Dropbox Paper is a collaborative word processor for Dropbox
Dropbox first teased Dropbox Paper back in August, and it has now been released for public use.
I fired up the Dropbox website to try it out. To get started, click on the Paper link that shows on the left sidewhen logged into Dropbox, or visit https://paper.dropbox.com/.
Your Dropbox Paper files are separate from your regular files stored in Dropbox. I couldn’t find any way to see the Paper files unless I was on the website or in the Dropbox Paper app on mobile.
Once logged in, you can see you files like you would see in Google Drive or Office 365. There are templates to help you get started with a document, or you can start with a blank document.
The editor is totally context aware, meaning that formatting tools do not show up unless they can be used. Highlighting text, will show the formatting tools and allow you to apply the formatting to the selected text.
Checkboxes like in Evernote can be added to a document, and each item in the list can be assigned to a user. This can come in handy when using Dropbox Paper for meeting notes.
Unfortunately, documents shared from Dropbox Paper can only be edited with a Dropbox account. The recipient can view the document, but to edit it, they will need a Dropbox account.
If you already are using shared documents in Google Drive or Office 365, Dropbox Paper would be a hard sell. But, if you already have people using Dropbox, or you want a quick and dirty document editor, you may want to check it out.
