Hello!
Select "Image" and then hit "Export." Do not check "export all images," because it will just take every individual image in your PDF and save them as separate files. Make sure you know where you've saved your images.
In this transition to online teaching (is it fair to call it a transition if we've all been sort of haphazardly tossed into it?), I've had a lot of people asking me how they can continue to use resources that they have PDF copies of in their Google Classrooms.
Some have simply uploaded the PDFs and told their students to answer in a Google Doc (valid option), or to print and submit a picture (also valid), but yesterday I had a coworker ask me how to turn a PDF into a file that students could work with directly on Google Classroom.
I told her that I knew there was a way, but I wasn't sure how. Then, I practiced with it, and now I feel comfortable enough with the process to explain how I did it.
Just a little warning-- my process includes using the paid version of Adobe Acrobat, but I will explain a workaround if you do not have access to this program.
If you don't have the paid version of Adobe Acrobat, make sure you're aware of how to take a screenshot on your computer and that you know how to crop an image.
Converting a PDF to a Google Classroom assignment
The first step in this process is to convert your PDF from a PDF to a series of images.
Step one:
If you're using Adobe Acrobat, follow the following steps. Alternatively, you can just open your PDF and take screenshots of each page then skip to the section titled "Using Screenshots."
Using the premium version of Adobe Acrobat
Open your PDF with Adobe Acrobat, and then click on "Export PDF"
Using screenshots
Follow the linked instructions to take screenshots on a Mac (like I use) or on a Windows PC.
Make sure you save your screenshots somewhere where you can relocate them easily for the next steps
Once you have your PDF converted into images (either through Adobe Acrobat or taking screenshots), you need to open up Google Slides and create a new blank presentation.
On the new Slides presentation:
Once you hit "apply," it will take you back to your newly resized Google Slides presentation.
Now it's time to use our images that we saved at the beginning of this blog.
There are two ways to change the background of a Google Slides presentation. You can directly click the option that says "background," or you can right-click the blank document and click "background" on the pop-up menu that appears. Either way yields the same result.
Once you get the "Background" pop-up, you click "choose image" and (starting with the first page) insert the screenshot/image you saved at the beginning of this blog.
If your PDF is multiple pages, you will have to add new slides (ctrl + M) and do this for EACH SEPARATE IMAGE.
When you've found and uploaded your picture, click "done."
Now you've got the PDF worksheet set up so students won't accidentally move the image. Unfortunately, you have to do a couple more things to ensure that they can interact with the Google Slides presentation.
A clear textbox will create itself on your document.
Resize this textbox to be over the space you want students to be able to type on.
Repeat this step for as many text boxes as you need to create.
To speed things up, I simply copied and pasted my textboxes once I made the first one.
Make sure you save your screenshots somewhere where you can relocate them easily for the next steps
Turning a PDF into a Google Slides Presentation
On the new Slides presentation:
- Close out of the "Themes" window
- Click on "File" and then select "Page Setup"
Once you've selected "page setup," you need to make the size of the Google Slides presentation whatever size your PDF is.
Typically, PDF worksheets are set to be the same size as printer paper, so you'd put 8.5 x 11 inches.
If the PDF was presented as a landscape, it would be 11 x 8.5 inches.
Once you hit "apply," it will take you back to your newly resized Google Slides presentation.
There are two ways to change the background of a Google Slides presentation. You can directly click the option that says "background," or you can right-click the blank document and click "background" on the pop-up menu that appears. Either way yields the same result.
Once you get the "Background" pop-up, you click "choose image" and (starting with the first page) insert the screenshot/image you saved at the beginning of this blog.
If your PDF is multiple pages, you will have to add new slides (ctrl + M) and do this for EACH SEPARATE IMAGE.
When you've found and uploaded your picture, click "done."
Now you've got the PDF worksheet set up so students won't accidentally move the image. Unfortunately, you have to do a couple more things to ensure that they can interact with the Google Slides presentation.
- Click on the button to insert a textbox (circled on the screenshot) OR click "insert" and then "textbox" on the toolbar.
A clear textbox will create itself on your document.
Resize this textbox to be over the space you want students to be able to type on.
Repeat this step for as many text boxes as you need to create.
To speed things up, I simply copied and pasted my textboxes once I made the first one.
- Once I put text boxes over each spot that I wanted students to be able to interact with, I recolored the background of each textbox so that students could clearly see where I expected them to type.
- I did not do this in the screenshot, but I suggest including a note to your students that explains how you want them to interact with the Google Slides presentation. For example, mine here could tell students to "double click on each colored textbox to type the appropriate reply," or something along those lines. Basically, you want to leave no opportunity for students to say they did not see your instructions and the speaker notes section is a good place to reinforce what students should be doing.
- Don't forget to name your worksheet so it's easier to find when you are trying to attach the presentation to an assignment on Google Classroom.
And that's it! It looks like a lot, but once you've done this, you start finding shortcuts and it becomes easier with each subsequent worksheet that you convert.
I hope this helped clear things up and that this helps you to turn resources you've been using for years into Google-ified (I'm going to run with that as a word) assignments that your students can continue to work on in these uncertain times.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Until next time,
K. Hanlin
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