Refbox
Getting Started

What is Refbox?

Discover Refbox, a visual reference manager designed to help you organize, view, and work with your creative reference materials.

Refbox is a visual reference manager built for creative professionals who need a better way to organize, view, and work with reference materials.

Whether you're a designer, artist, animator, developer, or anyone who collects visual references, Refbox gives you a dedicated workspace to manage your reference materials.

Think of Refbox as a visual filing cabinet meets a mood board. Purpose-built for working with reference materials rather than managing files.

Why Refbox?

Traditional file browsers and bookmark managers weren't designed for visual reference work. They make it difficult to:

  • See your references at a glance without clicking through folders
  • Compare multiple references side-by-side while you work
  • Organize references by project without duplicating files
  • Quickly preview and manipulate images, videos, and 3D models

Refbox solves these problems by providing:

Visual-First Organization

See thumbnail previews of all your assets in organized Boxes. No more drilling through folder hierarchies.

Floating Workspace

Open assets as Frames on your workspace to view, compare, and manipulate them while you work.

Non-Destructive Workflow

Zoom, rotate, crop, and edit how you view assets without modifying the original files.

Project-Based Boxes

Organize references into separate Boxes for different projects, all accessible from one app.

Who is Refbox For?

Refbox is designed for anyone who works with visual references:

  • Digital Artists & Illustrators - Collect character references, color palettes, and inspiration
  • Game Developers - Organize concept art, UI references, and asset libraries
  • Graphic Designers - Build mood boards and collect design inspiration
  • 3D Artists - Reference anatomy, lighting setups, and model references
  • Animators - Study motion references, poses, and timing
  • Photographers - Organize shot references and lighting examples
  • Developers - Save UI/UX examples and design patterns

The Refbox workspace with a Box sidebar and floating Frames

What Makes Refbox Different?

Unlike general-purpose file managers or note-taking apps, Refbox is purpose-built for reference work:

Designed for Speed

Access your references instantly with global shortcuts. No need to navigate menus or folder structures.

Trackpad & Tablet Friendly

Most actions offer both mouse and keyboard alternatives, making Refbox comfortable to use with trackpads, drawing tablets, and mice.

Overlay Workflow

Refbox floats above your other applications, so your references are always just a keystroke away while you work in Photoshop, Blender, or your favorite creative tools.

Flexible Import

Add files from your computer, paste from clipboard, drag and drop, save URLs as links or screenshots - Refbox adapts to how you work.

Refbox stores your data locally on your machine. Your references stay private and accessible without an internet connection.

Get Support & Connect

Have questions or want to connect with other Refbox users? Join our Discord community to ask questions, request features, and chat about the app in real-time.

The Fundamentals

Understand the core building blocks of Refbox and how they work together.