Reference Board: Images, Video and 3D Models

Keep references beside your drawing app. Use images for shapes and colors, video for motion, and 3D models for angles and lighting. Arrange them on one floating board for the work you are drawing.

Watch the overview

The overview covers model and video references, collecting from different sources, Agent assistance, source-image color picking and PureRef exchange.

Open and prepare a board

1. Open Reference Board in the toolbox, or use the default global shortcut Ctrl + Shift + B.
2. Move the window beside your drawing app and resize it by dragging its edges.
3. Use the management controls beside the board name to create or switch boards. Keep one per work, or separate pose and color references. You can also open a second board window.
4. Enable Always on top when you want it above your drawing app. It is off by default.

Card positions, sizes and the viewport are saved for reopening. See Library for board–folder pairing and archiving. Removing an image from a board is different from deleting its original library file.

Add references

Drag files or pin selected images

Drag images, videos or supported models from your file manager. Alternatively, select images in the library or a search picker and choose Pin to screen. Web images can also be dragged in; wait for downloads to finish. Login requirements and download restrictions can prevent some images from loading.

Common image formats include PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF, BMP, TIFF and SVG. Video may use MP4, WebM, MOV, AVI or MKV; playback also depends on codecs.

Choose a source in Add References

In the newer interface, switch to the receiving board and choose Add References on its top bar. Check the board name at the top of the source panel.

See Wisp for browser preparation. Read failure notices if only some images are added. The same asset is normally not added twice. Switching boards during collection does not redirect the results to the newly selected board.

Arrange images and navigate

Select, move and arrange cards

• Click a card to select it, drag to move it, and use its handles to resize it.
• Drag a selection box around several images, or use Ctrl + A while the board has keyboard focus.
• Use Grid arrangement to organize scattered references. Right-click its button to choose 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8 images per row, or automatic columns.
• Right-click an image and use Transform to rotate, flip or crop it. Use Reset transform or Reset crop to restore it.
• Use Layers to group, ungroup or change stacking order.
• Use Delete to remove selected cards. Undo or redo if you move or remove something by mistake.

A grid helps you see a batch of images. Then enlarge the main reference and place close-up details beside it.

Navigate the board

Middle-drag pans the canvas; the wheel zooms around the pointer. Large images may take a moment to load full-resolution detail. Use View → Value mode to inspect light and dark shapes, or add a composition overlay such as thirds. These viewing aids do not rewrite the source image.

Always on top and click-through lock

Always on top controls window stacking. Click-through lock controls whether mouse input reaches the board. After arranging references, use the lock button or default Ctrl + Shift + L. Input passes through to your drawing app while references remain visible. Unlock before rearranging them.

Pick colors from a reference

Send a color to the brush

1. Unlock the board, right-click an image and choose Pick color → Drawing app.
2. Click the color in that reference.
3. Its HEX value is copied. When the drawing-app integration is ready, Nephele also attempts to set the current brush or foreground color.
4. Right-click to exit color-picking mode.

This reads source pixels and converts embedded ICC profiles to sRGB. Board opacity, zoom and value mode do not change the sampled color. Use the screen color picker to sample the appearance on your screen.

Extract a palette

Choose Extract palette in an image’s context menu. The result appears in Color Assistant, where you can choose working colors and adjust their relationships. Check the drawing-app connection if the brush color does not update.

Study motion with video

Drag in a video, select its card and use the playback controls. In the newer interface, Video → Video controls opens additional settings.

1. Play to the action you want, then pause.
2. Seek with the timeline and compare poses with Previous frame / Next frame.
3. Reduce playback speed, for example to 0.5×, when the action is too fast.
4. The newer Frame overview shows neighboring frames around the playhead. Click a thumbnail to stop on it.
5. Use the newer Pin current frame to board action to keep a still image on the same board.

Watch the overall action before comparing weight, silhouettes and limb positions. The video card’s playback speed is separate from the editing speed of the demonstration below.

Rotate models and adjust lighting

Drag a .glb, .gltf or .obj onto the board and wait for loading. PMX and .blend files are converted first; success depends on the file and available conversion components. Keep texture and material dependencies with OBJ and glTF files.

Double-click a model or choose Operate model. Ordinary dragging moves its card; interaction mode changes the model view instead.

The newer parameter panel includes view and lighting presets, horizontal and vertical angles, distance, field of view and key-light intensity. Use Fit model, Reset view or Reset lighting to recover a useful setup.

Choose Move card to return to arrangement, or press Esc when the window has keyboard focus. The board displays existing models; it does not provide rig posing or modeling tools.

Exchange PureRef boards

Choose Import .pur… in the board-management menu. Import creates a new board, leaving the previous board available. Supported files preserve images, text and layout where possible. A notice saying Images only; layout arranged automatically means pictures were recovered without the complete original layout.

• Export as .pur… saves supported images, text and placement for PureRef.
• Export view as PNG… saves the visible board view for sharing or archiving. Arrange the viewport first.

Video cards, models and their controls are not equivalent PureRef objects. Do not expect .pur exchange to preserve playback or model interaction. Keep those on a Nephele board and retain their source files separately.

Ask Agent for help

In the newer interface, use Add References → Agent assistance and describe what you need. See Find references for search guidance.

You can ask it to choose images with compatible lighting and create a new moodboard. This differs from regrouping the original board. Check which board was created before continuing. Concept demonstrations of adding and grouping images do not mean every current client exposes those actions in the same way.

Cloud Agent requires login and consumes credits; see Pricing and payment. Specify the purpose, which images should stay and whether a new board may be created.

Watch the hands-on demonstration

The recording shows source-image color picking, video controls, model interaction, the source panel and grid arrangement on one board.

Troubleshooting

Images cannot be clicked or files cannot be dropped

Check click-through lock. Unlock before arranging or importing, then lock again to draw underneath.

The wheel zooms a model rather than the board

Exit model interaction with Move card, then navigate the canvas.

Picking a color does not change the brush

Check whether HEX was copied and the drawing-app integration is ready. Screen and source samples can differ; see Color picker.

Import or playback fails

Read whether the error concerns the file, codec or conversion components. Keep model dependencies together. After an image-only PureRef recovery, retain the original .pur rather than overwriting your only copy.