Patent ID: 7703013

Claim:
A computer-implemented method in which at least one computer system executes instructions retrieved from computer storage for generating a visual representation of content, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving an identification of content formatted according to a first format; based on the identification of content, invoking a first service to utilize the content formatted according to the first format to produce a rendition of the content according to a second format; invoking a second service to produce a rendition of the content according to a third format based on the rendition of the content according to the second format, the third format supporting reduced resolution thumbnail imaging of the content compared to a respective resolution supported by the second format; initiating display of the rendition of the content formatted according to the third format to collaboration windows of members in a collaboration system; and wherein the identification of content is a content identifier and wherein receiving the identification of content occurs in response to a first member of a collaborative whiteboard session in the collaboration system dragging and dropping a visual rendition of the content identifier onto an editable whiteboard for sharing the content as specified by the content identifier with a second member of the collaborative whiteboard session, the second member being at a remote location with respect to the first member; wherein invoking the first service includes converting the content into a PDF (Portable Document Format) viewing format; and wherein invoking the second service includes converting the content formatted according to the PDF viewing format into a thumbnail rendition of the content, the thumbnail rendition of the content having a reduced resolution format compared to a resolution of the PDF viewing format.