For convenience we've written a small tool below that we use internally to generate URL's to publicly shared items at Google Drive that will generate a direct link to the item for either embedding or downloading.
Step 1 - Copy the Base URL
See animated GIF in this repo /* Needs verbal instructions here as to how to copy the file */ To get the base URL right click on the file and select "Get Link" to obtain the Base URL. Important: You will need to set your sharing permissions first and only get the link available in "Get Link". The URL generated by the Share... process is not the Base URL you will need for the next step.Step 2 - Generate the new URL
Paste the Base URL from Step 1 into the text box below and new URL will be generated. You can then copy this use wherever needed.Paste the Base URL here
You can use this URL generated below for embedding a shared image file.Your can use this version for sharing a download link.
Killer regex for extracting FILEID [-\w]{25,}$