AI import
The whiteboard photo,
finally useful.
The meeting ends, someone photographs the board — and the photo goes to the camera roll to die. Atlas Red's AI reads that image and rebuilds it as a real, editable mind map: every branch and grouping recovered as structure you can keep working with. Sketches and handwriting included.
How it works
Point your camera at it
On your phone, the camera opens right from Import — photograph the whiteboard before it's erased. Or pick a photo from your library.
AI rebuilds the structure
Imports run in the background — close the tab and come back; your finished result is waiting. Failed jobs are never charged.
Name it — then edit like you made it
Every node is real: rename, move, restructure, extend. Then export to any of 14 formats, plus print — free tier included.
The photo was the backup. The map is the work.
A photo of a whiteboard preserves the pixels and loses the point: you can't move a branch, rename a node, or extend an idea inside a JPEG. Tools that promise "image to mind map" usually stop at OCR — text extracted, structure gone.
Atlas Red's AI reads the image the way a colleague would: it recovers what connects to what — branches, clusters, the hierarchy those hasty lines and arrows implied — and hands you a native mind map in your workspace. From there it behaves like any map you built by hand: restructure it, merge it with other maps, hand it to your AI assistant over MCP, or export it anywhere.
Hand-drawn sketches and handwriting are exactly what this was built for. The clearer the writing, the better the result — but it's read for structure, not pixel-perfect transcription.
What it costs
Photo and PDF import is the only AI in Atlas Red that ever costs anything, and only if you use it. There is no AI subscription:
$1 trial credit
Every new account starts with it — no credit card required, valid 30 days. Typically covers your first imports.
AI credit packs
Top up when you like — no subscription, no expiry. Failed jobs are never charged.
Bring your own key Pro
With a Pro license, connect your own API key — OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and more — and pay only your provider. Atlas Red adds no markup, ever.
A typical photo or whiteboard import costs about a cent — your $1 trial credit is good for roughly 100 of them. Documents and transcripts are much bigger jobs and cost more; the app shows the exact cost of every job, and failed jobs are never charged.
Questions people ask
Is the image to mind map conversion free?
Every new account starts with $1 of AI trial credit (valid 30 days) — no credit card needed — which typically covers your first imports. After that, buy a prepaid pack (no subscription, no expiry), or with a Pro license connect your own API key (no markup; pick a model that accepts image input). Failed jobs are never charged.
Does it read handwriting and hand-drawn sketches?
Yes — hand-drawn sketches and handwritten whiteboards are exactly what the import is for. The AI recovers the structure: branches, groupings, hierarchy. The clearer the writing, the better the result.
What kind of photo does it need?
A normal phone photo works. Shoot roughly straight-on with the whole board or page in frame; large photos are downscaled automatically before upload. On your phone, the camera opens right from Import.
Is the result actually editable?
Yes — every node is real. Rename, move, restructure and extend the map exactly as if you'd built it by hand; nothing is flattened into a picture.
Do I have to wait while it converts?
No. Imports run in the background — close the tab and come back; your finished result is waiting, one click from a map.
What can I export the mind map to afterwards?
Every supported format, on every tier: JSON, Markdown, plain text, OPML, YAML, FreeMind, XMind, XMindMark, web page, OpenDeck slides, PNG, JPEG, SVG and PDF — plus print, with or without an outline.
Working from a document instead? PDF and Word. From a recorded meeting? Transcript to mind map. Already have an outline? Markdown imports free, and your assistant can build maps over MCP.