ParentDesk's Import from Photo feature lets you photograph or screenshot any schedule — a school newsletter, birthday invite, sports flyer, activity handout, or paper calendar — and automatically extracts and imports the events into your family calendar. No manual re-typing required.
Available on Family and Family+ plans
On the Schedule page, tap the import button and select the Photo tab.
Take a photo of the schedule or drag an existing image file. Works with newsletters, flyers, printouts, and screenshots of PDFs.
ParentDesk shows you every event it found. Assign each to the right child, adjust any details, and import in one tap.
Import from Photo works with any printed or digital schedule that lists events with dates. The most common uses:
Why this matters
Many schools and activity programs don't publish ICS calendar files — they send home a PDF, a paper printout, or a newsletter. Until now, the only option was to retype every event manually.
Import from Photo closes this gap. Photograph the schedule and every date, time, and event name is extracted automatically. A full month of soccer games and practices can be in your calendar in under a minute.
You review every event before it's imported, so you stay in control of what goes into your calendar.
Included in Family and Family+ plans
Import from Photo is available on the Family plan ($4.99/month or $39/year) and Family+ plan ($9.99/month or $79/year). Both plans include a 30-day free trial.
View pricingHow accurate is Import from Photo?
Accuracy depends on image quality and how clearly dates are formatted in the source document. Printed text in good lighting works best. The review step — where you see every extracted event before importing — lets you catch and correct any errors before they reach your calendar. You can edit event titles, dates, and times on the review screen before confirming.
What if my school doesn't publish a digital calendar at all?
Import from Photo was built for exactly this situation. If your school sends home a paper calendar, a newsletter, or a printed flyer with dates, photograph it and ParentDesk extracts the events. For schools that only publish a PDF, take a screenshot and upload the screenshot image — it works the same way.
Can I import a schedule for multiple children at once?
Yes. On the review screen after uploading a photo, you can assign each extracted event to one or more children. If the school newsletter has events that apply to all your kids, assign them to all children in a single import step.
Does ParentDesk store my photos?
No. Your photo is sent to extract event data and is not stored. Once the events are identified, the image is discarded. Only the extracted event data — titles, dates, and times — is kept.
What if my school already publishes an ICS calendar file?
Use the ICS import instead — it's faster and handles all-day events and recurring events more reliably than photo extraction. Import from Photo is designed for situations where no digital calendar file exists. Both import methods are available in the same import panel on the Schedule page.
Photograph or screenshot any schedule and it's in your family calendar in seconds. Try it free for 30 days — no credit card required.
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