Image occlusion

Cover parts of an image and recall them — anatomy, diagrams, maps, screenshots.

Image occlusion cards show you a picture with bits hidden. You try to recall what's behind the cover, then flip the card to see if you got it right. The canvas tool at 2anki.net/image-occlusion lets you draw the covers yourself — no Anki add-on, no plugin install.

Plan: Free accounts can use any source, including Notion import, up to 3 images per deck. Subscription and Lifetime allow up to 20 uploaded images at a time.

When to use this

If your source is text — toggles, bullets, prose — basic or cloze cards are faster. Image occlusion is only worth the setup for genuinely spatial content.

Build a deck

  1. Open 2anki.net/image-occlusion.
  2. Name the deck (the field at the top of the left panel). Defaults to "My image deck".
  3. Add images. Three ways:
    • Upload — drag images into the queue or use the file picker.
    • Paste — copy an image to your clipboard (screenshot tool, a Notion page, anywhere) and paste anywhere on the page.
    • Import from Notion — click the Notion button on the queue if you're signed in and connected. Pick images from your Notion pages. Free accounts can use this too, within the 3-images-per-deck cap.
  4. Click an image in the queue to load it onto the canvas on the right.
  5. Draw a rectangle on each part you want to hide. Each box becomes one flashcard. Add a label to each box if you want extra context on the card back.
  6. (Optional) Add a header — short text above the image — to give the card a title or a question stem.
  7. Repeat for every image in the queue.
  8. Pick a mode at the bottom of the left panel:
    • Hide all, reveal one — every box is covered; only the one you're studying is shown when you flip.
    • Hide one at a time — only the box you're studying is covered; everything else stays visible.
  9. Click Download deck to get the .apkg. Open it in Anki.

The canvas is much easier to use on a laptop or desktop than on a phone. Anki review afterwards works fine on any device.

Drafts and saving

Signed-in users get auto-save: changes to deck name, mode, header, and boxes are saved as a draft every second or so. Close the tab and your work is still there when you come back. Drafts are removed after a successful download.

Anonymous users (no sign-in) can still build a deck and download it, but the work isn't saved between sessions.

Hide all vs. hide one — what changes

For a single image with three labelled boxes, Hide all creates 3 cards: each card shows the image with all three boxes covered, with one box revealed on the back. Hide one creates 3 cards too, but each shows the image with two boxes visible and one covered, then the covered one revealed.

Use Hide all when knowing one label shouldn't give away the others (it's harder). Use Hide one when the surrounding labels are useful context (it's easier and faster).

Common mistakes