The flyer I'm working on is almost done; I've typed up everything I want to include about
the neighborhood block party.
The only thing missing?
Pictures!
Adding pictures is a great way to make your document more fun and interesting.
To get started, place your cursor roughly where you want the image to go.
Then click the Insert Image button on the toolbar.
I already know the picture I want to use first.
It's a graphic I have saved to my computer, so uploading it should be pretty easy.
Just make sure you're on the Upload tab, then click the button that says Choose an image
to upload.
Select the image you want… then click Open.
The image will appear in your document.
Now, if you find yourself in a situation where you'd like to add an image, but you don't
have anything suitable on your computer - good news.
Google Docs gives you several different ways to find and add images from other sources.
Let's take another look at the Insert Image dialog box.
Under the option that says By Url… you can add an image from the web by pasting the address
in this box.
Google Docs will show you a preview.
If you have any photos uploaded to your Google account, you'll find them under Your Albums.
You'll also find your Picasa albums here.
To view an album, just click the one you want.
You can even access images that have been uploaded to your Google Drive.
This includes files and folders that other people have shared with you.
You can navigate using the options in the left pane.
For the flyer I'm working on, though, I have a very specific picture in mind - something
we haven't seen yet.
So now we're going to move on to the last option: Search.
Here you can use Google Docs to find images on the web.
The resources you have access to include miscellaneous stock images… the Life Magazine photo archive…
and Google Images.
To search, just type what you're looking for in the box.
The idea behind this feature is that you're free to use any of the images you find here,
under something called a Creative Commons license.
That means you can add them to your documents, print them, modify them - whatever you want.
However, just to be safe, it's important to go to the source of the image, and check the
copyright license.
You want to make sure you're not breaking any rules - not even by mistake.
The same goes for images in the Life Magazine archive.
To learn more about an image, just click the one you want.
Then follow the link below.
This one is licensed for personal non-commercial use only - which means if I wanted to use
it on my flyer, that would be okay.
The exception to these rules are the images in the Stock gallery.
These are commercial-quality photos that have already been cleared for use.
So let's see…
I think this one looks good.
To insert an image, all you have to do is select it, then click the button near the
bottom of the window.
The last thing I'd like to show you is how to move and resize your image so it suits
your needs.
As you can see, this one's a little big for the flyer, and it's pushing the rest of the
text off the page.
To resize it, I'm just going to select the image… then click, hold & drag one of these
sizing handles.
To maintain the image's proportions, use the sizing handles in the corners.
Next I'm going to change the position of the image from "in line with text" to "fixed position."
This causes the text to wrap around the image, and also makes it much easier to move.
A few more adjustments, and…
I think we're done.
The right imagery can really make your document pop.
Whether you choose to use Google Images, stock photos, or your own photos & graphics, Google
Docs gives you so many ways to transform your work into something unique.