
Ask HN: Are there drawing tool plugins to be used within forums? - maruhan2
I&#x27;m looking for discussion forum websites (e.g. stack overflow) that has a built in drawing tool in its text editor.<p>Are there any out there?<p>And are there any tools&#x2F;plugins to do this on your own website?
======
IvanK_net
Whenever I need to draw something, I open
[https://www.Photopea.com](https://www.Photopea.com) in the browser (loads
very fast) and draw the thing. Then I press File - Publish on Imgur (the new
panel opens with the PNG image on Imgur). Then I just copy the URL and paste
it into a forum / chat.

You can also paste the screenshot into Photopea and draw into it, crop it etc.

BTW. I am an author of Photopea :) It has an API, that allows embedding it
into a website
([https://www.photopea.com/api/playground](https://www.photopea.com/api/playground)),
but I am not aware of any large website using it.

~~~
mixmastamyk
Amazing, how does one write such an app? Is it mostly done with canvas? I’d
like to make something like powerpoint in the future, but not sure where to
start.

~~~
IvanK_net
Actually, it is quite simple. You just need some basic computer (I use a 400
USD laptop) and a couple of thousands of hours of time :)

You can start by making a PPTX file parser, or PPTX to HTML converter, and
then you can start adding some user interface, etc.

~~~
mixmastamyk
Wasn’t clear, didn’t mean powerpoint but like it. Need to draw graphics on
screen and manipulate them.

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whitingx
[https://ux.stackexchange.com/](https://ux.stackexchange.com/) < has a built
in version of the Balsamiq ([https://balsamiq.com/](https://balsamiq.com/)) UI
drawing tool.

There is a write up on the integration here -
[https://blog.balsamiq.com/uxstackexchange/](https://blog.balsamiq.com/uxstackexchange/)

~~~
neves
It looks really cool, but it looks like a handcoded integration. The OP
wouldn't be able to integrate with his/her forum/blog software.

------
pjc50
[https://electronics.stackexchange.com/](https://electronics.stackexchange.com/)
has an embedded circuit editor from
[https://www.circuitlab.com/](https://www.circuitlab.com/) , and it works
extremely well.

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smnscu
Probably not what OP is looking for, but you can <pre> an ASCII diagram. It's
my favorite way to add more info to a particularly complex piece of code
(parsers, state machines, etc.), right there in a comment. You need to update
the diagram when shit changes, which is pretty annoying, but all in all it's a
fun, quirky way to improve the source code reading experience.

[http://asciiflow.com/](http://asciiflow.com/)

~~~
nathell
This so needs a ditaa[0] integration.

[0]:
[https://github.com/stathissideris/ditaa](https://github.com/stathissideris/ditaa)

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angry_octet
[https://go.gliffy.com/go/html5/launch](https://go.gliffy.com/go/html5/launch)

Not embedded and it's horribly expensive, but very nice. There are a bunch of
similar systems, but not quite as smooth.

draw.io is licenced under APL and usable.
[https://github.com/jgraph/drawio](https://github.com/jgraph/drawio)

Then there is the horrible but very practical:
[https://docs.google.com/drawings/](https://docs.google.com/drawings/)

~~~
tudelo
I don't think google docs drawing interface is ... HORRIBLE. But it's not the
best. I have used it multiple times though, can't really beat the ease of
access when working on a google doc that needs a simple diagram.

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Wevah
Sugar
([https://github.com/elektronaut/sugar](https://github.com/elektronaut/sugar))
has a custom drawing tool (called Napkin), though it’s pretty bare-bones
(line-drawing only) and uses Flash (eugh).

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krapp
Futaba style imageboards used to come with a Java applet called oekaki that
let people draw and post images.

I wouldn't recommend trying to track it down, though.

------
Immortalin
Try Minipaint:
[https://github.com/viliusle/miniPaint](https://github.com/viliusle/miniPaint)

See this for example: [https://github.com/Immortalin/Greeting-Card-
Creator](https://github.com/Immortalin/Greeting-Card-Creator)

------
fl0wenol
When I first saw the headline I was thinking did you mean oekaki-style
drawing? In which case... ChickenPaint

[https://github.com/thenickdude/chickenpaint](https://github.com/thenickdude/chickenpaint)

But I take it you meant more like Visio or Powerpoint style stuff, for that I
got nothing.

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cdnsteve
Maybe Draw.io has something? I know they are a pretty large Confluence addon.

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rogerallen
Seems like markdeep would be straightforward to add. [https://casual-
effects.com/markdeep/](https://casual-effects.com/markdeep/)

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Yahivin
Here's one I wrote: [https://danielx.net/pixel-
editor/](https://danielx.net/pixel-editor/)

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BerislavLopac
Something like
[https://awwapp.com/info/?section=embed](https://awwapp.com/info/?section=embed)
?

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tomaskafka
Nice and simple tool for 'draw an image, get url' is
[https://scri.ch](https://scri.ch)

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imonroe
Maybe try Literally Canvas?
[http://literallycanvas.com/](http://literallycanvas.com/)

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diyseguy
I've been wondering why this doesn't exist for years

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buro9
Interesting... how do you imagine providing the drawing?

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genericacct
Given the state of most internet fora it would be a dickbutt machine..

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na85
Why not let your users draw in the multitude of tools already out there that
work better than some half baked js monstrosity and then allow them to just
embed PNGs or jpegs?

~~~
jmnicolas
Too much friction.

Most of the time I don't bother to put a screenshot since I have to :

\- open my screenshot program \- save the screenshot somewhere on my disk
where I will find it later \- remember which website doesn't suck where to
upload the screenshot \- actually upload the screenshot \- paste a link

I'm not a JS bloat fan but int this case I'd rather take the bloat ;-)

~~~
wazanator
Who is opening a screenshot program and not using a hotkey?

Most image hosting sites like imgur let you paste an image from your clipboard
(I think you can even do minor editing on their site now). Forums are also
starting to allow pasting of images such as Discourse.

An editor embedded might be a fun project but it's completely unnecessary.

~~~
blauditore
How many people know the shortcuts for making a screenshot? How many do even
know how to make one, or even what it is?

Outside of the IT world, I think very few people are familiar with those
things.

