Sketch a rough storyboard by hand, with a co-writer or director on the same board

What this board can't do for a storyboard

• Frames are sections, not storyboard panels. You resize a section by dragging its corner, and it can be any shape. There are no 16:9 or 4:3 presets, no grid and no snap, so you match the frames by eye.
• No shot list, no timing, no animatic and no PDF of the whole storyboard. What you get out is a picture: Copy as image, or Save as image on Chrome.
• Drawing is free ink, not an object. Ink drawn inside a section moves with it. Ink drawn over a card or a list does not, so draw the sketch in the section and keep the caption in its own card.
• 3 images per board and 150 items on the free plan. Photos and reference pictures count toward the 3; a caption card counts as 1 of the 150. A hand-drawn board uses none of the 3. Pro is $5 a month billed yearly ($59.99 a year).
• 5 boards on the free plan. One board per story is the simplest way to keep them.
• Drawing needs a pen. A finger works for boxes and stick figures; a stylus or tablet is what makes it feel like sketching.

How to sketch a rough storyboard on one board

1. 1Draw a section for each frame. Use the Section tool and drag out twelve squares in rows. Keep them roughly the same size; there is no snap.
2. 2Sketch inside the section. Use the pen. Ink that starts inside a section stays attached to it, so moving the section moves the sketch. On the example board each sketch is three or four simple shapes: a street, a door, a pair of hands.
3. 3Put one caption card under each frame. One line, eight words or fewer, numbered. A card is a separate item, so the caption doesn't move with the section; move them together by selecting both.
4. 4Draw the cuts as arrows. An arrow from one caption card to another takes a caption and its own colour. On the example board three red arrows say "push in", "reverse angle" and "time cut". Arrows stay attached when you move the cards, and they are free: they don't count toward the 150.
5. 5Re-order by dragging. To swap two frames, select a section and its caption, then drag. To try a different order without losing the first, select all the frames and press Cmd+D; the copy comes with its ink and caption cards.

When you want the pictures somewhere else (an email, a chat, a slide), select the frames, right-click, and choose Copy as image, then paste it. On Chrome, Export > Save as image downloads a PNG instead. We tested a 12-frame board on the web app on November 11, 2026: it came out as one picture with the frames in their board positions and every sketch inside its frame. We have not tested it on Safari or Firefox, and a board this size is a big picture (ours was about 5,400 by 3,500 pixels).

Two people sketching on the same board

1. 1In the share menu, set "Anyone with the link can edit". New boards start view-only.
2. 2Send the link, or the 4-digit join code. The code expires after 2 hours of inactivity.
3. 3Your co-writer or director signs in free (Google, Apple or email) to write. Someone who isn't signed in can open the link and read the board, but can't change anything.
4. 4You can both type in different caption cards at the same moment, and both edits are kept. If two of you type in the same card, the text merges as you go and nothing is overwritten, but the two sets of words end up interleaved, so give each person their own cards. The other person's "is editing" tag shows on the card; it doesn't lock it.
5. 5A card one of you moves, or recolours, shows up for the other within a second or two.
6. 6The board counts as one of their 5 free boards, and the cards they add count toward their own 150.

Free calls on the board run up to 60 minutes per call, with a warning 10 minutes before the end; everyone signs in free, calls aren't recorded, and Pro has no limit. So you can talk through frame 7 while one of you sketches it.

Where to make the finished storyboard

Each row is from the maker's own pages, read on November 11, 2026. Prices change, so check the page before you choose.

When another tool is the better choice

• You need an animatic or timing. Storyboarder is free and built for it.
• You need a client to approve the storyboard. Boords is made for review and comments.
• You don't want to draw. Storyboard That and Canva give you art and stock images; Instaboard gives you a pen and a blank frame.
• Your frames are photos or finished art. Instaboard allows 3 images per board on the free plan. Milanote's free plan is more generous with pictures.
• You need a document with shot sizes, camera notes and dialogue per frame. A storyboard tool or a shared document is better than caption cards.

If you are outlining the story before you draw it, see outlining a story with a co-writer or outlining with index cards. If you came from Milanote and used up its 100 free items, see the Milanote section for writers.

Questions