Dato Rooms

Share a drawing so several people mark it up at once and see each other's marks as they’re drawn, with a lobby for chat, files, the room's drawings and a record of who did what. You send a link; they open it and join. A room can hold several drawings, and can be rejoined after you leave.

Why you would use it

To review or mark up a drawing together, in real time, without everyone being in the same room or passing files back and forth.

For example

What to do

1. Start a Dato Room, choose whether to share the drawing itself, and copy the invite from the lobby.
2. People open the link, confirm their name, and join; they receive the drawing and see everything.
3. Everyone's marks appear for everyone, and the lobby holds People, Chat, Files and Activity. Dock it to the left, right or bottom, or leave it loose. End the session when you are done.

Going further

Everything is encrypted on your computer with a key that lives only in the link (after the #, which a browser never sends anywhere); the relay that carries the messages can’t read marks, drawings or names. Your own changes appear at once and are sent behind you; if the connection drops they wait, are counted as not shared yet, and go up when it returns. A view-only link can look but not mark up. When a session ends, or you leave, the drawing and marks are kept in this browser, on this device. How you appear (name, colour, initials, a status line) and what you share (your pointer, your page) are yours to choose in Settings, under Online and chat. Files shared in the chat are limited per file and in all by the session's plan, said plainly in the Files tab; larger limits are planned for paid plans and aren’t available yet. A relay address in Settings (Advanced) is needed; calibration, take-off and comments aren’t shared live in this version, only marks. A Room on the free plan is a pair, two people; a paid plan holds five. Type @ in the chat to mention someone; new messages show as a small card by the corner and make a soft scribble (one short one for a message, one longer one for a flurry), all of which you can change or turn off in Settings. Rooms last up to 30 days.