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Kelly's Tips

Layering Objects on Slides

Layering objects means controlling which objects are in which order on the slide, front to back. Layering can help you get the look of your slide just right.

To change the layer order of an object, right click on the object and choose "Order" from the list. This will allow you to choose to bring the item to the very front, send it to the very back, or just send it one layer backward or forward.

Grouping Objects on Slides

Grouping objects can come in really handy when you have multiple objects you'd like to move as one. This is especially helpful if you have things perfectly situated in relation to one another, but you need to move them all to a different location on a slide.

To group objects together:

Select all the items by holding down control (or command on Mac) and clicking on each item.
Right click on one of the items and choose "Group" from the menu.

Ann's Tips

Insert GIFs by URL

Adding a GIF (animated picture) to your slide gives it a little bit of fun and attitude. Who doesn't love a well placed GIF?!

Inserting a GIF into your slide is very easy!

Find a GIF you like (I like to use giphy.com).
Right click on the GIF and choose "Copy Image Address" from the menu.
On your slide, click "Insert" across the top and choose "Image". This will bring up a menu that allows you to choose "By URL".
Paste in your URL and click "Insert".

Masking GIFs into Shapes

Did you know you can change the shape of any image, including GIFs by using the Mask tool?

Turn this:

Into this:

It is very easy to mask an image or a Gif into a shape! Just click on the image or Gif you'd like to mask and then follow these three steps:

Click on the little downward arrow next to the crop tool on the tool bar across the top of the screen.
Click on any of the four shapes categories you see there.
Click on any of the shapes you see to mask your image/GIF into that shape.

Linking Slides

Linking slides together is very useful, especially in something like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" type story, or an interactive document where readers will be switching from slide to slide, but not necessarily in order.

To link an object (image, shape, text) on one slide to a different slide in the same slideshow, set up all the slides in your presentation and then follow these easy steps:

1. Select the object or text you'd like to link and click on the little chain link icon in the tool bar across the top of the screen.

2. Instead of pasting a URL into the box, click on "Slides in this presentation".

3. Choose the slide you'd like to link to and then click the blue "Apply" button.

That's it! Now, when in presentation mode, if someone clicks on your text or object, they will be taken to the slide you chose.

Cynthia's Tips

Change Slide Size

You can easily change your slide size to anything you need with just a few clicks!

1. Go to the "File" menu and select "Page Setup" from the list.

2. Click on "Widescreen 16:9" and then click "Custom".

Click on "Inches" to choose what unit of measurement you'd like to use. Set the length and width to whatever you need!

Grid View

You can easily switch between standard view and grid view by using the little toggle at the bottom left corner of your screen.

Change this:

To this!

You can also click on the "View" menu and select "Grid view" from the list.

Handy Add-ons

To get add-ons in Google Slides, click on the "Add-ons" menu and choose "Get add-ons" from the list.

Three add-ons I find extremely handy are:

"Icons by Noun Project" - allows you to get 100 free icons that look great and allow you to choose the color
"Unsplash Photos" - thousands of beautiful high resolution photos you can use for free without attribution
"Photo Slideshow" - takes all the photos in a Google Photos album or a Google Drive folder and puts one on each slide

To install an add-on, mouse over the add-on you'd like and click on the "free" button that shows up. It's that easy!

Spill the Beans...let's hear those confessions!

Owen Peery (@owenpeery)

Owen travels from classroom to classroom and often needs to give presentations. He doesn't want to be tied to his computer while he is presenting, but also needs to see his presenter notes.

De Mobo Slides Presentation Remote is a handy tool that will solve this problem! Download the De Mobo Slides app on your iPhone or Android phone and use it with the De Mobo Slides Chrome Extension or just the website, and you can control your slideshow from your computer.

Joe Young (@Jyoung1219)

Joe knows that you can insert a bookmark into a Google Doc and get a link to send someone to that specific spot in the document. He is wondering if you can do that in Slides as well.

The answer is YES! You can! It is actually easier in Slides because you don't have to insert a bookmark. When you are in edit mode, each slide has its own unique URL, so all you need to do is copy the URL for that slide and send it off to whoever you'd like. When they click on the link, they will be taken to that particular slide. Nifty, right?

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