BoardScribble features

Drafting instruments

The instruments sit in the left toolbar. Turn each one on or off with a click, drag it to move it, and drag its blue dot to rotate it.

• Protractor. A 0–180° protractor with a second scale running the other way, so you can read an angle from either side.
• Ruler. Centimetre and millimetre marks, about 17 cm long at 100% zoom. The pen and line tools snap to its edges, so a line drawn along the ruler is perfectly straight.
• Compass. Drag the hinge to set the radius and drag the pencil end around the needle to draw an arc or a full circle. The radius is shown in pixels, centimetres and inches, and the arcs are mathematically true circles.
• Two set squares. 30-60-90 and 45-45-90, both with a centimetre scale along the base. Their edges also guide the pen and line tools.
• Distance measure. Drag between two points to read the distance in pixels, centimetres and inches.

On-screen centimetres assume the standard 96 pixels per inch. Actual size on your display or projector varies, so use the instruments for teaching and sketching rather than for drawings that must print at an exact size.

Drawing and annotation

• Pen and highlighter. On a stylus the pen responds to pressure and draws thicker or thinner lines. The highlighter is wide and translucent.
• Eraser. Removes whole strokes or shapes you touch.
• Shapes. Line, arrow, rectangle, ellipse, triangle, right triangle, pentagon and hexagon, outlined or filled. Hold Shift for squares, circles and 15° angles.
• Text and sticky notes. Type directly on the board; notes take the color you pick.
• Images. Insert from a file, paste from the clipboard or drag and drop.
• Colors and sizes. Twelve preset colors, a custom picker for any other color, and four stroke sizes.
• Editing. Select one object or many (drag a box or Shift-click), then move, resize, copy, paste, duplicate, bring to front or send to back, nudge with the arrow keys, or delete. Undo and redo go back up to 150 steps.

Boards and PDFs

• Multiple boards. Add as many boards as you need and flip through them like slides.
• Import a PDF. Each page, up to 20, becomes a board you can draw on, which suits worksheets and tutoring. The pages are converted in your browser and are not uploaded.
• An endless canvas. Pan and zoom from 10% to 800%, with the mouse wheel, Space plus drag, or a pinch on a touch screen.
• Six backgrounds. Blank, dot grid, grid, lined paper, graph paper (1 cm squares) and a dark theme.

Teaching helpers

• Laser pointer. A red dot with a fading trail that is not saved, handy when presenting.
• Templates. One click inserts a coordinate plane, a number line or a 4 × 3 table.
• Countdown timer. Presets of 1, 5, 10 and 15 minutes with start, pause, reset and a sound at zero.
• Present mode. Full-screen view with the arrow keys moving between boards.

Saving, sharing and export

• Autosave. Your boards are saved in your browser as you work.
• Board files. Save everything to a .json file and open it later or on another device.
• Share link. The whole set of boards is packed into the link, so nothing is uploaded and nobody needs an account. Whoever opens it gets their own editable copy.
• Export. PNG, SVG, PDF (one board or all boards), or copy the board to the clipboard.
• Backup restore. If you open a share link or a file over existing boards, your previous boards are kept and can be restored from the File menu.

Privacy and offline use

• No account. You never sign in, and your drawings are not sent to our servers.
• Works offline. After your first visit the app is cached by your browser and opens without a connection. You can install it from your browser menu.
• Plain-language policy. Read exactly what is and isn't collected in the privacy policy.

Devices and accessibility

• Touch and stylus. Pinch to zoom, two-finger pan, and pressure-sensitive pen strokes.
• Keyboard. Every tool has a shortcut and the toolbar works with the arrow keys. See the shortcut list.
• Screen readers and motion. Controls have text labels, tool changes are announced, and animations respect your reduced-motion setting.
• Light and dark. The interface follows your system theme, and the board has its own dark background.

What it does not do yet

• Several people drawing on the same board at the same time. A share link gives each person their own copy.
• Importing PowerPoint files. Export your slides as a PDF and import that instead.

Ideas for classes and teams

• Math and geometry. Construct triangles with the set squares, measure and bisect angles with the protractor, draw circles with the compass, and plot points on the coordinate plane.
• Online tutoring. Import the worksheet as a PDF, annotate it together over a video call, and send the board as a link afterwards.
• Lessons and presentations. Prepare boards in advance, present full screen and point with the laser.
• Brainstorming. Drop sticky notes, group them, and export the result as a PDF.