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What are the tools people use to draw diagrams? I've tried many things and settled on Miro on an iPad (infinite canvas + pencil), but I still think this space i

by abra0 3y ago

What are the tools people use to draw diagrams? I've tried many things and settled on Miro on an iPad (infinite canvas + pencil), but I still think this space is underinvested in. The downside of diagrams from code is the loss of the wysiwyg aspect -- I want to be able to manipulate things visually.

foobarian 3y ago
I like Gliffy built into Confluence because it's default at work. I also like excalidraw and was hoping to test the collaborative feature for video calls. I think the ephemeral nature of the diagrams is just fine, it's essentially a whiteboard with some QoL features like persistence, pre-population, and undo/redo.
artur_makly 3y ago
https://VisualFlows.io https://VisualFlows.io sample architecture: https://app.visualsitemaps.com/user_flows/share/e64da8ed-2efb-4b82-bc44-64a0ba5db32e?s=eyJ6b29tIjowLjQ1NjYyMDk0NzMwNjc3ODc3LCJwb3NpdGlvbiI6WzExNy4wNzY4Njk2NTUwNjUzMSwzMDMuNzI0MTMxNTY1NjYyOV19 https://app.visualsitemaps.com/user_flows/share/e64da8ed-2ef...
afarrell 3y ago
Cell phone camera on a little holder pointed at a piece of paper. Then I join as a second participant, mute it, and turn the volume off. Or ipad and apple pencil on google docs jamboard using Duet to sketch things out.
- nucleardog 3y ago
  The one issue I’ve found is that most services seem to retain _much_ less precision for participant video versus screen sharing. Text can often become really blocky and blurry. I did something similar, but used OBS. There are a few ways to feed video from a cell phone into it. Gives you the chance to do any zooming/cropping/etc to account for limitations in where you can place the phone. As well as adjust brightness/contrast/white balance if you’re really anal about that kind of stuff. From there I open the feed in a “projector” window and screen share that.
Supermancho 3y ago
miro works slightly better than Gliffy, imo.
tru1ock 3y ago
I have been using https://www.yworks.com/products/yed https://www.yworks.com/products/yed for years. You can import a c4 palette probably. I do not really stick to specific shapes but use what makes sense for the context.

by abra0 3y ago

foobarian 3y ago

I like Gliffy built into Confluence because it's default at work. I also like excalidraw and was hoping to test the collaborative feature for video calls. I think the ephemeral nature of the diagrams is just fine, it's essentially a whiteboard with some QoL features like persistence, pre-population, and undo/redo.

artur_makly 3y ago

https://VisualFlows.io https://VisualFlows.io sample architecture: https://app.visualsitemaps.com/user_flows/share/e64da8ed-2efb-4b82-bc44-64a0ba5db32e?s=eyJ6b29tIjowLjQ1NjYyMDk0NzMwNjc3ODc3LCJwb3NpdGlvbiI6WzExNy4wNzY4Njk2NTUwNjUzMSwzMDMuNzI0MTMxNTY1NjYyOV19 https://app.visualsitemaps.com/user_flows/share/e64da8ed-2ef...

afarrell 3y ago

Cell phone camera on a little holder pointed at a piece of paper. Then I join as a second participant, mute it, and turn the volume off. Or ipad and apple pencil on google docs jamboard using Duet to sketch things out.

nucleardog 3y ago
The one issue I’ve found is that most services seem to retain _much_ less precision for participant video versus screen sharing. Text can often become really blocky and blurry. I did something similar, but used OBS. There are a few ways to feed video from a cell phone into it. Gives you the chance to do any zooming/cropping/etc to account for limitations in where you can place the phone. As well as adjust brightness/contrast/white balance if you’re really anal about that kind of stuff. From there I open the feed in a “projector” window and screen share that.

Supermancho 3y ago

miro works slightly better than Gliffy, imo.

tru1ock 3y ago

I have been using https://www.yworks.com/products/yed https://www.yworks.com/products/yed for years. You can import a c4 palette probably. I do not really stick to specific shapes but use what makes sense for the context.