KotoPanels quick start
Turn finished English or Japanese copy into slides. Start with a small post and inspect the output before using it.
1. Open KotoPanels
Unzip the entire package and keep its files together. Open index.html in Mac desktop Chrome. Do not open the app from inside the ZIP or move index.html away from its accompanying files. The included Japanese font loads from the package. No account, installation or network connection is required.
Use the English / 日本語 buttons to choose the interface language. This does not translate or rewrite your copy. The sample button loads sample copy in the selected language.
2. Try the sample
Select Load sample. Review the large preview and select the small thumbnails to inspect other slides. Choose Paper, Midnight or Studio to see the three styles. Select Export batch ZIP when there are no issues.
The free trial supports 1 post with up to 3 slides and adds a TRIAL mark. The full version supports up to 10 posts × 10 slides without that mark. Trial outputs are for evaluation, not client delivery.
3. Try your own finished copy
If you already loaded the sample, save any work you want to keep and reload the page to start empty. Choose Paste text. Give the post a name using 1–40 Latin letters, numbers, dashes or underscores, such as weekly-notes. The post name becomes part of the output filenames; Japanese is supported in the title, body and brand name, but not this identifier.
Put a title on the first line and its body on the following lines. Put --- on its own line between slides. For example:
Start with one question. Write down the one question this post will answer. --- Give the draft a boundary. Choose one reader and one useful takeaway. --- Leave time for the final check. Read each slide before you share it.
Select Add post. Your input becomes editable slides. To add another post in the full version, use a different post name. Pasted text waiting to be added blocks slide editing and export; either add it or clear it first.
4. Set one brand for the batch
Enter a brand name, choose an accent color and optionally load a PNG/JPEG logo of up to 1 MB. Each logo dimension must be 5000 pixels or less. One brand setting applies to every slide in the current batch. Export separate batches for different brands.
Save brand file keeps only the brand name, color, style and logo. Load brand restores those settings. It does not save your copy.
5. Edit and split
Select a thumbnail and open Edit selected slide. Change its title or body. Edits update the source text. Blank slide after this adds a slide; Delete slide removes the selected slide after confirmation.
If a body is too long, place the cursor between characters where the next slide should start. Select Split body at cursor → next slide. The title is repeated; the body is divided at that position. This uses another slide, so the version’s slide limit still applies. No text is generated to connect the two parts.
If you changed CSV/table input, select Build previews before editing individual slides. Resolve every displayed issue and check the layout visually. Fitting on the page does not mean the wording or readability has been checked for you.
6. Save and reopen
Use Save full draft before closing or replacing work. Keep the downloaded kotopanels-project.json. It contains slides, unfinished input, your brand settings and logo. Open draft restores it.
There is no automatic save or cloud backup. Keep your saved file in a location you control. Export ZIPs also include project.json, which you can restore using Open draft. Files created with limits above those of the trial may open for correction, but cannot export until they meet the trial limits.
7. Export and check the files
Select Export batch ZIP. Unzip the downloaded kotopanels.zip. Each post has its own PNG slides and PDF. PNGs are 1080 × 1350 pixels. PDFs contain slide images: text cannot be searched, selected or edited inside the PDF.
The ZIP includes source.csv, manifest.json and project.json. Keep project.json to resume editing. Source text is included for checking; changing source.csv does not change existing PNGs or PDFs. Open the PDF and PNGs and check text, breaks, colors, logos and trial marks before use.
CSV or spreadsheet input
Choose CSV / table. Use exactly these column names in this order: post_id, page, title, body. Page numbers must start at 1 and be consecutive within each post. Use a new post_id for each post. You may import a UTF-8 CSV or TSV, or paste a spreadsheet table, then select Build previews.
CSV cells with commas, quotation marks or line breaks must be quoted correctly. A quotation mark inside a quoted cell is doubled. CSV/table input is limited to 500 KB when importing. Use Paste text if you do not need to prepare a table.
Supported use
English and Japanese copy are supported within the included font’s character coverage. Emoji, variation selectors and unsupported characters block export. The original characters remain in your input for correction. Use ordinary characters where possible and inspect names, symbols and mixed-language text carefully.
Tested on Mac desktop Chrome. Other browsers, Windows and phones are not verified. Three layout styles and fixed fonts are provided; free positioning, font selection, Canva template import, AI writing and social publishing are not included.