- The office automation system developed by Google allows us to insert PDF files into text documents. We can even choose whether to do it as links or as images as needed.
- To do so, we will have to use Google Drive and, probably, some format conversion. Once you get used to it, adding PDFs to your Google Docs will be easy
Google Docs is one of the main office automation alternatives to Office. There are many users who have decided to give this platform a chance to avoid having to pay for the classic Microsoft service. This means that it will take a while to master them. So, learning how to insert a PDF into Google Docs, either as a link or as an image, will increase your ability to customize documents and presentations.
The first thing you have to keep in mind is that, when you upload your PDF to Google Drive, you will have the possibility to get a link and add the file to your text documentchoosing yes as icon or as image.
Next, we show you all the steps you must follow in this type of situation.
Insert a PDF into Google Docs step by step
Upload the PDF to Google Drive
The first part of this procedure consists, then, in uploading the PDF to Google Drive to manipulate it. You may not be familiar with this trick, so you have to do it like this:
- Sign in to Google Drive with your Google user credentials
- Click the New button at the top left, and Upload File
- Select the PDF in question from your PC and click on Upload, until it is ready
- It should show up in My Drive or Recents. Right click, and Get Link
- With the link already copied, click Done to close the window
One suggestion we make in this regard is that you should check who has access to that linkin order to prevent people outside the project or conversation from checking the PDF.
Insert the PDF as a link in Google Docs
Once you have the link copied, you must navigate to Google Docs to continue with the tutorial.
- Open the Google Docs document and go to the exact point where you want to insert the PDF
- Right click and click Paste, or go to Edit, Paste in the menu
- When the link appears in your document, you can change the icon of it
We could say that this is the easiest and fastest way for a third party or ourselves to view the PDF. All you have to do is click on it to open it in a new browser tab.
You can also make the link show as a link and not as an icon, pasting it and immediately pressing Enter or Return, to transform the static text into a link. But it doesn’t look as good aesthetically.
Insert the PDF as an image in Google Docs
On the other hand, we cannot rule out that you want to display the PDF as if it were an image, and not an icon or link. Since you cannot insert the PDF into your Google Docs document in that format, you will have to convert it to an image first, and only then include it within the word processor.
There are several tricks to convert a PDF into a JPG image, both on MacOS and Windows. Our recommendation, however, is that you use online converters, such as CloudConvert,
As always, on that page you will have to select the PDF, and choose as output format JPG or PNG. You can also modify other characteristics, such as width, height and pixel density. Considering all these aspects, the only thing left to do is click on Convert.
With the PDF converted into an image, and with the image downloaded, in ZIP, JPG or PNG format, you can continue. Remember that if you want to include the complete PDF, you will have to include the image of each page.
- Open the Google Docs document and go to the exact point where you want to insert the image(s)
- Go to Insert, image, and Upload from computer, uploading the image(s)
- They will appear one after the other, and you can leave them or tweak them
In summary, inserting a PDF into a Google Docs text document takes a few minutes, but it’s worth it if that PDF is beneficial, or even necessary, for you and your readers. For example, in formal presentations.
