NotebookLM infographics: from a pile of sources to one PNG

NotebookLM was renamed Gemini Notebook in July 2026. The Infographic output works identically under both names, and everything below applies to either.

What the Infographic button actually makes

One image. NotebookLM reads the sources in the notebook and lays out the main points, key numbers and relationships as a designed visual — layout and hierarchy included, no Canva step. That makes it the right Studio output for a narrow job: something a colleague can absorb in thirty seconds from a chat message, a slide, or a pinned post.

It sits between two neighbours that get confused with it. A mind map is interactive — you expand branches and click through to sources, which makes it the explore-your-material tool. A slide deck is sequential — an argument in order. The infographic is neither: it's static, single-frame, and optimized for being looked at rather than worked with. If you catch yourself wanting to click on part of an infographic, you wanted the mind map.

Generate one

1. Open a notebook that already has its sources loaded — the infographic draws only from what's there, so a thin notebook makes a thin graphic.
2. In the Studio panel, find Infographic.
3. Click the pencil icon to customize before generating (next section), or hit generate to accept the defaults.
4. Wait — Google says it *may take a couple of minutes*, and it runs in the background, so you can keep chatting with the notebook meanwhile.
5. Open the finished infographic; its three-dot menu holds rename, download, share and delete.

The pencil menu is the whole game

The default output is fine. The customized output is usually the one you can actually publish. Per Google's documentation, the pre-generation settings are:

• Detail level — Concise, Standard or Detailed (Detailed is in beta). Concise for a social post, Detailed for a summary someone will actually study.
• Orientation — Square, Portrait or Landscape. Pick for the destination: portrait for phones and stories, landscape for docs and slides, square for feeds.
• Visual style — Sketch Note, Kawaii, Professional, or let it auto-select. Style options are available to users 18 and over.
• Output language — set explicitly if your sources and your audience don't share a language.
• Custom prompt — the most useful field. Google's own example is the right shape: *"Use a blue color theme and highlight the 3 key stats."* Naming the specific stats, sections or comparison you want on the graphic beats any style setting.

One habit worth stealing: the three-dot menu can show you the custom prompt used for any previous infographic. When one comes out right, copy that prompt into a note — it's the closest thing to a reusable template the feature has.

Getting it out — and the PNG quirk

Download hands you a PNG, and that's the only file format. No PDF, no SVG, no editable layers. The practical consequences: text on the graphic can't be corrected after the fact — a typo or a wrong number means a prompt tweak and a regeneration, not a quick edit. And if the destination demands a PDF, you're converting the PNG yourself (any print-to-PDF dialog does it).

Sharing has real rules attached. A shared link only works for people who have access to the notebook, unless an owner or editor makes the infographic publicly available — and public sharing is disabled entirely on Workspace Enterprise and Education accounts. Deleting an infographic kills every link you've shared to it. For anything that must outlive the notebook, download the PNG and share the file.

The infographic rarely travels alone — it usually tops a report or summary built from the same notebook. The exporter extension gets the written half out as PDF, Word or Markdown with citations intact; drop the PNG in alongside it and the whole package is portable.

Treat the numbers as a draft

Google's own support page carries the warning plainly: infographics are AI-generated and may contain visual or factual inaccuracies. In practice the failure mode is subtle — a statistic attributed to the wrong category, a label swapped between two bars — and it's invisible unless you check. Before an infographic goes anywhere public, verify every number on it against the notebook's sources in chat, where answers come with citations. An infographic is a rendering of the sources, not a citation of them.

People also ask

Is the NotebookLM infographic feature free?

Yes — Infographic is one of the standard Studio outputs, not a paid-only extra. Heavy use runs into the daily generation limits that paid plans raise; the free-vs-paid split is covered in our plans guide.

What format do NotebookLM infographics download in?

PNG only. There's no PDF, SVG or editable export — convert the PNG yourself if a destination requires PDF, and regenerate rather than edit if something on the graphic is wrong.

Why don't I see the Infographic option?

The usual reasons: you only have viewer access to the notebook (generating requires edit access), you're under 18 (style options and the feature are limited to adults), or the rollout hasn't reached your account or platform yet — the mobile apps can lag the web version.

Can I edit an infographic after it's generated?

No. The output is a flat image. The workflow that works: open the three-dot menu to see the custom prompt used, refine that prompt — name the exact stats or sections you want — and generate again.