Switch from PureRef to refern Without Losing Your Workflow (2026)

By refern. Last updated: June 2026.

TL;DR: You switch from PureRef to refern by pointing refern at the folder where your images live. Your files stay put. refern indexes them in place and adds a persistent library with full-text search, tags, and color search. The always-on-top overlay and click-through mode work in refern too, so your painting workflow continues without interruption.

What transfers, what does not, and what gets better

PureRef is a genuinely excellent tool. It is free for personal use, extremely lightweight, and the best in class for putting references on screen while you paint. If you have used it for years, the overlay habit is real muscle memory.

The reason artists switch is almost always the same: PureRef has no search, no tags, and no persistent library. [pureref.com/handbook/features] Each .pur file is a standalone board. Once your reference collection grows past a few hundred images, finding anything specific requires scrolling through a spatial canvas by eye. There is no filename search, no color filter, no "show me everything tagged anatomy."

refern is the other side of that problem. It is a desktop reference manager that combines Eagle-style library organization with a PureRef-style infinite canvas and an Obsidian-style relationship graph. It costs $30 one-time and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

What transfers easily: your image files, your folder structure, any metadata embedded in the files (EXIF, IPTC, XMP is read automatically on import). The overlay habit transfers too because refern has pin-on-top, adjustable transparency, and mouse click-through.

What does not transfer automatically: your .pur boards. There is no .pur importer. Canvas boards you want to keep in refern have to be rebuilt manually, or you can keep PureRef open for those and use refern for the library.

What gets better: everything search-related, everything library-related, and anything involving references across more than one project.

Before you start

Here is what to check before migrating:

1. Know where your images actually live. PureRef embeds images inside the .pur file, so some of your references may exist only inside those binary files with no corresponding folder of loose images. Export anything you want to keep before closing PureRef.
2. Export images from .pur files you care about. In PureRef, select all images on a board, then use File > Export Images to a folder on disk. Do this for every board whose images you want in refern.
3. Decide on a folder structure. refern treats a folder on disk as a workspace. A flat "all references" folder works, but folders by project, subject, or category give you more to search against later.
4. Download refern. The 30-day free trial requires no account. Download at refern.app.

Step 1: Create a workspace in refern

Open refern and choose "New Workspace." Point it at the folder that contains your reference images. If you already have a well-organized folder (by project, by subject, etc.), point refern at the root of that structure.

refern scans the folder and builds a SQLite index alongside your files. It writes a small database file and a refern-thumbnails/ folder next to your images. Your originals are never copied, never moved, and never modified. If you remove refern later, your files are exactly as you left them.

For very large collections (tens of thousands of images), the first index pass takes a few minutes. A progress card shows the scan, thumbnail generation, and estimated time remaining. After that, all queries are instant.

Step 2: Import images from your .pur boards

If you exported images from PureRef boards in the "before you start" step, those are already in your folder and will be picked up automatically by the workspace scan.

If you did not export them yet, do it now. In PureRef, open each board you want to preserve, select all images (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A), then go to File > Export Images and choose the target folder inside your refern workspace. Once you copy them there, refern will index them on the next sync (or you can trigger a sync manually from the settings).

A note on source URLs. PureRef does not store source URLs per image in a machine-readable format. If you have notes on a board with URLs, copy them to refern's metadata sidebar manually for the images you care about. refern stores source URL, creator, description, and notes per image, all searchable.

Step 3: Recreate your overlay setup

This is the step most PureRef users worry about most, and it is straightforward.

In refern, open any canvas file (or create a new one from the sidebar). Drag images from the library grid onto the canvas. Then:

• Pin on top: in the window frame controls, enable "always on top." The canvas window stays above Photoshop, Blender, ZBrush, or any other application.
• Window transparency: use the opacity slider to make the refern window semi-transparent, so you can see your painting underneath.
• Mouse click-through: enable click-through mode. Mouse events pass through the refern window to whatever is underneath. You can eye-drop colors from references without switching focus.

The result is functionally identical to the PureRef overlay workflow. The main difference is that you opened refern's canvas from a library that has search and tags, so you can find the specific references you want before opening them on the overlay.

One thing PureRef does slightly better here: the "pin above a specific application" feature (added in PureRef 2.0), which keeps the overlay on top of one target app only. [pureref.com/blog/pureref2] refern's pin-on-top keeps the window above all applications. For most single-monitor setups this does not matter, but if that specific feature is load-bearing for your workflow, it is worth noting.

Step 4: Tag and organize your imported references

Once refern has indexed your images, open the library and start tagging. This is optional but transforms the value of the tool.

Tags. Click any image, open the metadata sidebar, and add tags. Tags are hierarchical (you can have "Character > Anatomy > Hands" as a nested structure), support tag groups, and linked tags. Once you have tags, tag:anatomy finds every anatomy reference across all folders instantly.

Smart folders. In the sidebar, create a smart folder with a saved search query. "All character references rated 4 or higher" or "all images from ArtStation" becomes a live folder that updates automatically as you add more images.

Directory presets. Right-click any folder and set a metadata preset. Any image you drop into that folder automatically gets the preset's tags and metadata applied. Useful if you have a "Lighting reference" folder where every incoming image should be tagged "lighting" without manual work.

Color labels and ratings. Use the five-star rating system and nine color labels to mark quality and category at a glance. Both are filterable via the search bar.

Step 5: Build your first canvas in refern

If you had PureRef boards you used regularly, rebuild the ones you want in refern.

Create a new canvas file from the left sidebar. Drag images from the library onto the canvas. You can create layers (named, nestable, with optional background fill), group images, add text annotations, freehand draw with the pen tool, and use any of nine shape primitives.

For the overlay use case, keep the canvas as your current-project board. Add images from the library as you need them. Because the library is persistent and searchable, you do not need to pre-load everything onto the canvas at the start of a project the way you would with PureRef. Search for "anatomy hands," open the results, drag the three you want onto the canvas. Done.

What does not transfer (be honest with yourself)

Your .pur files do not open in refern. The .pur format is proprietary and binary. [pureref.com/support.php] There is no importer. If you have years of curated PureRef boards, exporting them is real work. Prioritize the boards you actively use; older ones can stay in PureRef as read-only archives.

Per-board spatial positioning. The exact layout of images on a PureRef canvas does not carry over. You start from a blank canvas in refern and arrange things fresh.

The PureRef color picker. PureRef's transparent-to-mouse mode includes a built-in color readout (RGB, HSV, HEX values displayed live as you move the cursor). [pureref.com/handbook/features] refern's click-through mode lets you pick colors in your painting app, but refern itself does not display a color value overlay. If the specific HEX readout while in click-through is part of your muscle memory, you will notice its absence.

Session-scoped habit. PureRef's model (open a .pur, work, close it) has zero startup overhead and zero concept of a "library." refern adds a workspace concept. For artists who genuinely want a scratch pad with no persistence, PureRef is still the right tool. There is no shame in keeping both.

Should you keep PureRef alongside refern?

Yes, if any of these apply:

• You use PureRef for quick scratch boards that you discard after a session and do not want to manage in a library.
• You rely specifically on the "pin above one application only" feature.
• You are on a team where others use PureRef and share .pur files.
• You are comfortable with both tools running side by side.

Many artists settle on this split naturally: refern for the persistent searchable library and anything that crosses project boundaries, PureRef for a single focused session where you want zero overhead and a familiar canvas feel.

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