So are there any differences between mental images and images?

Well, yes. A study done by Chambers & Reisberg, 1985, found that there were differences in pictures and mental images. When subjects were shown a picture that could be either a duck, or a rabbit and asked to draw the picture from memory it was found that people had difficulty reversing the mental images. That was not the case for physical images. “E.G” Do you see the duck?”