Forums » Art & Creativity » Online collaborative drawing boards?

Hi guys,

I've been looking into drawing together with my friend, but I can't remember any programs or online applications that allow you to draw on the same board at the same time. Most of the ones I find are called 'whiteboards' and have very limited tools.

To clarify, I'm looking for an actual art/drawing program, like Oekaki, Open Canvas, Paint Tool SAI, Gimp etc. Not a plain whiteboard with 5 colors and 3 different pen thicknesses.

I was signed up to a site like this before but I forgot what it was called. Any help would be appreciated!

Other than those things you've already mentioned, I only know of one more. The tools are kind of limited but it's a great deal of fun. It has an opacity tool and a wide variety of colors. You can also add your own colors by pasting the hex code in a specific part of your profile. There are many different pen sizes, too.

People often use it for roleplaying though since you can't post on the same board at once.

Other than that, maybe iscribble? You mentioned open canvas, so I'm sure you probably already know about it having an online mode, right? Like... you can draw with friends there? I think you'd need hamachi but the first open canvas and hamachi are both free. n.n.

Then again I could just be telling you stuff you already know.

iscribble was the one I thought of, but I had never used it before and it kind of sucks with how limited it is.

Open Canvas is a no-go, can't get it to work properly for either one of us.

I'm starting to think there really just isn't anything good out there that's fast and easy to use, and it's super frustrating that the things that DO exist and work are so freaking terrible.

Paintchat. It's browser-based like Oekaki (if that's what you meant by Oekaki), but it's a massive canvas for multiple people to use at once. Even has a plugin for tablet pressure sensitivity.

One of the better/best/most used/only one I can name off the top of my head, is Nikos Paintchat. Here:

http://pchat.mine.nu/ucp.php?mode=login&redirect=paintchat.php&1&sid=606997389a02b8b98a750ab458861db8

That's awesome! My only problem is that it won't let me draw on it. Likely due to windows to the side being open where I had that tablet with the screen on it that acted as a second monitor. I don't know how to get windows from over there to my only current screen.

In any drawing program, really. Which really hinders me a lot.

Also I adooore your picture! Best Doctor 'round. .

@Sanne:

What's going on with open canvas? O:. I'd be willing to help you figure stuff out if you want - by trying to connect with you or whathaveya.

iscribble does suck a bit, i think if you post a few entries you can get better tools. Like blur and stuff.

Off topic - but my lil problem up there, do any of you know how to fix it? I imagine it may be an easy fix that I'm being dumb about and am failing to find on google. lol.

I'm going to have to check it out! If it's the same Paintchat that Oekaki uses then this is a huge YES for me. I just don't know about the boyfriend, he's never used it before, but we'll see.

I'm not 100% sure what your problem is. You mean you have two monitors and can only use the pen on one screen? Or do you have a tablet where you can draw directly on the screen itself?

No I DID have two monitors, sorta. I had a tablet that had a screen on it and it behaved like a second monitor, too. I made it an extension of my current screen, but to the 'right.'

I uninstalled it and reinstalled a different tablet's drivers because the other one was messing up really bad, and now a lot of the windows I use in other programs (like hue/saturation in paint tool sai and various windows in manga studio) are trapped on that side and I can't at all go and grab them.

My computer also doesn't have any port for a secondary monitor so I could grab them and put them on my current screen either, so I'm sorta at a loss for what to do.

I hope that clarified a bit!

I think I know what you mean. Is this the issue you're having?

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Application_stuck_on_second_monitor_which_you_have_disabled

Can you see the programs in the taskbar but just not the window itself?

Pretty much! I don't see them in the taskbar because they're things like...

hue/saturation editing windows, which never pop up in the taskbar. I'll open manga studio and try it out! .

Oh! In the applications themselves, you SHOULD have an option at the top that's somewhat similar to this:

Window > Workspace > Reset Palette Locations (this is for Photoshop, I use this often on my dual monitor setup because it's tedious to drag everything over)

See if there's anything in those programs?

SANNE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW I can't tell you how long I've had this problem! MONTHS and months!

It fixed it! Aaaaa I'm so happy right now! Thank you so SO so so so so much! 8D.

I still can't use pchat though... I can select the tools but nothin' happens. It's odd. But hey, my biggest problem is out of the way! Thanks again. .

You're very welcome!! Next time you're having computer troubles feel free to PM me, I'm not a pro but I did study IT management and have solved a lot of issues for friends and family.

I'm not sure about Paintchat, but try updating your Java installation. I also read that sometimes drawing a squiggly line, then zooming in and out fixes the issue, but I can't be sure it's the same issue you're having.

You can also try using a different browser, like FireFox, Opera or Chrome, depending on what you're using right now!

I can't even make a squiggly line. It's just a regular cursor. I also can't move the screen around at all (like the scrollbar at the bottom/side).

Hm.

But I'll be sure to remember that! I really appreciate it. That helped so much. .

edit: I've tried it in firefox and chrome. Same results.

Can you do it with your regular mouse at all?

Nope, not even my regular mouse O:

Then it sounds like a java issue, not a tablet issue. Are you sure it's fully up to date?

I am! I think it was behind because the software t hat's supposed to help paintchat recognize pen pressure called for older java...

yet that was the problem the whole time. HUH! Now to search for a better software for that if possible. Thanks for reminding me of that! .

You're very welcome!

Things got a little derailed, whoops. I'm going to see about Paintchat if it's anything the boyfriend can use, but if anyone else has any other ideas I'm all ears!

I went to google! Here's a bunch of stuff I found:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100727105814AAk7L7J (Has a bunch of sites on it.)

http://www.doodletoo.com/#/lobby
http://www.drawitlive.com/
http://flockdraw.com/
http://drawonthe.net/
http://sketchia.com/draw.html#NEgNXBL (If this link doesn't work, just go to http://sketchia.com )
http://www.scribblar.com/
http://www.pixelprospector.com/free-collaborative-drawing-boards/ Another list of a few of them.
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2012/11/6-free-online-collaborative-interactive-white-boards-2012-update/ Yet another list.

There was a list of different sites like these on deviantart, but I can't find it anymore.

The list was HUGE! But yeah, I hope this helps.

Wow, what a huge list, thank you!

I looked through them all but I'm a little iffy on most of them. Their tools are super basic and remind of a whiteboard (and sometimes are plainly called such), which is not what I'm looking for. None of them offer even basic options like Open Canvas or Paintchat and that's kind of what I'm looking for, sans the weird connection issues.

The paintchat that was linked to requires a DA gallery to sign up with, something neither one of us really want to do (non DA users or even keeping a gallery of any kind updated with stuff). I'm not sure how to find Paintchats that are collaborative, I keep running into one-person oekaki style applets!