Find Visually Similar Images in Your Reference Library
Use Find similar on an image in refern to explore other images in your library. This is useful when you remember the look of a reference but not its filename or tags.
Choose a useful starting image
Pick an image that represents the quality you want to compare: a palette, a broad layout, or a texture. A busy starting image can produce a different shortlist from a close view of the detail you care about.
Open the image's available actions and choose Find similar. Inspect the returned images rather than treating their order as a judgment of artistic relevance. Similar-looking images can depict unrelated subjects, and references of the same subject can look very different.
Refine the question
| What you want | A useful next step |
|---|---|
| A related overall look | Try another representative starting image |
| A particular dominant palette | Use color search |
| A known subject or creator | Search the tags, description, or creator field |
| Copies to clean up | Use duplicate review |
The choices are complementary. For example, find related lighting references visually, then read their notes to see which ones were saved for a night scene rather than a studio portrait.
Check the indexed collection
Results are limited by what is available in the workspace and has usable search data. If you expected an image from another drive, first check that drive and the content root. If your references have just been added, allow processing to finish before assessing the search.
The core visual-similarity workflow is local. That does not mean every action in refern is network-free: activation, update checks, optional downloads, and web capture have separate network requirements.
Save the useful selection
Add the images that answer your question to a canvas, or tag them with a project-specific term. Keep a short note about why you selected them. This gives you a way to retrieve the result later without recreating the exact search.
For an example of turning a shortlist into a board, see making a moodboard from your photo library.