5 ms·

Virtual Graph Paper

244 points by gscott 4y ago

bityard 4y ago
Once you save a drawing as an SVG, there's no way to load it back in without creating an account, is that correct?
- coda_ 4y ago
  using the share button creates a link to a copy of the drawing that can be edited it looks like
anchit_rana 4y ago
samwillis 4y ago
This is really nice, love a grid (always user grid (paper) notebooks), I hadn't seen this one before. I also love https://www.tldraw.com https://www.tldraw.com, worth following its creator on Twitter (https://twitter.com/steveruizok https://twitter.com/steveruizok). He posts loads of interesting thoughts and insights into designing this sort of app.
- rschachte 4y ago
  Neat thanks! I love this
ortusdux 4y ago
Very nice. If you draw a simple hourglass and color fill one triangle, both are filled. Is this the intended behavior?
- layer8 4y ago
  If you draw it as a single connected path, that’s the normal polygon fill behavior.
layer8 4y ago
An isometric version would be neat, like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Isometric_graph_paper_YP.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Isometri...
- themodelplumber 4y ago
  I see both dots and grid for isometric drawing, in Setup
  - layer8 4y ago
    Ooh, I missed that. Still, it would be nice if it had subdivisions like the square grid.
  - smegsicle 4y ago
    the isometric is not right! as a grid for drawing it may be what you're looking for, but as dots it's missing every other (offset) column
bzxcvbn 4y ago
Neat! Does it have any compelling features over e.g. geogebra, or inkscape? It looks very minimalistic.
- themodelplumber 4y ago
  > Neat! Does it have any compelling features over e.g. geogebra, or inkscape? minimalistic, you called it
- smegsicle 4y ago
  a virtual graph paper is not compelling until it has a 'draw the cubic from five given points' tool
breckinloggins 4y ago
I like that this works reasonably well on mobile. I certainly wouldn’t use it that way most of the time but I waswaiting in line somewhere and was able to create a doodle with just one finger.
adhesive_wombat 4y ago
Apparently more useable than Draw.io, which is inflicted on me on a semi-regular basis.
- dividedbyzero 4y ago
  What issues are you having with Draw.io?
  - adhesive_wombat 4y ago
    Mostly having it snap to anything other than the grid, adding tiny twists on the end of arrowed points that can't be easily removed and overlapping lines show up darker so you can't just leave little tails. And trying to select one of many text boxes is hard because the hitboxes include huge amounts of blank area.
selecsosi 4y ago
My team has been using this for collaborative / ephemeral whiteboarding sessions https://excalidraw.com/ https://excalidraw.com/. This tool looks simple but well built, and in the same vein (hotkey driven).
howmayiannoyyou 4y ago
Been using whatboard.app for things like this and has the ability to import/embed graphs.
jameshart 4y ago
Defaulting to four subdivisions? Is that an American thing or a CompSci thing? Surely a decimal-compatible subdivision is more usual as a default? A nice subtle 5/10 thin thick variation would be great.
- imgabe 4y ago
  4 subdivisions is 5 points per box
  - jameshart 4y ago
    Yes, at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0. These are not useful choices for graphing decimal data or plotting metric measurements - which is why most graph paper I have ever encountered has 5 or 10 subdivisions.
s1mon 4y ago
I've been using vector-based object-oriented drawing programs since MacDraw came out in 1984. This program does many things which are counter to to 4 decades of design patterns for such programs (e.g. Adobe, Microsoft, and Apple drawing/presenting/layout software, as well as various 2D/3D CAD packages, etc). 1. Selection is a mode, not the default state. Similarly, move is a mode, not the default state. 2. Selecting non-closed shapes (lines, curves, arrows) is challenging, and the highlight of selection is a nausea-inducing animated pattern. 3. Move doesn't grab the object where the mouse grabbed it, it picks up at the upper left. Move requires so many more clicks than something where you just click and drag, and then after you click into position, you have to reselect move mode to move again. 4. Scale goes from upper left to some place in the middle of the object. "Stroke should be scaled" mode is not sticky. Scale seems to try to keep objects sized by the grid, but it doesn't always work that way. 5. There's no way to edit a curve other than the transformations of the whole shape - you can't move the end points or the middle control points. Also, curves are all just degree-2 Béziers (AKA parabolas). What problem is being solved here by re-inventing so many wheels?
- themodelplumber 4y ago
  I've also been using vector-based ... etc ... 1980s just can't remember the year... ...it's simple drawing software, not sure there is really a need to indulge in the rigorous critique format. IMO simple software and credential-pulling critiques are a kind of unwarranted match. Logically you'd think it'd also be better to keep it upbeat and maybe incentivize the author as opposed to measuring them against all of vector drawing history. You can draw with it, I tried it myself! Some of the coolest things about reinventing wheels are A) it's your wheel and thus motivation levels tend to be higher that way, and B) maybe you find new standards that work for you and reveal new leverage points. Otherwise the wheel critique also starts to converge with new-idea / new-opportunity critique. I don't see those items as fixes so much as alignments that are optional. Maybe those changes are made to console you, great, but you can also use many other drawing tools if you want that type of configuration.
  - funcDropShadow 4y ago
    > Some of the coolest things about reinventing wheels are A) it's your wheel and thus motivation levels tend to be higher that way That is nice reason for somebody to create a solution to scratch once own itch. But it is completely relevant to others. As a user, I have no benefit if somebody reinvents a wheel per se.
ccakes 4y ago
Another tool in the same vein is Exalidraw - https://excalidraw.com/ https://excalidraw.com/ Started out as a COVID side project (not mine, just a fan) and seems to be turning into a solid business.
- hatchoo 4y ago
  +1 for Excalidraw. I just love the hand drawn feel
controversial97 4y ago
It would be nice if there was an option to type in text with one character per grid square.
psyc 4y ago
There are lots of these, and they all have +Y going down. >:(
- smegsicle 4y ago
  life in quadrant four
jnash 4y ago
Nice. A bug: the fill color is still drawn when drawing an arrow.
js8 4y ago
This seems like a pretty ordinary drawing program, like Dia or Inkscape. But I did "quad paper emulator" on a Hackathon once. The key idea/feature was ability to put icons/colors/text (from a palette) into the squares. You could create maps and schematics with it. So it was like a crossover between a spreadsheet and a drawing program.
meatsauce 4y ago
Thank you! This is great
visarga 4y ago
Is there a way to move things around after you create them?

Virtual Graph Paper

244 points by gscott 4y ago

bityard 4y ago

Once you save a drawing as an SVG, there's no way to load it back in without creating an account, is that correct?

coda_ 4y ago
using the share button creates a link to a copy of the drawing that can be edited it looks like

anchit_rana 4y ago

samwillis 4y ago

This is really nice, love a grid (always user grid (paper) notebooks), I hadn't seen this one before. I also love https://www.tldraw.com https://www.tldraw.com, worth following its creator on Twitter (https://twitter.com/steveruizok https://twitter.com/steveruizok). He posts loads of interesting thoughts and insights into designing this sort of app.

rschachte 4y ago
Neat thanks! I love this

ortusdux 4y ago

Very nice. If you draw a simple hourglass and color fill one triangle, both are filled. Is this the intended behavior?

layer8 4y ago
If you draw it as a single connected path, that’s the normal polygon fill behavior.

layer8 4y ago

An isometric version would be neat, like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Isometric_graph_paper_YP.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Isometri...

themodelplumber 4y ago
I see both dots and grid for isometric drawing, in Setup
- layer8 4y ago
  Ooh, I missed that. Still, it would be nice if it had subdivisions like the square grid.
- smegsicle 4y ago
  the isometric is not right! as a grid for drawing it may be what you're looking for, but as dots it's missing every other (offset) column

bzxcvbn 4y ago

Neat! Does it have any compelling features over e.g. geogebra, or inkscape? It looks very minimalistic.

themodelplumber 4y ago
> Neat! Does it have any compelling features over e.g. geogebra, or inkscape? minimalistic, you called it
smegsicle 4y ago
a virtual graph paper is not compelling until it has a 'draw the cubic from five given points' tool

breckinloggins 4y ago

I like that this works reasonably well on mobile. I certainly wouldn’t use it that way most of the time but I waswaiting in line somewhere and was able to create a doodle with just one finger.

adhesive_wombat 4y ago

Apparently more useable than Draw.io, which is inflicted on me on a semi-regular basis.

dividedbyzero 4y ago
What issues are you having with Draw.io?
- adhesive_wombat 4y ago
  Mostly having it snap to anything other than the grid, adding tiny twists on the end of arrowed points that can't be easily removed and overlapping lines show up darker so you can't just leave little tails. And trying to select one of many text boxes is hard because the hitboxes include huge amounts of blank area.

selecsosi 4y ago

My team has been using this for collaborative / ephemeral whiteboarding sessions https://excalidraw.com/ https://excalidraw.com/. This tool looks simple but well built, and in the same vein (hotkey driven).

howmayiannoyyou 4y ago

Been using whatboard.app for things like this and has the ability to import/embed graphs.

jameshart 4y ago

Defaulting to four subdivisions? Is that an American thing or a CompSci thing? Surely a decimal-compatible subdivision is more usual as a default? A nice subtle 5/10 thin thick variation would be great.

imgabe 4y ago
4 subdivisions is 5 points per box
- jameshart 4y ago
  Yes, at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0. These are not useful choices for graphing decimal data or plotting metric measurements - which is why most graph paper I have ever encountered has 5 or 10 subdivisions.

s1mon 4y ago

I've been using vector-based object-oriented drawing programs since MacDraw came out in 1984. This program does many things which are counter to to 4 decades of design patterns for such programs (e.g. Adobe, Microsoft, and Apple drawing/presenting/layout software, as well as various 2D/3D CAD packages, etc). 1. Selection is a mode, not the default state. Similarly, move is a mode, not the default state. 2. Selecting non-closed shapes (lines, curves, arrows) is challenging, and the highlight of selection is a nausea-inducing animated pattern. 3. Move doesn't grab the object where the mouse grabbed it, it picks up at the upper left. Move requires so many more clicks than something where you just click and drag, and then after you click into position, you have to reselect move mode to move again. 4. Scale goes from upper left to some place in the middle of the object. "Stroke should be scaled" mode is not sticky. Scale seems to try to keep objects sized by the grid, but it doesn't always work that way. 5. There's no way to edit a curve other than the transformations of the whole shape - you can't move the end points or the middle control points. Also, curves are all just degree-2 Béziers (AKA parabolas). What problem is being solved here by re-inventing so many wheels?

themodelplumber 4y ago
I've also been using vector-based ... etc ... 1980s just can't remember the year... ...it's simple drawing software, not sure there is really a need to indulge in the rigorous critique format. IMO simple software and credential-pulling critiques are a kind of unwarranted match. Logically you'd think it'd also be better to keep it upbeat and maybe incentivize the author as opposed to measuring them against all of vector drawing history. You can draw with it, I tried it myself! Some of the coolest things about reinventing wheels are A) it's your wheel and thus motivation levels tend to be higher that way, and B) maybe you find new standards that work for you and reveal new leverage points. Otherwise the wheel critique also starts to converge with new-idea / new-opportunity critique. I don't see those items as fixes so much as alignments that are optional. Maybe those changes are made to console you, great, but you can also use many other drawing tools if you want that type of configuration.
- funcDropShadow 4y ago
  > Some of the coolest things about reinventing wheels are A) it's your wheel and thus motivation levels tend to be higher that way That is nice reason for somebody to create a solution to scratch once own itch. But it is completely relevant to others. As a user, I have no benefit if somebody reinvents a wheel per se.

ccakes 4y ago

Another tool in the same vein is Exalidraw - https://excalidraw.com/ https://excalidraw.com/ Started out as a COVID side project (not mine, just a fan) and seems to be turning into a solid business.

hatchoo 4y ago
+1 for Excalidraw. I just love the hand drawn feel

controversial97 4y ago

It would be nice if there was an option to type in text with one character per grid square.

psyc 4y ago

There are lots of these, and they all have +Y going down. >:(

smegsicle 4y ago
life in quadrant four

jnash 4y ago

Nice. A bug: the fill color is still drawn when drawing an arrow.

js8 4y ago

This seems like a pretty ordinary drawing program, like Dia or Inkscape. But I did "quad paper emulator" on a Hackathon once. The key idea/feature was ability to put icons/colors/text (from a palette) into the squares. You could create maps and schematics with it. So it was like a crossover between a spreadsheet and a drawing program.

meatsauce 4y ago

Thank you! This is great

visarga 4y ago

Is there a way to move things around after you create them?