A reference image tells the AI what you want a render to look like — a style, a material, a mood, or a specific element — without changing your base image. Think of it as visual inspiration you hand to the model alongside your prompt.

When to use a reference

You have a look in mind — a material, a lighting mood, a façade style — that’s easier to show than to describe.
You want a new render to echo a photo or precedent you admire.
You’re combining ideas: keep your CAD massing, but borrow the atmosphere of a reference photo.

Add a reference

You can attach a reference from three places — they all feed the same set:

Upload — use the paperclip on the prompt bar and choose Upload from Computer to add an image from your computer.
Pick one from the canvas — use an image already on your board as the reference.
From Are.na — open the Are.na browser and choose Reference on any image (see below).

The first two put the reference on the canvas and wire it up for you: the image is placed to the left of the image you’re working on and joined to it by a connection line with the paperclip already switched on. You end up with exactly what you’d get by dropping the file on the board and drawing the connection yourself — see Connect two images on the canvas below — so the reference is visible, and you can detach it from the line or move it around like any other image.

Uploading several files at once places them on the same spot as a Stack and gives the whole stack one paperclip. Every image in the stack feeds the render through that single connection, so you don’t end up with a tangle of lines.

A green 1 reference chip confirms the AI has picked the references up. References that can’t be wired up — when you’re rendering into a frame, for instance, since a paperclip needs an image at both ends — stay as thumbnails on the prompt bar instead; clear a thumbnail to remove one.

Connect two images on the canvas (visual method)

You can also apply a reference visually, right on the board, by wiring one image into another:

Select an image and hover over the middle of one of its edges — the docking points light up on the images.
Click a docking point and drag a connection line out to a docking point on the target image, then release to dock it.
Hover the new connection line — a paperclip icon appears at its midpoint. Click the paperclip to attach the source as a reference to the target.

The line stays on the canvas, so you can see at a glance which image feeds which. Click the paperclip again to detach it. See Connections for more on wiring objects together.

How a reference steers a render

With an image selected, the AI blends your base image with the reference — keeping your composition while pulling style/materials from the reference.
References combine with everything else you give the AI: your prompt, any annotations, and Design Mode. The more signals you give, the more on-target the suggestion.

Today a render is always anchored to the image you have selected. Picking a reference steers that render — it doesn’t yet generate a brand-new image purely from the reference.

Choosing a good reference

A reference lets you carry specific attributes from one image into your render — elements, colors, style, atmosphere, and materials or surfaces, among others.

Picking the right one is crucial: the closer the reference is to your generation — in dimension, perspective, and semantic content — the more faithfully that attribute transfers. Match the viewpoint and subject where you can (a material shot at a similar scale and angle; an atmosphere from a scene of the same kind). Browse Are.na to find a close match, and keep the references you reuse in your Asset Library. A guided tutorial in the app walks through this — see Guided tutorials.

Browse Are.na

Are.na is a great place to find references. It’s a community library of curated visual references, and the editor has a built-in Are.na browser — a panel on the right edge — so you can discover architectural references without leaving your canvas.

Search for a look (“brutalist façade”, “warm timber interior”) and browse the results as a masonry grid.
Open a channel to see a curated collection; open a block to see it full-size with its source and connections.
Save channels and blocks to your favorites, or collect blocks into your own channels for a project.
On any image, choose Add as layer (drop it onto the canvas as an image) or Reference (attach it to the prompt).
Resize the panel by dragging its edge, and cycle the grid between 1–4 columns.

Keep a reference collection in your Library

Your Asset Library is the place to curate references. Save the images you keep coming back to into a folder, tag them, and they’re one click away in every project. To use one, add it onto the canvas from the library, then attach it as a reference — see Save & import from the library.

Tips

Combine references with annotations. Sketch or note what you want on the image, then add a reference for how it should look — the AI reads both.
A few strong references beat many weak ones. Pick images that clearly show the one quality you’re after.
References are inspiration, not a copy. The model interprets them; it won’t reproduce a reference pixel-for-pixel.

Generation & Models — pick the model that renders your result.
Design Mode — the guided builder that reads your references for you.
Connections — wire images together on the canvas.
The Asset Library — curate and reuse a set of references.
Save & import from the library — save a reference and bring it back onto the canvas.
Guided tutorials — the in-app reference walkthrough.
Editor & Canvas Objects — add and arrange images on the board.