Welcome to Lucidspark

Written by:  Shanna S
Last updated:  

Welcome to Lucidspark, a virtual whiteboard for freeform ideation, group brainstorming, and real-time hybrid collaboration!

This article will provide some basic resources to help you get started with your first Lucidspark board. Learn how to effectively navigate the Lucidspark workspace so you can take full advantage of all the functionality.  

For more detailed articles on specific topics, check out our Lucidspark Help Center. To post questions and learn from other Lucid users, check out the Community.

Watch: Get started in Lucidspark

The home page

When you sign into Lucidspark, you will be directed to your home page. Here, you can view and organize your boards, create and manage folders, and access templates. From the home page, you can also access your Account Settings page, the admin panel, the Integrations Marketplace, and the Lucidspark workspace. 

For an in depth overview, check out our Lucid Home Page article.

Create a board

You can start brainstorming from scratch with a new blank board or build from a Lucidspark template. 

To create a board from the home page, follow these steps:

  1. Click the + New button in the upper left corner. 
  2. Hover over Lucidspark. 
  3. Select one of the following options:
    • Blank Board to start a board from scratch.
    • Create from Template to open the Template Gallery and then select a template to get started with.
    • Join ID to quickly access a document when the owner has provided the code. To learn more about this feature, check out our Share with collaborators in Lucid article.

Note: You can also create a new board directly from the workspace by navigating to the Board controls, clicking three_lines_more_menu_icon.PNG the More menu, clicking New, and selecting Lucidspark.

Import a board

To import existing data into a Lucidspark board, you have the following options:

The parts of the workspace

Before you start creating in Lucidspark, it's useful to become familiar with the different parts of the workspace. See the sections below to learn the names and capabilities of the different components of the workspace.

Board Controls

menu_options_in_Lucidspark_board_controls.png
 

Board Controls can be found in the top-left corner of the workspace. From here you can switch between Lucid products using universal canvas, change the name of the board, add it to your Starred documents, access Revision History, and use the Search tool—including Advanced search, which is also known as the find & replace feature.

Use three_lines_more_menu_icon.PNG the More menu to access additional board options including exporting, publishing, integrating with Lucidchart, spell check, and getting help.
 

Collaboration Tools

Collaboration Tools are located in the top-right corner of the workspace and include the following:

Primary Toolbar

The menu on the left-hand side of the workspace is called the Primary Toolbar. Click on the links below to learn about each of these features. You can customize which tool icons appear on your Primary Toolbar.

Tip: You can access many of the tools in the Primary Toolbar without interrupting your workflow by pressing "/" on your keyboard.

The canvas

The canvas is the space in which you will create, design, collaborate, and brainstorm.
use_canvas_to_create_design_and_collaborate.png
Populate the canvas with shapes, lines, text, and drawings from the Primary Toolbar and edit the style of these objects by selecting them and using the pop-out Context Toolbar. 

Canvas view controls

screenshot-of-canvas-view-controls.png
Canvas View Controls are found in the bottom-right corner of the workspace.  With these controls, you can access the Table of Contents, navigate the canvas using the Mini Map, change the zoom level of your board, edit in full screen mode, and explore help options such as the Lucid Community or the Lucid Help Center.

Ideation basics

With Lucidspark’s drag-and-drop interface, ideation and collaboration is simple and intuitive. Follow along with the instructions below using a blank board.

Add objects to your board by dragging them from the Primary Toolbar and dropping them on the canvas. You can also drag and drop them to move them from one place to another. Edit an object’s size by clicking on it and dragging one of the blue boxes that appear on its corners. 

ideation-basics-drag-move-resize-sticky-note-in-lucidspark.gif

Select an object and start typing to edit the text it contains. 

click_into_a_sticky_note_and_type_to_edit_text.gif

Use the Context Toolbar to style your shapes and adjust the text.

use_context_toolbar_to_select_font_size_and_color.gif

To annotate your board using the Pen, click pen-icon-from-lucidspark-primary-toolbar.png the Pen icon from the Primary Toolbar, select a color and line width, and click and drag your mouse. A drawing will be created in the path of your cursor.

freehand-drawing-example-in-lucidspark.gif

Customize the Primary Toolbar

You can customize the tools and what order they appear in the Primary Toolbar. Here’s how:

  1. Select any tool from the Primary Toolbar.
  2. Drag it to a new location in the Primary Toolbar.

You can do this with any tool, including those that are located in another menu. For example, even though Frames are located in the “Organizers” menu, you can drag them into the Primary Toolbar for quicker access.

Changes you make to the Primary Toolbar affect all of your Lucidspark boards.

lucidspark-primary-toolbar-customization.gif

Resources

To learn more about Lucidspark, explore the additional resources below. These resources are available in English only.

Courses

Contributing in Lucidspark

Lucidspark Fundamentals

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