Import a PureRef Board Into refern: Steps and Checks

Use the dedicated importer when you want a PureRef 2.x board rebuilt as an editable refern canvas. Opening a folder of images is a separate workflow and does not recreate the board's arrangement.

What to expect

Supported images, notes, drawings, groups, nested placement, transforms, scale, visible group containers, and note fills are in scope. The source scene is not modified by the importer.

Small differences remain where the two apps model styling differently. Check rich-text runs, separate text and container backgrounds, font families, translucent note backgrounds, and irregular crops. The earlier owner estimate of roughly 90 percent fidelity was qualitative, not a weighted benchmark or a guarantee for every board.

Before you start

1. Keep a separate copy of the .pur scene and any linked image folders.
2. Open the source board in PureRef and identify missing images before importing.
3. Relink available sources where needed. Do not assume the importer can recover missing external files.
4. Choose a destination workspace with room for imported files and generated data.

PureRef embeds local images by default but can link existing disk paths. The image handbook explains that distinction. Keep linked media as well as the scene in your backup.

To see what a board holds before you import it, open it in the free PureRef file viewer. It lists every image in the .pur file right in your browser, and the file is not uploaded.

Run the import

Open Settings > Import in refern and choose Import PureRef Board. Select a PureRef 2.x .pur file. Review the reuse option and destination, then let the import finish.

Eligible sources already inside the workspace can be reused. External local sources are copied, and web sources require downloads. Check the result rather than assuming all inputs can be reused without copies. Unsupported or unavailable sources can fail.

Start with one representative board before importing a whole archive. Use a copy that contains the kinds of notes, nested groups, and crops you depend on.

Verify the result

Keep source URLs in the original board until you have verified the destination. PureRef can retain source URLs for supported web images; absence of a library-wide search does not mean it has no source information. PureRef settings

Test your overlay setup

refern supports pin-to-top. Its window-opacity and mouse-clickthrough controls are available on Windows and macOS; the current UI hides those controls on Linux. Test alongside your painting app before deciding it matches your existing workflow.

PureRef also has its own focused window controls, including pinning above a specific application. If that behavior is essential, keeping PureRef for those sessions is reasonable. A new library does not require abandoning a familiar board tool.

Organize after checking the import

Add a few useful tags and descriptions to the imported items, then test finding them from the library. Place an item on another canvas if you want to explore the connected workflow.

Do not retag the whole archive before checking that the basic transfer worked. Embedded metadata handling is format- and field-specific; this guide does not promise that every EXIF field or external XMP sidecar becomes a tag.

Keep a recovery path

Back up the workspace media and associated data, restore a small sample elsewhere, and check the canvas again. Retain the original PureRef scene during that process.

For the product decision, see refern versus PureRef. If the library-to-board handoff is the main concern, read when to combine the two workflows.