Making use of Google Docs

Google Docs can be used to share and create documents but some other features open up the service to a much wider use.

Google Docs is now built into file storage service Google Drive which is where you can create, share and keep all your files.

With Drive you can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs and PDFs from all of your devices.

The storage limit for Drive is 5GB, although you can pay to add more. Here are some less well known features that may enhance how you use Google Drive:

Google allows viewing and editing of Google Docs offline. Without being connected to the Internet, you can create new documents, make edits to existing ones, and view and leave comments.

To enable and access offline editing, you’ll need to use the latest versions of Chrome or Chrome OS.

Go to drive.google.com in your Chrome browser and click ‘More; on the left-hand side of the screen. Then select ‘Offline.’ Click the blue button that says ‘Get the app.’ You’ll be taken to the Chrome web store. Click Add to Chrome in the upper-right corner of the browser window.

Once the app is installed, you’ll be taken to a Chrome page with the Google Drive app icon. To return to Drive, click the Google Drive icon.

Once you have set up online editing you will be able to click on and edit any of your existing documents or create new ones without a network connection, and any changes you make will sync when you re-connect.

Google Draw

By selecting ‘Draw’ from the Drive ‘Create’ menu, you can create, share, and edit drawings online.

This allows you to edit drawings online and invite others to view your edits.

You can publish the drawings online as images, or download them in standard formats, for example as PDFs and JPEG images.

Google Draw also allows you to insert text, shapes, arrows, scribbles, and images from your hard drive or from the Web.

Drawings can be inserted into other Google documents, spreadsheets, or presentations using the web clipboard.

Research Pane

The research pane taps into Google Search directly from Google documents. You can access the research pane from the Tools menu by highlighting the selected word that you want to learn more about, or by right clicking on the word.

Revision history

Both Google Docs and Spreadsheets offer the option to keep track of changes that have been made over the course of a document’s or spreadsheet’s lifespan.

It is in the File menu, under ‘See Revision history’. (You can also access it with the Ctrl + Alt _Shift + G shorcut) and you can click on each individual revision. You can even restore a previous version of the file with one click.

As well as using the generic Google search, you can also search for quotes and images related to your chosen word. You can search for a definition of it through the dictionary and you can search for it in Google Scholar.

If it is appropriate Google will also automatically add a footnote citation so there is a record of where the information was found.

Share images and print them

Google Drive lets you share an image without having to attach it to an email. Just click the blue ‘Share’ from an image in your Drive and select your recipients. No uploading or downloading needed.

You can also print those images using any cloud-ready printer.

Scan receipts

If you have the Google Drive app for Android or iPhone, you can click “Scan” from the Add New menu, take a photo of the document, and Drive will turn the document into a PDF that can be store.

Drive can recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology so a search will retrieve the scanned document later.

Sharing files

Anyone, even if they don’t have a Google account can sign in and edit something that you have created.

You can pick a visibility option for each item in your Google Drive that you want to share and an access level for each person or group of people that you’ve shared something with.

Click File, then ‘share’ for the sharing settings menu.

Translate

You can translate the entire document into one of 64 languages. Go to the Tools menu, and select Translate document.Type in the name of the new document, select the language into which you’d like to translate the document, and press OK. A translated copy of your document will be created.

Equation

You can insert a mathmatical equation into your document. Click the Insert drop-down menu and select Equation. Then select the mathematical symbol you want to add.

Punch