Tech Tips

Need to compress your files?

| GSA Library

You may be asked to make sure that the files you submit to Canvas are less than 500MB. The instructions below describe how to compress your PDF and PPTX (PowerPoint) files.

Compressing PDF files

You can compress PDF files using Adobe Acrobat DC, which you have access to as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud package. To learn more about accessing the Adobe Creative Cloud package, please visit the student intranet. 

To compress your PDF file:

  1. Open your file in Adobe Acrobat DC
  2. Select File>Save as Other>Reduced File Size PDF…
  3. Choose the Adobe Version Compatibility you prefer, bearing in mind that the ‘Retain existing’ option is the most compatible file
  4. Select OK
  5. Choose where you want to save your compressed file
  6. Rename your compressed file so that you don’t overwrite the master file
  7. Select Save
Compressing your PDFs.gif

Compressing pictures in a PowerPoint presentation

If you are working in PowerPoint, you can reduce the file size of your presentation by compressing pictures within your file. Please note, these instructions only work on the desktop version of PowerPoint. Instructions for downloading the desktop version of PowerPoint can be found on the student intranet. 

To compress your pictures in your PowerPoint presentation:

  1. Save your presentation and give it a new file name so that your original file is preserved
  2. Select one of the pictures in your presentation
  3. Select Format>Compress pictures
  4. Choose whether you want to apply compression only to this picture or to all of the pictures in your file
  5. Choose whether you want to delete the cropped areas of pictures
  6. Choose the resolution you require bearing in mind that you may want to present high resolution images
  7. Save your file
Compressing pictures in a PowerPoint presentation.gif

Searching Planet eStream

| GSA Library

To help you get the most out of what’s available on Planet eStream, we thought we would give you some guidance on how to search for content.

You’ll find the search bar in the middle of the Planet eStream homepage after signing in.

This is where you can enter keywords to surface content. Why not try searching for climate justice to see how many results you get?

You can then sort the results using the order by button. Why not try date, so you can see the most recent content first?

Select Show Filters to see more ways to narrow down your results. Why not try looking for content <60 minutes or within a specific category, such as Sustainability?

You can also use the Subtitle search by selecting Tools (at the top of the page) and then subtitle search. This is a really good way to search for content that mentions artists or designers you are interested in. Try making a search for an artist you like to see how this works. You’ll see a preview clip of each time your search term is mentioned, which lets you check if the video is relevant.

You can also browse by visiting Categories and then taking a look at what you find. You mind find sub categories, playlists, or videos. Take a look at Sound, Music and Dance.

If you prefer you can watch a demo of the above information:

Making your PowerPoint Presentations Accessible

| GSA Library

You can use the accessibility checker in Microsoft Powerpoint to make your PowerPoint presentations more accessible.

To use the accessibility checker

  1. Select the Review tab
  2. Select Check accessibility
  3. Work your way through all of the errors and warnings in the accessibility report

It’s likely you will be asked to provide alt text for any images or objects in your presentation. You can leave this blank if the images or objects are decorative, but if the images or objects provide information, you should include this information in the alt text. 

Tech Tip

Take a look at the tech tip below to see a demonstration of the accessibility checker:

Setting up an MS Form as a Canvas Assignment

| GSA Library

You can embed forms into Canvas assigments to provide students with a due date for when they must complete the form by. You might do this if you want students to provide emergency contact details, for example.

How to embed a form into a Canvas Assignment

Before you embed your form into a Canvas assignment, you should design and create your form. Find out more about creating forms.

Once you’ve created your form,

  1. Select ‘collect responses’
  2. Select the embed option, which looks like an html tag
  3. Copy the embed code
  4. Visit your Canvas course and create a new assignment
    1. Title your assignment and provide a brief description in the RCE
    2. Select ‘Insert>Embed’ and then paste the embed code you copied
  5. Leave the assignment with 0 points
  6. Select ‘Ungraded assignment’
  7. Set the due date, available from date, and available until date 

Tech Tip: Embedding a form into a Canvas assignment

If you’d like to watch a demonstration of the above process, take a look at our video below.

Taking attendance

You can also use MS Forms to take attendance. Find out more here.

Finding your Calendar in the Canvas Student app

| GSA Library

Need help finding outout what’s on your schedule this week? We can help you find out by using the Canvas Student app, which makes it really easy to find out what is happening on the go.

To look at your Canvas Calendar on your mobile phone:

  1. Search for the Canvas Student app in your app store
  2. Log in using your GSA details (take a look at How do students access Canvas? for help)
  3. Select the Calendar icon from the menu
  4. Select today’s date to see what is happening today

Tech Tip

If you prefer, we’ve made a video demonstrating how this works:

Creating icons and Buttons in the Rich Content Editor

Student Intranet
| roliva1

You can use the Canvas Icon Maker to create icons and buttons in Canvas that link to other content, such as a Module or Page. These icons are more accessible than any images of text you may have used in the past, because they are in SVG format. SVG files do not get blurry when we zoom in or use Canvas on a phone.

  1. Start by opening the Rich Content Editor (RCE) and then select the Icon Maker 
  2. Enter a name for your icon and provide alt text: the alt text should be the same as the text you’re planning to use in your icon
  3. Start to edit the shape, size, and colour of your icon: until you give your icon a colour, you won’t see the icon in the preview. Use the Adobe Color Contrast Analyzer (Links to an external site.) to select an accessible colour pallette
  4. Add your text and edit the colour and position. 
  5. If you like, select an image: the single colour images may work better than the multi colour images
  6. Select Apply
  7. Optional: to link your icon to a module or page, select the icon and then select Insert>Link>External/Course Link

To see these instructions in more detail, take a look at How do I create an icon using the Rich Content Editor Icon Maker? 

Creating Icons and Buttons in the Rich Content Editor Tech Tip

If you’d prefer to watch a video tutorial, take a look at the video below: