DabbleBoard : Think and Communicate Visually
Submitted by Louie on 25 June, 2008 - 10:30.
Our featured online tool is called DabbleBoard. It’s a digital online whiteboard where anyone can make a drawing and save it as an image file. There are many online whiteboards available on the internet but DabbleBoard is by far the best that I have seen. The nice clean interface gives you the feeling of using a real whiteboard and the features are easy to understand and apply.
The web app is packed with powerful features that are easily accessible. You can draw freehand or add basic shapes in a snap. A four color palette is also available for color coding the lines and shapes. Multiple undo and redo features for mistakes adds to the usability of the web app. You can also resize and delete a drawings and shapes easily by pressing the x button (for delete) and the <->button (for resize) which appears whenever a drawing is highlighted. And of course, you can also easily insert text along with your shapes and lines.
My favorite feature is the automatic shape recognition of the application. You don’t need to select a shape you want to draw from a menu in order to produce one. Just draw away as if like you’re drawing on a whiteboard and the let DabbleBoard do the rest. It will produce a shape depending on how it recognized your drawing. You can easily produce a square or a rectangle by simply drawing a letter L or a distorted four sided figure. Drawing an arc will produce a circle or ellipse depending on the width of the arc.
The real time collaboration and quick email sharing are also key features in the usefulness of Dabbleboard. The user can choose to immediately send the image by email, download the image in the form of a PNG file or create a public link for quick viewing. Creating a public link will allow other people to copy your image and reuse it again in DabbleBoard. This will allow them to edit your drawing for faster collaboration.
DabbleBoard is still in its beta stage but the webapp is working quite well. The service could also use a social networking feature which will allow users to share drawings with selected members privately and perhaps make live collaborations. Aside from having a few minor bugs, Dabbleboard is a powerful and easy to use tool for sharing our ideas visually. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
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I like the look of DabbleBoard, but was a little bit disappointed with the 'real time collaboration'. Maybe I'm not figuring out how to do it, or perhaps I'm looking for too much.
However, when I think 'real time collaboration', I think about two people being able to draw on the same board at the same time. That would be cool. Until then, I'll play with DabbleBoard a little, but probably not use it a lot.
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Submitted by Aldon Hynes (not verified) on 26 June, 2008 - 09:14.I miss read how the sharing works. I've now gotten a sample drawing up on a page and have two different computers updating it at the same time.
Very nice. It would be nice if there was information saved about each object on the board, who created it and when, various levels of security, like allowing some people to write and others just to view, etc.
Perhaps some of that is in there and I haven't found it yet, but for now, I like what I can get.
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Submitted by Aldon Hynes (not verified) on 26 June, 2008 - 09:21.Sounds like a really cool application! I can see us using this within the company I work for as many of them like to draw to explain and highlight things under discussion and since we are nationwide, we do these conferences a lot through net meeting.
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Submitted by ê¿ê (not verified) on 26 June, 2008 - 12:50.Aldon: Glad you liked it. Before posting the review for Dabbleboard, I tested several free online whiteboards I can find and thought that this was the best. I agree with you that there should be a level of security and privacy when sharing Dabbleboard images. As I've mentioned in the post, it would be nice to see a secured social networking feature where you can choose who will view the image and who can write. Doing this will make Dabbleboard even more useful in private collaborations.
ê¿ê: This is quite a cool application and I hope to see more of Dabbleboard especially when it comes out of Beta. I'm sure that more features will be added as it matures.
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Submitted by Louie on 26 June, 2008 - 13:33.The app is really cool. I like how it automatically makes a perfect circle by just making a circular movement. I swear this is better than photoshop when it comes to drawing with a mouse!
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Submitted by MarketingDeviant (not verified) on 26 June, 2008 - 16:43.I will tell to my boss in where i work, maybe he interest to use it. Thanks
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Submitted by be-mine (not verified) on 28 June, 2008 - 13:52.I'm glad that you guys find this useful because it really is.
Additional information for our readers about the Dabbleboard Service:
Dabbleboard was founded by Zohair Hyder, a GPU designer for ATI/AMD. He was frustrated by the clunky interface of digital whiteboards currently available and decided to create his own.
David (Marketing Deviant): I liked that feature too. It's true that when it comes to that part, it's much better than Photoshop.
Be-Mine: Glad you liked it man. Thanks for visiting us here at VividLamp.
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Submitted by Louie on 28 June, 2008 - 14:33.This is such a great idea. I can see how many companies can put this to use.
Susan's last blog post..Short Sales in Minnesota
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Submitted by Susan (not verified) on 5 July, 2008 - 03:11.Hi Susan :). The companies that will benefit this the most will be the ones with branches, affiliates and those who outsource.
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Submitted by Louie on 5 July, 2008 - 14:34.This is Zohair from Dabbleboard. I'm thrilled you all like our service.
If there's anything you need to make it work better for you, please do let us know.
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Submitted by Zohair Hyder (not verified) on 12 July, 2008 - 21:09.Post new comment