Google Docs, also known as Google Documents, is one of the most comprehensive Office alternatives currently on the market. The reason stems from the possibilities that the word processor offers us when editing documents. Most of the program's functions are related to the text. And it is that beyond the conventional options to format the text (bold, underlined, italics ...), Google Docs allows us to play with the text at will. Rotate the text, put an image behind the text, put the text vertically ... The options in this aspect are numerous. For this same reason we have compiled several Google Docs text tricks to get the most out of the application.
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How to insert a text box in Google Docs
Today the Google application does not allow you to insert a text box to use. But there is a way to insert a small box with text. For this we will have to go to the Insert function in the top menu. Then we will select the Drawing option and finally New . Now the application will show us a window similar to the one we can see in the image below:
To insert a text box we will have to click on the corresponding icon. Next, we will mark the area of the box with the mouse cursor itself . Once defined, we can add text and format it to our liking.
How to put text over image in Google Docs
Something similar to text boxes happens with this option. In this case we will have to resort again to the Drawing option, in Insert. To add an image to the contextual menu, click on the Image icon in the upper menu bar . After selecting the image that we want to insert into the document, we will have to create a text box to place it just above the image that we have previously inserted.
Now we will only have to modify the text and the image to our liking, as we can see in the upper capture. Of course, to edit the text superimposed on the image we will have to resort again to the Insert option .
How to rotate text in Google Docs
Unfortunately, text rotation is not allowed in Google's office suite. To rotate a text in a document we will have to resort once more to the text boxes of the Drawing option.
Once we have created the text box, the application will allow us to rotate it to our liking by clicking on the central point that will appear on the virtual box . We can rotate and even resize it with total freedom as long as it does not exceed the limits of the Google Docs sheet itself.
How to put text vertically in Google Docs
To format the Google Docs text vertically, we will have to use the text boxes one after the other. The key at this point is to reduce the width of the box enough to force the text to display vertically . Depending on the number of characters in the text and the size of the font, we will have to reduce the width to a greater or lesser extent, as we can see in the screenshot.
Another option if we do not want to resort to the text boxes can be to reduce the indentation of the text that we want to put vertically and make line breaks for each letter , although it is not recommended if the text has too many characters.
How to put a strikethrough text in Google Docs
The strikethrough of text in Google Docs has been present in the application since the first web versions. The problem is that this option is hidden both in the web interface and in the application for Android and iOS . To cross out a text in Google Documents we will have to select the text in question and apply the following key combination:
- macOS and Linux : Command + Shift + X
- Windows : Alt + Shift + 5
How to paste plain text into Google Docs
If we paste a text from a source other than Google Docs, it will most likely contain the same format as the original source. To paste a plain text we can resort to two options, paste the plain text directly into the document or delete the text format of an already pasted text, as we can see in the screenshot below.
Both options are accessible from the contextual menu of Google Docs if we right click on an empty part of the document . To completely eliminate the format of a text we will have to select it previously.
How to go from text to speech in Google Docs
We went from text format to converting text to speech. By default, the application does not have its own reading function . To read a text written in Google Docs we will have to resort yes or yes to a third-party extension.
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The best extension in this regard is Speakd . We can download it for free from the developer's own website. We can also use Speak It , an extension that we can download from the Google Chrome store. Both are compatible with English and Spanish. In Speak It we can also configure the gender and volume of the voice, as well as the reading speed and the pauses between sentences.
- Download Speak It
- Download Speakd
How to go from speech to text in Google Docs
If we want to carry out the opposite process, that is, pass a text out loud in Google Docs, we can resort to the Dictation function of the application itself. The only requirement is to have Google Chrome as the main browser .
To use this tool, click on the Tools menu on the top bar of the application. Then, we will select the option of Voice dictation and we will grant the pertinent permissions to activate the voice recording. It is advisable to do a slow and paused reading so that the voice-to-text conversion is as faithful as possible to the original dictation.