Napkin AI
How Napkin AI Works
The process of creating visuals with Napkin AI is straightforward and user-friendly:
Input Text: You start by importing or pasting your text content into a Napkin document. Notably, Napkin AI does not require users to write prompts; it works directly from the provided text. Text can be copied and pasted from any document or webpage, or a file can be uploaded for automatic text extraction.
Generate Visuals: After inputting text, you hover over a text block or select a specific section and click the blue "Generate Visual" button.
Select and Customize: Within a few seconds, a list of generated visuals based on the text appears. You can scroll through the options to pick your preferred visual and then choose a style for it. Napkin AI visuals are fully editable, allowing you to adjust content and style for maximum impact.
Napkin AI Key Features
Let’s look at Napkin AI features:
1. Visual Generation
Napkin AI generates relevant visuals directly from your text, allowing you to choose the one that best expresses your ideas. It can produce a variety of visual types, including infographics, diagrams, mind maps, flowcharts, and data charts.
2. Customization Options
Napkin AI offers extensive customization to make visuals unique and align with your brand or personal style.
Editing Elements: Users can change icons from an extensive database, add or swap them, and search for new ones using the Spark Search tool. Elements can be resized by dragging handles. Shapes can also be added via the Spark Search tool.
Colors: Users can double-click on elements (text, icons, shapes) to change text, border, or background colors from a palette or by adding custom hex codes. Colors are designed to look good on both light and dark modes.
Fonts: Customization includes choosing different fonts for titles, labels, and descriptions. Users can select from Napkin’s built-in fonts, over 700 Google Fonts, or upload their own custom fonts (currently only .ttf files are supported).
Custom Styles: This feature allows users to set up a unique style using their brand colors and fonts. Colors can be added manually via RGB, HSL, or HEX codes, or Napkin AI can automatically extract colors from an uploaded logo or brand asset. Once created, users can generate new visuals in this style or update existing ones.
There is no limit to the number of custom styles you can create, and different styles can be used on the same Napkin document.
Decorators and Connectors: Decorators emphasize content with versatile styles, and dynamic connectors can link any elements.
3. Import Options
Napkin supports importing text by copy-pasting or uploading files for text extraction. Images can also be imported by copying and pasting from websites or devices, or by dragging and dropping local files into the work area.
4. Export Options
Visuals created in Napkin AI can be used anywhere and exported in various formats.
Entire Document: The entire document can be exported as a PDF file. Users can choose between three formats: single continuous page, A4 page (for printing), or presentation (16:9) page (optimized for slides).
Specific Visuals: Individual visuals can be exported as PNG, SVG, PPT, or PDF files. Users can control color settings and remove the Napkin AI watermark before downloading. PNG is supported over JPEG for higher quality.
5. Team Collaboration (Teamspace)
Napkin AI offers seamless team collaboration.
Team Management: Teamspace is a centralized area to invite and manage team members, handle subscriptions, and control data privacy settings. Admins have complete control over member management, permissions, and settings. Members can be invited via email or a shareable invitation link. Admins can revoke invitations and remove members.
Real-time Editing: Multiple people can edit a Napkin AI in real-time, enabling dynamic teamwork.
Commenting and Feedback: Users can leave feedback directly on text and visuals using a built-in highlighter.
Permissions and Sharing: Admins can control default sharing permissions for new Napkins, ranging from "Napkin Owner Only can view" to "Anyone with the link can view" (public access).
Use Cases
Napkin AI is designed to enhance business communication and storytelling. Its auto-generated visuals are useful for:
Presentations: Creating impactful slides.
Blogs: Leaving a strong impression on readers.
Social Media: Engaging audiences with visual content.
Documents: Making written documents easier to read and understand. Customers have found it invaluable for professional development, generating visual ideas, teaching, and streamlining workflows.
Pricing
Napkin AI offers several pricing tiers:
1. Free
Costs $0 and is available forever.
Includes 500 AI credits per week (approximately 1 credit per word for visual generation).
Offers unlimited visual editing, unlimited file import (PPT, DOC, PDF, HTML, MD), and unlimited PNG and PDF export.
Provides built-in styles and fonts, and standard icons.
Visuals exported under the free plan will include Napkin AI branding (watermark).
2. Plus
Costs $12 per person/month.
Includes everything in the Free plan, plus:
10,000 AI credits per month.
Unlimited PPT and SVG export.
3 Custom styles.
Bold icons.
Option to remove Napkin AI branding.
Team management and billing features.
3. Pro Plan
Costs $30 per person/month.
Includes everything in the Plus plan, plus:
30,000 AI credits per month.
Exclusive designs.
Unlimited custom styles.
Ability to upload your own fonts.
Team management and billing.
Optional credit top-ups if monthly credits are exhausted.
Payment methods include all major credit and debit cards. Users can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel their plans at any time, retaining access to paid features until the current billing period ends.
If a subscription is canceled, content remains accessible, but advanced features associated with paid plans are lost.
Pros
Effortless Visual Creation: Napkin AI transforms text into visuals without requiring users to write prompts, making the process quick and effective.
Improved Communication: It helps capture the essence of ideas, remove misconceptions, and create shared mental models through visuals, bringing joy and efficiency to business communication.
Time-Saving: Users report significant time savings in creating presentations, diagrams, and other visual content.
High Customizability: Offers extensive options for customizing colors, fonts, icons, and even creating brand-specific custom styles.
Different Export Options: Supports exporting visuals and entire documents in multiple formats (PNG, SVG, PPT, PDF) for use in various applications.
Collaboration Features: Provides Teamspace for inviting and managing team members, real-time editing, and commenting tools.
Original Content: All AI-generated visual content is original, crafted by internal designers, and does not use images scraped from the internet, helping avoid copyright issues.
Supports Multiple Languages: Can create visuals in over 60 languages.
Cons
Desktop-Only for Creation/Editing: Visual generation and editing functionalities are only available on desktop computers. Mobile devices are currently limited to viewing existing Napkins.
Limited Custom Font Support: Currently, custom font uploads are restricted to .ttf files only.
English-Only Interface: While visuals can be generated in many languages, the user interface itself is currently only in English.
No Student/Non-Profit Discounts: As of now, discounts are not offered for non-profits or students, though a free plan is available for lightweight usage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s answer some questions you might have about Napkin AI.
Is Napkin AI free to use?
Yes, Napkin AI offers a free plan forever with 500 AI credits weekly, allowing unlimited visual editing and PNG/PDF exports. Free plan visuals include Napkin AI branding. You can also try out the Pro plan for free while it's in beta.
What is Napkin AI used for?
Napkin AI is used to transform your text into various engaging visuals, like diagrams, infographics, mind maps, and charts. Its mission is to empower everyone to be a dynamic visual storyteller and make business communication more joyful and efficient.
How to use Napkin AI for presentation?
You can use Napkin AI to make impactful slides for presentations. You can export individual visuals as PPT files or export an entire document as a PDF optimized for presentations (16:9 page).
Is it safe to use Napkin AI?
Yes, Napkin AI follows standard data protection practices, including HTTPS and encryption, to keep your data private. Your content is not used to train their models if you opt out, and all AI-generated visuals are original designs, not scraped from the internet, to avoid copyright issues.
How to use Napkin AI to generate an image?
First, paste your text into a Napkin document. Then, hover over a text block or select a specific section and click the blue "Generate Visual" button. After a few seconds, choose your favorite visual from the options and pick a style.
How to generate PPT using Napkin AI?
To generate a PPT, you can export individual visuals as PPT files. Simply select the visual you want, click the export button in the top-right corner, and choose the PPT format.
Is there an app for Napkin AI?
There is no standalone mobile app for Napkin AI. Creating and editing Napkins is solely available on web browsers.
How to download from Napkin AI?
You can download an entire document as a PDF by clicking the 'Share' button and selecting 'Download PDF', choosing from continuous, A4, or presentation formats. For specific visuals, hover over them, click the export button, and choose PNG, SVG, PPT, or PDF.
Is Napkin AI private?
Yes, Napkin AI is private. They use anonymized data to improve AI features, but your personal content remains private and won't appear in other users' visuals. You also have the option to opt out of data collection for AI improvement at any time.
How to use Napkin AI for free?
You can use Napkin AI for free by signing up for their Free plan. This gives you 500 AI credits per week for generating visuals, along with unlimited editing and exporting to PNG and PDF, though visuals will include Napkin branding.
How do I export from Napkin AI to PowerPoint?
You can export individual visuals as PPT files. Simply select the visual, click the export button in its top-right corner, and then choose PPT as the format. The full document can only be exported as a PDF.
How to download an image from Napkin AI?
To download an image, select the specific visual you want. An export button will appear in the top-right corner of the visual's frame. Click this button and choose to export your visual as a PNG or SVG file.
Does Napkin AI have a limit?
Yes, Napkin AI has limits, primarily with AI credits used for visual generation. The free plan has a limit of 500 credits per week, while paid plans offer higher monthly limits (10,000 or 30,000 credits) and optional top-ups.
How to create diagrams with Napkin AI?
To create diagrams, paste your text content into a Napkin document. Then, simply hover over a text block or select a section and click the blue "Generate Visual" button. Napkin AI will then generate various visuals, including diagrams, from your text.
