Show HN: my collaborative drawing webapp

[+] senko|14 years ago|reply

A small HTML canvas drawing app (and embeddable widget) I did so I could use my (non-iPad) tablet for drawing quick sketches. A few people suggested I add collaboration, which was a nice excuse to play with node.js :)

Tech used: node.js/nowjs for synchronising the drawings, jquery/canvas for the frontend, flask for saving/posting the images.

[+] robfitz|14 years ago|reply

The syncing doesn't work for me when I open 2 browsers and share it to myself..? Does it just share the initial state (which worked great) or also updates?

[+] joeyespo|14 years ago|reply

Was just about to ask about the syncing. Nice job, it's fun! And thanks for this comment.

[+] stephen_mcd|14 years ago|reply

We did something similar for Django Dash a couple weeks ago: http://drawnby.jupo.org/

Knocked up in 48 hours with Django, WebSockets and Redis

All open source: https://github.com/stephenmcd/drawnby

Released django-socketio a week later born out of that project: https://github.com/stephenmcd/django-socketio

[+] o1iver|14 years ago|reply

I was going to try it, but, honest feedback, the fact that I have to login before even giving it a go is a real no-go. Why don't you let me try before signing in?

[+] cstuder|14 years ago|reply

Clickable link to a work in progress: http://awwapp.com/draw.html#ScK6YsOrwp

[+] senko|14 years ago|reply

Sorry, the process consumed all the memory and got killed :( Wasn't expecting so much activity on a single board :) Was fun to watch!

[+] senko|14 years ago|reply

Btw I've also added it to Chrome Web Store, so it can be added to Chrome as an app: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mhmonflnoepbijmbbf... (nothing fancy, just goes to the website)

[+] fab1an|14 years ago|reply

Great job. You should add a 'submit to Reddit' button, too!

[+] senko|14 years ago|reply

Thanks! Yeah, perhaps a row of those "submit to your favorite site/forum" social buttons.

[+] danest|14 years ago|reply

This looks awesome. This reminds me a little bit like the facebook application I use to play with before. http://www.facebook.com/graffitiwall

Except this one is more real time, but I would love a replay feature to show what people have been drawing before me.

[+] geogra4|14 years ago|reply

Every time I try to load a shared link I keep getting a "Cannot Join Shared Drawing" popup error

[+] senko|14 years ago|reply

Sorry about that! Either the drawing is shared no more (eg the one linked in these comments - if that's the case, you'll always get the error trying to go to that drawing), or you've found a bug. In the latter case case, could you please tell me your browser/os combo? here, in a tweet to @awwapp or in the mail (listed in my HN profile page). Thanks!

[+] mbyrne|14 years ago|reply

Awesome work. I wanted to let you know that the erase function is not working on Firefox 3.6.19 Mac. I share the image with a Safari browser and the image there is erased when I erase in FF window but the erasure doesn't show up in the FF window I erased in.

[+] senko|14 years ago|reply

Thanks for the report, I'll look into it.

[+] wyclif|14 years ago|reply

The English copy on the home page needs a slight, but important once-over. "A Web Whiteboard is touch-friendly whiteboard app..." should be written: "Web Whiteboard is a touch-friendly whiteboard app..."

[+] senko|14 years ago|reply

Thanks for catching it! Yeah, not a native speaker, will ask someone to go through it (the wording on the "add to your site" could probably be improved as well)

[+] ThePawnBreak|14 years ago|reply

It would be very helpful if you put a Clear button somewhere more accesible, but hard to click by mistake, such as in the lower left. Also, don't ask me if I want to clearn the page.

[+] brainless|14 years ago|reply

Absolutely fun app. tried on iPad2, Chrome13 on Mac, Safari 5.1 on Mac. If you draw fast then the curves become more like straight lines, I am sure you are improving that...

[+] senko|14 years ago|reply

Thanks! Yeah, the app draws a line between the points. This isn't noticable if you're drawing slower (or if the device is fast enough), but if you're driving faster than it can be processed, the lines do show. I'll try to see how to improve on that, the plan is for the app to be useful on Android phones and iPhones as well.

[+] aagha|14 years ago|reply

Fantastic! I think it's a great idea.

I think you're missing a couple of basic tools:

- Tex

- Basic shapes

Edit: Removed eraser from list. Noticed there was one.

[+] senko|14 years ago|reply

Thanks!

I wanted to stick to the whiteboarding/sketching basics - you get a pen and an eraser. Perhaps it makes sense to add a few more tools, but I'm wary of adding too much, because I want it to be useable on really small screens, without keyboard, and with touch input, as opposed to only mouse.

For a sophisticated HTML drawing app (albeit not collaborative one, and not very usable without a pointing device), take look at the awesome DeviantArt Muro app (http://muro.deviantart.com/).

35 comments