AVIFicator

AVIFicator converts images you paste or drop into Obsidian notes to AVIF with ImageMagick and renames them using a template. It converts PNG, JPEG, WEBP, HEIC, GIF, BMP, TIFF, and JPEG XL images; AVIF images are only renamed.

Features

• Converts images right after you add them to a note.
• Renames images using a template: the note title and a precise timestamp by default.
• Updates Obsidian wiki embeds and Markdown image links.
• Can remove EXIF data, such as GPS location, from converted images.
• Can shrink large images to a maximum size.
• Keeps the original image if conversion or link replacement fails.
• Never converts animated or multi-page images, so no frames or pages are lost.
• Copies images that Obsidian would only paste as a file:/// address when they are dragged from a file manager, as happens on Linux with Wayland.
• Keeps several images pasted or dropped into a quote or callout inside it.
• Switches between converting, only renaming, and doing nothing from the status bar or the command palette.
• Lets you set the AVIF quality and encoding speed.

Installation

The plugin requires Obsidian Desktop 1.13.0 or newer.

1. Install ImageMagick

ImageMagick 7 must be installed with the magick command available in PATH, or with its full path set in the plugin settings. Its build must support writing AVIF files and reading every input format you want to convert.

Check AVIF and HEIC support:

magick identify -list format | grep -Ei "AVIF|HEIC"

The AVIF entry must include write support. The HEIC entry must include read support if you want to convert HEIC files. The plugin settings show the same information under ImageMagick path.

If your ImageMagick build lacks AVIF or HEIC support on Debian or Ubuntu, IMEI — ImageMagick Easy Install builds ImageMagick for supported releases with the required AVIF and HEIC delegate libraries.

2. Install the plugin

In Obsidian, open Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for AVIFicator, then install and enable it.

To install it manually, download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release into .obsidian/plugins/avificator/ in your vault. Then enable AVIFicator under Settings → Community plugins.

Building from source

Node.js and npm are required:

git clone https://github.com/WFLM/obsidian-avificator.git .obsidian/plugins/avificator
cd .obsidian/plugins/avificator
npm install
npm run build

The build creates main.js in the plugin folder.

Usage

• Drop or paste an image into an open Markdown note. All formats listed under Input formats are converted and renamed by default; you can choose which formats are renamed, converted, or both.
• The plugin will:
  • Convert it to .avif using the configured quality and encoding speed.
  • Remove its EXIF and XMP metadata, if you turn this on.
  • Shrink it to the maximum size, if you turn this on.
  • Rename it using the file name template, or keep its name if renaming is off for the format.
  • Replace the original image link with the new AVIF link.
  • Delete the original permanently, without moving it to the trash, only after the link is updated successfully, and only if nothing else links to it. The original is the file Obsidian created in the vault for the paste or drop; a file dragged from a folder stays where it is.
  • Preserve the original and notify you if conversion fails, or if the image is changed or moved while it is converted or renamed.
• Only images you paste or drop into a note are processed. Images that reach the vault in other ways, for example through sync while the note is open on another device or from other plugins, are left alone.
• Several images pasted or dropped at once into a quote or callout stay inside it: Obsidian separates them with a blank line, and the plugin adds the quote's > to it. This works in every mode.

Modes

The current mode is shown in the status bar as AVIF: convert, AVIF: rename, or AVIF: off. Click it to switch modes. You can also switch modes with the Switch mode: … commands in the command palette and assign them hotkeys. The mode is saved and stays the same after restarting Obsidian.

• Convert to AVIF (default): converts and renames images as checked under Input formats.
• Rename only: renames images of the formats with Rename checked and updates the link, without converting them. Metadata and size are kept.
• Off: leaves new images untouched.

Animated and multi-page images

An AVIF file made from an animated GIF, WEBP, PNG, or JPEG XL image, or from a multi-page TIFF, would show only the first frame or page. So in Convert to AVIF mode the plugin checks every image first and never converts these. If Rename is unchecked for the format, such an image is left as is. Otherwise, by default, the plugin asks what to do:

• Rename only: renames the image and updates the link, keeping the animation or pages.
• Leave as is: doesn't touch the image or the link. Closing the window does the same.

In Rename only mode, and for formats with only Rename checked, these images are renamed as usual.

Images ImageMagick can't open are handled the same way, without asking: they are renamed if Rename is checked for the format, and left as is otherwise.

Settings

The settings are grouped like this:

• At the top: Mode, Show mode in status bar, and Copy dragged images (file:/// links).
• File names: File name template and Replace spaces with underscores, described in File name template.
• Conversion: options used only in Convert to AVIF mode.
• Input formats: which formats are renamed and converted, described in Input formats.

Mode: the same mode switch as in the status bar.

Show mode in status bar: on by default. Turn it off to hide AVIF: … from the status bar. Modes can still be switched here or with the commands.

Copy dragged images (file:/// links): on by default. Sometimes, for example on Linux with Wayland, Obsidian gets only the file:/// address of an image dragged from a file manager and pastes it as text instead of copying the image. With this option, the plugin copies such images into the vault itself, using Obsidian's attachment folder, and then converts or renames them as set under Input formats. Works in Convert to AVIF and Rename only modes. Holding Ctrl (Option on macOS) while dropping still inserts a link to the original file.

File name template

The template sets how images are named in both modes. The extension is added automatically. Type { in the field to pick a variable from a list; an example name below the field shows the result as you type. Variables:

The default template is {title}-{date:YYYYMMDDHHmmssSSS}{counter}. Examples for the note "Team meeting" and the image IMG_1234.jpg:

If the template has no {counter} and the name is taken, 1, 2, and so on is added to the end. Characters that can't be used in file names or links, such as : or #, are replaced with -; in the note title and the original name, they are replaced like spaces. A long note title or original name is cut to 100 bytes (about 50 Cyrillic letters). This keeps names made from the default template, or from a template like it, within the file system's limit of 255 bytes.

Replace spaces with underscores (on by default) puts _ in place of every space in the name. Turn it off to keep spaces: 2026-10-31 Team meeting.avif.

Conversion

These options apply only in Convert to AVIF mode, to formats with Convert checked. Renamed images keep their metadata and size.

Image quality: enter a whole number from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest). The default value is 80.

Encoding speed: Fast (default), Normal, or Slow: the AV1 encoder speed 8, 6 (ImageMagick's own default), or 4. Normal and Slow make files 1 to 4% smaller with the same quality to the eye, but encode about 2 to 3 and more than 10 times slower than Fast.

Remove metadata: off by default. Removes EXIF and XMP data, including GPS location and camera details. The image is rotated according to its EXIF orientation first, so it stays upright, and its color profile is kept.

Limit image size: off by default. Shrinks images whose longer side exceeds Maximum size (2000 pixels by default), keeping their proportions. Smaller images are left as is.

When you add an animated or multi-page image: such images can't be converted to AVIF, see Animated and multi-page images. Choose Ask every time (default), Rename only, or Leave as is.

ImageMagick path: the command name or full path of the magick executable. The default is magick, looked up in PATH. Set the full path if Obsidian can't find it, for example /opt/homebrew/bin/magick on macOS with Homebrew: apps started outside a terminal don't see the shell's PATH. Below the field, the plugin shows whether it found ImageMagick, its version, whether it can write AVIF, and which of the plugin's input formats it can read, whether they are turned on or not. What works is shown in green, what doesn't in orange. ImageMagick is checked when you open the plugin settings and when you change the path, so after installing or updating it, reopen the settings.

Input formats

Each format has two checkboxes, both checked by default:

• Rename and Convert: the image is converted to AVIF and named using the template.
• Rename only: the image is renamed and keeps its format.
• Convert only: the image is converted to AVIF and keeps its name, for example Pasted image 1.png becomes Pasted image 1.avif.
• Neither: the plugin leaves images of this format alone.

AVIF images can only be renamed: converting AVIF to AVIF would only lose quality, so AVIF has no Convert checkbox. AVIF files the plugin creates itself are never renamed again.

In Rename only mode, the Convert column is ignored and dimmed; in Off mode, both are. If ImageMagick can't read a format, its name is shown in orange: such images can only be renamed.

Privacy

• The plugin doesn't use the network and doesn't collect or send any data.
• The only program it starts is ImageMagick (the magick command, or the path set in the settings), directly and without a shell, to convert images and to check which formats it supports. Your images never leave your computer.
• It reads files outside the vault only when Copy dragged images (file:/// links) is on and you drag an image from a file manager: it reads that image to copy it into the vault. It never writes or deletes anything outside the vault.

Troubleshooting

• Open the plugin settings and read the line under ImageMagick path: it says whether ImageMagick was found and what it supports.
• Make sure magick is available in your system PATH, or set its full path in the plugin settings.
• Make sure ImageMagick has AVIF write support.
• For HEIC files, make sure ImageMagick has HEIC read support.
• Make sure the image is pasted or dropped into a Markdown note. Images added in other ways are left alone.
• If dragging an image from a file manager pastes a file:/// address, make sure Copy dragged images (file:/// links) is on and the mode isn't Off.
• Check the Obsidian developer console (Ctrl+Shift+I) for detailed errors.