Abstract: The present invention pertains to a system and method for managing a real-time distributed collaborative drawing activity. A community of collaborators associated with client computers are connected via a communications link with a server computer. Each collaborator contributes to the real-time design of a shared drawing that is displayed in each collaborator's virtual whiteboard. Contributions to the shared drawing as well as communications between the collaborators are transmitted to the server computer. The server computer broadcasts the communication to each of the collaborators engaged in the design activity. Each user has a set of drawing tools that are used to generate a variety of drawing strokes that edit the shared drawing. A curve generating procedure is used to capture the manner in which the user draws the stroke in order to emulate a selected drawing tool. A compact representation of the user's stroke is generated and transmitted to each collaborator.