Hard X‐ray emission is commonly observed in association with solar flares and it is believed to signify interactions of accelerated electrons with the ambient ions. As a first step to understand what conditions are conducive to acceleration of electrons in solar flares, we have analyzedYohkohX‐ray images for a total of four‐dozen events whose hard X‐ray spectra extend at least to 100 keV. The morphology of soft X‐ray emission relative to hard X‐ray sources shows a wide variety, but it is usually confined in a compact loop, which is sometimes topped with a cusp that is much more diffuse. While eruptive behaviors are often seen in the soft X‐ray images, it is hard to decide whether they trigger or result from the nonthermal processes. We give a case study which indicates that double hard X‐ray sources do not always come from conjugate footpoints of a loop. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.