Idea Boards

Freeform infinite canvases for brainstorming and visual thinking

Idea boards are freeform infinite canvases for brainstorming, mood boarding, and visual thinking. Built on a professional drawing engine, they give you the freedom to sketch, annotate, arrange images, and organize ideas spatially -- all within your project workspace. Think of an idea board as a digital whiteboard with no boundaries.

Creating an Idea Board

You can add an idea board to any project alongside your documents, flowcharts, and other content types.

1
Open your project
Navigate to the project where you want to create the idea board.
2
Add a new idea board
Click the "+" button in the sidebar and select "Idea Board" from the content type menu. Your new idea board opens on a blank infinite canvas ready for use.
3
Pick a tool and start creating
Select a tool from the toolbar at the bottom of the canvas. You can draw freehand, add shapes, drop in sticky notes, type text, or paste images. Everything you place on the canvas is automatically saved.

TIP

Idea boards work well as companion pieces to documents. Keep your brainstorming on an idea board and your polished writing in a document, then use Split View to see both at once.

Drawing Tools

The toolbar at the bottom of the canvas provides a full set of drawing and interaction tools. Select a tool to activate it, then click or drag on the canvas to use it.

Select

Click to select objects on the canvas. Drag to create a selection box around multiple items. Move, resize, rotate, or delete selected objects.

Hand

Click and drag to pan around the canvas without selecting or moving anything. Useful for navigating large boards.

Draw

Freehand drawing with multiple brush sizes and colors. Sketch ideas, underline key points, or draw connections between elements.

Eraser

Remove freehand strokes and objects by clicking or dragging over them. The eraser targets individual strokes, not pixels.

Arrow

Draw arrows between elements to show relationships, flow, or direction. Arrows snap to nearby objects for clean connections.

Text

Click anywhere on the canvas to place a text block. Type directly, then move and resize the block as needed. Supports basic formatting.

Note

Drop sticky notes on the canvas for quick ideas, labels, or annotations. Notes come in multiple colors and can be resized.

Line

Draw straight lines between points on the canvas. Hold Shift to snap to 45-degree angles for precise alignment.

Highlight

Draw semi-transparent strokes to highlight areas of the canvas. Useful for calling attention to specific regions without covering content.

Laser

A temporary pointer that fades after a moment. Perfect for presentations or drawing attention to something during a collaboration session without leaving permanent marks.

Frame

Create named frames to group and organize sections of your canvas. Frames act as visual containers -- useful for separating different brainstorming areas or topics.

Shapes

Insert geometric shapes to build diagrams, annotate images, or create structured layouts on your canvas. Each shape can be resized, rotated, filled with color, and labeled with text.

Rectangle

The most versatile shape. Use rectangles for boxes, cards, containers, or any rectangular element.

Ellipse

Circles and ovals for highlighting, grouping, or representing nodes and concepts.

Triangle

Useful for hierarchy diagrams, directional indicators, or decorative elements.

Diamond (Rhombus)

Common in flowchart-style decision points or for visual emphasis. Internally rendered as the rhombus geo shape.

Hexagon & More

Additional shapes include hexagon, oval, star, cloud, heart, and x-box. Use them to add visual variety and meaning to your boards.

•Double-click a shape to type text inside it
•Change fill color, stroke color, and stroke width from the style panel
•Hold Shift while dragging to create a shape with equal width and height
•Group multiple shapes together to move and resize them as a unit

Images

Bring reference images, mood board photos, screenshots, and visual assets directly onto your idea board. Images live on the canvas alongside your drawings, shapes, and notes.

•Paste images directly from your clipboard onto the canvas
•Use the image insert option in the toolbar to upload from your device
•Supported formats: JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG, and WebP
•Resize images by dragging their corners -- hold Shift to maintain the aspect ratio
•Layer images behind or in front of other elements using the arrangement controls

TIP

For mood boards, paste several reference images onto the canvas, then use frames to group them by theme or chapter. Add sticky notes next to each image to capture why it inspired you.

Collaboration

Idea boards support real-time collaboration, just like documents and flowcharts. When multiple people open the same idea board, everyone can draw, add shapes, and rearrange content simultaneously.

Live Sync

Every stroke, shape, and object placement is synced instantly to all collaborators. There is no save button and no merge conflicts. The underlying sync system ensures that simultaneous edits from different people are resolved automatically.

•See each collaborator's cursor on the canvas in real time, each shown in a distinct color
•Presence indicators at the top of the editor show who is currently viewing the idea board
•Use the laser tool during live sessions to point at areas without leaving permanent marks
•Collaboration roles (Owner, Editor, Viewer) apply the same way as other content types

Infinite Canvas

The idea board canvas has no fixed boundaries. You can keep adding content in any direction and the canvas expands to accommodate it. Navigation tools help you move around and stay oriented.

Zoom In for Detail

Scroll to zoom in and focus on a specific area. When you are zoomed in, you can work on fine details like handwriting, small annotations, or precise shape placement.

Zoom Out for Big Picture

Zoom out to see your entire board at a glance. This is useful for reviewing the overall structure of a brainstorming session or checking how different clusters of ideas relate.

•Use the Hand tool or hold Space and drag to pan across the canvas
•Scroll to zoom in and out smoothly
•Use the zoom controls in the corner for precise adjustment
•Double-click the zoom percentage to reset to 100%
•The canvas remembers your last viewport position when you return to the idea board

TIP

Start brainstorming in the center of the canvas and expand outward. If your board grows large, use frames to create labeled zones so you can find your way back to specific areas quickly.