Lately, my favorite tool in Google Drive is Google Drawing. Google Drawing is often overlooked with so many great features and possibilities. So far, everything I’ve learned has been the hard way only to discover a much more efficient method later. In an effort to spare others from a similar learning experience and share the Google Drawing love, this is the first of what I hope is many tips and tricks.

Need to duplicate an object? Do you consider yourself efficient because you use Control+C and Control+V to copy and paste items? I did. The problem with cut and paste is that it uses an extra set of keystrokes and you still need to drag the object to its desired location. Or perhaps you’re using Control+D to duplicate? This keyboard shortcut eliminates the extra keystroke of pasting the item but you’re still = left dragging the object to it’s desired location. What if you could do this in a single step? You can. Here’s the simple solution.

1. Select object you desire to duplicate
2. Press the Control button (PC) or Option (Mac)
3. Drag a duplicate of your object to its desired location and release

Your Google Drawing Object is now in its desired location and you have saved some time and frustration. I find this option much more fluid and it’s easier for kids to use and remember.