diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d58e4213..77261b82 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 - **Chat TUI streams markdown incrementally.** Assistant messages now use Textual's `MarkdownStream` (`Markdown.get_stream`) and write per-token deltas instead of re-parsing the entire accumulated message on every token. Removes the O(n²) re-parse that visibly stuttered long responses. Bumps `textual` floor to `>=8.2.4` so `Markdown.get_stream` is reachable via the public API.
 - **Embedding compatibility check only raises on `vector_dim` mismatch.** `provider` and `name` drift (legitimate when the same model is served by a different stack, e.g. Ollama → vLLM-via-openai) now logs a one-time warning and updates the stored settings to match the current config. Subsequent opens are silent. Run `rebuild --embed-only` if you also want to re-embed under the new stack.
+- **`processing.pictures` enum replaces `picture_description.enabled`.** Three modes: `none` (skip picture generation entirely — lower RAM, smaller DBs), `description` (generate images, run VLM, store bytes), `image` (default — generate images, store bytes, no VLM). Closes #366. Breaking change: rename `picture_description.enabled: true` → `pictures: description`, `picture_description.enabled: false` → `pictures: image`. The pre-April-30 `generate_picture_images` flag is also gone; use `pictures: none` for that opt-out.
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/docs/cli.md b/docs/cli.md
index b4c9848f..d580e288 100644
--- a/docs/cli.md
+++ b/docs/cli.md
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ haiku-rag rebuild --descriptions
 | Title only | `--title-only` | Generate titles for documents without one |
 | Descriptions | `--descriptions` | Add VLM picture descriptions to an existing database |
 
-**`--descriptions` mode** runs the configured VLM (`processing.conversion_options.picture_description.model`) over the picture bytes already stored in `document_items.picture_data`, patches each description into the stored docling blob's `pictures[i].meta.description.text`, and re-chunks + re-embeds so chunk text reflects the new descriptions. Requires `picture_description.enabled: true` in the config. Idempotent — pictures that already carry a description are skipped, so the operation is safe to re-run after a partial failure. The docling parse is skipped entirely; only the VLM time is paid.
+**`--descriptions` mode** runs the configured VLM (`processing.conversion_options.picture_description.model`) over the picture bytes already stored in `document_items.picture_data`, patches each description into the stored docling blob's `pictures[i].meta.description.text`, and re-chunks + re-embeds so chunk text reflects the new descriptions. Requires `processing.pictures: description` in the config. Idempotent — pictures that already carry a description are skipped, so the operation is safe to re-run after a partial failure. The docling parse is skipped entirely; only the VLM time is paid.
 
 ### Download Models
 
diff --git a/docs/configuration/processing.md b/docs/configuration/processing.md
index 53c09a15..a4f50d4e 100644
--- a/docs/configuration/processing.md
+++ b/docs/configuration/processing.md
@@ -45,12 +45,12 @@ processing:
     images_scale: 2.0                        # Image scale factor
     generate_page_images: true               # Include rendered page images (for visualize_chunk)
 
-    # VLM picture description (off by default; see "Picture Handling" below)
+    # VLM settings used when processing.pictures == "description" (see "Picture Handling" below)
     picture_description:
-      enabled: false
       model:
         provider: ollama
         name: ministral-3
+  pictures: image                            # none | description | image
 ```
 
 ### Conversion Options
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ Per-image failures (404, timeout, oversized, unreadable) leave that picture as a
 
 **Scope of conversion options across formats:**
 
-| Input | OCR / table options | `images_scale` / `generate_page_images` | `picture_description` | `fetch_remote_images` |
+| Input | OCR / table options | `images_scale` / `generate_page_images` | `pictures` | `fetch_remote_images` |
 |---|---|---|---|---|
 | `.pdf` | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | n/a |
 | `.png` / `.jpg` / `.jpeg` / `.bmp` / `.tiff` / `.webp` | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | n/a |
@@ -132,26 +132,36 @@ Per-image failures (404, timeout, oversized, unreadable) leave that picture as a
 
 #### Picture Handling
 
-Picture bytes (figures, diagrams) are always extracted and stored in `document_items.picture_data` for every ingested document. The single configurable knob is whether a Vision Language Model (VLM) runs at ingest to generate textual descriptions:
+`processing.pictures` picks one of three modes:
+
+| Mode | Picture-image generation in docling | Bytes stored in `document_items.picture_data` | VLM runs at ingest |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `none` | off | no | no |
+| `description` | on | yes | yes |
+| `image` (default) | on | yes | no |
+
+Use `none` when you don't need picture content (e.g. very large reference manuals where RAM is tight); use `description` to weave VLM-generated text into chunk content and keep bytes for later; use `image` (default) to keep bytes without paying the VLM cost. The prompt is configurable under `prompts.picture_description` — see [Prompts](prompts.md).
 
 ```yaml
 processing:
+  pictures: description           # none | description | image
   conversion_options:
-    picture_description:
-      enabled: true              # default false
+    picture_description:          # only consulted when pictures == "description"
       model:
-        provider: ollama         # any OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions provider
+        provider: ollama          # any OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions provider
         name: ministral-3
       timeout: 90
       max_tokens: 200
 ```
 
-When `enabled: true`, each picture's description is woven into the chunk text and is searchable via FTS. The prompt is configurable under `prompts.picture_description` — see [Prompts](prompts.md).
+!!! warning "Breaking change"
+    `processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled` is replaced by `processing.pictures`. Map `enabled: true` → `pictures: description`, `enabled: false` → `pictures: image`. The pre-April-30 `generate_picture_images` flag also no longer exists; use `pictures: none` for the old opt-out.
 
-**Switching the VLM on or off on an existing database** doesn't require reingesting (the bytes are already there):
+**Switching modes on an existing database** doesn't require reingesting when the bytes are already stored:
 
-- Off → on: `haiku-rag rebuild --descriptions` runs the VLM over stored bytes and re-chunks. Skips the docling parse entirely.
-- On → off: `haiku-rag rebuild --rechunk` recomposes chunk text from the stripped docling blob without descriptions.
+- `image` → `description`: `haiku-rag rebuild --descriptions` runs the VLM over stored bytes and re-chunks. Skips the docling parse entirely.
+- `description` → `image`: `haiku-rag rebuild --rechunk` recomposes chunk text from the stripped docling blob without descriptions.
+- Switching to/from `none`: a full reingest is needed since the bytes either weren't stored or need to be discarded.
 
 When using `converter: docling-serve`, the VLM is invoked from docling-serve rather than haiku.rag — see [Remote processing](../remote-processing.md#vlm-picture-description-with-docling-serve).
 
@@ -161,37 +171,37 @@ Three independent settings drive ingest, retrieval, and QA:
 
 | Setting | Question it answers | Values |
 |---|---|---|
-| `picture_description.enabled` | Should a VLM weave descriptions into chunk text at ingest? | `false` (default) / `true` |
+| `processing.pictures` | Generate and/or describe pictures at ingest? | `none` / `description` / `image` (default) |
 | `embeddings.model.provider` | Can the embedder index image content? | text-only (`ollama`, `openai`, `cohere`, `sentence-transformers`) vs `vllm` (multimodal) |
 | `qa.model.vision` | Can the QA model interpret images? | `false` (default) / `true` |
 
-Picture bytes are always stored, regardless of these settings.
+**What gets stored** by `pictures` × embedder:
 
-**What gets stored** by `enabled` × embedder:
-
-| `enabled` | Embedder | Text chunks | Synthetic picture chunks |
+| `pictures` | Embedder | Text chunks | Synthetic picture chunks |
 |---|---|---|---|
-| `false` | text-only | text only (caption/surrounding) | none |
-| `false` | multimodal | text only | one per picture, vector = image embedding |
-| `true` | text-only | text + descriptions | none |
-| `true` | multimodal | text + descriptions | one per picture, vector = image embedding |
+| `none` | any | text only (caption/surrounding) | none |
+| `image` | text-only | text only (caption/surrounding) | none |
+| `image` | multimodal | text only | one per picture, vector = image embedding |
+| `description` | text-only | text + descriptions | none |
+| `description` | multimodal | text + descriptions | one per picture, vector = image embedding |
 
 **What QA receives** at search time:
 
 - `qa.model.vision: false` — text chunks only (descriptions, when present, answer figure questions in prose).
-- `qa.model.vision: true` — text chunks + raw picture bytes via `BinaryContent`; the model reads figures directly.
+- `qa.model.vision: true` — text chunks + raw picture bytes via `BinaryContent`; the model reads figures directly. Requires `pictures != none` so the bytes exist.
 
 `qa.model.vision` is independent of ingestion — flipping it never requires reingesting. Setting `vision: true` against a text-only model causes silent acceptance and confabulation on Ollama and a 400 on OpenAI; default `false` is the safe choice.
 
 **Recommended combinations:**
 
-| Use case | `picture_description.enabled` | Embedder | `qa.model.vision` |
+| Use case | `processing.pictures` | Embedder | `qa.model.vision` |
 |---|---|---|---|
-| Pure text RAG, no figures | `false` | text-only | `false` |
-| Text RAG, figures answered through descriptions | `true` | text-only | `false` |
-| Vision QA on figure-rich docs (no cross-modal search) | `true` or `false` | text-only | `true` |
-| Cross-modal search + vision QA | `true` or `false` | multimodal | `true` |
-| Cross-modal search, text QA only | `true` | multimodal | `false` |
+| Pure text RAG, no figures, lowest RAM | `none` | text-only | `false` |
+| Text RAG, store figure bytes for later | `image` | text-only | `false` |
+| Text RAG, figures answered through descriptions | `description` | text-only | `false` |
+| Vision QA on figure-rich docs (no cross-modal search) | `image` or `description` | text-only | `true` |
+| Cross-modal search + vision QA | `image` or `description` | multimodal | `true` |
+| Cross-modal search, text QA only | `description` | multimodal | `false` |
 
 ### Automatic Title Generation
 
diff --git a/docs/configuration/prompts.md b/docs/configuration/prompts.md
index f0fac0d7..6cac3824 100644
--- a/docs/configuration/prompts.md
+++ b/docs/configuration/prompts.md
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ prompts:
     Be concise and factual.
 ```
 
-The prompt is used when `processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled` is `true`. See [Picture Handling](processing.md#picture-handling) for full configuration.
+The prompt is used when `processing.pictures` is `"description"`. See [Picture Handling](processing.md#picture-handling) for full configuration.
 
 ## Programmatic Configuration
 
diff --git a/docs/python.md b/docs/python.md
index 813a17d6..aa22c3eb 100644
--- a/docs/python.md
+++ b/docs/python.md
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ async for doc_id in client.rebuild_database(mode=RebuildMode.EMBED_ONLY):
 # Add VLM picture descriptions to an existing database — runs the VLM
 # over already-stored picture bytes, patches descriptions into the
 # docling blob, then re-chunks + re-embeds. Requires
-# picture_description.enabled=true in the config.
+# processing.pictures='description' in the config.
 async for doc_id in client.rebuild_database(mode=RebuildMode.DESCRIPTIONS):
     print(f"Described pictures in {doc_id}")
 ```
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/cli.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/cli.py
index c81fa784..42d8f433 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/cli.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/cli.py
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ def rebuild(
         help=(
             "Run the VLM over already-stored picture bytes, patch descriptions "
             "into the docling blob, then re-chunk + re-embed. Skips the docling "
-            "parse entirely. Requires picture_description.enabled=true."
+            "parse entirely. Requires processing.pictures='description'."
         ),
     ),
 ):
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/downloads.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/downloads.py
index 9578cfbb..62bd7611 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/downloads.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/downloads.py
@@ -105,7 +105,10 @@ async def download_models(
     if config.reranking.model and config.reranking.model.provider == "ollama":
         required_models.add(config.reranking.model.name)
     pic_desc = config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description
-    if pic_desc.enabled and pic_desc.model.provider == "ollama":
+    if (
+        config.processing.pictures == "description"
+        and pic_desc.model.provider == "ollama"
+    ):
         required_models.add(pic_desc.model.name)
     if (
         config.processing.auto_title
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/processing.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/processing.py
index b1051323..64133bda 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/processing.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/processing.py
@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ def _warn_if_descriptions_missing(
     docling-serve swallows VLM errors (network failures, missing models,
     etc.) and returns a successful conversion with empty descriptions.
     docling-local can do the same when the VLM endpoint is unreachable.
-    Surface the silent failure: when ``picture_description.enabled=True``
+    Surface the silent failure: when ``processing.pictures="description"``
     AND the document has at least one picture AND zero descriptions came
     back, log a clear warning so the user can fix their VLM config before
     a thousand-document ingest produces an empty corpus.
     """
-    if not config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled:
+    if config.processing.pictures != "description":
         return
     if not doc.pictures:
         return
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def _warn_if_descriptions_missing(
     if described == 0:
         model = config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.model
         logger.warning(
-            "picture_description.enabled is True but no descriptions came back "
+            "processing.pictures='description' but no descriptions came back "
             "for %s (%d pictures, 0 described). The VLM call likely failed "
             "silently inside the converter. Check that the VLM at %s is "
             "reachable from the converter and that the model name '%s' "
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/rebuild.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/rebuild.py
index 5ac52cd5..c675da9e 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/rebuild.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/client/rebuild.py
@@ -383,10 +383,9 @@ async def _rebuild_descriptions(
     """
     from haiku.rag.embeddings import embed_chunks, get_embedder
 
-    if not client._config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled:
+    if client._config.processing.pictures != "description":
         raise ValueError(
-            "rebuild --descriptions requires "
-            "processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = true "
+            "rebuild --descriptions requires processing.pictures = 'description' "
             "in your config."
         )
 
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/loader.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/loader.py
index d1af459f..bf493bdb 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/loader.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/loader.py
@@ -47,30 +47,7 @@ def load_yaml_config(path: Path) -> dict:
     """Load and parse a YAML config file."""
     with open(path) as f:
         data = yaml.safe_load(f)
-    data = data or {}
-    _drop_legacy_generate_picture_images(data)
-    return data
-
-
-def _drop_legacy_generate_picture_images(data: dict) -> None:
-    """Drop ``processing.conversion_options.generate_picture_images`` from
-    loaded YAML and log that it is no longer needed.
-
-    Picture bytes are always extracted now, so the flag has no effect.
-    Old YAMLs keep working; users see one log line telling them they can
-    remove the entry.
-    """
-    processing = data.get("processing")
-    if not isinstance(processing, dict):
-        return
-    opts = processing.get("conversion_options")
-    if isinstance(opts, dict) and "generate_picture_images" in opts:
-        opts.pop("generate_picture_images", None)
-        logger.warning(
-            "Config: 'processing.conversion_options.generate_picture_images' "
-            "no longer has any effect (picture bytes are always extracted). "
-            "Remove it from your haiku.rag.yaml."
-        )
+    return data or {}
 
 
 def generate_default_config() -> dict:
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/models.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/models.py
index 39060348..13436e60 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/models.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/models.py
@@ -129,14 +129,12 @@ class AnalysisConfig(BaseModel):
 
 
 class PictureDescriptionConfig(BaseModel):
-    """Whether (and how) to run a VLM over each picture at ingest.
+    """How the VLM runs over each picture when it runs at all.
 
-    When ``enabled`` is True, picture descriptions are generated by the
-    configured VLM and woven into chunk text. Picture bytes are stored
-    regardless — this flag only controls the description pass.
+    Activation lives on ``ProcessingConfig.pictures`` — these fields only
+    describe *how* the VLM runs once ``pictures == "description"``.
     """
 
-    enabled: bool = False
     model: ModelConfig = Field(
         default_factory=lambda: ModelConfig(
             provider="ollama",
@@ -177,6 +175,9 @@ class ConversionOptions(BaseModel):
     )
 
 
+PicturesMode = Literal["none", "description", "image"]
+
+
 class ProcessingConfig(BaseModel):
     chunk_size: int = 256
     converter: str = "docling-local"
@@ -186,6 +187,21 @@ class ProcessingConfig(BaseModel):
     chunking_merge_peers: bool = True
     chunking_use_markdown_tables: bool = False
     conversion_options: ConversionOptions = Field(default_factory=ConversionOptions)
+    pictures: PicturesMode = "image"
+    """How embedded pictures are handled at ingest.
+
+    - ``"none"``: docling skips picture-image generation; ``label="picture"``
+      rows still exist as structure but carry no bytes or description. Use
+      this when you don't need picture content and want to keep RAM and DB
+      size low on large documents.
+    - ``"description"``: docling generates picture images, the configured
+      VLM produces text descriptions woven into chunk text, AND the bytes
+      are retained in ``document_items.picture_data`` so a vision-capable
+      QA model or multimodal embedder can be enabled later without
+      reingesting.
+    - ``"image"``: docling generates picture images and stores them in
+      ``document_items.picture_data``; no VLM runs at ingest.
+    """
     auto_title: bool = False
     title_model: ModelConfig = Field(
         default_factory=lambda: ModelConfig(
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_local.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_local.py
index 5449694b..ceeed074 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_local.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_local.py
@@ -119,14 +119,15 @@ class DoclingLocalConverter(DocumentConverter):
 
         opts = self.config.processing.conversion_options
         pic_desc = opts.picture_description
-        runs_vlm = pic_desc.enabled
+        pictures = self.config.processing.pictures
+        runs_vlm = pictures == "description"
 
         pipeline_options = PdfPipelineOptions(
             do_ocr=opts.do_ocr,
             do_table_structure=opts.do_table_structure,
             images_scale=opts.images_scale,
             generate_page_images=opts.generate_page_images,
-            generate_picture_images=True,
+            generate_picture_images=pictures != "none",
             table_structure_options=TableStructureOptions(
                 do_cell_matching=opts.table_cell_matching,
                 mode=(
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_serve.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_serve.py
index e8e6237c..9d15accc 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_serve.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_serve.py
@@ -99,7 +99,8 @@ class DoclingServeConverter(DocumentConverter):
         """
         opts = self.config.processing.conversion_options
         pic_desc = opts.picture_description
-        runs_vlm = pic_desc.enabled
+        pictures = self.config.processing.pictures
+        runs_vlm = pictures == "description"
 
         data: dict[str, str | list[str]] = {
             "to_formats": "json",
@@ -111,7 +112,7 @@ class DoclingServeConverter(DocumentConverter):
             "table_cell_matching": str(opts.table_cell_matching).lower(),
             "images_scale": str(opts.images_scale),
             "image_export_mode": "referenced",
-            "include_images": "true",
+            "include_images": str(pictures != "none").lower(),
             "do_picture_description": str(runs_vlm).lower(),
             "target_type": "zip",
         }
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index 95eab0b3..0612e948 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import logging
-
 import pytest
 import yaml
 
@@ -9,16 +7,6 @@ from haiku.rag.config.loader import (
     generate_default_config,
     load_yaml_config,
 )
-from haiku.rag.config.loader import logger as loader_logger
-
-
-class _ListHandler(logging.Handler):
-    def __init__(self) -> None:
-        super().__init__(level=logging.WARNING)
-        self.records: list[logging.LogRecord] = []
-
-    def emit(self, record: logging.LogRecord) -> None:
-        self.records.append(record)
 
 
 def test_load_yaml_config(tmp_path):
@@ -239,39 +227,25 @@ def test_init_config_creates_valid_yaml(tmp_path):
     assert config.environment == "production"
 
 
-# Removed-field handling: processing.conversion_options.generate_picture_images
-# was honored by earlier releases. It's dropped from loaded YAML now and a
-# warning is logged so the user knows they can remove it from their config.
-
-
 def _write(tmp_path, body: str):
     p = tmp_path / "haiku.rag.yaml"
     p.write_text(body)
     return p
 
 
-def test_load_yaml_drops_generate_picture_images(tmp_path):
-    """``generate_picture_images`` from earlier releases is dropped from
-    the parsed dict and a warning tells the user to remove it from the
-    YAML."""
-    config_file = _write(
-        tmp_path,
-        """
-processing:
-  conversion_options:
-    generate_picture_images: true
-""",
-    )
-    handler = _ListHandler()
-    loader_logger.addHandler(handler)
-    try:
-        data = load_yaml_config(config_file)
-    finally:
-        loader_logger.removeHandler(handler)
-    cfg = AppConfig.model_validate(data)
-    assert cfg.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled is False
-    assert "generate_picture_images" not in data["processing"]["conversion_options"]
-    assert any("generate_picture_images" in r.getMessage() for r in handler.records)
+def test_pictures_field_defaults_to_image():
+    """`processing.pictures` defaults to `'image'` — current ingest behavior
+    (store picture bytes, no VLM) preserved on fresh configs."""
+    cfg = AppConfig()
+    assert cfg.processing.pictures == "image"
+
+
+def test_picture_description_has_no_enabled_field():
+    """`enabled` is gone from PictureDescriptionConfig — activation is now
+    controlled by `processing.pictures == 'description'`."""
+    from haiku.rag.config.models import PictureDescriptionConfig
+
+    assert "enabled" not in PictureDescriptionConfig.model_fields
 
 
 def test_fetch_remote_images_default_true():
diff --git a/tests/test_converters.py b/tests/test_converters.py
index 59b54cca..67cc4ce7 100644
--- a/tests/test_converters.py
+++ b/tests/test_converters.py
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ class TestDoclingLocalConverter:
 
     def test_image_format_shares_pdf_pipeline_options(self, config):
         """IMAGE FormatOption shares the same PdfPipelineOptions instance as
-        PDF. Without this, `do_ocr` / `picture_description.enabled` / etc.
+        PDF. Without this, `do_ocr` / `processing.pictures='description'` / etc.
         silently no-op when ingesting raw `.png` / `.jpg` files (which run
         through StandardPdfPipeline). End-to-end image conversion is covered
         by the PDF picture test — both paths feed the same pipeline class."""
@@ -785,7 +785,7 @@ class TestDoclingLocalConverter:
     def test_picture_description_config_defaults(self, config):
         """Test that picture description config has correct defaults."""
         pic_desc = config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description
-        assert pic_desc.enabled is False
+        assert config.processing.pictures == "image"
         assert pic_desc.model.provider == "ollama"
         assert pic_desc.model.name == "ministral-3"
         assert pic_desc.timeout == 90
@@ -795,12 +795,12 @@ class TestDoclingLocalConverter:
 
     def test_picture_description_config_applied(self, config):
         """Test that picture description config is applied to converter."""
-        config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+        config.processing.pictures = "description"
         config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.timeout = 120
         converter = DoclingLocalConverter(config)
 
+        assert converter.config.processing.pictures == "description"
         pic_desc = converter.config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description
-        assert pic_desc.enabled is True
         assert pic_desc.timeout == 120
 
     @pytest.mark.asyncio
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ class TestDoclingLocalConverter:
         # Disable OCR (not needed for native PDF, avoids model downloads)
         config.processing.conversion_options.do_ocr = False
         # Enable picture description with Ollama
-        config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+        config.processing.pictures = "description"
         config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.model.provider = (
             "ollama"
         )
@@ -1221,7 +1221,7 @@ class TestDoclingServeConverterPictureDescription:
         VLM is enabled."""
         import json
 
-        config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+        config.processing.pictures = "description"
         config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.model.provider = (
             "ollama"
         )
@@ -1332,7 +1332,7 @@ class TestDoclingServeConverterIntegration:
         Note: Not using VCR because this test involves polling with changing task IDs.
         """
         pdf_path = Path("tests/data/doclaynet.pdf")
-        config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+        config.processing.pictures = "description"
         config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.model.provider = (
             "ollama"
         )
diff --git a/tests/test_processing.py b/tests/test_processing.py
index f6000a74..9216b3e4 100644
--- a/tests/test_processing.py
+++ b/tests/test_processing.py
@@ -65,10 +65,10 @@ def caplog_warnings(caplog):
 
 
 def test_no_warning_when_picture_description_disabled(caplog_warnings):
-    """Default config has picture_description.enabled=False — even a
-    document full of pictures with no descriptions should not warn."""
+    """Default config has pictures='image' — even a document full of
+    pictures with no descriptions should not warn."""
     config = AppConfig()
-    assert config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled is False
+    assert config.processing.pictures == "image"
     doc = _doc_with_pictures(with_descriptions=False)
 
     _warn_if_descriptions_missing(config, doc, "fake.pdf")
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def test_no_warning_when_doc_has_no_pictures(caplog_warnings):
     """A picture-less document under enabled=True shouldn't warn — there
     was simply nothing to describe."""
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
     doc = _doc_without_pictures()
 
     _warn_if_descriptions_missing(config, doc, "no-pictures.txt")
@@ -89,12 +89,12 @@ def test_no_warning_when_doc_has_no_pictures(caplog_warnings):
 
 
 def test_warns_when_pictures_present_but_no_descriptions(caplog_warnings):
-    """VLM was requested via ``picture_description.enabled = True``, the
+    """VLM was requested via ``processing.pictures='description'``, the
     doc has pictures, but the converter returned zero descriptions
     (docling-serve swallows VLM errors). Warn loudly so the user can fix
     their VLM config before a long ingest."""
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
     config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.model.name = "qwen3.6"
     config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.model.base_url = (
         "http://host.docker.internal:11434"
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ def test_no_warning_when_at_least_one_description_came_back(caplog_warnings):
     and does not warn — the user might have area-threshold filtering or
     classification gating."""
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
     doc = _doc_with_pictures(with_descriptions=True)
 
     _warn_if_descriptions_missing(config, doc, "fine.pdf")
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ async def test_convert_emits_warning_via_chokepoint(
     )
 
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
 
     await convert(config, pdf)
 
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ async def test_convert_text_path_also_warns(monkeypatch, caplog_warnings):
     )
 
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
 
     # No URL scheme, no Path → drops into the convert_text branch.
     await convert(config, "<html><img src='...'/></html>")
diff --git a/tests/test_rebuild.py b/tests/test_rebuild.py
index 51d54be5..2c65e903 100644
--- a/tests/test_rebuild.py
+++ b/tests/test_rebuild.py
@@ -427,12 +427,12 @@ async def test_rebuild_batch_size_flush(temp_db_path, monkeypatch):
             assert len(chunks) > 0
 
 
-async def test_rebuild_descriptions_requires_enabled(temp_db_path):
-    """Calling rebuild --descriptions without picture_description.enabled is
-    a config error: the user has nothing to gain and the resulting state is
+async def test_rebuild_descriptions_requires_description_mode(temp_db_path):
+    """Calling rebuild --descriptions without `processing.pictures='description'`
+    is a config error: the user has nothing to gain and the resulting state is
     indistinguishable from a plain --rechunk."""
     async with HaikuRAG(temp_db_path, create=True) as client:
-        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="picture_description.enabled"):
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="processing.pictures"):
             async for _ in client.rebuild_database(mode=RebuildMode.DESCRIPTIONS):
                 pass
 
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ async def test_rebuild_descriptions_patches_blob_and_chunks(temp_db_path, monkey
     docling_doc = _docling_doc_with_picture()
 
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
 
     async with HaikuRAG(temp_db_path, config=config, create=True) as rag:
         document = Document(content="x", uri="test://doc")
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ async def test_rebuild_descriptions_skips_already_described(temp_db_path, monkey
     )
 
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
 
     async with HaikuRAG(temp_db_path, config=config, create=True) as rag:
         document = Document(content="x", uri="test://doc")
@@ -589,7 +589,7 @@ async def test_patch_picture_descriptions_returns_zero_for_doc_without_pictures(
     from haiku.rag.config import AppConfig
 
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
 
     async with HaikuRAG(temp_db_path, config=config, create=True) as rag:
         doc = await rag.create_document(content="Just text, no pictures.")
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ async def test_patch_picture_descriptions_warns_on_missing_bytes(temp_db_path, c
 
     docling_doc = _docling_doc_with_picture()
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
 
     async with HaikuRAG(temp_db_path, config=config, create=True) as rag:
         document = Document(content="x", uri="test://doc")
@@ -670,7 +670,7 @@ async def test_patch_picture_descriptions_skips_when_all_already_described(
     )
 
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
 
     async with HaikuRAG(temp_db_path, config=config, create=True) as rag:
         document = Document(content="x", uri="test://doc")
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ async def test_rebuild_descriptions_raises_when_blob_is_missing(
 
     docling_doc = _docling_doc_with_picture()
     config = AppConfig()
-    config.processing.conversion_options.picture_description.enabled = True
+    config.processing.pictures = "description"
 
     async with HaikuRAG(temp_db_path, config=config, create=True) as rag:
         document = Document(content="x", uri="test://doc")