FROM THE BLOG

The "edge map", or how to not get lost on your infinite board

Have you noticed Limnu doesn't have any traditional page boundaries or sizes? We want to make sure it feels at least as big as a real, physical whiteboard, and since it's digital, we figured we'd go all the way and let you make your board as big as you want. But, this decision does come with some tradeoffs.

A few months ago my son Max was testing Limnu, and he came up with what he thought was a really fun game: pan the view far away from where I was, draw something, and then challenge me to find it. Sometimes he'd make a chain of arrow drawings separated by oceans of white, and have a surprise drawing at the end that I'd have to hunt for.

edge map

I'm usually lucky if I can find his arrows at all and not just get stuck with a white screen. And it doesn't even take a devious child to get lost. When I pan my drawings offscreen, sometimes I try to find my way back and miss, leaving no hint as to which direction to go to find my work. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've been reloading my page when I get lost, which is not something I want you to have to do.

Well, the joke's on Max because we've added a map feature to Limnu that shows you where to find your lost ideas. Thin lines appear around the edge of the drawing area any time there's something off-screen and out of view. You'll see them whether you drew and then moved your view, or someone else drew without telling you.

edge map

See those little clues around the edges? That's the "edge map". It's unobtrusive, but effective. There you have it, now you know how to navigate your whiteboard, just look to the edges, and you'll never get lost like I did.