Have you ever come across an old worksheet and loved the way it covers a skill only to think you want this to be an interactive learning experience for your students – not a pencil and paper task? Teachers often encounter this challenge when combining old PDFs to find practice exercises. This post provides a step-by-step guide for how to take PDFs and change them interactive for Google Slides. Better yet, you will not have to purchase expensive programs. These steps use simple tools and techniques that are accessible to all educators. Keep reading to learn how to make PDFs interactive for learning.
Step 1 – Setting Up Google Slides for Interactive PDFs for Learning
Start by opening a new Google Slides presentation. Close the Themes window and delete the text boxes. You now have a blank slide ready for your project.
Adjust the slide size to match a standard piece of paper. (8.5 by 11 inches for portrait or 11 by 8.5 for landscape).
To do this:
- Go to File > Page Setup.
- Select Custom and input the dimensions.
Now, your blank page is the correct size.
Step 2 – Open Your PDF File
Next, select the page you want to convert into an interactive slide. Open the PDF on your computer. Make sure the whole page is visible on your screen. You may need to adjust the view setting to “Fit Page.” You can also change the percentage of the PDF file to a smaller size so you can see the entire page on the screen.
Step 3 – Capturing the PDF Page
Instead of relying solely on the Windows Snipping Tool, which has been replaced with Snip & Sketch on newer versions of Windows, you can also use built-in screen capture tools on Mac or online PDF editors for higher resolution. Here’s how to capture your page:
- On Windows:
- Open Snip & Sketch by going to the Start Menu.
- Select New and draw a rectangle around the page you want to capture.
- On Mac:
- Use the shortcut Command + Shift + 4 to capture a selected area.
Another option is to use free online tools like Smallpdf or PDF Candy to split the document into individual pages.
Step 4 – Adding the PDF Image to Google Slides
Insert the captured page image into your Google Slides:
- Go to Slide > Change Background.
- Select Choose Image and upload your saved screenshot or extracted page.
- Click Done.
By setting the image as the background, students won’t accidentally move it while interacting with the slide.
Step 5 – Making the Slide Interactive
You have several ways to make the page interactive for students. Here are two options you can try:
Option 1 – Using Text Boxes
Draw text boxes over the areas where students need to type answers. Change the color of the text boxes to a light color so students can easily find them. You can place a message in the text box, such as “Type here.” or add a “?” so students will know this is where they need to type. The advantage of adding even a simple question mark is that you can adjust the font style, size, and color for students so what they type is readable.
Option 2 – Using Tables
For multiple-choice questions or structured inputs, overlay a table on the slide:
- Go to Insert > Table and choose the number of rows and columns.
- Drag the lines to align the table with the questions on the page.
- Adjust the table’s font style, size, and color for clarity. You can place a message in the table’s first cell that says, “This is a table. You can type in each box,” so students will understand the page’s layout.
Step 6 – Sharing Securely
To protect copyrighted material, always share your interactive slides in secure locations such as Google Classroom, email, or a password-protected website. Avoid uploading materials to public platforms where unauthorized downloads could occur.
Additional Resources
If you are ready to dig deeper into this process, you can find tools online that have features to help. Tools like Kami provide advanced options for making PDFs interactive. With Kami, you can annotate directly on PDFs, enable student submissions, and even grade assignments. Check it out here.
With these simple steps, you can transform your existing PDF resources into interactive PDFs for learning for in-person and online learning environments,
1 comment
Thank you so much. This was so helpful…I have been trying to find a simple way to change my PDF files so that my students could write on them. I can’t thank you enough for sharing this.