
Show HN: my collaborative drawing webapp - senko
http://awwapp.com/
======
senko
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
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?

~~~
senko
It should share the updates too. If it doesn't work for you, could you please
let me know which browsers you use (here, tweet to @awwapp or mail me)?
Thanks!

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stephen_mcd
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
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?

~~~
stephen_mcd
Fair point and something we considered - we wanted to always have a valid
account when drawing so that users could be identified when collaborating
together, and with only 48 hours to get everything working the quickest way
was to slap on Twitter/Facebook authentication.

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

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

~~~
cstuder
Yes, it was a fun five-minutes-community. (The first penis showed up 30
seconds later...)

~~~
couriernew
The mass erasure of 3:30 still haunts us all.

------
senko
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...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mhmonflnoepbijmbbfipoifgkbibofgd)
(nothing fancy, just goes to the website)

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fab1an
_Great_ job. You should add a 'submit to Reddit' button, too!

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

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danest
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.

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geogra4
Every time I try to load a shared link I keep getting a "Cannot Join Shared
Drawing" popup error

~~~
senko
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!

~~~
geogra4
Ok, I think that must have been the issue. The drawing must be open on the
browser window of the person who shares the drawing.

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

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wyclif
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
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)

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ThePawnBreak
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.

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brainless
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
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.

~~~
bornon5
Even in Photoshop, if you draw a very quick curve, you can see individual
vertices along it. But Photoshop seems to quickly interpolate curves instead
of straight lines, so you get a rough approximation of the curve you're
drawing between the vertices. It's pretty good for hiding how it works.

Very nice app, by the way.

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aagha
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
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/>).

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tyohn
I like it but maybe add an undo button?

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boscomutunga
Great work , works perfectly in chrome

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matiu
What's it written in ?

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ashishg
Great stuff!

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ajbatac
Great work!

