Software Alternatives & Reviews

PureRef VS refern.

Compare PureRef VS refern. and see what are their differences

PureRef logo PureRef

The simple way to view and organize your multiple reference images.

refern. logo refern.

All-in-one online art reference saver, finder, viewer, and organizer with built-in moodboard editor
  • PureRef Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-23
  • refern. Moodboard page with a specific image selected
    Moodboard page with a specific image selected //
    2024-03-06
  • refern. A particular collection of references with multiple images selected
    A particular collection of references with multiple images selected //
    2024-03-06
  • refern. Search page searching for images, collections, or moodboard all at once with multiple search terms
    Search page searching for images, collections, or moodboard all at once with multiple search terms //
    2024-03-10
  • refern. Unorganized page showing all references saved using the refern capturer extension that are not organized yet
    Unorganized page showing all references saved using the refern capturer extension that are not organized yet //
    2024-03-06

Refern lets you:

  • Collect art references when browsing the web
  • Organize all your references in folders of image collections
  • Add extra info like tags to all your references and the folders you make to find them
  • Search everything that you have saved at once
  • Use any of your references in a freeform reference board/moodboard that supports image manipulation
  • Share everything you've saved with just a link

PureRef videos

The Best Free Tool for Artists - PureRef

More videos:

  • Tutorial - PureRef tutorial: a free, cross-platform virtual board for artists!
  • Review - PureRef Review

refern. videos

How to use refern to collect, organize, find, and use art references

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PureRef and refern.)
Image Editing
100 100%
0% 0
Art
0 0%
100% 100
Digital Drawing And Painting
Personal Tools
0 0%
100% 100

Questions and Answers

As answered by people managing PureRef and refern..

What makes your product unique?

refern.'s answer:

The flow of collecting references when making art usually goes like this:

find references/inspirations online -> save those images and organize them -> use those images individually or in a moodboard -> reuse these references for next project / share with other people

refern lets you do all of these all in one platform rather than juggling multiple apps to do the same thing.

What's the story behind your product?

refern.'s answer:

I'm an artist and a lot of times it was really frustrating not finding the right pictures, trying to organize/keep track reference images, and juggling too many apps when I just wanted to draw. I wanted something that can do it all and every component is well integrated, so I made refern.

User comments

Share your experience with using PureRef and refern.. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PureRef seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 4 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

PureRef mentions (4)

  • how do u guys organize your visual inspiration/refs digitally?
    I mainly use offline means: organising all my files in a hierarchy of folders and using pureref (which I highly recommend) to make moodboards, and ofc an external hard drive to save backups. The only online means I use is google drive for online backups. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • HELP! So I want to trace this Image(704x702) into a Pixel art (32 x 32 or 40 x 40) but when I resize it, it gets like this (2nd picture) and if I don't, then the pixels are too small, What do i do?
    If you just want the image to be a transparent overlay while you draw 'through the image'(with it being unchanged) you can use something like Pureref(pureref.com) to set the image as always on top + turn opacity down a bit. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Hide user name in menu bar.
    If you can’t get it to work inside of max, I thought of a free easy workaround you could try. I use the software pureref to manage and quickly access reference images. You could just resize an empty pureref window to cover your username. Change the color and opacity to whatever you want, lock the window and switch turn on the transparent to mouse option and you should be good to go! Source: about 2 years ago
  • Hello Reddit! this is my 1st time posting and i'm excited to share some of my sketches with you guys. I like drawing dynamic poses, it's a really fun exercise!. These 4 girls are from reference pics out of Pinterest. Suggestions are welcome :D. Have a great day!
    The high kicking girl on the right is in a PureRef board I keep to practice gesture. Source: over 2 years ago

refern. mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of refern. yet. Tracking of refern. recommendations started around Mar 2024.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PureRef and refern., you can also consider the following products

Kuadro - Kuadro is an image viewer that allows you to open as many windows as you want, lay them out as you...

Pinterest - Pinterest is a visual discovery tool that you can use to find ideas for all your projects and interests.

Epic Pen - A windows tool for drawing over your desktop and applications

Eagle App - Unify your creative inspiration in one place. Store anything – inspiring images, design mockups, illustrations, screenshots and more.

MacinCloud - MacinCloud is a Mac cloud platform that provides on-demand Mac cloud servers, flexible dev workload infrastructure and comprehensive Mac in the Cloud solutions

Milanote - Milanote is a note taking app for creative work.