[HN Gopher] Show HN: Excalideck - Use Excalidraw to make slides
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Show HN: Excalideck - Use Excalidraw to make slides
Author : pscanf
Score : 95 points
Date : 2021-11-07 14:14 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (excalideck.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (excalideck.com)
| sgt wrote:
| When loading a library I get an error "There was an error loading
| the third party library." Using Safari on macOS.
| pscanf wrote:
| Yes, it's a known bug[1] on all browsers. For the MVP I decided
| not to fix it, as copying-pasting from Excalidraw works, so
| there's a workaround for it.
|
| [1] https://github.com/excalideck/excalideck/issues/11
| omk wrote:
| Loved it.
|
| Is there no way to start a slideshow? As in fullscreen slides? If
| there is such a control, it isn't obvious to me. If it isn't
| would be awesome to have it.
| pscanf wrote:
| Not yet, but it's planned for the ~future[1].
|
| For the MVP I though it'd be ok for the user to save the pdf
| file and use their OS viewer to present it. :)
|
| [1] https://github.com/excalideck/excalideck/issues/29
| zekenie wrote:
| This is amazing and I will use this.
| pscanf wrote:
| Thanks, glad you like it!
| Fnoord wrote:
| I would appreciate an official Docker image. It also helps with a
| consistant dev env
| pscanf wrote:
| Haven't thought about the self-hosting story yet (or rather, I
| thought more in the direction of a desktop Electron app), but
| definitely an option. Added an issue[1].
|
| [1] https://github.com/excalideck/excalideck/issues/33
| pscanf wrote:
| Hello HN, here's an open source app I've been working on for the
| past few weeks.
|
| I love Excalidraw[1], the virtual whiteboard (discussed recently
| here on HN[2]). Its UX is great - simple and intuitive - and
| really makes it easy for me to express my thoughts and explain
| complex concepts with a quick sketch. I want to use it to make
| slides!
|
| However Excalidraw is not specifically designed for that. I used
| it for that many times actually, but the workflow is quite
| cumbersome: drawing a same-sized perimeter for each slide, adding
| to each slide watermarks and other common elements, exporting
| each slide as PNG into a powerpoint... it takes a long time!
|
| So well, here's Excalideck to simplify that workflow. :)
|
| It's still in early development, so it's not very polished. But
| you're welcome to give it a try, make some slides, and let me
| know how it goes!
|
| [1] https://excalidraw.com [2]
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29109995
| factorialboy wrote:
| This is great. I'd love an electron app, excalitron?
| pscanf wrote:
| Thanks! Yes, it's a planned feature for the next iteration[1].
|
| [1] https://github.com/excalideck/excalideck/issues/9
| stuzenz wrote:
| I like it - I am also a fan of Excaldraw.
|
| I noticed some kind of error coming up in trying to export to pdf
| - other than that it seems to be working well.
|
| I am using the following set up ``` uname -a Linux arch-t460p
| 5.14.16-arch1-1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue, 02 Nov 2021 22:22:59 +0000
| x86_64 GNU/Linux (base) ~ via base firefox --version Mozilla
| Firefox 94.0
|
| ```
|
| I am not sure, but this message that pops up seems to suggest
| that it might not be establishing a good naming convention for
| the save.
|
| ``` application/vdn.excalideck+pdf (92.6 KB) ```
|
| I will put an issue on the github project if I see it persists in
| the next day or two.
|
| Thanks for sharing - great work! Between presentation tools like
| this and reveal-md we have some nice options for building out
| presentations.
|
| Thinking about it. It would be great if it was possible to export
| each of the slides as independent png/svg as well. That would
| allow some possibilities to open up for using it with reveal-md
| pscanf wrote:
| > I noticed some kind of error coming up in trying to export to
| pdf
|
| Ah sorry, not entirely unexpected actually, as for the moment
| the saving/loading functionality on Firefox and Safari is a bit
| broken.
|
| The functionality relies on a newish Web API only fully
| supported by Chrome / Edge, and I haven't implemented proper
| fallbacks yet (the plan is to make an Electron app, which fully
| allows working with local files, but an adequate fallback
| should be provided for all browsers regardless).
|
| > It would be great if it was possible to export each of the
| slides as independent png/svg as well.
|
| Definitely an option. Supporting different export formats is on
| the horizon. Feel free to open an issue / discussion about
| independent png/svg as well!
| arendtio wrote:
| I like it, but is there a presentation mode? So far I found
| fullscreen and zen-mode, but it was still showing the slide
| overview.
|
| It would be awesome if it would be using the JS API for
| presentations!
| pscanf wrote:
| See my reply[1] to another comment, but basically not yet, but
| it's a planned feature[2].
|
| [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29141090 [2]
| https://github.com/excalideck/excalideck/issues/29
| arendtio wrote:
| Thanks, for the answer. I find the PDF export a valid option
| too, but did not notice that it actually exports an PDF via
| the save button.
|
| Keep up the great work :-)
| bertman wrote:
| This looks very nice and useful, thanks! Bookmarked :D
| boberoni wrote:
| Very cool! Even though the name suggests that Excalideck is for
| slide presentations, this is incredibly useful for me to organize
| multiple Excalidraw canvases for personal use. I often create
| system architecture diagrams that are separate but related.
| Rather than having to scroll around the infinite Excalidraw
| canvas or use multiple Excalidraw links (which I organize in a
| Google doc), now I can just flip through Excalideck slides. Small
| but very convenient
| yesimahuman wrote:
| Exalidraw+ makes managing multiple designs easy and it's only
| $7/mo (last I checked). Happy to support the product!
| pscanf wrote:
| Oh, nice use case actually. Makes me think that a button to
| hide/collapse the slides miniatures might be useful then, to
| give more real estate to the drawing board.
| dangoor wrote:
| Along these lines, it'd be nice to be able to make part of
| the diagram a hyperlink to another slide. (And the next thing
| you know, you've got folks making UX mockups in Excalideck,
| just like they do with Keynote/Powerpoint!)
| pscanf wrote:
| Interesting! Added it as a possible future feature[1].
|
| [1] https://github.com/excalideck/excalideck/issues/34
|
| > And the next thing you know, you've got folks making UX
| mockups in Excalideck, just like they do with
| Keynote/Powerpoint!
|
| Excalimock :P , could become a whole suite of tools!
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(page generated 2021-11-07 23:01 UTC)