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Creating Symbol Overlay using Google apps

  • Updated

The best way to create a Symbol Overlay for your device, if you cannot access an iOS device, is to download the templates from our website. You will find these PDF, Boardmaker, and Illustrator formats for most products under the Downloads tab of each product's webpage.

If these options will do not work, we have an alternative recommendation to use free apps available from Google. Please note, you will need a free Google account, and access to both Google Drive and Google Drawings in order to follow this process. Here are the steps needed to create overlays with free Google apps; 

Convert AbleNet PDF into a Google Drawing file

  1. Download a PDF template for the AbleNet product website
  2. Add the PDF file to your Google Drive
  3. Double-click on the file to open it in a new window
  4. Click Open With, then select CloudConvert
  5. Convert the PDF file to Image > png
  6. Download or click Save Output to Google Drive

Setup Google Drawings:

  1. Open Google Drawings (in Google – search Google Drawings or type the address: docs.google.com/drawings/)
  2. Click File, then Page Setup
  3. Change Standard 4:3 to Custom 11 x 8.5 Inches, then click Apply
  4. Insert the PNG file you created from the previous steps
  5. Click Insert, click Image, then choose the location where you saved the file
  6. Change template to the correct size on the sheet
  7. Make sure you've selected the template
  8. Click on Format, Format Options, then Size & Positions
  9. Check the box for Lock Aspect Ratio
  10. Size: Width = 11 (Height will then change automatically)
  11. Position: From Center > x= 0in : y = 0in
  12. Create your overlay with your own images and text using the Insert action for each item
  13. Click File,  Download, then PDF when you are finished making changes and are ready to print the overlay

Print the Overlay

  1. Open the PDF file with a PDF-compatible application
  2. Set the scaling settings in the print dialog box to Actual Size. For this to work properly, it should not be set for Scale to Fit, as it may stretch or compress the images on the page when printed.
  3. Print the PDF file to your printer

 

Note: 

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