Images and photo editing

Drag images onto a canvas and they upload and arrange themselves. Every image carries non-destructive adjustments — exposure, contrast, saturation and the rest — that never touch the original file. Click an image to open it full screen, and download it either as shot or with your adjustments baked in.

Images are the reason most boards exist. Getting them in is meant to be thoughtless: drag a folder's worth onto the canvas and they upload in parallel and lay themselves out rather than landing in a heap.

Adding images

  • Drag from the desktop — many at once is fine.
  • Paste from the clipboard.
  • The image tool in the rail, for a file picker.
  • Soleil Scout — text them from your phone.

Uploads go straight to storage from your browser. Large batches run a few at a time so one enormous file cannot block the rest.

HEIC and HEIF from an iPhone are handled, including the awkward case where the browser reports no MIME type at all.

Progressive loading

An image appears in three stages: a tiny blurred placeholder that arrives almost instantly, then a preview, then the full file. On a board with hundreds of images this is the difference between usable and not.

Full resolution is fetched as you zoom in, and released again as you zoom out, so a board stays responsive no matter how much is on it.

Adjustments

Every image card has a full set of non-destructive adjustments — the kind you would expect in a photo tool, applied live on the canvas.

Three ways in, depending on how much room you need:

  • Edit popover — a compact panel beside the image with the essentials.
  • Full screen editor — everything, with the image large.
  • Lightbox — click an image to fill the screen; click again for 1:1 and drag to pan.

Adjustments are stored as settings on the card. The uploaded file is never touched, so Reset returns you to the original exactly, and a collaborator who downloads the image gets to choose whether your edits come with it.

Adjustments live on the card, not the file. Duplicate the card and you get an independent copy of the settings — useful for comparing two grades of the same still side by side.

Downloading

From the lightbox or the card menu. You choose between the original file and a version with your adjustments baked in.

Auto-arranging a moodboard

Select a set of images and use auto-arrange to lay them out as a colour-ordered masonry grid — images sorted so that neighbouring ones relate tonally rather than by the order you happened to drop them. It is the fastest way to turn a pile of references into something presentable.

For a fixed layout with defined cells instead, use a grid.

Cropping and thumbnails

Cluster cover images use the same machinery: right-click a cluster → Upload custom thumbnail to pick your own, with a 16:9 crop and reposition step. Reset to auto thumbnail returns to the generated miniature of the board itself.

Limits

Images are not size-capped on any plan. The caps that exist are on video, audio and PDF for free accounts.

Storage is counted against your account quota — Creator accounts get 100GB. The meter is in Settings → Billing.

Building a reference wall specifically? The mood board maker guide walks the whole workflow.

Frequently asked questions

Do adjustments change my original file?

No. Adjustments are stored as settings on the card and applied at display time. The uploaded file is never modified, and resetting returns you to the original exactly.

Why does an image look blurry for a moment?

Images load in tiers — a tiny blurred placeholder first, then a preview, then full resolution. On a board with hundreds of images this is what keeps it usable.

Does it handle photos straight off an iPhone?

Yes, including HEIC and HEIF, even when the browser reports no file type at all.

Machine-readable: /docs/canvas/images.md · /llms.txt