Grammar Rules

A few days ago I came across two sentences with として but I really can't understand the meaning of it in those sentences.

The first one is:
最初のイメージとして、bla bla bla と思い付いた。

The second one is:
まずイメージとしてあったのが、bla bla bla だった。

I don't think that in these sentences the meaning of として is "as" or "in the capacity of". Can someone explain it to me? And what's the meaning of イメージ ? Is it like "in my mind" or "from my point of view"? I would be very grateful If you could help me! :)

Thank you!

It is "as."
- As the first/initial idea, (something) came to my mind.

- As the initial idea, what I had (in my mind) was (something).

イメージ in Japanese of course came from the English word "image," and it means in this case a general idea, an impression, a general picture you draw in your mind (often the starting point for something you want to develop into something specific), not yet well defined.

Okay, I think I have understood!
Thank you very much!

So, can I translate the second sentence like "the first thing that came up in my mind was..."?

And can イメージ be translated as "idea"?

"Idea" can sound somewhat specific, and this イメージ is more vague. So I might say "general idea" or "general concept" or even "my thought is..." if the context allows it.