How to Add Images to an Online Whiteboard for Live Lessons

To add an image to an online whiteboard, choose the image button on the toolbar, pick one or more PNG, JPG or GIF files and the picture appears on the board for everyone in the class. You can then move it, resize it, lock it in place and draw on top of it while you explain.

A picture does a lot of work in a lesson. A labelled diagram, a photo of a rock sample or a scanned page of a student's homework gives the class something concrete to look at and talk about. On an online whiteboard it does even more, because you can write on it.

This guide shows the ways to put images on the Educastic whiteboard, what you can do with an image once it is there, and how to set the board colour behind it.

What does "adding an image to the whiteboard" mean?

Adding an image to a whiteboard means placing a picture file on the shared board as an object that everyone sees and that you can move, resize and annotate. It is different from screen sharing: the picture sits on the board itself, so you and your students can draw arrows, labels and circles on it, and it stays there when you change tool.

How do you add an image in Educastic?

In Educastic you add an image with the Add Image to canvas button on the left toolbar. The steps:

1. Open a normal board tab (images go on a regular tab, not inside a tab that holds an uploaded PDF or document).
2. Click Add Image to canvas on the left toolbar.
3. Choose one or more PNG, JPG, JPEG or GIF files from your computer.
4. Wait for the upload notice to finish. The image appears on the board for every participant, and Educastic switches you to the select tool so you can position it straight away.
5. Drag the image where you want it and pull its corners to resize it.

The image is also added to the session's resources, so it is part of what the class worked with.

Can you drag and drop files onto the board?

Yes. In Educastic you can drag files from your computer onto the whiteboard: a drop area appears as soon as you drag a file over the window. Dropped files go through the same upload as Load File to Whiteboard > Upload File in the header, so PNG and JPG images, PDFs and Word and other documents all work, and each file opens as a page in a tab, ready to annotate.

Use the toolbar button when you want the picture as a movable object on the board you are already using. Use drag and drop, or Upload File, when the image is a page in itself, such as a photo of a worksheet. For files stored in the cloud, see how to import files from Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive.

What can you do with an image once it is on the board?

Once you select an image in Educastic, a small toolbar appears at the top of the board with these actions:

Right-clicking the image also gives you Cut, Copy, Paste, Duplicate, Group and Delete. Freeze is the one teachers use most: lock a map or a diagram first, then draw on it as much as you like without dragging it out of place.

How do you use images in a live lesson?

Images work best when students have something to do with them. Three lesson ideas that take a couple of minutes to set up:

• Label the diagram. Put an unlabelled diagram of the heart, a plant cell or a circuit on the board, freeze it, and ask students to add the labels.
• Spot the mistake. Insert a photo of a worked answer that contains an error and ask a student to circle it and write the correction beside it.
• Compare two pictures. Place two images side by side (two maps, two paintings, two graphs) and ask the class to annotate what has changed.

For students to write on the image, they need drawing access. In Educastic the teacher gives or takes back drawing (annotation) access per student at any time, and students with that access can also add their own images from the toolbar.

How do you change the whiteboard background colour?

You change the board colour with the Background button at the bottom of the left toolbar. It opens a panel with a Board row of ready-made colours (White, Paper, Light grey, Chalkboard green, Blackboard and Navy), the full colour palette and a custom colour. Choose a colour and the board behind your images and writing changes for everyone.

A darker board such as Blackboard reduces glare on a long lesson and makes bright pen colours stand out. Keep white or Paper when you are working on photos, so the colours in the picture look right.

What are the limits of images on the whiteboard?

A few things are worth knowing before class:

• The Add Image to canvas button accepts PNG, JPG, JPEG and GIF files, with a maximum file size and number of files per upload. Very large photos are refused, so resize them first.
• Images cannot be added inside a tab that holds an uploaded PDF or document. Open a normal tab or add a new one.
• The Background panel sets a colour, not a picture. To use a photo as a backdrop, insert it and freeze it.
• The teacher chooses which tools appear in a session, so if the image button is missing, it has been switched off for that session.

Frequently asked questions

Which image formats can I add to the Educastic whiteboard? PNG, JPG, JPEG and GIF with the Add Image to canvas button. Drag and drop and Upload File take PNG and JPG images, plus PDFs and documents.

Can students add images too? Yes, if the teacher has given them drawing access. Students without access cannot use the toolbar.

How do I stop an image moving while I draw on it? Select it and click Freeze. Click the same button again to unlock it.

Can I save the board with the image and my notes on it? Yes. Use Save as Image or Save as PDF from the Save Whiteboard Tab menu in the header.

Do images cost extra? No. Educastic includes all of its teaching features in the free version.

Bring your next diagram to the board

Pick one diagram or photo you already use in your lessons, add it to the Educastic online whiteboard, freeze it and ask a student to label it.

Add your first image free