⭐ Star Load Image+

Stock ComfyUI's Load Image is fine until you want to reload one of your own recent outputs without hunting through the output folder - or until you need the image's mask, or its metadata, out of the same node. ⭐ Star Load Image+ is the StarNodes upgrade: it lists images from both the input and output folders, lets you upload or paste from the clipboard, extracts the alpha channel as a mask, and hands you the full metadata bundle for the pack's reader node.

What it does

The image dropdown is the clever bit. It enumerates everything in ComfyUI/input/ plus everything in ComfyUI/output/ - output-folder entries are flagged with a [output] suffix so you can tell them apart at a glance. That alone saves the "save to input to reload it" dance. And because the field is marked image_upload, you can also drop a file in or paste from the clipboard right there. Load PNG, JPG, WEBP, BMP or GIF.

On the way out, three outputs do real work. image is the loaded pixels (EXIF-rotated, so phone photos don't come in sideways). mask is the alpha channel turned into a MASK - with the invert_mask toggle to flip it, which the tooltip correctly calls out as "useful for inpaint vs. keep-area workflows." And metadata is the full STAR_METADATA bundle for images saved by the pack's own save nodes, ready to plug into ⭐ Star Image Loader Options. Load an image you generated with Star Save Image+ and the whole param chain comes back with it.

Inputs and outputs

• image - the dropdown/upload/paste picker.
• invert_mask (default off) - flips the extracted alpha mask.
• image (out) - the pixels. mask (out) - alpha as a MASK. metadata (out) - STAR_METADATA, feed it to ⭐ Star Image Loader Options.

One node, two names

This page and the StarLoadImagePlus page are the same node. The pack registers the class under both its technical name (StarLoadImagePlus) and the emoji display name (⭐ Star Load Image+), and comfy.icu indexes both. If you installed the pack, either search term finds it.

Installing

Part of the StarNodes pack - install Starnodes via ComfyUI Manager, or:

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/Starnodes2024/ComfyUI_StarNodes
cd ComfyUI_StarNodes
pip install -r requirements.txt

Restart, then search star on the canvas. No models needed.

Common issues

If a file you just saved doesn't show in the dropdown, ComfyUI caches the file list - a reload or a fresh queue usually refreshes it. The [output] flag is your friend for telling the two folders apart. And if mask comes back as pure white or pure black, check invert_mask - you've likely got the keep/remove polarity backwards for your inpaint setup.