purpose. For example, you can create a diagram using shapes and add text to each shape to highlight important information. The drawing tool opens as a dialog box in your document and this is where you will create, format, and edit text boxes and shapes using the drawing tool's commands. Click the buttons in the interactive below to become familiar with the drawing tool's commands.

2 Google Docs has a stand-alone version of the Drawing application. This version has more features than the Documents Drawing app, including the ability to upload your own images as part of the drawing. If you want more features, you can use the stand-alone version to create your drawing. Then you can download the drawing as an image to your Drive and insert it into your Document.

3 Accessing the stand-alone Drawing application Adding Shapes You can add a variety of shapes to your document including arrows, callouts, squares, stars, flowchart shapes and more. Shapes are customizable, so you can add text, change their background color, and their line width. You may find shapes useful for creating diagrams and flow charts, and they can add visual appeal to your document. To Insert a Shape: 1. Click Insert and then select Drawing... from the drop-down menu. Page 3

4 Inserting a new drawing 2. The Drawing dialog box will appear. 3. Select a drawing command. Hover the mouse over a style and then select the desired shape. Selecting a shape 4. Click, hold and drag in the drawing area to create the shape to the desired size.

5 Creating the shape to the desired size 5. Release the mouse. The shape appears. The new shape 6. If desired, you can add more shapes. When you have completed the drawing, click Save & Close to insert it into your document.

6 Clicking Save & Close 7. The drawing will appear in the document. An inserted drawing 8. If you wish to resize the shape, hold and drag a resizing handle to the desired size.

7 Resizing the shape in the document To delete a shape from your document, select it and then press the Backspace or Delete key on your keyboard. To reopen the drawing tool to edit the shape, select the desired shape and then click Edit from the options that appear below the drawing. Clicking Edit Adding Text Boxes Page 4 You may want to insert a text box into your document to draw attention to specific text or to have the ability to easily move text around within your document. Text boxes are similar to shapes. You can apply many of the same formatting options like changing the background color and line style. To Insert a Text Box: 1. Click Insert and then select Drawing... from the drop-down menu. The Drawing dialog box will appear. 2. Click the Text box command.

8 Clicking the Text box command 3. Click, hold and drag in the drawing area to create the text box. Creating a new text box 4. Release the mouse and a text editing box will appear below the text box you created. Enter the desired text in the text editing box. To create a new line, press Shift+Enter on your keyboard.

9 Entering text in the text editing box 5. When you are satisfied, press Enter on your keyboard and the text will appear in the text box.

10 Text appears in the text box 6. Click Save & Close. The text box will appear in your document.

11 The text box appears Customizing Text Boxes and Shapes The drawing tool has a variety of line and shape tools that you can use to format your text box or shape. You can also modify the size and color of the font inside the text box or shape and the colors of the background and lines. To Format a Text Box or Shape: 1. With the drawing tool open, select the desired text box or shape. Page 5

12 Selecting a text box to format 2. Click the desired formatting command to modify the text box or shape. The formatting commands 3. The shape will appear formatted. The formatted shape To add or edit the text inside a text box or shape, double-click it to open the text editing box. To Change the Order of Text Boxes or Shapes: If one shape overlaps another, you may need to change the ordering so that the correct shape appears in front. You can bring a shape to the front or send it to the back. If you have several overlapping objects, you may need to use Bring forward or Send backward to achieve the correct ordering. 1. In the Drawing dialog box, right-click the desired text box or shape. Hover the mouse over Order and

13 select an ordering option. Modifying the order 2. The order will appear changed in the drawing. The reordered shapes

14 Challenge! Page 6 To work through the Challenge, open GCFLearnFree L14: Department Tree and copy the file to your Google Drive. View the instructions below the Challenge if you are not sure how to make a copy of the file.open the drawing dialog box to edit the department tree. 1. Insert a new rectangle next to the rectangle that says Tim Nguyen, Research Assistant. 2. Add some text to it. 3. Change the background color of the Lead Researcher's rectangles. 4. Save & Close the drawing to insert it into the document. 5. On the second page, reorder the shapes to bring the white shape forward. To Copy the Example File to Your Google Drive: In these tutorials, we will provide example files that you can use to practice what you've learned in each lesson. Because these files are Google Docs we have chosen to share, you will need to copy the file to your Google Drive before you can edit the file. 1. Click the link at the top of this page to open the example file. 2. The example file will appear in a new browser tab or window. If you are not currently signed in to your Google Account, locate and click Sign in on the top-right corner of the page

15 Signing in to your Google Account 3. After you have signed in to your Google Account, locate and select File in the Toolbar Menu and then select Make a copy... from the drop-down menu. Making a copy of the example file 4. The Copy Document dialog box will appear. Click OK.

16 Clicking OK 5. The copy of the file will appear in a new browser tab. Now you're ready to start using the example file. Viewing the copied example file in a new tab