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.
Organize and find.
Tag it, search it, or find it by color. Your whole library, a few keystrokes away.
- Hierarchical tags
- Custom views
- 14 search operators
- Find by similarity
- Recursive browsing
Downloads to date
On the waitlist
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Accounts, clouds, or trackers
Built for illustrators, concept artists, photographers, and art directors. Your files always stay on your machine.
Save everything you see.
From any site, in a click. The refern clipper drops it straight into your library, so nothing slips away. Grab one image or a whole page at once.
- Browser extension
- Right-click save
- Bulk save
- Drag & drop
- Screenshot
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.
Import from Eagle
Bring your whole Eagle library across in one move, with folders, tags, ratings, and sources intact.
Keep your metadata
Reads embedded keywords, ratings, descriptions, and sources (EXIF, IPTC, XMP) as you add images.
Timed study
Full-screen study sessions for drawing from your own references, on your own clock.
Reference overlay
Pin any window on top, dial down its opacity, and click straight through it while you work.
Linked references
Crops, groups, and the canvases an image lives in all stay connected back to the source.
Edit in place
Crop and adjust brightness, contrast, and color without ever touching the original file.
Pay once. Own it forever.
No subscription. No account. Your references live on your machine, and they stay yours.
- Pay once. No subscription.
- Free updates included.
- 3 devices · On Windows, macOS or Linux.
- Your files never leave your machine.
Free 30-day trial, no card. Try the whole app before you pay — no subscription, nothing to cancel.
Coming from Eagle or PureRef? See how refern compares: Eagle · PureRef
Questions, answered.
Everything you might want to know before you download.
Own your references. Forever.
$30 once. Free updates. Never a subscription. Your files never leave your machine.
Free 30-day trial, no card. Try the whole app before you pay — no subscription, nothing to cancel.
Built by a solo developer.