diff --git a/embedFigureBinary.js b/embedFigureBinary.js
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..0aebbc76f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/embedFigureBinary.js
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/*
+Parse Obojobo json files and embed images into them for uploading
+EX: embedFigureBinary.js ../chen-obojobo-modules/*.json
+You can pass it a single file, several files, or a wild card that your shell expands into multiple files
+The script will look in the directory and any child directories that the .json file is in for images with the same filename
+The script will write out the the same file name with .embedded.json added to the end
+
+*/
+const { execSync } = require('child_process')
+const fs = require('fs')
+const path = require('path')
+
+function traverse(o, func) {
+	for (let i in o) {
+		func.apply(this, [i, o[i], o]);
+		if (o[i] !== null && typeof (o[i]) === "object" ) {
+			//going one step down in the object tree!!
+			traverse(o[i], func);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+const embedBinaryDataIntoFigures = (draftJson, searchInDir, fileName) => {
+	traverse(draftJson, (key, val, obj) => {
+		if(key === 'type' && val ==='ObojoboDraft.Chunks.Figure'){
+			if(obj.content.filename){
+				const output = execSync(`find . -name "${obj.content.filename}"`, {cwd: searchInDir})
+				const filePath = output.toString().split(/\r?\n/)[0]
+				if(!filePath){
+					console.error(`Error: unable to find file '${obj.content.filename}' used in chunk: '${obj.id}' in ${path.basename(fileName)}`)
+					if(obj?.content?.url?.startsWith('http')) console.error(` ^ though this figure uses a url ${obj.content.url}`)
+					return
+				}
+				const combinedPath = searchInDir + filePath.substring(1)
+				const imageBinary = fs.readFileSync(combinedPath, {encoding: 'base64'});
+				obj.content.imageBinary = imageBinary
+			} else if (obj?.content?.url?.startsWith('http') ){
+				// @TODO: maybe we should download the file and embed it?
+			}
+		}
+	})
+	return draftJson
+}
+
+
+const args = process.argv.slice(2);
+
+args.forEach((filePath) => {
+	const rawJSON = fs.readFileSync(filePath)
+	const data = JSON.parse(rawJSON)
+	const searchInDir = path.dirname(filePath);
+	const updatedJSON = embedBinaryDataIntoFigures(data, searchInDir, filePath)
+	fs.writeFileSync(filePath+'.embedded.json', JSON.stringify(updatedJSON, null, 4))
+})
+
diff --git a/packages/app/obojobo-express/package.json b/packages/app/obojobo-express/package.json
index 0eb7945a81..41bf13be0e 100644
--- a/packages/app/obojobo-express/package.json
+++ b/packages/app/obojobo-express/package.json
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@
 		"glob": "^7.1.6",
 		"is-svg": "^4.3.1",
 		"json-inflector": "^1.1.0",
+		"mime": "^3.0.0",
 		"moment": "^2.29.1",
 		"morgan": "~1.10.0",
 		"multer": "^1.4.2",
diff --git a/packages/app/obojobo-express/server/models/media.js b/packages/app/obojobo-express/server/models/media.js
index 2ec7bf642e..47a70607e0 100644
--- a/packages/app/obojobo-express/server/models/media.js
+++ b/packages/app/obojobo-express/server/models/media.js
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ class Media {
 		let mediaBinaryId = null
 
 		if (!binary || !size || !mimetype || !dimensions || !mode) {
-			throw new Error('One or more required arguments not provided.')
+			throw new Error('Inserting an image, but one or more required arguments not provided.')
 		}
 
 		if (mode === MODE_INSERT_ORIGINAL_IMAGE && !userId) {
@@ -376,7 +376,13 @@ class Media {
 		let file
 
 		try {
-			file = await fs.readFile(fileInfo.path)
+			if (fileInfo.buffer) {
+				// allow fileInfo to already contain a loaded buffer
+				file = fileInfo.buffer
+			} else {
+				// load the file from disk
+				file = await fs.readFile(fileInfo.path)
+			}
 		} catch (error) {
 			// calling methods expect a thenable object to be returned
 			logger.logError('Error Reading media file', error)
@@ -387,7 +393,7 @@ class Media {
 
 		if (!isValid) {
 			// Delete the temporary media stored by Multer
-			await fs.unlink(fileInfo.path)
+			if (fileInfo.path) await fs.unlink(fileInfo.path)
 			throw new Error(
 				`File upload only supports the following filetypes: ${mediaConfig.allowedMimeTypesRegex
 					.split('|')
@@ -408,7 +414,7 @@ class Media {
 			})
 
 			// Delete the temporary media stored by Multer
-			await fs.unlink(fileInfo.path)
+			if (fileInfo.path) await fs.unlink(fileInfo.path)
 
 			oboEvents.emit(Media.EVENT_IMAGE_CREATED, {
 				userId,
diff --git a/packages/app/obojobo-express/server/routes/api/drafts.js b/packages/app/obojobo-express/server/routes/api/drafts.js
index 0e99a142be..188bb22faf 100644
--- a/packages/app/obojobo-express/server/routes/api/drafts.js
+++ b/packages/app/obojobo-express/server/routes/api/drafts.js
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ const {
 	requireCanDeleteDrafts,
 	checkContentId
 } = oboRequire('server/express_validators')
+const Media = oboRequire('server/models/media')
+const mime = require('mime')
 
 const isNoDataFromQueryError = e => {
 	return (
@@ -102,12 +104,53 @@ router
 		}
 	})
 
+async function traverse(o, func) {
+	for (let i in o) {
+		await func.apply(this, [i, o[i], o])
+		if (o[i] !== null && typeof o[i] === 'object') {
+			//going one step down in the object tree!!
+			await traverse(o[i], func)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+const extractAndUploadEmbeddedImages = async (draftJson, userId) => {
+	await traverse(draftJson, async (key, val, obj) => {
+		if (
+			key === 'type' &&
+			val === 'ObojoboDraft.Chunks.Figure' &&
+			typeof obj?.content?.imageBinary === 'string'
+		) {
+			// use the filename to determine the mimetype
+			const mimetype = mime.getType(obj.content.filename)
+			// load the base64 data into a buffer
+			const buf = Buffer.from(obj.content.imageBinary, 'base64')
+
+			// mock the fileInfo needed by Media
+			const mockFileInfo = {
+				originalname: obj.content.filename,
+				mimetype,
+				size: buf.length,
+				buffer: buf
+			}
+
+			// save the media asset to the db
+			const mediaRecord = await Media.createAndSave(userId, mockFileInfo)
+
+			// update the json
+			obj.content.url = mediaRecord.media_id
+			delete obj.content.imageBinary
+		}
+	})
+	return draftJson
+}
+
 // Create a Draft
 // mounted as /api/drafts/new
 router
 	.route('/new')
 	.post(requireCanCreateDrafts)
-	.post((req, res, next) => {
+	.post(async (req, res, next) => {
 		const content = req.body.content
 		const format = req.body.format
 
@@ -115,7 +158,13 @@ router
 		let draftXml = !format ? draftTemplateXML : null
 
 		if (format === 'application/json') {
-			draftJson = content
+			try {
+				const jsonContent = typeof content === 'string' ? JSON.parse(content) : content
+				draftJson = await extractAndUploadEmbeddedImages(jsonContent, req.currentUser.id)
+			} catch (e){
+				logger.error('Parse JSON Failed:', e, content)
+				return res.unexpected(e)
+			}
 		} else if (format === 'application/xml') {
 			draftXml = content
 			try {
@@ -132,12 +181,13 @@ router
 			}
 		}
 
-		return DraftModel.createWithContent(req.currentUser.id, draftJson, draftXml)
-			.then(draft => {
-				res.set('Obo-DraftContentId', draft.content.id)
-				res.success({ id: draft.id, contentId: draft.content.id })
-			})
-			.catch(res.unexpected)
+		try {
+			const draft = await DraftModel.createWithContent(req.currentUser.id, draftJson, draftXml)
+			res.set('Obo-DraftContentId', draft.content.id)
+			res.success({ id: draft.id, contentId: draft.content.id })
+		} catch (error) {
+			res.unexpected(error)
+		}
 	})
 // Create an editable tutorial document
 // mounted as /api/drafts/tutorial
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 81f20c8fb4..c237ab873b 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -9550,6 +9550,11 @@ mime@^2.4.4, mime@^2.4.6:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/mime/-/mime-2.5.2.tgz#6e3dc6cc2b9510643830e5f19d5cb753da5eeabe"
   integrity sha512-tqkh47FzKeCPD2PUiPB6pkbMzsCasjxAfC62/Wap5qrUWcb+sFasXUC5I3gYM5iBM8v/Qpn4UK0x+j0iHyFPDg==
 
+mime@^3.0.0:
+  version "3.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/mime/-/mime-3.0.0.tgz#b374550dca3a0c18443b0c950a6a58f1931cf7a7"
+  integrity sha512-jSCU7/VB1loIWBZe14aEYHU/+1UMEHoaO7qxCOVJOw9GgH72VAWppxNcjU+x9a2k3GSIBXNKxXQFqRvvZ7vr3A==
+
 mimic-fn@^2.1.0:
   version "2.1.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/mimic-fn/-/mimic-fn-2.1.0.tgz#7ed2c2ccccaf84d3ffcb7a69b57711fc2083401b"
@@ -13559,18 +13564,6 @@ tar@^6.0.2, tar@^6.1.0:
     mkdirp "^1.0.3"
     yallist "^4.0.0"
 
-tar@^6.1.2:
-  version "6.1.11"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/tar/-/tar-6.1.11.tgz#6760a38f003afa1b2ffd0ffe9e9abbd0eab3d621"
-  integrity sha512-an/KZQzQUkZCkuoAA64hM92X0Urb6VpRhAFllDzz44U2mcD5scmT3zBc4VgVpkugF580+DQn8eAFSyoQt0tznA==
-  dependencies:
-    chownr "^2.0.0"
-    fs-minipass "^2.0.0"
-    minipass "^3.0.0"
-    minizlib "^2.1.1"
-    mkdirp "^1.0.3"
-    yallist "^4.0.0"
-
 temp-dir@^1.0.0:
   version "1.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/temp-dir/-/temp-dir-1.0.0.tgz#0a7c0ea26d3a39afa7e0ebea9c1fc0bc4daa011d"