Some Tips & Tricks
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Adding an image through uploading or copy+paste.
- Always click on the images inside the template and use the “Replace Image” function. All six versions of replacement are safe, though uploading or URL are the most commonly used.
Changing the size/orientation of the page.
- I might use different page types when making my templates, though I typically use A4. Nonetheless, each design fits only on that specific dimension. Unless you’re prepared to do everything by hand yourself, it needs to remain as the paper size (i.e., A4, letter, etc) that you received it as.
Changing the margins.
- Similar to the sizes, many elements are placed in harmony with the margins of the page. Changing these around will likely cause other elements to shift. This is not as template-breaking as the one above, but be mindful of it and use it sparingly.
Deleting “page breaks” or “sections.”
- Google Docs has a feature called “sections” which essentially allows you to do different format types across different pages. If you go to “View” in the main menu and toggle on “Show non-printing characters”, you might notice that many of my documents have something that goes either “Section Break (Continuous)” or “Section Break (Next Page)”. This ensures that formatting on one area does not change another. However, if you accidentally delete the section break division, the formatting of the latter section will merge with the formatting of the former, which can lead to “disaster.”
Exceeding text allowances.
- Pages and tables are made with certain text limits in mind. That is why my templates include Lorem Ipsum placeholders, to give you an idea of how much text will be able to fit there. If you exceed the recommended text size of a particular area, it may break the formatting of the whole page.
- So what do you do when you just have to have more text in an area? There are a few solutions. Sometimes, changing the size of images and adjusting margins accordingly can give you some space. Other times, linking to another section is safe and easy. You can also see if other design elements on the page are optional to you. Perhaps you can delete a few lines in another section to “gain them back” for the area you expanded in. You can always duplicate pages to have more space in general. And of course, you can design your own additional pages instead of using any of my exact designs again. Wherever the wind takes you! But it’s true that the only 100% safe option is to simply not exceed the text limits.
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One of my favorite features of all time is so hidden, and I don’t know why! If you highlight any text that is all the same format, right click, scroll all the to the bottom, click on “View more actions” then you can find the life-saving button: “Select all matching text.” And yes, then anything matching that formatting in the document will become selected. This allows you to change the color, font, size, etc. of all text at once.
I toggle viewing “Show non-printing characters” on and off all the time when editing a document because it helps me see where I’ve accidentally put an enter or other thing I didn’t mean to. I will also similarly toggle text box borders “on” (by making them at least 1px) and “off” (aka 0px) in order to keep track of all the formatting.
If you want (parts of) your document to look sleek and uniform, then I highly recommend using these tools:
- Image options -> position: to have your images on the right X and Y axes.
- Image options -> size and rotation: quite self-explanatory lol but good to ensure some images are the same size if you need them to be
- Table options -> table: using the alignment and indent options is a lifesaver!
- Table options -> column: to have uniform columns without having to worry about the stupid ruler
- Table options -> row: to have uniform rows without having to worry about the stupid ruler…again lol
- Just play about in the image/table options in general to see if these features enhance your work!
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I don't exactly have any good advice about editing from a mobile app because I never do it, but here are some small things I've picked up.
- If you're on a mobile device app, click the top right's three dots. Then "flip the switch" for "Print Layout." This will allow you to view any template nicely from the app. (Sadly, if someone used the gdocs editing features on an image, they will not show up for you even with this print layout function turned on, so some docs may still be inaccessible visually. See my next point.)
- Even though Google Docs has these nice options to change the colors, opacity, brightness, and contrast of images, I recommend not using them. Unfortunately, they don't show up on mobile apps at all. So this could make your document unreadable. I recommend making edits outside of gdocs or within Drawings functions. They do maintain their edits if they're Drawings instead of images.
- For some reason, various fonts change size between a desktop version and mobile app. I often check how "drastic" this will be while making the template and change to a different font if it's acting extremely varied. Otherwise, check what happens if you bold/unbold text.
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Coming soon!
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- Avoid copy-pasting images directly into the document, as this may disrupt the formatting. Always use the "Replace Image" function instead.
- In my work, visuals are often added as Google "Drawings". If you click on an image, you can tell if it's a regular photo or a Drawing because a Drawing has a little bar pop up across the bottom of the selection that has an "✎ Edit " button in the bottom left.
- Drawings are completely editable (even more so than images!) once you open the Drawings Editing Window. You either click that "✎ Edit" button or double-click the Drawing image (when you already have it selected). I recommend the button because sometimes that double-tap glitches. Nonetheless, either of these actions will open the Drawing Editing Window. This will allow you to replace photos and change colors of shapes like you would normally.
- Oftentimes in my newer templates, I put the Drawings in headers because then they aren't in your way when editing text. (This makes the text easier to edit in mobile apps, although Drawings themselves can only be edited on desktops/laptops.) To access the header, double-click at the top of the page first. Then click on the background Drawing once, which will allow you to then open the Drawing for editing!
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A general guide for editing is included with all purchases automatically. This may contain some helpful information for immediate support.
If there is any problem with your purchase or you have encountered an issue with customizing a product, please use my contact form, Tumblr, or Discord to reach out to me or the email provided in your purchase receipt. I will get back to you as soon as possible.