Practical guides for creating, editing, saving and sharing your work in Papyrus.
On Projects, choose Start with a screen for an editable example, or Start blank for an empty canvas. Papyrus creates its project and file for you and opens the canvas directly. Change the heading, add a shape, then wait for Saved before leaving. Use Projects to organize the work later.
A project gathers related files. Each file contains canvases: infinite spaces for editable frames, text and shapes. A Board is a separate Excalidraw whiteboard for diagrams and sketches. Choose a canvas for structured screen design and a Board for freehand diagrams. Boards do not appear inside project files.
Choose Select (V), click an object and change its properties in the inspector. Shift-click adds to your selection. Use layers to select objects behind other objects. Press F for a frame, R for a rectangle, T for text and H for the hand tool. Click the zoom percentage to fit all objects. The canvas extends beyond its reference dimensions, including negative coordinates.
Canvas edits save through a live connection. Saved means the latest edit was acknowledged. Saving means a write is pending. Unsaved changes or Disconnected means your current work is not confirmed on the server. Keep the tab open, reconnect and choose Retry save. Papyrus attempts to keep a recovery copy in this browser; if storage is unavailable, download JSON immediately. On reopening a canvas, review the recovery notice before restoring or discarding it. Recovery copies are browser-local and are not a backup service.
Open Files in the editor toolbar to download editable Papyrus JSON or a PNG of the visible canvas. The browser PNG is downloaded directly and is not published. Import accepts a Papyrus canvas JSON file and replaces the open canvas after confirmation. Undo reverses that replacement. Excalidraw Board JSON belongs in a Board, not a project canvas. Remote image and font rendering can differ between export paths.
Use Ctrl/Cmd+Z to undo and Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Z to redo canvas edits. Imported canvas content is one history action. Editor history belongs to the current session; it is not a version archive. Deleting a project, file or Board is currently permanent, so export important work before deletion.
Open Boards from Projects, create a Board and use its drawing tools. The Board editor has its own sharing controls. Enabling a public link lets anyone with that link view the scene. Disable sharing to revoke the link. Public viewers cannot edit the Board. Project canvas links require an account with access and are not equivalent to public Board links.
Open Account and generate a personal API key. Copy the hosted HTTP endpoint into a client supporting Streamable HTTP MCP. Keep your key private: it grants access to your account workspace. Copy it when generated because Papyrus cannot retrieve the raw key later. Regenerating or revoking a key disconnects clients using the previous key. HTTPS is required for remote connections.
Use Google or GitHub on the sign-in page. If loading fails, check your connection and retry. A private canvas requires a current Papyrus session. A public Board may be unavailable because its owner revoked the link or deleted the Board. Check the service page for current application/database reachability. Service checks do not verify an individual account or OAuth provider.
Account → Your data downloads a JSON archive of your projects and Boards. It does not include passwords, session cookies or raw API keys. This archive is for portability and safekeeping; it is not a one-click whole-account restore. Individual canvases can be imported from their own JSON export. Keep downloaded archives private.