The best quick sketch tool for digital artists.

Practice drawing with your own references or with our community curated collections.

Features that you'll love.

refern. is built with creatives in mind and is constantly growing. Always open to suggestions and feedbacks.

Use your own references.
Upload and study any of your own reference images.
Edit image during study.
Adjust saturation, contrast, brightness, flip X/Y, and rotate.
Flexible image duration.
Select from 15 second to 60 minute per image.
Adjustable image count.
Select from 5 to 50 images in one session.
Save from explore.
Save curated collection from explore to study.
Session notes.
Add notes to each session about things you've learned.
Session history.
See your past sessions and the images you've studied.
Shareable sessions.
All your session history are shareable by link.
Cross-platform.
Study from any device has a browser.

Ready to practice?

See what other creatives have to say about refern.

this is something i've wanted for a long time, a reference collection app made by artists for artists.totally amazing app that makes me excited to see where it will go. everything i wanted out of eagle and more, but in the could, and a friendly space for new artists wanting to learn.i was exploring milanote alternative, and i found a reddit thread and you talking about it. i thought: let me be dammed its exactly what i needvery excited for offline/local storage version! keep up the good work, now i'm off to explore the sitei'm studying to be in the art industry! i've already recommended refern to my instructors and ill let my peers know too.honestly i'm considering throwing money your way just to help out cause you've done what eagle, digikam, pinterest, and allusion can'thi, thank you for having me! i love refern!i found this app on reddit by total coincidence and im hooked. just wanted to say that this project is genuinely awesome.heyhey just found this app my god what a dreamjust found the app, it looks really coolthis app really has it all, it's perfect for everything i need so fari was looking for an app that would allow me better reference material storage/display space than some bigger name apps like pinterest. was amazed by teh flexibility, structure, and thought that went into the features.refern.app is literally everything i've ever wanted in a reference appwas playing with refern yesterday and its actually better than all the other software like this.i've checked out refern and it is exactly what i'm looking for.this is the cream of the crop of reference apps. it's what pinterest wishes it could be.pleasantly shocked and amazed! the more i dig the more incredible this app isi have been looking for a free eagle alternative, saw allusion but was wishing it was online. so excited to try this out

Frequently asked questions.

  • Is refern. free to use?

    Yes, all the core features of refern. is completely free to use with some limits. You can purchase Pro (one-time purchase) to remove limits, get extra storage, unlock nice-to-have features, and help us cover server cost.

  • Can other people edit my references?

    No. Only you can edit your stuff. Anyone else can only view it if they have access to it. However, plans for collaborative collections/reference boards is coming soon!

  • Will my images be used to create AI Art?

    No. We will never use the images you upload to train/create AI art.

  • Can I upload AI generated images?

    Yes, BUT it is strongly discouraged. Images can be community labelled as AI-generated. Any image that is labelled as AI-generated will not show up in the explore page.

  • Are images containing nudity or NSFW content allowed?

    Yes. However, we scan every image to see if it is explicit and will blur and put a warning label on it if it exceeds a certain threshold. You have the option to turn off the NSFW blurring just for yourself.

Curious about what else refern. has to offer?