Creately
Diagramming & visual collaboration for flowcharts, org charts, and whiteboards
Lorien
Infinite canvas drawing app optimized for performance and simplicity
Vector-based infinite canvas for digital note-taking and brainstorming. Renders brush strokes as points for tiny file sizes and smooth performance across Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Overview
Purpose and Audience
Lorien is an infinite canvas drawing and note-taking application built for digital brainstorming, sketching, and visual thinking. Unlike bitmap-based tools such as Krita or Photoshop, Lorien stores brush strokes as collections of points and renders them at runtime—similar to SVG—resulting in exceptionally small file sizes and fast performance. It's designed for users who need a responsive digital notebook rather than a full-featured art program.
Core Capabilities
Built entirely in the Godot Game Engine, Lorien offers infinite canvas, zoom, and undo/redo capabilities alongside essential drawing tools: freehand brush, eraser, line, rectangle, circle, and selection tools. The app supports pressure-sensitive drawing tablets, rebindable keyboard shortcuts, custom color palettes, and SVG export. Users can work on multiple documents simultaneously and toggle a zen mode to hide the UI for distraction-free work.
Deployment and Status
Lorien runs natively on Windows, Linux, and macOS with localizations in 12 languages. Released under the MIT license, the project is actively developed but remains a work in progress—savefiles may evolve in future versions. Stable releases and bleeding-edge CI builds are available on GitHub.
Highlights
Vector-based rendering produces extremely small savefiles while maintaining infinite zoom and canvas
Infinite undo/redo with support for pressure-sensitive drawing tablets
Multiple simultaneous documents with SVG export and custom color palettes
Cross-platform native apps for Windows, Linux, and macOS with 12 localizations
Pros
- Exceptionally small file sizes due to point-based stroke storage
- Fast, responsive performance even with complex drawings
- Clean, distraction-free interface with zen mode and rebindable shortcuts
- MIT licensed with active community contributions
Considerations
- Not suitable for bitmap-based artwork or photo editing
- Still in active development with potential savefile format changes
- Limited advanced drawing features compared to dedicated art software
- Requires Godot Engine knowledge for deep customization
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider Lorien, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- Digital brainstorming sessions and visual thinking workflows
- Note-taking and sketching on drawing tablets with pressure sensitivity
- Users prioritizing performance and minimal file sizes over advanced art tools
- Teams needing lightweight, cross-platform whiteboarding without cloud dependencies
Not ideal when
- Professional illustration or bitmap-based digital painting
- Projects requiring layer management or advanced compositing
- Users needing guaranteed savefile stability in production environments
- Collaborative real-time editing with multiple simultaneous users
How teams use it
Technical Diagramming
Engineers sketch system architectures and flowcharts with infinite canvas space, exporting clean SVGs for documentation
Meeting Notes and Ideation
Teams capture freeform brainstorming sessions with drawings and annotations, storing sessions in tiny files for easy sharing
Tablet-Based Sketching
Designers create quick concept sketches with pressure-sensitive brushes, leveraging infinite zoom for detail work
Educational Whiteboarding
Instructors prepare visual lesson materials offline, using zen mode for distraction-free presentation during lectures
Tech snapshot
GDScript100%
GDShader1%
Frequently asked questions
How does Lorien differ from bitmap drawing apps?
Lorien stores brush strokes as point collections rendered at runtime, like SVG, rather than pixel grids. This produces smaller files and infinite zoom without quality loss, but lacks bitmap editing features.
Will my savefiles work in future versions?
The savefile format may change as Lorien is still in active development. Back up important work and check release notes when updating.
Does Lorien support drawing tablets?
Yes, Lorien is designed for use with Wacom and similar drawing tablets, including full pressure sensitivity support.
Can I export my work to other formats?
Lorien supports SVG export, allowing you to use your drawings in vector graphics editors or convert them to other formats externally.
What platforms does Lorien run on?
Lorien runs natively on Windows, Linux, and macOS with localizations available in 12 languages including English, German, Spanish, French, and Chinese.
Project at a glance
Stable- Stars
- 6,439
- Watchers
- 6,439
- Forks
- 295
LicenseMIT
Repo age4 years old
Last commit4 months ago
Primary languageGDScript
Last synced 3 hours ago