How do you turn text and photos into flashcards in Tomaru?

Tomaru allows you to generate flashcards directly from pasted text or photographed images. Rather than saving isolated words, Tomaru extracts vocabulary, checks for duplicate cards in your study plan, and populates complete cards with example sentences, grammar notes, and audio for your daily FSRS-6 schedule.

How does capturing vocabulary differ from saving words?

Many study tools allow you to save individual words to a list, but isolated lists often become unmanaged backlogs. Without structured card details or scheduling, captured words rarely translate into retained vocabulary.

Tomaru ensures that every captured word becomes a complete flashcard integrated directly into your FSRS-6 review schedule. Whether you import material from text or photos, the generated cards enter your active daily queue alongside your existing study plans.

How do you generate flashcards from text?

You can paste source text—such as news articles, song lyrics, video subtitles, or reading passages—directly into Tomaru to extract target vocabulary.

When processing text, Tomaru analyzes sentence structures according to language-specific rules rather than splitting text blindly by spaces or punctuation:

• Conjugation handling: Conjugated verbs and adjectives are converted to their base dictionary forms. For example, a conjugated Japanese verb like tabemashita (ate) is automatically converted to its dictionary form, taberu (to eat), before entering a card.
• Multi-character segmentation: Languages without spaces, such as Chinese, are parsed into complete multi-character words rather than isolated characters.

Once parsed, you can review the extracted terms and select the specific words you want to add to your study plan.

How do you generate flashcards from photos?

You can capture vocabulary from printed media by photographing or uploading an image within Tomaru. The photo capture tool applies text recognition to extract readable words from physical sources:

• Textbook pages
• Signage and menus
• Screenshots and documents

You can select a specific region of the image to isolate key paragraphs or vocabulary blocks before parsing terms into cards.

How does Tomaru populate generated cards?

Generating a flashcard in Tomaru produces a complete study entry rather than a simple word-and-definition pair.

Before building a card from scratch, Tomaru checks its existing library for an official entry matching the extracted term. If a match exists, Tomaru reuses the official card structure. As a result, captured cards immediately include rich context:

If a captured term is uncommon and does not exist in the official library, Tomaru generates a new card entry so it can still enter your schedule.

How does Tomaru prevent duplicate cards?

When you process text or photos, Tomaru cross-references the extracted terms against your active study plans. Words you are already learning or reviewing are highlighted during selection. This prevents you from accidentally adding duplicate cards for vocabulary already in your schedule.

Are there limits on generating cards from imported material?

On the free tier, generating flashcards from imported text or photo material is a metered feature. Free accounts include 30 card generations per week. Generations refresh weekly and allow you to convert external reading material into study plans at no cost.

To review free tier caps and account options, read our guide on is Tomaru free. To learn about capturing words while using other mobile apps, see adding words from any app.

Related questions

Do generated cards use the same FSRS-6 algorithm as official lists?

Yes. Cards created from text or photos enter your main study queue and are scheduled using the exact same FSRS-6 algorithm as official library cards.

What happens if I paste text containing words I am already studying?

Tomaru identifies terms already present in your study plans during the selection step, allowing you to skip duplicates before generating new cards.

Does extracting vocabulary from a photo require clear lighting?

Text recognition works best on clear, high-contrast images. Selecting a specific crop region around printed text helps ensure accurate term extraction.