How to Import Files to an Online Whiteboard: PDFs, Docs and Images

To import files to an online whiteboard in Educastic, open the "Load File to Whiteboard" menu and upload from your computer, import from Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, or open a file from My Library. You can also drag files onto the board. PDFs, images and Office documents open on the board, ready to annotate.

Most lessons start with material you already have: a worksheet, a slide deck from last year, a spreadsheet of results or a photo of a textbook page. The faster that material reaches the board, the more of the lesson goes on teaching instead of searching folders. This guide covers every way to get a file onto Educastic's whiteboard, which file types work and the limits worth knowing before class.

What does importing a file onto the whiteboard do?

Importing a file onto the whiteboard turns it into board pages that you and your students can write on. In Educastic, an uploaded PDF or document opens in its own tab, with one board page per page of the file, so you can move through it page by page and annotate each one live.

That is the difference from screen sharing: the file is no longer a picture of your screen, it is a shared page everyone can point at, mark up and come back to.

Which file types can you put on the board?

Educastic's whiteboard accepts PDFs, images and the common Office formats. Documents that are not already PDFs are converted to PDF on upload.

The first time you upload, Educastic tells you that your file may look a little different. Because documents are converted for the whiteboard, layout and formatting can shift slightly, so check a converted slide deck before class rather than in front of students.

How do you upload a file from your computer?

Upload a file from your computer through the "Load File to Whiteboard" button in the top bar ("Cargar Archivo al Whiteboard" in Spanish).

1. Click Load File to Whiteboard (the folder icon in the top bar).
2. Choose Upload File and select up to five files.
3. If you picked several files and the whiteboard setting Upload resources in a single tab is on, choose Single Tab to put them together or Multiple Tabs to give each file its own tab.
4. On your first upload, read the note about formatting and click Continue. Tick "Don't show this again" if you do not need the reminder.
5. Watch the progress bar. When it finishes, the file opens on the board.

How do you import from Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive?

Import from cloud storage through the same "Load File to Whiteboard" menu, which lists Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive.

1. Click the service you use.
2. The first time, click Connect and sign in. A small sign-in window opens and closes by itself, and you stay on the board.
3. Browse your folders, or search. Tick "Search all of My Drive" (or of Dropbox or OneDrive) to look beyond the open folder.
4. Select one or more files. Your selection is kept while you move between folders.
5. Click Import and the files are added to the whiteboard.

Only supported files appear in the browser: images, PDFs and Office documents. From Google Drive, native Google Docs and Google Sheets files come in as PDFs, so you do not need to download them first.

Can you drag and drop files onto the board?

Yes. Drag a file from your computer over Educastic's whiteboard, a drop zone appears, and dropping the file uploads it exactly like Upload File. Drag and drop accepts the same file types, so it works for a PDF worksheet as well as for a photo.

This is the quickest route in the middle of a lesson. When a student asks about a past paper you have open on your desktop, drag it in rather than navigating menus.

How do you add an image to the current page?

Use Add Image to canvas in the left toolbar ("Agregar Imagen al Whiteboard" in Spanish) to place a PNG, JPG or GIF on the page you are working on. Unlike Upload File, which opens a file in its own tab, this drops the image onto the current board so you can draw around it.

Use it on a regular board tab. Inside a document's tab, Educastic asks you to open a simple tab or add a new one first.

Who can import files during a class?

The teacher has every option: upload, cloud import, My Library and drag and drop. Students and guests do not see My Library or the cloud storage buttons. They can load files from their own computer only when the teacher allows it, and Educastic's teacher can give or take back that file loading access per student at any time.

A good habit is to keep file loading off during your explanation and switch it on for one student when you want them to share their own working.

What limits should you know about?

Educastic's whiteboard has a few practical limits for imports.

• Up to five files at a time. Split a bigger batch into two uploads.
• A size limit per file. If a file is too large, the whiteboard tells you the maximum, and you can compress it and try again.
• No password-protected PDFs. Remove the password and upload the file again.
• Formatting can shift. Converted documents may differ slightly from the original layout.

Tip: load your files before students join. A worksheet already open on its tab is the calmest way to start a lesson. Once it is there, the next step is marking it up live; see how to annotate a PDF in an online class.

Frequently asked questions

Can I upload a PowerPoint to an online whiteboard? Yes. Educastic accepts .ppt, .pptx and .odp files, converts them to PDF on upload and opens each slide as a board page.

Can I import files from Google Drive? Yes. Educastic imports from Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, and Google Docs and Sheets files come in as PDFs.

How many files can I upload at once? Up to five. If you upload several, you can put them in a single tab or give each file its own tab.

Can students upload files to the whiteboard? Yes, when the teacher allows it. Students upload from their own computer; My Library and the cloud storage buttons are for the teacher.

Why does my uploaded document look slightly different? Documents are converted to PDF for the whiteboard, so layout and formatting can shift a little. Check converted files before class.

Bring your next worksheet to the board

Open the Educastic online whiteboard, click Load File to Whiteboard and import the worksheet you are teaching next, from your computer or straight from your cloud storage.

Import your first file free