SimpleDesktop - Tutorial - Chatting and using the Whiteboard

Tutorial - Chatting and using the Whiteboard

1 - Connect to the SimpleDesktop Server

See the Getting Started section on how to set up and connect to SimpleDesktop server.

2 - Send a message to other users

Once you are connected to a server, you can start chatting with other connected users or with the server user
To send a message, simply enter the message in the text field at the bottom of the right hand chat panel and press return (enter)
When the message has reached the server you will see it appear in your chat window.
The server user and all other connected users will also see your message appear in their chat windows.

3 - Draw on the Whiteboard

If you want to demonstrate something to another user, you can draw it on the whiteboard.
To draw something on the whiteboard simply click and drag the mouse around the whiteboard area.
The buttons on the left of the whiteboard let you clear the whiteboard, choose a pen size (line width) and pen and background colour.
If you want a full size whiteboard to draw on, just choose 'Whiteboard Mode' from the View menu and you can use the whole screen area as a whiteboard.

4 - Draw on the remote screen

If you want to demonstrate something to another user in reference to the remote screen (e.g. highlight an icon) you can use SimpleDesktop's screen painting to draw directly onto the remote screen.
Click on the second button down in the Whiteboard tab and then click and drag the mouse on the remote screen.
You can still move around the screen with the scrollbars or by holding 'Alt' while clicking and dragging.
When you want to control the screen again, press the second button down on the Whiteboard panel again to turn off the screen painting.

5 - Overlay the whiteboard on the remote host screen

The user at the server end can chat with all the connected users and also overlay user whiteboards directly onto their screen.
This allows users to paint directly to the screen to demonstrate things to the server user.
To overlay the current users' whiteboards on the screen press the 'Whiteboard Overlay' button in the server Chat tab.

6 - Draw on the remote host screen

The user at the server end can also draw on the whiteboard just like the connected users.
Click on the 'Whiteboard' tab on the server window. This tab operates exactly the same as the client whiteboard panel.
To overlay the whiteboard on the screen and paint directly on the computer screen, click 'Paint on Screen Overlay'.
You can now paint directly onto the screen. To exit this mode, press any key.

7 - Exporting the screen or whiteboard to an image

If at any point you wish to export the remote screen or a whiteboard or both to an image file you can do this in either the server or the client.
In the client, use the 'Export Screen/Whiteboard to an image...' buttons.
In the server there are buttons on the left hand side of the whiteboard to export.
Both the server and the client can export JPEG or BMP image files.