Thanks to Google Docs you can open, view and edit documents from your browser, connected to the internet. Nothing to install programs on your computer. Yes, instead, on your mobile devices. And the best of all is that is free and includes free space to save your documents and files in general.
With Google Documents you can do everything, without envying Microsoft Word: numbered lists, insert images, create tables, set margins, add a watermark, insert a form, make an index …
Many of the tasks you can do with Google Docs are visible. Others, on the other hand, are seen little. Or you may not have noticed them and they save your day by improving your document or making it more professional. We propose three examples to make your Google Documents look better.
Create an index of a document
A classic of office automation is the index. With it we can order a long document and know which page each content is on. The point is that any office automation tool worth its salt must be able to automatically create an index for a document.
The automatic index for Google Docs will save you time and improve the appearance of your multi-page documents. In addition, it is very easy to create it and you can edit it if something does not add up.
With the document open, click the place where you want to insert the index. It is usually after the cover, although you can also place it at the end of the document. Then click on Insert> Index . You just have to choose a format from those suggested by Google Docs. The first is the classical index numbered. The second links to the titles so that you can move faster within the document.
If you don't like the result, you can right click on it and click on Delete index . If you make any changes to the titles that are part of the index, the changes will be seen in the index after you update the document.
Insert a watermark with Google Docs
The watermark is an image or text that appears in the middle of a photograph, video or document . Its purpose is to highlight the authorship of a certain company, brand or person. Thus, if someone spreads that content, the author will appear anyway.
Officially, Google Docs does not have a watermark feature, but if you think about it, the watermark is still an image or text . And in Google Docs you can easily insert images and text.
From the menu Insert we go to Image . There are several options to choose from, although in this case you probably have your own image, a logo to insert. Once the image has been added to the document, in Text adjustment we mark the option Behind the text . In Settings you can adjust the transparency so that the image does not prevent reading the text. Regarding the size and position of the image, you can do it by hand or go to Position , within Image options . There, for example, you should mark the option Fixed position on the page .
If instead of an image you prefer to add a watermark in the form of text, you will have to do the same. But for this you will have to go to Insert> Drawing and then click on Text Box . With this option you can write a word or phrase, give it a size, font, font color and background color.
Make sure they are soft colors so as not to impede the reading of the main text of the document. Note that when inserting a drawing in the original Google Docs document you will not be able to edit the transparency . You can also rotate the text so that the watermark is displayed from corner to corner, diagonally.
Once you have finished the drawing, click on Save and close and it will appear in the original document. There you can place it where you want, change its size and fix it independently of the text.
To prevent someone from removing the watermark, you have several options. The most obvious, print the document or distribute it in PDF format. Another possibility is to make it easier for others to see the document but not edit it .
Make a form or survey
Technically, Google Docs does not allow you to do a form or survey. But if you open the list of tools associated with Google Documents, one of the most recent is called precisely Google Forms or Google Forms in English.
With this tool you can create in minutes a form, survey or any type of document with which you want to ask someone something and manage the responses. You can use it with your friends, family, co-workers, clients, classmates, students …
As with Google Docs, you can start from scratch or go to the help of one of the available templates. This way it will be easier for you to know everything you can do. For example, you have different types of questions to get concrete answers. Short answer, paragraph, several options …
You can also put a time limit so that whoever receives the form responds as soon as possible. For the rest, the form that you create with this tool supports, in addition to text, images and YouTube videos.
