Random Image Picker - ComfyUI Custom Node

A ComfyUI custom node that provides flexible image loading with support for both single file picker and random folder selection.

Features

✨ Two Operation Modes:

• Single Mode: Direct file picker with instant preview
• Folder Mode: Randomly select an image from a folder

🎯 Key Features:

• 📁 File Picker Button: Browser-based file selection with instant preview
• Auto Mode Switching: Automatically switches to Single mode when using file picker
• Real-time Preview: See your image immediately without execution
• Subfolder Support: Option to include subfolders in folder search
• Resolution Output: Automatically outputs image width and height
• Reproducible Random: Seed control for consistent random selection
• Clean UI: Hidden internal widgets for better user experience

Installation

Via Git Clone (Manual)

1. Navigate to your ComfyUI custom nodes directory:

   cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
   git clone https://github.com/solidlime/Comfyui-Random_Image_Picker.git
   

2. Restart ComfyUI

3. The node will appear in the "image" category as "Random Image Picker"

Via ComfyUI-Manager (Coming Soon)

Once registered with ComfyUI-Manager, you'll be able to install directly from the manager UI.

Usage

Node Controls

• folder_path (STRING):

  • Path to folder for random selection (Folder mode only)
  • Default: ComfyUI input directory

• folder_mode (BOOLEAN):

  • Single (OFF): Use file picker for direct selection
  • Folder (ON): Random selection from folder_path
  • Note: Automatically switches to Single when using file picker

• include_subfolders (BOOLEAN):

  • Only applies in Folder mode
  • OFF: Only scan the specified folder
  • ON: Include all subfolders in the search

• seed (INT):

  • Random seed for reproducible selection in Folder mode
  • Range: 0 to 18446744073709551615

• 📁 Choose File (Button):

  • Click to open browser file picker
  • Selected image shows instantly in preview
  • Automatically switches to Single mode

Node Outputs

• image: The loaded image in ComfyUI tensor format
  • Includes real-time preview display
  • Works with all standard ComfyUI image processing nodes

How It Works

Single Mode (File Picker)

1. Click 📁 Choose File button
2. Select an image from your file system
3. Image appears instantly in preview
4. Mode automatically switches to Single
5. Image is ready for use in workflow

Folder Mode (Random Selection)

1. Set folder_mode to Folder (ON)
2. Enter folder path in folder_path
3. Optionally enable include_subfolders
4. Set seed for reproducible results
5. Execute workflow to select random image

Supported Image Formats

• PNG (.png)
• JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
• WebP (.webp)
• BMP (.bmp)
• GIF (.gif)

Examples

Example 1: Quick File Selection

1. Set folder_mode: Single (default)
2. Click "📁 Choose File"
3. Select your image
4. Preview appears instantly!

Example 2: Random from Folder

folder_path: D:/images/
folder_mode: Folder (ON)
include_subfolders: OFF
seed: 42

→ Randomly selects one image from D:/images/ (excluding subfolders)

Example 3: Random with Subfolders

folder_path: D:/images/
folder_mode: Folder (ON)
include_subfolders: ON
seed: 42

→ Randomly selects one image from D:/images/ and all its subfolders

Technical Details

Architecture

• Python Backend: Image loading and processing using PIL/Pillow
• JavaScript Frontend: File picker with FileReader API for browser-based file access
• Base64 Transfer: Secure data transfer from browser to ComfyUI backend

Browser Limitations

Due to browser security restrictions, the file picker:

• Cannot access full file system paths
• Uses FileReader API to read files directly in browser
• Transfers image data as base64-encoded strings
• Works completely client-side until execution

Output Format

• Image tensor: [batch, height, width, channels]
• Color space: RGB
• Value range: 0.0 to 1.0 (float32)
• Batch size: Always 1

Troubleshooting

Preview not showing

• Ensure ComfyUI is restarted after installation
• Check browser console for JavaScript errors
• Verify WEB_DIRECTORY is correctly set in __init__.py

File picker not working

• Modern browsers required (Chrome, Firefox, Edge)
• Check that JavaScript is enabled
• Clear browser cache and reload

Folder mode errors

• Verify folder path exists and is accessible
• Check folder contains supported image formats
• Ensure proper path format for your OS

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

License

MIT License - Feel free to use and modify as needed.

Credits

Developed with ❤️ for the ComfyUI community include_subfolders: ON seed: 42

→ Randomly selects one image from `D:/images/` and all its subfolders

## Technical Details

- Images are converted to RGB format
- Output tensor format: `[batch, height, width, channels]`
- Pixel values normalized to 0.0-1.0 range
- Uses PyTorch tensors for ComfyUI compatibility
- Real-time preview in ComfyUI UI (OUTPUT_NODE enabled)
- Custom JavaScript widget for enhanced file selection

## License

MIT License

## Author

Created for ComfyUI