Anki Image Picker

Quickly add images from web search to your Anki flashcards. Select multiple notes, pick images interactively from a grid, and move on - no blind batch downloads.

Features

• Interactive selection - See thumbnails before adding, pick with a click or keyboard (1-8)
• Batch processing - Select multiple notes, process them one by one
• Multiple search providers - Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Google Images via API (bring your own key)
• Smart search - Auto-strips HTML and cloze markers from search terms
• Field context - Use other fields to refine searches on the fly
• Session control - Go back, skip, abort, or revert all changes

Note on Google Images: Direct scraping of Google Images is no longer possible (Google now requires full client-side JavaScript rendering). However, you can still search Google Images by providing your own API key from SerpApi or Serper.dev. See Google Images via API below.

Installation

From AnkiWeb (Recommended)

1. Open Anki → Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons...
2. Enter code: 647779979
3. Restart Anki

Manual Installation (to be added)

1. Download the latest release from GitHub Releases
2. Extract to your Anki add-ons folder
3. Restart Anki

Usage

1. In the Browser, select one or more notes
2. Right-click → Anki Image Picker...
3. Configure:
   • Source field - Field containing search terms (e.g., "Word")
   • Target field - Where images will be added (e.g., "Picture")
   • Mode - Replace, Append, or Skip existing images

4. Click an image or press 1-8 to select and advance
5. Use Skip to skip a card, Back to revisit previous cards

Settings are remembered per note type, so you only need to configure once.

Google Images via API

Google Images can be used through a paid API service. Both SerpApi and Serper.dev offer free tiers, so you can try them without paying.

Setup

1. Sign up for an API key:
   • SerpApi — serpapi.com (100 free searches/month)
   • Serper.dev — serper.dev (2,500 free queries on signup)
2. In Anki, go to Tools → Add-ons, select Anki Image Picker, and click Config
3. Add your API key(s) to the JSON config:

   {
       "serpapi_key": "your_serpapi_key_here",
       "serper_key": "your_serper_key_here"
   }
   

4. Restart Anki. The new provider(s) will appear in the provider dropdown — only when a key is configured.

You can set up one or both services. If you don't add any API keys, everything works as before with Bing and DuckDuckGo.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Requirements

• Anki 2.1.54 or later (Qt6)

See Also

Other image add-ons for Anki:

• Anki Image Bulk Automatic Downloader - Paid, automatic download
• Quick Images Downloader - Bulk download via Google API
• Batch Image Downloader - Batch download (Qt5)
• Batch Download Pictures From Google Images - Batch download

How is this different? The add-ons above download images automatically based on search terms. Anki Image Picker lets you see and choose from multiple candidates before inserting - no blind downloads.

License

MIT