Tech Tip of the Week – Share Links to PDF Versions of Your Files

If you’re working in Google Docs or Google Sheets, there’s no need to convert your files to PDFs every time you want to share them. Instead, send a link to a PDF version of your file. By doing so, you won’t have to re-share or update links when the source file is changed – it’ll automatically update! Additionally, sending links helps save email storage space and pesky attachment size limits.

Instructions:
In Drive, select your document.
Click Share.
Click Copy link and click Done.
After you paste the link, change the end of the URL before sending it.

For example:
Before: http://docs.google.com/document/d/12345678/edit?usp=sharing.
After: http://docs.google.com/document/d/12345678/export?format=pdf.

Send the modified PDF link.
When you click the link, you (or anyone else) can download a PDF copy of your document.
Note: If your shared document is large, it may take a little time to download.

OWU Sponsoring Organization/Office: Information Services.
Contact: David Soliday at helpdesk@owu.edu.