Today at the PC we can use a real digital blackboard on which to write freely without having to use chalk and a real blackboard, keeping all the charm of this object present in every school and faithfully replicable in front of the computer screen.In this article we will show you the best sites and apps with free online whiteboardsshowing you how to use simple whiteboards for children to draw and how to use professional whiteboardsi.e. online collaborative whiteboards.
READ ALSO -> The most used platforms for collaborative design and web projects
1) Paint
Paint is the drawing program included in every version of Windows and can be easily converted into a real whiteboard with a few simple steps.
To turn Paint into a whiteboard, open the program from the Start menu, press the tool at the top Fillwe select the black color and fill the whole sheet, so as to emulate the black color of the blackboard.
Now that the sheet is all black, press the arrowhead under the icon Brusheswe select Natural pencilwe choose the thickness of the stroke in Dimensionsmake sure you select the Color 2: White at the top and we use the right mouse button to write on our virtual whiteboard, with a very realistic effect.
For more information, read our guide to best alternatives to Microsoft Paint for drawing and photo editing on PC.
2) Google Docs
A great tool to create a free and shared online whiteboard is Google Docsaccessible with any Google account and with any web browser.
To create the blackboard we open our personal Google Docs page, press on Emptyclick on the top Fileclick on Page settingswe select Horizontal as an orientation and Nero as the page color, then press up OK.
Now that the blackboard is ready, press up on Insert -> Drawing -> Newselect the arrowhead next to the key Line selectionwe press on Freehand drawing and we start writing the message to be printed on the blackboard.
After writing the first letter the color options will be unlocked: select the color at the top Bianco and also choose the thickness of the line, then continue with our drawing and press on Save and close to draw on the blackboard.
If we are satisfied with the result we can also save it offline by pressing up File -> Scarica -> Microsoft Word; if, on the other hand, we wanted to share the whiteboard with other people, just press the button at the top right Share and choose whether to enter the emails of the people who will have access to the whiteboard or whether to create a public link accessible to all.
On this topic we can read our ai guides best tricks to write with Google Docs at its best come on how to unshare files on google docs.
3) Microsoft 365
One of the best free and shared online whiteboards that we can use is offered by Microsoft 365name by which we identify the old Office online.
By logging in with any Microsoft account we will be able to start right away PowerPoint onlinea great tool for drawing with whiteboard effect.
After opening a blank slide select and delete the text areas present by default, right click on the empty slide and go to Background -> Solid Fillchoosing the black color to emulate a real blackboard.
With the chalkboard ready, press up on the menu Drawingwe select the tool Pennause the arrowhead under it to select the white color and thickness then start writing on the slide like a real blackboard, moving the mouse.
Also in this case we can share the whiteboard with friends and colleagues by pressing the button at the top right Share and using Microsoft accounts to allow you to sign in; alternatively we can create a public link ready to be shared on social networks or chats.
For more information, you can read our article on how to write a shared document at the same time.
4) Canva
For those who want to create a free, complete and shared online blackboard, the best choice is without a doubt Canva.
On this site we can create interactive whiteboards with concept maps, business plans, brainstorming and any other collaborative project, using the image editing tools included in the site and the advanced sharing tools provided after saving a copy of our whiteboard project.
To learn more we can read our article ai Free alternative sites to Canva for graphic and design projects.
5) Other sites and apps for drawing on the blackboard
Blackboard is a very small program to be downloaded onto a PC, just 20 Kbytes, which works on Windows and Linux in a truly original way. Practically Turn your desktop into a chalkboard background for drawing, with the special distinction of being infinite. The black background covers the desktop icons, but not the application bar, thus leaving the PC usable for all its functions.
The background can be drawn using the left mouse button and erased using the right mouse button.
With the central button, on the other hand, you can scroll the blackboard up and down to the right and left to draw again in an empty spot, without having to cancel what has been done.
Every sign written on the board is automatically saved and remains in memory. You can change the nib color using the keys from 0 to 9, you can change the background color with the b key and if you want to exit just press the ESC key.
If you like the idea of endless blackboardbut would like something more professional, to be used also for projects and collaborative workyou can use the site’s online endless blackboard instead Miro.com. This is a web app designed to work together with other people and create even complex projects, writing them down on a giant whiteboard that can be thought of as those of detectives in crime movies.
You can add photos, documents, tables, icons, videos, Google searches to the whiteboard and then draw, write, create shapes and put whatever you want. A whiteboard can be shared with other people who can work together at the same time and see the changes made by others in real time.
If we want to use a program as a children’s blackboard to draw oneasy we recommend Tux Paintperhaps the best free app that can be found for PC and also for Android.
Conclusions
All the sites and applications that we have shown you they are great for immediately get a nice blackboard on your PC to write on with virtual chalkusing the mouse to write new ideas, new projects or simply to draw like on a real blackboard.
Paint and Tux Paint are great as chalkboards for kids or for drawing while Google Docs, Microsoft 365 and the other sites seen in the guide are perfect for creating job boards.
To learn more we can read our guides on how Draw on the desktop with the mouse and enlarge parts of the screen with the zoom e how to turn the tablet into a graphics tablet for pc.