How to turn handwritten notes into Anki flashcards
Handwritten notes are hard to review and impossible to search. Photograph a page, upload it to 2anki, and the photo-to-deck tool reads it with AI and drafts cards you review before download. You get a .apkg deck that opens in Anki.
Take a clear photo
Lay the page flat, light it evenly, and fill the frame with one page per photo. Legible handwriting reads best. Photos up to 10 MB work, in the usual formats — JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, or HEIC straight from an iPhone.
How photo-to-deck works
Upload the photo on the photo-to-deck page. In generative mode, 2anki reads the page and drafts question-and-answer cards from what it finds. In verbatim mode, it keeps your text as written instead of rephrasing it. You pick roughly how many cards to aim for before converting.
Review every card before you study
AI drafts are a starting point, not the final deck. Every card is editable — fix a misread word, tighten a question, or drop a card you don't need. Reviewing the draft once is faster than typing the deck from scratch.
Diagrams and labeled figures
For a hand-drawn diagram where the labels are the point — an anatomy sketch, a circuit, a labeled map — use image occlusion instead. You mask each label and Anki asks you to recall it one region at a time.
What it costs
The free plan covers your first 100 cards a month, enough to turn a stack of notes into a starter deck. Unlimited removes the cap and adds the multiple-choice option for photo-to-deck cards.
Common questions
Does 2anki read my handwriting?
Yes. Photo-to-deck uses AI to read the page and draft cards. Clear, legible handwriting on a well-lit, flat page reads best.
Can I fix mistakes in the cards?
Yes. Every card is a draft you review before download, and all of them stay editable in Anki afterward. Correct any misread word and move on.
What photo formats and sizes work?
JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, and HEIC, up to 10 MB per photo. One page per photo gives the cleanest result.
What about diagrams I want to memorize?
Use image occlusion for labeled diagrams. You mask each label and recall it one at a time — better than a single front-and-back card for a busy figure.