refern keeps your images, videos, working files, and saved web pages in one library. Find any reference by tag or color, put any file on a board, and pin it on top of your drawing app. Your files stay in your own folders. Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Hi Product Hunt! I’m Jackson, an artist and the maker of refern.
My references were spread across folders, Pinterest, PureRef boards, and old drives. I spent more time looking for the right image than drawing from it. So I built the app I wanted to use.
Some of you may remember refern from its 2024 launch here as a web app. It grew to 23,000 users before I had to shut it down, and people kept asking for it back. So I rebuilt it from scratch as a desktop app that works with the files already on your computer.
refern is a reference library and a reference board in one desktop app:
Browse the folders you already have. Your files stay where they are.
Save images, videos, and whole pages from your browser with the refern extension.
Tag your images, then find them by tag or color. Pick an image to find others that look like it.
The optional Auto Tagger suggests tags on your device, so a big unsorted library gets searchable fast.
Drag what you find onto an infinite board with notes and color swatches. Any file and any saved web page can go on a board too.
Pin a reference window on top of your drawing app, and bring your Eagle library, PureRef boards, and public Pinterest boards with you.
It’s $35 once, with updates included, on Windows, macOS, and Linux. For Product Hunt, the code PRODUCTHUNT takes 20% off ($28) for launch week. The 30-day free trial needs no card, and the desktop app needs no account or subscription.
I’d love to hear how you keep your references today and what would make you switch. I’ll be here all day to answer questions.
Do videos play right on the board, and can I park one on a specific frame?
Pinning references on top of my drawing app is the one feature here I have never had working properly, and finding by color is how I actually recall a screenshot I saved two months ago.
Interesting!! If two people point refern at the same Dropbox folder, do tags sync between them or is it one library per machine?
Keeping files in their existing folders is a thoughtful choice. A way to reconnect a moved folder without rebuilding its boards and tags would help that library stay useful over time.
About refern. on Product Hunt
“Every visual reference you work from, in one place.”
refern. launched on Product Hunt on November 6th, 2026 and earned 74 upvotes and 9 comments, placing #26 on the daily leaderboard. refern keeps your images, videos, working files, and saved web pages in one library. Find any reference by tag or color, put any file on a board, and pin it on top of your drawing app. Your files stay in your own folders. Windows, macOS, and Linux.
refern. was featured in Design Tools (263.8k followers), Productivity (664.9k followers) and Art (20.2k followers) on Product Hunt. Together, these topics include over 229.5k products, making this a competitive space to launch in.
Who hunted refern.?
refern. was hunted by Jackson Y. A “hunter” on Product Hunt is the community member who submits a product to the platform — uploading the images, the link, and tagging the makers behind it. Hunters typically write the first comment explaining why a product is worth attention, and their followers are notified the moment they post. Around 79% of featured launches on Product Hunt are self-hunted by their makers, but a well-known hunter still acts as a signal of quality to the rest of the community. See the full all-time top hunters leaderboard to discover who is shaping the Product Hunt ecosystem.
Want to see how refern. stacked up against nearby launches in real time? Check out the live launch dashboard for upvote speed charts, proximity comparisons, and more analytics.
Jackson Y
Hi Product Hunt! I’m Jackson, an artist and the maker of refern.
My references were spread across folders, Pinterest, PureRef boards, and old drives. I spent more time looking for the right image than drawing from it. So I built the app I wanted to use.
Some of you may remember refern from its 2024 launch here as a web app. It grew to 23,000 users before I had to shut it down, and people kept asking for it back. So I rebuilt it from scratch as a desktop app that works with the files already on your computer.
refern is a reference library and a reference board in one desktop app:
Browse the folders you already have. Your files stay where they are.
Save images, videos, and whole pages from your browser with the refern extension.
Tag your images, then find them by tag or color. Pick an image to find others that look like it.
The optional Auto Tagger suggests tags on your device, so a big unsorted library gets searchable fast.
Drag what you find onto an infinite board with notes and color swatches. Any file and any saved web page can go on a board too.
Pin a reference window on top of your drawing app, and bring your Eagle library, PureRef boards, and public Pinterest boards with you.
It’s $35 once, with updates included, on Windows, macOS, and Linux. For Product Hunt, the code PRODUCTHUNT takes 20% off ($28) for launch week. The 30-day free trial needs no card, and the desktop app needs no account or subscription.
I’d love to hear how you keep your references today and what would make you switch. I’ll be here all day to answer questions.