You can now add text or image watermarks to your documents in Google Docs. Watermarks will repeat on every page on your document, making it useful for indicating file status, such as “Confidential” or “Draft” before sharing more broadly, no matter the application you use. It's also a helpful tactic to protect your work from unauthorized duplication.
To insert a text watermark, open a Google Doc and navigate to Insert > Watermark. In the panel on the right, click Text and type in the text you want to appear in your watermark. For an image watermark, follow the same steps but select Image instead of Text. To remove your watermark, click Remove watermark at the bottom of the panel.
Additionally, when working with Microsoft Word documents, watermarks will be preserved when importing or exporting your files. Isn't that nice?
New Integrated View in Gmail
The new Gmail UI is slowly rolling-out to all Google users, and believe it or not, it isn't too terrible. When enabled, the new navigation menu on the left side of the window allows you to easily switch between your inbox, important conversations, and join meetings without having to switch between tabs or open a new window. Notification bubbles, although aesthetically intrusive, make it easy to stay on top of what immediately needs your attention. Also, when working in Chat and Spaces, you can view a full list of conversations and Spaces within a single screen, making it easier to navigate to and engage.
Once the new view is available for your Google account, you'll see a notification at the bottom right corner in Gmail asking if you would like to switch to the new view. At the moment, you can go back to the old view by going to Settings > Go back to the original Gmail view. You know, just in case you think a 70px wide column running down the entire left side of the Gmail UI just to display four Google service icons is a questionable design decision. Love you, Google.
Stay Safe Online
Earth and its inhabitants have never been in a better situation. Hence the reason we need to be extra careful when doing just about anything, especially when we're online. If I've spoken to you recently, you know that just beyond a pleasant greeting I probably talked about network security and being a "human firewall." It's so important right now, that most of my working hours are consumed by spreading the word of online safety.
Our ISO, Danny Fox, has provided the four steps featured in the image above as a general guideline for ensuring your safety online. In addition, I encourage all of you to review the additional information outlined in our 4 Simple Steps to Help You Stay Safe Online article.
If you think you or your department would benefit from a brief conversation about online safety, please let me know!