An Encore? Why?
As part of my summer, I took some time to learn a little more. Part of my learning involved a "critique" of my tip of the week. One of the VERY valid concerns was the frequency of the tips. Hearing that people were feeling overwhelmed by the frequency, I decided to cut back a bit. So, expect to a see a "new" tip every other week and a "reminder/encore" on the opposite weeks. Last week was new so this week is a reminder.
Many teachers have created documents and files in programs like Pages, Keynote, Word, Powerpoint, Excel, etc. I was recently asked if there is a way to "convert" these files to use with Google.
YES!
In this post I will walk you through turning your non-google file into a Document, Presentation, or Spreadsheet. I'll also show you how to turn on (or off) the new Drive and set your uploads to convert automatically.
If you are working
with Pages, Keynote, or Numbers '09 you will start by converting to Word, PowerPoint, or Excel.
If you are working with Word, PowerPoint, or Excel skip down to the Uploading Files & Automated Conversion section below.
Converting iWork Files (Pages, Keynote, Numbers)
Pages, Keynote, or Numbers '09
In order to use these files we need to start in Pages, Keynote, or Numbers. So...
Open Pages, Keynote, or Numbers.
Open the file you want to convert.
In the main menu select File and Save as...
If needed, click the arrow button to expand the save window.
Check the box at the bottom of the window to Save a copy as: Word Document (or PowerPoint or Excel)
Click the Save button.
(Repeat with as
many files as you choose to convert.)
Uploading Files & Automated Conversion
The next step is the same for uploading Word, PowerPoint, or Excel files. So...
Open your Chrome browser.
Go to //drive.google.com and login (if you need to).
Under the settings button click on Settings.
Here we can choose to have files convert to Google Docs as they upload or leave them alone. The conversion works with MS Office files (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
If you check the box your files will be automatically converted to the new format (Google editable). If you leave the box unchecked your files will upload and remain "untouched" - you can preview, print, download, and share them, but you won't be able to do any editing online.
**I prefer to convert the files on upload (saves a later step), so I will check the box. If you prefer to leave the files unconverted, you can still edit them, but Google will need to make a copy for you to edit - the original remains untouched. I like to have the document uploaded and converted so I only have a single copy.
After you make your decision click the Done button in the upper right corner of the window.
You can always change your mind about this.
Finishing up...
Navigate to the folder where you would like to store the file. (To create a new folder click the New button.)
Click the red New button on the left side of the page.
Select File upload from the list.
Next select the file or files you would like to upload. You can select a single file or multiple files to upload.
Google will upload the file and add it to your Drive.
*Notice I have one copy of the original - with the green X icon - and one converted document - green icon with a table. I intentionally uploaded once without converting and once with conversion to demonstrate the process. You will only get one file - either converted or original.
If you turned on the Convert Uploads choice you will be able to double click on the uploaded document and begin editing (if it was a Word,
PowerPoint, or Excel file).
If you chose not to convert the file double-clicking will open a preview of the file (if it is a supported file format) and allow you to view, print, download, or share the file. In the image below I have an unconverted Excel document, so the Open with... option offers Google Sheets as a choice.
Selecting this will create a copy of the file and open it in an editable Google document.
But if you have a lot of files to convert...
- We have tools available to convert Pages, Numbers, and Keynote files to MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files that can be uploaded and converted to Google files. When you convert the files, you are going to see some issues. The directions for use is similar for all three file types.
- Download the file for converting Pages, Numbers, or Keynote. (Below these directions.)
- Unzip the file so you have something that looks like this:
- Close any open windows you may have on your screen. If you have Pages, Numbers, or Keynote open, quit those programs as well.
- Open the file by right-clicking or control-clicking on the file and choosing Open. Simply double-clicking the file will not allow you to open it on some versions of Mac OS.
- As the prompt at the top of the window states, select the folder containing the files you wish to convert.
- Click the Choose button in the lower right corner of the selection window.
- Wait. The program will open the files in Pages, Numbers, or Keynote and do the conversion - you may notice the documents flashing up on the screen in front of you.
- When the process is complete you will either see a window pop open to tell you that it is finished and where the files are located, or you may just see finder bouncing on the dock. If you click on the bouncing finder icon you will see the pop-up window. The window automatically closes after 15 seconds.
- You will find your files in a folder inside the location you chose to convert. For example, if I chose a folder called "Mike's Pages Docs" I would look in that folder and find a new folder called WordDocs. Inside the WordDocs folder I would find my converted files.
- The files are available at these links (NOTE THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THIS FILE):
- 10.7 - Keynote - //docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B0vCSQ-q2GqzeHVFWGhXS1UxemZfMnhXTURwUjduemRFb2Yw
10.7 - Pages - //docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B0vCSQ-q2GqzTEpSZy12b0VVbWg2bV9iNzBxSUpLa0k0X2xz
10.7 - Numbers - //docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B0vCSQ-q2GqzNWcyWldvNksxQlBlWVc3bzlEYUkwNm9jR05R
(FOR OS X 10.8+)
10.8+ - Keynote - //docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B0vCSQ-q2GqzTGxzMXRrUGZRdXM
10.8+ - Pages - //docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B0vCSQ-q2GqzdzFMeFpIdThhRms
10.8+ - Numbers - //docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B0vCSQ-q2GqzamwxU2Y4ZHlJeWM