Embed an image in your Google Apps signature using Google Drive

A recent update to Google Drive has broken this method of inserting images. To see updated instructions, click here.

If you're used to Outlook or other traditional mail clients, Google Apps' signature can be a little confounding at first blush. Inserting an image looks like it should be as easy as clicking a button and choosing the image you'd like. However, if you click the insert image button, what you'll see instead is this:

Now you're stuck unless you use third-party image hosters like imgur, ImageShack, or Photobucket. While these products work just fine for general hosting, they might be blocked by corporate firewalls, or cause a host of other problems. But are you really stuck?

As is usually the case when Google goes against the grain, there's a reason why they've chosen this route rather than the "traditional" route of attaching an image file to each email you send. The first is the obvious one--it saves you from actually having a file attachment on each message you send, which reduces e-mail message sizes. Secondly, and more importantly, it helps you avoid having your messages sent to spam. Many mail servers look for images attached to messages as a sort of "flag" that the message might be spam.

Luckily, if you use Google Apps for Business (or, indeed, a free Gmail account), you have the Google Drive cloud storage application to help you out. First, find the image you'd like to use in your signature and upload it to your Drive. Next, ensure that the image is shared publicly (with view-only rights, not edit rights), so that anyone you send emails to will be able to see the image without having to be signed into a Google Account.

Once you click "Save", you should be taken back to the initial sharing dialogue box, which will show you who the file is currently shared with along with the URL to access it in a text box along the top. What we need here is the File ID, which is the two-part string of characters in between /d/ and /edit, as seen below:

Now, we need to trick Google Drive into thinking we're exporting the image, so that we can access it outside of the standard Google Drive image viewer. To do so, we'll use this URL: http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=<FileID>. Here, we replace <FileID> with the text highlighted in red above. So we'll use http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0B_T9jgOMjQ5lN2Z4UWhpZGRTM1E. To test if you've got the right image, simply copy and paste your URL into your browser's address bar and hit enter. If you see only the image show up, then you've done it correctly, and can use this URL to insert an image into your signature.

Go back to your signature editor, click the Insert Image button, and paste in the URL we generated a moment ago. If you see the image load in a preview just below the URL box (it might take a few seconds if it's a large image), then you've got the right URL. Click OK, and you're done! That image will now be linked in your signature, won't take up extra space, and shouldn't trigger spam filters.

All this work saves you from having an attachment on every message you send, which certain spam filters don't like, and will allow you to quickly and easily change your signature's image, as long as you use the "export" URL listed above.

Chrome web browser print preview problem, and why you need .NET Framework

Google’s Chrome is now the most popular Web browser worldwide, surpassing Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for the first time in May 2012 according to StatCounter.

We’ve run into an issue several times wherein a user will attempt to print a web page or document using Chrome’s default print preview rather than the standard Windows print preview screen, but upon actually sending the job to the printer it simply vanishes. Chrome thinks it’s printed the job and so keeps on going but the job is never actually delivered to the printer. Another variation of this problem is one where the user will try to print a document or web page but Chrome simply doesn’t load the print preview properly and the job can’t be sent to print at all.

Keep in mind that this issue only applies to systems running Windows XP.  Newer machines running Windows Vista and Windows 7 do not experience this problem.

There’s a simple fix for this issue and it comes in the form of Microsoft’s .NET Framework. Downloading and installing the latest version is always recommended anyway (just like Windows Updates!), but for systems that are running outdated versions of .NET (older than 3.5), this issue will nearly always crop up. The most up-to-date version Microsoft has published is .NET Framework 4.5, but the issue is resolved with version 3.5. Downloading these, or newer, versions of the .NET Framework will resolve the printing issues, and users should be able to print from Chrome as they would from any other web browser.

Now that you've got Chrome working properly, the next step might be taking a moment to think about retiring Internet Explorer...

The rumours were true... Announcing Google Drive

On April 24th Google announced Google Drive, a new way to access and share all your files and folders, at any time and on any device.  Google Drive replaces and enhances what you know today as your Google Documents List.

Google Apps users now have a fantastic alternative to other cloud storage solutions like Dropbox, Egnyte, and Box.

An immediate benefit to Google Apps customers is that your 1 Gb non Google Docs storage limit has been expanded to 5 Gb.  The storage of Google Docs format files is still unlimited.

Effective this week Google Apps Resellers like us can sell you Google Apps domain licenses for additional storage that you can then assign to specific users.  Pricing starts at $4/month for 20 Gb.

Think of Google Drive as your personal stash of files and folders that follows you wherever you go - it lets you keep everything and share anything. With Google Drive, you can access files, folders, and Google Docs from a web browser or any device where you've installed your Google Drive.

Your Google Drive is in the cloud, but you can also install the desktop and mobile application to access your files from your computer, smartphone, tablet, or other Android or iOS mobile device, in addition to the online interface at drive.google.com. Google Drive's built-in sync capability ensures that your files, folders, and Google Docs are the same on all your devices.

To try it out visit drive.google.com/start

Note that currently only rapid release domains will see Google Drive.  Scheduled Release domains will see it in Phase 2 for which a timeline has not yet been set.

Contact us at Interlockit.com if you'd like assistance with configuring Google Drive, purchasing licenses, or understanding better how this might help your business eliminate file servers completely!