Add Events From a Photo or File: Snap It, Maxie Reads It
Snap a photo of a flyer, screenshot a text, or upload a school PDF, and Maxie reads it and drafts the calendar event for you.
Try Maxie free →What is Add Events From a Photo or File?
Add from a photo or file means the paper and screenshots family life actually runs on stop being something you have to re-type. Hand Maxie the photo, PDF or document, and the event comes back drafted, checked by you, and saved with the original attached.
Why families use this
The permission slip is in the bottom of a school bag. The practice time is in a WhatsApp message you screenshotted three days ago. The PTA newsletter is a PDF with five dates buried in it. Every one of those ends the same way: you, squinting at a screen, typing a date and a time into a calendar by hand.
Add from a photo or file exists to remove that step. You already have the photo. Maxie can do the reading.
Family life runs on paper and screenshots. Permission slips, a text about a change of practice time, the PTA newsletter, a class timetable pinned to the fridge. None of it arrives as a tidy calendar invite, and all of it ends up as one more thing for a parent to type out by hand.
You already took the photo. Maxie does the reading.
Take a photo, pick a screenshot, or upload the document the school sent, and Maxie pulls out the title, date, time and location and drafts the event. You check it, you save it, and the original stays attached for reference.
How it works
1. Start from Add
In the Add menu, tap "Add from a photo or file."
2. Say what kind of event it is
Appointment, birthday, school, sport, club and so on. It takes a second, and it helps Maxie read the file the way you'd read it.
3. Take a photo or choose a file
Photos and screenshots, PDFs, Word and Excel documents, up to 10MB.
4. Add a quick note, if it helps
Optional, and useful when the document leaves something out. Something like "this is for Year 3, the venue changed to the church hall" gives Maxie context a file on its own can't.
5. Maxie reads it
The event details come back drafted: title, date, time, location.
6. Check it, then save
Maxie shows you what it found and asks whether it looks right. Edit any field, open the full details if you want more control, then one tap adds it to the family calendar with the original file attached.
Built for the messy real-world cases
A single tidy flyer with one date on it is the easy version. Family admin usually isn't that:
- Several events in one file. A school newsletter with five different dates becomes five events to review, one at a time, with duplicate checking against what's already on your calendar.
- Weekly schedules. A class timetable can be recognised and added as a recurring weekly schedule for the right child, rather than one lonely event on a Tuesday.
- No date anywhere in the file. Maxie asks you for it instead of guessing.
- A not-quite-right first pass. "Try again" lets you add more context and re-scan the same file, so you're never starting from scratch.
More than a scanner
Plain scanning reads characters. This reads your family's week.
Maxie already knows your children's names, the school terms you've added, and what's on your calendar, so it can work out that "Y3 swimming, 3.15" belongs to the right child at the right time. That's the difference between literal text extraction and a family organiser that makes a sensible guess and then asks you to confirm it.
It's also built for the reality of one photo covering several kids' activities, rather than a form that assumes one event at a time.
Where this fits with everything else
If it's already in your inbox, forward it and let Email to Calendar handle it. If someone tells you something at pickup and there's nothing to photograph, Quick Add takes a typed sentence instead. And whichever way it goes in, it lands on the same shared family calendar, so nobody has to be told twice.
Related features
Email to Calendar: Forward It, Maxie Takes It From There
Forward school emails, PDFs or photos to your Maxie address and get checked calendar events back, with duplicates merged and routines spotted automatically.
Quick Add: Type an Event, Maxie Builds It
Type any event like you'd text a friend, no forms or dropdowns. Maxie works out the day, time and who's going, ready for you to check in seconds.
Shared Family Calendar: The Whole Family, One Calendar
One shared family calendar everyone sees the same version of. Invite a partner, co-parent, grandparents or a childminder, updates land for everyone.
Shared Tasks: Maxie Suggests, You Assign, Nobody Forgets
Maxie suggests what an event actually needs, kit, forms, presents, and whoever's handling it gets told directly. One list, nothing forgotten.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of files can I add?
Photos and screenshots, PDFs, and Word or Excel documents, up to 10MB each. So a snap of a paper flyer, a screenshot of a text about practice times, or the term calendar the school sent as a PDF all work the same way.
Does anything go straight onto my calendar without me seeing it?
No. Maxie shows you what it found and asks whether it looks right. You can edit any field, or open the full details for more control, and nothing is saved until you tap to add it.
What happens if there are several events in one file?
A newsletter with five different dates becomes five events to review, one at a time, so you're never approving a batch you haven't read. Maxie also checks each one against your existing calendar so you don't end up with duplicates.
How do I know which bits Maxie wasn't sure about?
Anything it has lower confidence in is flagged, so you know exactly where to double-check rather than having to re-read the whole thing yourself.
Can I add a class timetable as a weekly routine?
Yes. A timetable can be recognised and added as a recurring weekly schedule for the right child, rather than landing as a single one-off event.
What if the photo doesn't have a date on it?
Maxie asks you for it rather than guessing. Better a quick question than a wrong date on the family calendar.
It didn't quite get it right. Do I have to start again?
No. Tap 'Try again', add a bit more context, and Maxie re-scans the same file. You don't need to re-take the photo or re-upload the document.
Can I add a note to help Maxie understand the file?
Yes, and it's worth doing when a document leaves something out. A quick line like 'this is for Year 3, the venue changed to the church hall' gives Maxie context the file itself doesn't contain.
Is the original photo or document kept?
Yes. The file is attached to the event, so if you need to check the small print or the kit list later, it's right there rather than lost in your camera roll.