Every reference you collect, in one place you own.

Save anything, organize it your way, and arrange it on an infinite canvas, connected on a graph that maps how it all relates. All on your machine, yours forever.

Download for Free
v1.2.0 · Windows · macOS · Linux
refern.
My libraryReferencesNature

Save everything you see.

The refern Clipper saves any image from any site in a click, source included, so nothing slips away.

Chrome logoFirefox logoSafari logo

Works wherever you browse.

One clipper for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Free on every store.

Chrome Web StoreFirefox Add-onsMac App Store

Save on hover

A save button appears on any image you point at. One click and it's in your library. Turn it off per site whenever it's in the way.

A dense, sunlit forest thick with green trees and vines.Save

Tag it as you save

Add tags right in the clipper, so images land in your library already organized.

A cup of cappuccino.
# cafe# still life
Save

Save as you scroll

Open the side panel and it collects every image on the page while you scroll. Pick the keepers, save them all at once.

Clusters of soft pink blossoms.
A row of red Buddhist temple bells.
The ornate carved ceiling of an old structure.
Still water mirroring the sky and a line of trees.
A forest stairway lit by streaming sun.
A yellow-and-white cat tucked under a blue balcony.
Found 18
Save all

Always the highest resolution

On 15+ sites the clipper quietly trades the preview for the original, full-resolution file.

1200 × 900→4096 × 3072
PinterestXInstagramTumblrRedditArtStationDeviantArtDribbbleBehancePixivFlickr500pxUnsplashPexelsImgurGiphy
Also in the box:Right-click saveDrag & drop into the appScreenshot capturePer-site hover controls

Other features you might love.

The story covers the highlights. Here are a few more that make refern the last reference tool you’ll set up.

  • Auto Tagger

    Tag a whole library without doing it by hand. An on-device engine suggests tags, reads text in images, and describes them. Offline and opt-in.

    The towering, light-filled bookshelves of Seoul's Starfield Library.
    Suggested tags
    # library# bookshelves# interior+ Add all

  • Search by meaning

    Describe what you want, like 'dramatic lighting', and refern surfaces it even when nothing's tagged.

    dramatic lighting
    Evening sun bursting past a sea stack.
    A church silhouetted beneath a sunset sky.
    A colonnade glowing in golden-hour light.
    Golden-hour coastline with birds over the surf.
    4 matches · none of them tagged

  • Import from Eagle, PureRef & Allusion

    Bring your old library across in one move. Eagle folders and tags, a PureRef board's images, and Allusion's colored, nested tags.

    Eagle library
    3,204 items · folders & tags
    Done
    PureRef board
    moodboard-final-v2.pur
    62%
    Allusion backup
    allusion-export.json
    Queued

  • Keep your metadata

    Reads embedded keywords, ratings, descriptions, and sources (EXIF, IPTC, XMP) as you add images.

    Osaka at sunset from above.
    osaka-golden.jpg
    1620 × 1080 px
    Keywords · from EXIF
    # sunset# golden hour# city
    Source
    Twitter / X

  • Linked references

    Crops, groups, and the canvases an image lives in all stay connected back to the source.

    Original illustration of a character resting among fallen golden leaves.
    autumn-leaves.jpg
    3 connections
    Warm light cropcrop
    Golden hourcanvas
    Autumn palette studygroup

  • Edit in place

    Crop and adjust brightness, contrast, and color without ever touching the original file.

    Original illustration of a gold-haired girl lying in a field of yellow flowers under a blue sky.
    Brightness
    Contrast
    Saturation
    Original file untouched

  • Timed study

    Full-screen study sessions for drawing from your own references, on your own clock.

    Original illustration of a girl with a spear in an ice-blue battle scene.
    0:47· 3 of 12

  • Reference overlay

    Pin any window on top, dial down its opacity, and click straight through it while you work.

    pinned reference
    Seoul's night skyline below N Seoul Tower.
    click-through

  • Multiple windows

    Pop any image or canvas out into its own window. Lay references side by side, spread them across monitors, and keep working in the main app.

    gamcheon.jpg
    A hillside stacked with colorful houses.
    Summer trip · canvas
    Original illustration of two girls taking a selfie amid lush greenery.

  • Custom data folder

    Keep a large library on a slow drive while its database, thumbnails, and backups live on a fast SSD. Your original images never move.

    Image library
    D:\Art\References
    HDD
    Database & thumbnails
    C:\refern\data
    SSD
    Your original images never move

  • Recover from a backup

    If a library's database is ever lost or corrupted, refern restores it in one click from an automatic backup or a refern export.

    Automatic backup
    Today, 09:12
    Restore
    Automatic backup
    Yesterday, 21:40
    refern export
    refern-library.zip

Built for illustrators and concept artists. And every creative who collects.

refern is a godsend for me. I have libraries of photo references I purchase from reference photography studios, but that piles up really quickly when you start getting those 600+ action pose reference packs. After a certain point it becomes almost impossible to find what you want searching through countless folders. But the ways refern allows you to organize everything makes all my photos searchable or easily found otherwise, so I can actually make use of all the photos I have packed away.
Amy H. · from the refern community Discord

Before you download.

Everything you might want to know, answered.

Own your references. Forever.

Free 30-day trial, no card. Try the whole app before you pay. No subscription, nothing to cancel.

Download for Free
v1.2.0 · Windows · macOS · Linux
Artwork by @jaks024the creator of refern