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Chapter 7: Drawings

Table of Contents
Drawings in the classroom
Creating a new drawing
Revision history
Editing Drawings
Menu Overview
Toolbar Buttons
Adding images to your drawing
Snap to guides
Polylines
Lines, arrows, and scribbles
Keyboard modifiers
Line connectors
Formatting Drawings
Moving, resizing and rotating objects
Formatting your drawings
Using text in drawings
Paint format tool
Using Drawings with Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations

Drawings in the classroom

With Google drawings, you can create and collaborate on flow charts, design diagrams, and
other types of drawings. You can also chat with other editors from within Google drawings,
publish drawings as images, or download drawings to your computer.

Mind maps
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Graphical organizers

Labelling Activities
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Timelines
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Creating a new drawing

There are a number of ways to get started on a new Drawing in Google Docs.

Start in the Docs List​

To get started on a new drawing go to your Docs list, click Create new and select Drawings

Alternately, you can begin a new drawing from inside an existing document by going to File >
New > Drawing

You can also find user submitted templates for drawings in the public Template Gallery and in
the gallery for your Apps for Education domain, if your domain administrator has enabled that
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feature.

Revision history

Likes Docs and Spreadsheets, Google Drawings has a revision history pane that allows you to
view at a glance all changes made to a doc by each collaborator. To access revision history in
Google documents, drawings, and spreadsheets, follow these steps:​

1.​ Select File > See revision history.​

2.​ Click a time stamp in the right column to see what changes were made at a given time or
use the arrow keys to scan through many revisions quickly. For example, James, whose
edits show in orange text, deleted and added text while bmichael, whose show in green
text, removed a paragraph and added a comment.​
​
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3.​ If you'd like to revert to the version you're currently viewing, click Restore this revision.​
​
Note: Restoring your document to a previous version does not eliminate any versions of
your document. Rather this version moves to the top of your revision history, maintaining
all previous versions of your document, including the current version.​
​

4.​ If you'd like to return to the the current version of your document to continue editing, click
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the X in the upper right of the 'Document History' pane.

For all Google Docs types, revisions are grouped into short time periods to make it easier to see
the full history of changes. If you want to see more fine-grained revisions, click the Show more
detailed revisions button in the lower right of your document.

Editing Drawings

The menu options and the buttons in the Drawing toolbar provide users with the ability to create
flow charts, design diagrams, and other types of drawings.

Menu Overview

Edit
Click this drop-down menu to cut, copy, paste, delete, duplicate, and select all shapes/images
on a drawing.
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Insert
Use this menu to insert text boxes, images, links, Word Art, lines, and shapes. You can also
click the individual buttons in the toolbar to do this.

Once you select an option, follow these instructions:

●​ Text box: Click where you'd like to add the text box, enter your text, and press Enter.
Your text will be added to your drawing. Use text boxes instead of word art if you'd like to
use word wrap or specify a different text size. Learn more about using text in Google
drawings.
●​ Image: Enter a URL of an image or do an image search to find what you're looking for,
and click Select. Learn more about adding images to your drawing.
●​ Link: Insert a link to a web or email address. ​

●​ Word art: After selecting this option, type your text and press Enter. All of the shape
editing options are available with word art, so you can rotate, choose fill and line color,
and change line width.
●​ Line: There are a number of line options including straight lines, arrows, curved lines,
polylines, arcs, and scribbles. ​
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●​ Shape: Select this menu item, then choose from shapes, arrows, callouts or equations. ​

Format
Click this menu to change the background of your drawing, align and rotate items, select snap
to grid or snap to guide, change the order of the items (for example, bring a shape forward), and
group items. Learn more about formatting your drawings.

Toolbar Buttons
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Undo or redo changes

You can undo and redo changes by clicking the two arrows to the left side end of the toolbar.

Zoom in and out

To zoom in and out on your drawings, click the Zoom button (the magnifying glass) in the
toolbar.

Shapes
Select a shape from the Shape menu in the toolbar.​

Then, click anywhere in Google drawings to insert the shape in the default size, or drag your
mouse to change the size of the shape.

Fill color, line color, line width, edit text, bold, and more
These and other editing options are available only when you've selected a specific item. For
example, when you insert a text box or word art, you'll see the Edit text button at the right end of
the toolbar. Click it to change the selected text.

Note: To duplicate a shape, just hold the Ctrl key (Command key for Macs) while dragging the
shape.

Adding images to your drawing

To insert an image into your drawing, follow these steps:
1.​ Click Insert > Image..., or click the Image button in the toolbar.​
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2.​ In the window that appears, you can choose one of these options:
○​ Click Upload and navigate to the image from your hard drive that you'd like to
insert. Choose this option for images you have stored on your computer.​
​

○​ Click URL and paste the web address of the image you'd like to insert. Choose
this option if you already have an image you'd like to add.
○​ Click Google Image Search, type a word and click Search images. Once you
find a result you like, click the image. Keep in mind that there are specific usage
rights that apply. Select only images that you've confirmed you can use legally in
your intended context, and make sure you include appropriate attribution if
necessary.
○​ Click Picasa Web Albums to access image files you have uploaded to Picasa on
the web.
○​ Click Stock Photos to search for images in a free, stock photo archive.
3.​ Click Select.

If you’re using the latest version of Chrome, Safari, or Firefox, you also have the option of
dragging an image from your desktop and drop it directly in the drawing canvas.
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After inserting the image into your drawing, you can add scribbles, shapes, lines, arrows, and
text boxes on top of the image.

You can resize the image by dragging one of the resize (white) handles, and the image will
expand and contract with your cursor's movement. Images can be resized to scale by holding
the Shift key while dragging a corner resize handle. To flip an image, click Arrange -> Rotate,
and select one of the options available. Alternately, you can right click on an image and then
select Rotate from the menu that appears.​
​

Snap to guides
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Snap to guides allows you to align objects with the drawings canvas and other objects. With this
option enabled, guides appear whenever you move an object into alignment with the border of
another object. These guides also appear when you move an object to the horizontal or vertical
center of the drawings canvas.

To enable snap to guides, right-click in the drawings canvas and select Snap to guides, or click
Format > Snap to guides.

You can quickly move, drag, resize and rotate objects using keyboard modfiers when performing
other actions.

Polylines
Polylines are continuous lines composed of multiple segments. To create them, click the
Polyline button from your drawings toolbar, to the left of the Shapes button.
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After drawing a segment of your polyline, click to end the segment and begin your next
segment. If you want to cancel the last segment and go back to selection mode, press Escape
on your keyboard. When you've finished, connect the endpoint of your last line segment with the
origin point of your polyline to create an enclosed shape. Alternatively, click near the endpoint of
your last line segment to complete the shape.

When you're done drawing the polyline, you remain in polyline mode so you can immediately
draw another one. Press Escape to return to selection mode.

If you'd like to rearrange the vertices, double-click the polyline.

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Lines, arrows, and scribbles

Lines, arrows, and scribbles are continuous lines composed of one segment. To create them,
click Lines button to the left of the Shapes button.

After choosing which object you’d like to draw, position your mouse and click in the drawing
canvas where you’d like the object to begin, move your mouse to draw, and then click to end the
segment.

After you have finished drawing, you can click in the canvas again to start drawing another line
of that type. If you’re done, you can press the Esc key or select another tool to deselect your
object.

When you have a line, arrow, or scribble selected, three buttons appear toward the end of the
toolbar that allow you to change the style of the line or the endpoints. Click the buttons and
select an option from the drop-down menus to apply that style to your object.

Scribble
Click to choose your start point, and drag to create the scribble. It will be automatically
smoothed out once you've finished. ​
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Arcs
You can also create arc lines in your drawing by selecting arc and then drawing your points. Like
the other types of lines, the weight and color can be increased or changed.
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Keyboard modifiers
If you love shortcuts, then you’ll love the keyboard modifiers in Drawings. There are many useful
features available if you use keyboard modifiers when performing other actions. Here are some
examples:

Moving or dragging
●​ Turn off guides or snap to grid and smoothly drag your object: hold the Alt key (Option
key if using Mac) while dragging an object.
●​ Restrict to vertical or horizontal dragging: hold the Shift key while dragging.
●​ Nudge an object in 1 pixel increments: hold the Shift key while moving an object with the
arrow keys.
●​ Create a duplicate of an object while leaving the original in place: hold the Ctrl key while
moving an object.
Resizing
●​ Preserve an object's aspect ratio while resizing: hold the Shift key while resizing an
object.
Rotating
●​ Rotate in 15 degree increments: hold the Shift key while rotating an object.

Line connectors
Connectors are special lines that stay “glued” to shapes. When you move or rotate shapes that
have connectors between them, the lines attached will move and stretch with them so the
shapes stay connected.

1.​ Click on the shape tool or go to Insert > Shape to select an object to insert into your
drawing.
2.​ If you want to use two of the same shape, select the shape, right click + Copy, right click
+ Paste it into your drawing.
3.​ Click on the line or arrow tool.
4.​ Hover your cursor over a shape, and red connection points will appear.​

5.​ Click on the red connection point that you want your line to connect, and drag your
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cursor to another connection point on a second shape before releasing.

Formatting Drawings

Moving, resizing and rotating objects

To move, resize and rotate an object, simply click the object you'd like to change. You'll see a
green rotate handle, white resize handles, and yellow adjustment handles (where applicable).

Moving objects
Click any object to select it, then drag it with your mouse or arrow keys. You can hold the Shift
key while dragging to constrain the movement to the nearest horizontal or vertical axis. You can
hold the Shift key while moving with the keyboard to move the object by one pixel.

Snap to Guides is enabled by default in the full editor. Snap to grid is enabled by default in the
embedded editor.

The option Snap to grid allows objects to automatically align to an invisible grid or to other
objects when moved, resized, or inserted. Click View > Snap to grid to disable this option, or
hold down the Alt key to temporarily disable it.

Resizing objects
Drag one of the resize (white) handles, and the object will expand and contract with your
cursor's movement.

Objects can be resized to scale by holding the Shift key while dragging a corner resize handle.
To flip an object, drag a resize handle to the opposite side.

Reshaping objects
Objects that can be reshaped will include yellow handles. Drag the adjustment handle(s) to
change the appearance of your object.

Rotating objects
Drag the rotate (green) handle to rotate the object. Hold the Shift key while rotating to constrain
the rotation to 15 degree increments.

Right-click an object and select Rotate to rotate objects at 90 degree increments and flip them
horizontally or vertically.

To move, resize or rotate multiple objects at the same time, hold down the Shift key while you
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click each object. You can also drag your mouse in the drawing background to select multiple
shapes.

If you're in the process of manipulating an object and change your mind, you can cancel any
action by pressing the Esc key prior to releasing the mouse button.

See more details about keyboard modifiers.

Formatting your drawings

After inserting shapes, you can format them using the buttons in the toolbar. When you select a
shape, the Fill color, Line color, Line width, Dashes, and Line Segment endpoint buttons
appear.​
​

Here are some ways to format your drawings:

●​ Adjust the color of a shape: Click the Fill color button and choose the color
you'd like to use.​
​

●​ Increase or decrease transparency: Click the Fill color > Custom color and drag the
opacity selector at the far right of the menu. Dragging down increases an object's
transparency, while dragging up decreases transparency.​
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●​ Adjust the background color of your drawing: Change the Fill color without selecting an
object or right click in the canvas, select Background and choose your color. To
deselect objects, click in the background.​

●​ Change the color of a shape's border: Click the Line color button . You can also

change the thickness of a shape's border by clicking the Line width button .

●​ Modify the style of a shape's border: Click the Dashes button and select the style
of border you'd like. You can hide the border altogether by selecting Line Color and
making the border "Transparent."
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Using text in drawings

There are three ways to use text in your drawings:

Insert text boxes

1.​ Click the Text box button in the toolbar or select Insert > Text box.
2.​ Click in the canvas to create a default size text box, or drag the text box to resize it.
3.​ Type your text, press Enter, and the text appears in the text box. You can modify the text
by double-clicking the shape or by right-clicking and selecting Edit text....​
​

You can format text boxes like you would any other shape.

Add text within shapes

1.​ Double-click the shape, (you can also right-click it and select Edit text...
2.​ Type your text, press Enter, and the text appears in the shape. You can modify the text
by double-clicking the shape or by right-clicking and selecting Edit text....

Add word art

1.​ Click the Insert menu and then select Word Art.
2.​ Type your text and press Enter. Your word art will be added to the drawing canvas and
you can format it like you would any other shape.
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Formatting text in text boxes and shapes

When you select a text box or shape with text in it, the Bold, Italic, Text color, Align, and Font
size toolbar items appear. You can apply these styles to the entire text within the shape.

Formatting word art

When you select a word art shape, the Bold, Italic, and Font toolbar items appear. You can
apply these styles to the entire shape, as well as use the standard shape formatting options to
set fill and border styles.

Change the size of your shape by resizing it directly, and keep in mind that pressing Shift while
resizing will preserve the text’s aspect ratio.

Note: word art scales text as you resize, while text within shapes wraps without resizing as you
change the size of the shape.

Paint format tool

Google Drawings lets you copy the formatting you’ve applied to specific object to another object
using the Paint Format tool. If you’re familiar with the Paint Format tool in Google spreadsheets,
this works in a similar manner.

With the Paint Format tool, you can copy a shape or object’s background and line style. With a
text box, you can use the Paint Format tool to replicate the text formatting.

To paint a format to a specific shape, line, or text box, follow these steps:

1.​ Select the source object from which you’d like to copy the formatting.​
​

2.​ Next, select the Paint Format icon from the Drawings toolbar. After you’ve pressed the icon
button, your drawing will remain in Paint Format mode until you click the icon button again or
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finish copying over an object’s formatting.​

​

3.​ Last, select the target object, and notice the formatting adjust to match the source object.​
​

Using Drawings with Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations

Once you’ve created your drawing, and have edited and shared it with others, you might want to
insert it (embed it) in a Google document. Use the web clipboard to copy the whole drawing, or
any selection within the drawing, and paste it into your doc using the web clipboard.

The embedded drawing is a copy of the original, and both can be edited independently after
copying. So, if you need to make any minor changes to the drawing, you can edit it from within
the document, using the embedded version of Google drawings. Simply click first the drawing
and then the Edit link that appears. This version of Google drawings includes a more limited set
of features.

You can use Google drawings to enhance your presentations. You may want to design complete
slides within drawings and then use the web clipboard to paste them into your presentation
when they’re complete.

Once the drawing has been embedded, you can’t share that version as a separate doc.
However, you can use the web clipboard again to copy and paste the embedded version into a
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new drawing that you can share.

You can also create a new drawing from within an existing document, spreadsheet or
presentation by going to Insert > Drawing.