How to Share Your Excalidraw Creations with Your Team

Sharing Excalidraw Creations with Your Team

Excalidraw is a versatile online tool designed for sketching and creating diagrams with ease. Whether you’re brainstorming ideas, mapping out projects, or designing workflows, Excalidraw provides a collaborative space where team members can contribute and refine visual content. To ensure effective communication and collaboration, it’s crucial to share your Excalidraw creations seamlessly with your team. Here’s how you can do it efficiently:

Using Shareable Links

One of the simplest ways to share your Excalidraw creations is by using the built-in sharing functionality. After you’ve completed your sketch or diagram, follow these steps:

1. Open your Excalidraw project.
2. Click on the ‘Share’ button located in the top-right corner of the interface.
3. In the sharing options, you’ll see a link that you can copy. This link provides access to the current version of your drawing.
4. Share this link with your team via email, chat, or any other communication platform.

The recipients of the link will be able to view the creation. If you wish to allow them to edit the drawing, make sure to adjust the sharing settings accordingly before copying the link.

Collaborating in Real-Time

Excalidraw supports real-time collaboration, making it an excellent choice for teams that need to work together on visual projects. To collaborate in real-time, follow these steps:

1. Start by opening your Excalidraw project and clicking on the ‘Share’ button.
2. Enable the ‘Allow editing’ option to grant permissions for editing.
3. Share the generated link with your team members.
4. As team members join the shared session via the link, everyone can contribute to the drawing simultaneously. Changes will be updated in real-time, ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

Real-time collaboration is especially useful for brainstorming sessions and iterative design processes, where immediate feedback and adjustments are necessary.

Embedding Excalidraw Creations in Other Platforms

In addition to sharing links, you can also embed your Excalidraw creations into other platforms like project management tools or internal wikis. This allows for easy access and integration within your existing workflow. Here’s how to embed an Excalidraw project:

1. Open your Excalidraw project and click on the ‘Share’ button.
2. Select the ‘Embed’ option to generate an HTML embed code.
3. Copy the provided embed code.
4. Paste the embed code into the appropriate location in your other platform’s editor. Most platforms support HTML embedding in their content management systems.

This method keeps your visual content accessible and integrated with other relevant project resources, enhancing overall productivity and organization.

Exporting and Sharing Files

For teams that prefer working offline or need to use the visual content in other applications, Excalidraw offers export options. You can export your creation in various formats, such as PNG, SVG, or JSON. Here’s how:

1. Open your Excalidraw project.
2. Click on the ‘Export’ button located in the top-right corner.
3. Select the desired file format from the options provided.
4. Download the file to your local system.
5. Share the downloaded file with your team via email, file-sharing services, or any other preferred method.

Exporting files is ideal for situations where team members need to incorporate the visual content into presentations, documents, or other projects outside of Excalidraw.

Managing Access and Permissions

When sharing Excalidraw creations, it’s important to manage access and permissions effectively to ensure that only authorized individuals can view or edit your work. Utilize Excalidraw’s sharing settings to control access:

1. In the sharing menu, adjust permissions to specify who can view or edit the project.
2. Use the ‘Restrict access’ option to limit access to specific team members or groups.
3. Regularly review and update permissions to reflect changes in team composition or project requirements.

Properly managing access helps maintain the integrity of your visual content and ensures that collaborative efforts are secure and well-coordinated.

Integrating with Team Communication Tools

Excalidraw can be integrated with various team communication tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams to streamline sharing and collaboration:

1. Generate a shareable link or embed code for your Excalidraw project.
2. Post the link or embed code in the appropriate channel or conversation within your communication tool.
3. Encourage team members to provide feedback or collaborate directly through the integrated platform.

Integration with communication tools helps centralize discussions and feedback, making it easier to manage and track collaborative efforts.

By utilizing these methods, you can effectively share and collaborate on your Excalidraw creations with your team, ensuring that everyone remains engaged and informed throughout the creative process.