Perceptual Reality Transformer: What Must an Illustration Preserve?

Text-to-image models can illustrate a perceptual account, but preserving its objects does not preserve how they were experienced. We introduce Perceptual Report Translation (PRT), a source-linked workflow and atlas, and examine the path from reports to representations to illustrations. Across 3,145 Ganzflicker records, narrative encoders predict complex content well (AUROC 0.887–0.894), while separate imagery/context responses improve access to vividness. A held-out retrieval audit shows that nearest narratives transfer content more reliably than vividness, persistence or affect. In 1,344 synthetic comparisons per encoder, counterbalanced wording and supervised probes separate similarity failure from recoverable distinctions. A 24-report image pilot finds high visible-detail coverage without a demonstrated structured-prompt advantage. Removing colour reverses all 45 eligible judge answers, yet none of the 69 original questions directly tests memory, uncertainty or analogy status. The atlas makes these gaps inspectable by retaining accounts, questionnaire responses, evidence and illustrations together. The results identify concrete requirements for perceptual communication: retain separate reporting channels, evaluate the deployed readout, and distinguish visible-content accuracy from preservation of the speaker's meaning.