Insert and Crop Images in SlidesYearbook

SlidesYearbook is a Google Innovator project where students are the designers of their memory books. Why pay an expensive yearbook company when students have free apps like Google Slides?

To learn more about SlidesYearbook, please visit slidesyearbook.com. In this post, I will explain how to insert and crop images.

This yearbook project has two options for sharing images. I like to use a shared folder in Google Drive. The other option is to use Google Photos.

With a shared folder in My Drive I have more security and privacy options. Student privacy is very important to me. I can prevent editors changing access permissions and adding new people.


With Google Photos, I have the opportunity to edit the photo. I can use color filters, basic settings, and crop. Students can take pictures with their phone, upload them to Google Photos and share them with few problems. What I do not like about Google Photo is the lack of security and privacy. My hope is that this project makes Google Photo school-safe.


Whichever method you choose to use to store and share photos, it is important to place the link where students can easily access them. One way to do this is add the link to the Yearbook assignment in Google Classroom.



First I will explain how to change the layout to blank and how the teacher finds the photo folder in My Drive.

In Google Slides, I select the Slide menu and I look for Apply layout. This will switch the layout to blank slide and create a blank canvas.

Next I click on Insert and  Image. I see six options, one of which is Google Drive. I click on the folder, choose the desired photo, and press Select.


For the students, the process is slightly different. In Google Classroom, it is imperative that students first open the shared folder. Simply opening the folder once will share the folder with the students. The students can now  access the folder when they select Insert -> Image -> Google Drive -> Shared with me -> photo -> Select.



If the teacher does not use Google Classroom, the folder needs to be manually shared with the students. In other words, click on the folder to Share and type each student’s name.

If the photo is too big, I can crop it. Remember wherever there is a triangle, there are more options. Cropping photos as rectangles is a bit boring. Google Slides offers multiple ways to crop - shapes, arrows, calls and even equations. I like the oval and round rectangle.



This project was part of the December 2016 Google Innovator Academy in Mexico City. For more information, please visit SlidesYearbook.com.


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