If you like to draw and want to work with others on the same image, this free program is exactly what you need.
Drawpile is a collaborative drawing tool that lets you share your artwork with other users at the same time, so everyone can work on the same piece.
A full set of drawing tools
Drawpile includes the essential tools every artist needs: a pencil and a brush, a line, a rectangle and an ellipse, all with a variety of color options, and you can add text annotations as needed. Each tool has its own size, opacity, hardness and spacing settings, and the program also supports blend modes and layer styles.
Collaborate on the same canvas
What makes this program interesting is an unusual feature: Drawpile lets you share your canvas with other users so everyone can collaborate on the drawing at the same time.
To share a drawing, simply open the Host a session dialog, give the session a title and a password, click Host, and you're ready. Then you just need to give other Drawpile users your IP address and password, and they will connect within seconds and start working on the same drawing. Coordinating this can be tricky, especially with many users; the program handles twenty users without any problem, as long as your bandwidth allows it.
Managing sessions and saving your work
For large groups, the built-in text chat should help you coordinate. The session creator can also undo any user's actions, block them, or expel them from the session entirely. When you're finished, the complete image can be saved in several formats (BMP, PNG, JPG). Alternatively, you can record the sketching process over time, play it back later, or export it as a series of images or a video.
Drawpile is an open-source program available for free in 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows; unfortunately, Windows Vista and XP are no longer supported.
