A picture book dummy on one board: every spread sketched, with its words underneath

What this board can't do for a picture book

• Spreads are sections, not pages. A section is any size you drag it to. There is no 32-page count, no left and right page, no trim size and no snap, so you match the spreads by eye.
• No ordered export. What you get out is a picture of the selected spreads: Copy as image, or Save as image on Chrome. There is no PDF of the pages in order and no page numbers.
• Drawing is free ink, not an object. Ink drawn inside a section moves with it. Ink drawn over a card or a list does not, so draw each thumbnail in its section and keep the words in a card.
• 3 images per board and 150 items on the free plan. A hand-drawn board uses none of the 3. Each text card is 1 of the 150. Pro is $5 a month billed yearly ($59.99 a year).
• 5 boards on the free plan. One board per book is the simplest way to keep them. Making your own copy of the example uses 1 of the 5.
• Drawing needs a pen. A finger works for boxes and stick figures; a stylus or tablet makes it feel like sketching.

How to rough a picture book on one board

1. 1Make a section for each spread. Use the Section tool and drag out the spreads in rows. Keep them roughly the same shape; there is no snap. The example has sixteen, four to a row.
2. 2Draw each thumbnail inside its section. Use the pen. Ink that starts inside a section stays attached to it. Keep it to a few shapes: Debbie Ridpath Ohi's page says she uses stick figures "so I don't get too wedded to art details yet".
3. 3Put the words in a card under the spread. One card per spread, numbered, with the line of text and one line about the picture. A card is a separate item, so it doesn't move with the section; select both to move them together.
4. 4Mark the page turns. An arrow from one spread's card to the next takes a caption and its own colour, and stays attached when you move the cards. The example marks three turns. Katie Dwyer's guide says to keep page turns in mind while thumbnailing, and Ohi uses her thumbnails to work out pacing, arc and page turns.
5. 5List what the pictures say that the words don't. The example's first list holds one line per spread where the picture carries something the text leaves out, like a crab that no word mentions. If a spread repeats its words, cut the words.
6. 6Re-order by dragging. Select a section and its card, then drag. To try another order and keep the first, select every spread and press Cmd+D; the copy comes with its ink and cards.

When you want the spreads somewhere else (an email, a chat, a slide), select them, right-click, and choose Copy as image, then paste it. On Chrome, Export > Save as image downloads a PNG instead. We haven't tested Save as image on Safari or Firefox, and a board this size is a big picture.

An author and an illustrator on the same board

1. 1In the share menu, set "Anyone with the link can edit". New boards start view-only.
2. 2Send the link, or the 4-digit join code. The code expires after 2 hours of inactivity.
3. 3Your partner signs in free (Google, Apple or email) to write. Someone who isn't signed in can open the link and read the board, but can't change anything.
4. 4Split the work by card. In the example the author owns the text cards and the illustrator owns the thumbnails. If two people type in the same card at the same time, the text merges as you go with no lock and the words end up interleaved, so give each person their own cards.
5. 5Each person's changes show for the other within a second or two. The board counts as one of their 5 free boards, and the cards they add count toward their own 150.

Free calls on the board run up to 60 minutes per call, with a warning 10 minutes before the end; everyone signs in free, calls aren't recorded, and Pro has no limit. So you can talk through the page turn at spread 10 while one of you redraws it. If you are roughing the story as a film or comic instead, see the hand-drawn storyboard board.

Where to make the dummy you send out

Each row is from the page named, read on November 11, 2026. A page is dated only where it shows a date.

When another tool is the better choice

• You need to send a dummy in page order. Use Slides, InDesign or a printable template, then export a PDF. This board exports a picture, not the pages in order.
• You want to feel the book in your hands. Boyds Mills' how-to describes a paper dummy: eight folded sheets stapled or sewn into a 32-page book, with the text taped in so it can move from page to page. A printed copy shows page turns that a screen doesn't.
• You need the page count right. The guides count the story spreads differently: Woolley says 14 with separate ends and 12 with self ends, Dwyer says 14 spreads plus two single pages, and Blurb's blog says 13. Use a 32-page template to count; the board will happily hold sixteen.
• You need finished art or print-ready files. Procreate or your usual drawing app, then a layout tool.

Ohi's page advises new picture book authors who don't yet have a contract to stick with the 32-page format if at all possible, and says her templates are for her own pacing, not for submission. If you are outlining the words before you draw, see outlining a story with a co-writer or outlining with index cards.

Questions