Visual artificial intelligence startup Napkin.ai Inc. today announced the launch of a new tool that transforms text such as business plans, pitch decks and newsletters into imagery that can better communicate the complex ideas they detail.

The startup said it’s trying to help people enhance their communication and explain their ideas more easily, adding that this is especially important in an age of “peak information overload.” To do this, it’s pioneering what it says is a new “visual generative AI” technology that enables users to tell better stories through the medium of imagery.

Its tool aims to make graphics design more accessible, so users can explain their ideas easily without having to spend hours creating the right visuals to complement the documents that spell them out.

To get started, users paste their existing document into Napkin.ai’s text box, click the spark icon on any part of the text, and it will transform the selected text into a series of recommended visuals. For instance, the user could upload a business plan that lays out the various revenue streams of their proposed company, and it will transform this into a visually striking diagram that communicates the various ways it will make money at a glance.

Napkin.ai co-founder Pramod Sharma said Apple Inc. made it simple for anyone to take beautiful photos with the iPhone, and that his company intends to do the same for graphics. “Visuals are powerful and we’ve designed Napkin so that anyone can easily communicate their ideas through beautiful imagery,” he said.

Napkin.ai includes various customization tools, so once the user selects a recommended graphic from the various suggestions it generates, they can then adjust elements such as the font, colors, shapes, design and more, in order to make the graphics adhere to their branding and style guidelines.

Moreover, Napkin.ai integrates with a range of common enterprise content platforms, such as Google Slides and Docs, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, Substack, Medium, Slack, Notion, LinkedIn, Instagram and X.

The tool is said to support practically any kind of scenario where someone working with documents might need to create a graphic, including presentations, blog posts, pitch decks, social media content, newsletters, data and research reports, customer communications and more.

Napkin.ai said it currently offers more than 30 kinds of graphics, including mind maps, flow charts, Venn diagrams, bar charts, pie charts and more. The team plans to add more powerful customizations and graphics formats in future via regular updates to the platform.

Jason Miller, chief operating officer of the autonomous AI agent startup SproutsAI Inc., said that has someone without natural design skills, he has come to love the super-easy and convenient capabilities of Napkin.ai.

“Whether I need a quick diagram for a blog post or a chart for a presentation, Napkin generates exactly what I’m looking for in seconds,” he said. “Before Napkin, we were constrained regarding what graphics we could access, but now we have a designer at our fingertips, offering unlimited access to enhance our business storytelling with visuals.”

Main image: SiliconANGLE/Microsoft Designer