In case you are in need of help, have a suggestion to make or found a bug in PureRef you have come to the right place! https://www.pureref.com/forum/index.php Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:23:58 +0200 Phorum 5.2.23 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5836,5836#msg-5836 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5836,5836#msg-5836 I use the draw tool a lot, in combination with DRAW + SHIFT to draw straight lines, thats very very usefull.

MY WISH
I wish that the tool could be extended to draw straight lines from A to B, when clicking the mouse at point A, while holding down the SHIFT key, then release the mouse, move to point B, and again click the mouse + SHIFT, to draw a straight line between A and B.

LINE TOOL
I know i could switch to the line tool, but while in meetings its distracting needing to switch tools.
The above method could in a way merge the Draw and Line tool into a intuitive tool.

Thanks :-)

Jorgensen]]> Jorgensen Suggestions Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:55:55 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5834,5834#msg-5834 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5834,5834#msg-5834
ON TOP
While in meetings, i have pureref in fullscreen mode, and make notes and sketches on top of images.
I often experience that suddently textes and drawings, is moved under the image.

Is there a smart way to avoid this? :-)

EXPORT IMAGES WITH DRAWINGS
it would be nice if we could export all images, with the lines and text notes added on top.
right now i create a screenshot of every image :-/ then i collect all images into a pdf i can send.

there might be a smarter way to do this?
scene export does now work, as customers cant handle the large image.

Btw - pureref is a very powerfull tool, when having online meetings! nice to be able to sketch what we discuss :-)

Thanks]]> Jorgensen Help Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:24:25 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5833,5833#msg-5833 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5833,5833#msg-5833 When I run "Optimize" or "Align", the images seem to overlap slightly.
This didn't happen before, but it happens often since version 2.1.


Example
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i6QmeUhcDNjphxmK2ztUy79ldDH8ls_5/view?usp=drive_link

Ctrl+Up
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1892aVZoaZIsnr2T_KgMr2ez7DcMM6Dlm/view?usp=drive_link

Ctrl+Left
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m6yiWzHlrReg0P2yZz4k1GVqt0WH989q/view?usp=drive_link

Ctrl+Down
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13neIPMc4OQ3E-MC7Lcx86v90FsWzbPdl/view?usp=drive_link]]> hjaki Bug reports Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:01:34 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?2,5827,5827#msg-5827 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?2,5827,5827#msg-5827 requesting a feature to get the selected image aspect ratio and resolution on right-click please? Thanks.]]> minimvl General Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:53:36 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5826,5826#msg-5826 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5826,5826#msg-5826 TornadOculus Suggestions Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:07:13 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5821,5821#msg-5821 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5821,5821#msg-5821 Got my file corrupted after a power outage - couldn't find any backups, and forced recovery attempts have failed as well.

It says: "Recover failed"

I'm using version 2.0.3 x64 on Windows 10.

Is there anything I can do to recover it or images stored in it?

Link to the file:
---

I only uploaded it there for you, so I, unfortunately, won't be able to try loading a previous version from the Google Drive :">

Thank you in advance for your time!]]> Shu5ha Help Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:14:06 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5819,5819#msg-5819 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5819,5819#msg-5819 herbap Suggestions Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:46:48 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5818,5818#msg-5818 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5818,5818#msg-5818 herbap Suggestions Fri, 10 Apr 2026 22:31:38 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5817,5817#msg-5817 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5817,5817#msg-5817
Suggestion:
Add a layering control feature that allows users to fix an object’s position—either always at the bottom layer or always at the top layer. For more flexibility, users could also define custom layer orders, such as assigning certain images to layer 1, others to layer 2, and so on.

Thanks]]> v_e Suggestions Thu, 09 Apr 2026 08:53:21 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5815,5815#msg-5815 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5815,5815#msg-5815
My use case currently is sticker making, and while I export the art in PNG to then add the outline in Illustrator, I'd enjoy to preview the scale off all the stickers, including the stroke size, on PureRef since it's way faster than illustrator for comparing many images to each other.
Something like the group background color picker menu would be cool as well to choose the stroke color.

Anyway, I hope the idea is useful for other use cases as well! Thanks again to y'all for such a cool program :')]]> chippy Suggestions Wed, 08 Apr 2026 05:21:02 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5813,5813#msg-5813 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5813,5813#msg-5813 NotAFreak Suggestions Wed, 08 Apr 2026 05:09:02 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5812,5812#msg-5812 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5812,5812#msg-5812
Steps are as follows:
1. Normalize image areas to average area
(Select images, Normalize > Average Area)
This is done to ensure the images don't vary too much from each other in the following steps. Not sure this is entirely necessary, but I'd rather not have extreme images influence the following steps too much.

2. Normalize widths
(Select Images, Normalize > Average/Width)
Set all images to equal width. We're going to make columns of images out of these. This will change later, but this is the starting point for step 3.

3. Put images into columns of roughly equal column height.
(Moving images)
I sort of eyeball this and try to make each column of roughly equal column height, but if you're doing this programmatically, I'd recommend setting some sort of preferred height and using the Knuth-Plass algorithm to determine an optimal distribution. In this case the images are the "words" and the column height would be the line-width in the algorithm. If you use a greedy algorithm you might end up with very unbalanced columns and that would ruin the next step, so this is important to get right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuth%E2%80%93Plass_line-breaking_algorithm
(Ask your favorite LLM about it.)

4. Normalize the height of the *columns* by scaling each column individually to match the preferred height.
(Because I'm a human I scale each column to the height of the first column or the longest column instead of preferred height)
The columns are of equal width, but not of equal height, because the the chance is very small that every column adds up to the same number.
Solution, scale each of the columns up or down until they reach the preferred height set in step 3. Because we got very close using human eyeballing/algorithm, the scale won't have to change that much. The columns will therefore all still be _roughly_ the same width, but the heights are now all equal.

5. Align the columns at the left and top
(ctrl + left, ctrl + up)

You now have a super nice image grid that is basically a rectangle, with all images inside laid out in columns that are almost the same width too. (Exactly the same width would be impossible.)
I hope whoever is programming pureref is able to follow what I'm trying to communicate. Sorry if it's hard to follow, it's 11pm and I just wanted to get this idea out there.]]> OneAndOnlyMobi Suggestions Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:35:21 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5811,5811#msg-5811 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5811,5811#msg-5811
Before posting I checked whether this was already achievable via the clipboard. Using Nirsoft's InsideClipboard I confirmed that PureRef only writes its own pureref/binary format on copy — no CF_HDROP or text path format is present, so there is currently no way to extract source paths from the clipboard.
This is a well established pattern elsewhere. File Explorer places a plain text path list on the clipboard alongside file data on Ctrl+C, and also has an explicit Copy as Path command. Directory Opus and most serious file managers do the same.

A WORKFLOW WHERE THIS MATTERS DIRECTLY

PureRef's infinite canvas and fast navigation make it uniquely good at visually sorting large image batches — I can arrange hundreds of images into piles faster than any file manager or grid viewer. But the handoff back to a file manager or script is completely broken. There is no way to go from "I have these images selected in PureRef" to "I have their paths". Copy as path would make PureRef a first class citizen in an image sorting pipeline rather than a dead end.
WHAT I'M ASKING FOR

- A hotkey-bindable command that copies source paths or URLs of selected images
- One per line
- Graceful skip for embedded or unknown sources

Small addition, large practical payoff.]]> netmano90 Suggestions Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:14:50 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5801,5801#msg-5801 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5801,5801#msg-5801 When I have the pureref window taking more screenspace I have a laggy scrolling experience.
When the window is sized so it takes less amount of the screen space then scrolling and zooming is very smooth.

Just wanted to mention it in case it could be fixed in the future, if it is even possible technically.]]> Volarberg Bug reports Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:11:33 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5800,5800#msg-5800 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5800,5800#msg-5800
KDE Plasma 6.6.3
Dolphin 25.12.3
❯ sudo pacman -Qi pureref
Name : pureref
Version : 2.1.1-1
Description : Reference Image Viewer
Architecture : x86_64
URL : http://www.pureref.com
Licenses : LicenseRef-PureRef
Groups : None
Provides : None
Depends On : fuse2
Installed Size : 31.56 MiB
Packager : Unknown Packager
Build Date : Sat 28 Mar 2026 02:32:24 PM PDT
Install Date : Sat 28 Mar 2026 02:32:30 PM PDT
Install Reason : Explicitly installed
Install Script : No

Thanks for making a linux client!!!!

Edit: When trying to add an image from a network share by dragging the file into pureref, it gives the follow error.
Failed opening image.
Protocol "smb" is unknown (smb://user:passwd@10.0.0.1/path/file.png)]]> KittyComputer Bug reports Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:44:35 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5797,5797#msg-5797 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5797,5797#msg-5797
I am missing something similar for cropping.

Often times, i have screenshots in identical resolutions from similar situations i want to crop identically, but i have not found a way to transfer a crop from one image to another, there only seems to be the manual approach (cropping each image individually), which always results in slightly different crops (until i am missing a feature).

In my head, the simplest approach would be to have a workflow where you just copy the cropped image with the desired crop, and instead of pasting the image after that, i can select the target image, rightclick on it and go paste--> paste crop settings only. (ideally with a shortcut like cmd+shift+V or something like that)

This approach could also be implemented for scale pasting, since i find a "normalize" menu entry not intuitive to understand (and apparently i am not the first one in the forum that missed the point of this feature earlier).]]> troxmo Suggestions Mon, 30 Mar 2026 03:28:46 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5796,5796#msg-5796 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5796,5796#msg-5796
Often i need to add similar notes to a second image which only needs a slightly different note text.

For this usecase, i copy the note from the first image, and paste it while having the second image selected.

I'd expect to have the pasted note automatically grouped to my second selected image, but instead, the pasted note is not grouped.

So the workaround right now is i need to copy the text from the first note, create the second note manually, and pasting the text from the first note into it.

This has the disadvantage, that the chosen scaling / style etc is not guaranteed to be identical to the original note.

The second alternative workaround of course is grouping the note with the image manually after having pasted it.]]> troxmo Bug reports Mon, 30 Mar 2026 03:19:02 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5793,5793#msg-5793 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5793,5793#msg-5793 user7845298 Help Mon, 30 Mar 2026 03:12:30 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5790,5790#msg-5790 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5790,5790#msg-5790
This would be preferred over the full canvas that becomes very small to look at in a file browser.

A more zoomed in on 1 or several images would be easier to parse than a full canvas with tiny images]]> Rosalhymn Suggestions Wed, 18 Mar 2026 17:33:42 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5786,5786#msg-5786 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5786,5786#msg-5786
I'm not sure if a feature like this currently exists. But basically, after dropping in some new reference images, their sizes/scale are varied. To get them to match the other references in my PureRef, I have to select every one of them and press Ctrl+Alt+Up. But of course this kind of messes up all the existing images and I have to re-organise them again. It'd be cool if you could change the scale of new images *based* on an existing image's scale. And so only those images are affected. If that makes sense?

Thanks]]> DustyShinigami Suggestions Tue, 17 Mar 2026 14:12:48 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5772,5772#msg-5772 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5772,5772#msg-5772 mschmidt2886 Suggestions Thu, 12 Mar 2026 23:58:22 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5763,5763#msg-5763 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5763,5763#msg-5763 lgyz Help Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:32:38 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5745,5745#msg-5745 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5745,5745#msg-5745
I’d like to suggest a possible feature that could be helpful. When I add images, I often attach a note to record the source of the image (for example, the link where it was found). The challenge is that these notes take up space on the canvas, which makes it harder to arrange images cleanly when building a mood board.

It would be great if images in PureRef could include hidden information, such as a small comment or source link, stored as metadata rather than displayed directly on the canvas. This would allow users to keep important reference information attached to the image without affecting the visual layout.

This way, I could store the image’s source link while keeping the mood board itself clean and uncluttered.

Apologies if this functionality already exists and I’ve simply missed it.

Thanks again for the great work.]]> shynnsup Suggestions Mon, 09 Mar 2026 13:23:14 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5733,5733#msg-5733 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5733,5733#msg-5733
nothing too complex - just shapes / text, arrows, etc but perhaps a bit more intuitive to use than the existing tools - something like app.diagrams.net would be perfect]]> demot_32 Suggestions Sun, 01 Mar 2026 18:36:02 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5732,5732#msg-5732 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?5,5732,5732#msg-5732
I'm posting this here because I'm a bit at my wit's end here, the constant lag and crashing is starting to impact my work.

I've tried optimizing my images, I've tried all the new updates, nothing helps and it is far, far laggier than the previous versions of pure ref. it will lag, then recover, and the moment I try to move again, it will just freeze again. If I click on another window, then click back into pure ref, it freezes. Saving, loading, takes a very long time. Messing with it during this time can crash my whole computer, which it has.

But worst of all: when I'm in a meeting trying to show people my reference ideas, this lag is very very frustrating and comes across as extremely unprofessional.

please make previous versions available to us, I have my old save file and wish to use it again. Nothing against you- I just really need this to work and not have to wait 5-10 minutes for it to become responsive again, or kill the process.

thank you!]]> jam_etc Help Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:31:44 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5728,5728#msg-5728 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?3,5728,5728#msg-5728 TomLiCultMI Suggestions Wed, 04 Mar 2026 15:50:01 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5727,5727#msg-5727 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5727,5727#msg-5727
version: latest]]> bugre300 Bug reports Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:38:44 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5726,5726#msg-5726 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5726,5726#msg-5726 denisnbassi Bug reports Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:04:33 +0200 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5725,5725#msg-5725 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?4,5725,5725#msg-5725
Expected Behavior:
The Align function should consistently align selected images, regardless of whether they are grouped or selected in multiples.

Actual Behavior:
Instead, the Align function will sometimes do nothing or fail to apply alignment when grouped images or larger multi-selections are involved. The issue appears intermittent but is most noticeable during workflows that involve grouped images or complex selections.

Thanks for your time.]]> officegossip Bug reports Mon, 02 Mar 2026 10:28:54 +0100 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?2,5722,5722#msg-5722 https://www.pureref.com/forum/read.php?2,5722,5722#msg-5722
I’ve been using PureRef for quite some time now, and it’s the first thing I open before I even start Blender. Like many of you, I found out about it through word-of-mouth, but I’ve always felt PureRef deserved a proper introduction to show the artist how much it changes the creative workflow.

You can view the video here:- https://vimeo.com/1165684150

I’d love to hear what the community thinks!
Cheers,
Gaurav]]> claz.arts General Thu, 19 Feb 2026 08:49:50 +0100