Upload your own images, search open-licensed visuals, or generate classroom-safe AI images for lesson pages, components, teaching resources, and image-friendly layouts.
The Media drawer is where you add images and visuals to your CARL lesson materials. You can upload your own images, search for open-licensed images, or generate new AI image options directly inside CARL.
Media is useful when you want to add visuals to lesson pages, components, teaching resources, vocabulary supports, diagrams, discussion prompts, worksheets, or presentation-style materials. If you need a place for the image first, use Blocks → Layouts to add an image-friendly layout.
| Tab | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Library | Shows images you have uploaded or saved. | Reusing your own classroom images, generated images, or saved assets. |
| Web | Searches for open-licensed images that can be used in classroom resources. | Finding simple real-world visuals when the search has a good match. |
| AI | Generates new classroom-safe educational image options from your prompt and settings. | Creating a specific visual, diagram, scene, vocabulary image, or worksheet-friendly illustration. |
Media helps you choose, upload, search for, or generate the image. To place that image into your lesson, you also need an image space in the document.
Use Library when you want to add an image you already have, or when you want to reuse an image you previously saved in CARL.
Use the upload option to add your own image to CARL Media.
- you already found the image you want to use,
- you want to use your own classroom-safe visual,
- you need a specific school, subject, or lesson image,
- the Web tab does not show the kind of image you need.
Use the Web tab when you want to search for images from open-licensed sources. This can be helpful when you need a straightforward real-world image and do not want to generate one from scratch.
- simple real-world objects, places, or examples,
- general classroom visuals,
- images where exact artistic style is not important,
- topics that are likely to have open-licensed image results.
Use the AI tab when you want CARL to generate new image options for a specific teaching purpose. This is especially useful for custom diagrams, vocabulary visuals, lesson scenes, discussion prompts, and worksheet-friendly images.
Generate AI image options, save the ones you want to keep, and insert an image into an image block.
- Add a new section to your document.
- Choose an image-friendly layout from Blocks → Layouts.
- Open the Media drawer.
- Choose the AI tab.
- Type what students should see in the prompt box.
- Choose the subject, grade level, purpose, style, and orientation.
- Choose a visual type, such as Scene, Diagram, Map, Timeline, Lab, or Vocab.
- Turn on any helpful options, such as Strict, Inclusion, Labels, No text, or Transparent.
- Click Generate.
- Review the generated images and save one or both image options to your Library.
- Click the image you want to insert, then click the image block where you want it to go.
The visual type tells CARL what kind of instructional image you want. The type controls the structure of the image, while the style controls how the image looks.
| Visual type | Use it when... | Example classroom use |
|---|---|---|
| Scene | You want an image of people, places, events, situations, or real-world examples. | A classroom discussion image, story setting, community scene, or historical moment. |
| Diagram | You want to explain a process, system, cycle, relationship, or concept. | A water cycle diagram, plant parts diagram, or math concept visual. |
| Map | You want to show places, regions, movement, or geographic context. | A simplified classroom map, story map, journey map, or location visual. |
| Timeline | You want events, stages, or steps shown in order. | A story sequence, historical timeline, or process sequence. |
| Lab | You want science equipment, experiment setups, classroom-safe procedures, or models. | A lab setup image or apparatus visual. |
| Vocab | You want a simple visual anchor for a word, term, or concept. | A vocabulary card, ELL support image, or concept illustration. |
These examples show how CARL can combine visual type, style, grade level, and purpose. Teachers do not need to memorize the options, but it helps to know what each combination is trying to do.
Good for simple processes with large shapes, clear arrows, and limited label density for younger learners.
Good for showing stages, sequences, and changes over time in a student-friendly way.
Good for story structure, conceptual journeys, geography-inspired layouts, and visual organizers.
Good when students need more detail, clearer vocabulary, and a more mature instructional visual.
Good for realistic examples, lab context, real-world connections, and older learners.
The style controls the look and feel of the image. The same prompt can feel very different depending on whether you choose Animated, Illustrated, or Photoreal.
Bright, simple, friendly, flat-vector classroom style. Best for younger learners, worksheets, icons, and clean educational visuals.
Softer educational artwork with more detail and texture. Good for storytelling, discussion prompts, and classroom resources that need warmth.
Realistic photo-style image. Best for real-world examples, older learners, authentic contexts, and visuals that should feel like a photograph.
Options help CARL follow your image request more closely, control whether text appears, and support more inclusive representation when images include people.
| Option | What it does | Best when... |
|---|---|---|
| Strict | Helps CARL follow your prompt more closely. | You need specific details, layout, labels, or diagram structure. |
| Inclusion | Encourages diverse, realistic, and non-stereotyped representation when images include people. | Your image includes people, families, students, teachers, communities, or social roles. |
| Labels | Adds clear, age-appropriate labels or callouts to key parts of the image. | You are making a diagram, process visual, vocabulary support, or labeled classroom visual. |
| No text | Creates the image without text, letters, numbers, words, labels, or readable writing. | You want a clean visual without AI-generated text errors. |
| Transparent | Generates the image on a transparent background where supported. | You need an isolated object, icon, overlay, or simple asset for a worksheet. |
After you upload, find, or generate an image, review it before placing it into your lesson. Make sure it is accurate, classroom-safe, readable, age-appropriate, and useful for the resource you are building.
| Action | What it does | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Save to Library | Saves the image option so you can reuse it later. | Save one or both generated image options if you may want to use them again. |
| Insert into an image space | Adds the selected image to an image-friendly layout or image block in your document. | First add a section using Blocks → Layouts. Then select the image you want and click the image space where it should go. |
- check that the image matches the lesson topic,
- check that people are represented respectfully and realistically,
- check labels, words, numbers, and diagrams carefully,
- check that maps, lab setups, and factual visuals are accurate enough for your teaching purpose,
- replace the image if it feels confusing, biased, inaccurate, or not classroom-ready.
| If you want to... | Use |
|---|---|
| Use an image you already have | Library → Upload |
| Reuse an image saved in CARL | Library |
| Find an open-licensed image | Web |
| Create a custom classroom visual | AI |
| Make a worksheet-friendly illustration | AI → Animated |
| Make softer educational artwork | AI → Illustrated |
| Make a realistic photo-style image | AI → Photoreal |
| Create a process, cycle, or concept explanation | AI → Diagram |
| Create a sequence or ordered set of stages | AI → Timeline |
| Create a story map, location visual, or simplified classroom map | AI → Map |
| Create an experiment, apparatus, or science setup visual | AI → Lab |
| Create a word or concept visual | AI → Vocab |
| Help CARL follow a specific prompt more closely | AI → Strict |
| Encourage diverse, realistic representation when images include people | AI → Inclusion |
| Add helpful labels or callouts to an educational visual | AI → Labels |
| Avoid AI-generated text, letters, or labels in the image | AI → No text |
| Create an isolated object or simple worksheet asset | AI → Transparent |
| Save generated images for later | Save one or both image options to your Library |
| Add an image to your lesson | Add an image-friendly layout from Blocks → Layouts, select the image, then click the image space where you want it to go |