PureRef keeps reference images together on a floating canvas for creative work.
Commercial use requires a paid license
PureRef is free to use for personal work on a pay-what-you-want basis, including choosing to pay nothing. Studios and freelancers using it commercially need a paid license, so its licensing terms are the main consideration before making it part of a professional workflow. Schools may distribute it to students for educational use.
For illustrators, concept artists, and 3D modelers working from a collection of visual references, PureRef brings those images onto one canvas that can remain above a drawing or 3D application. This makes it possible to consult or trace from reference material without repeatedly switching between windows.
Arrange references without leaving your work
Images can be dragged onto the canvas or pasted into it, then positioned freely across an infinite workspace. The board is intended to hold any number of images, allowing a user to place related references near each other or spread them out according to the task. A semi-transparent window can keep the material visible over the underlying application.
The always-on-top behavior is particularly useful when the reference board needs to stay in view during painting or modeling. Mouse clicks can pass through the board, which supports tracing without requiring the user to close or move the reference window. These display options make PureRef a companion canvas rather than a photo library or image editor.
Keep context in a single board file
A completed arrangement can be saved as one .pur file, preserving the images and their layout together for reopening later. Keeping the board in a single file is useful when a project has many references, because the saved document retains the way the material was organized instead of requiring each image and its placement to be handled separately.
PureRef also supports rich-text notes and image groups with their own backgrounds. Notes can hold brief context alongside the visuals, while groups can distinguish sets of related images on the canvas. For animated references, users can scrub through GIF frames, and the color picker can return values as RGB, HSV, or HEX.
Platform and license choices
PureRef runs on Windows 10 and later, macOS 10.14+, and Linux. On Windows, the available installation choices include a 64-bit installer and a portable build. Personal users can select the personal license and set the amount to zero if they want to use it without payment.
Commercial customers must choose a paid option: a small business license covers up to three seats, while a per-seat business subscription is also available. The developer states that a valid license can be used on as many computers as needed. PureRef is freeware under its personal-use terms, but it is not open source, and the paid commercial requirement may not suit studios that need a no-cost licensed workflow.