Refbox

About Refbox

Refbox is the ultimate floating reference manager, engineered to eliminate workflow friction for creative professionals. It's a powerful desktop application that pins your inspiration—images, GIFs, videos, and notes—in always-on-top, resizable frames directly over your primary work applications. This core functionality eradicates the constant, distracting cycle of alt-tabbing between windows or digging through cluttered folders. Designed for speed and precision, Refbox keeps your reference material instantly accessible and visually present, allowing you to maintain deep focus whether you're sketching, designing, animating, modeling, or editing. You can aggregate content from any source: drag-and-drop from your computer, paste directly from your clipboard, or pull from the web. Organize assets into multiple, swappable collections and view them in a streamlined sidebar, a dynamic Masonry grid, individual desktop frames, or a full-screen gallery for secondary monitors. By integrating markdown notes, clickable bookmarks, and advanced media controls into your immediate workspace, Refbox becomes more than a viewer; it's an essential productivity hub that streamlines the entire creative process from inspiration to execution.

Features of Refbox

Always-on-Top Floating Frames

Pin any reference—images, videos, GIFs, or notes—in resizable, transparent windows that float above all other applications. This ensures your inspiration is perpetually visible without blocking your work canvas. You can minimize frames to peek at apps behind them or lock them in place to work directly over the reference, making visual comparison and execution incredibly efficient and seamless.

Multi-Source Media Aggregation & Organization

Instantly populate your workspace by dragging files from your computer, pasting images/videos from your clipboard, or adding web links. Organize everything into distinct, project-specific Collections that you can swap between with a single click. This centralizes all your scattered inspiration and resources into one instantly accessible hub, tailored to your current task.

Advanced Media Playback & Tools

Go beyond basic viewing with professional-grade controls. Scrub through video and GIF timelines with frame-by-frame precision for detailed study. Use the built-in color picker to sample hues directly from any media. Crop images on the fly to isolate specific details, and render pixel art with perfect clarity. These tools provide deep analysis without leaving your creative flow.

Integrated Markdown Notes & Bookmarks

Embed rich text notes and checklists directly alongside your visual references using markdown formatting for styling. Simultaneously, save clickable links to tutorials, articles, or resources as live bookmarks. This consolidates both visual inspiration and critical textual instructions or todos into one always-available space, removing the need for separate note-taking or browser apps.

Use Cases of Refbox

Digital Illustration & Concept Art

Illustrators and concept artists can pin multiple character sketches, environment photos, and color palettes in floating frames around their digital canvas. Using frame-by-frame GIF scrubbing to study motion and the integrated color picker, artists can directly reference and replicate styles, anatomy, and lighting without breaking concentration, dramatically speeding up the iteration process.

UI/UX & Graphic Design

Designers can assemble mood boards by dragging UI patterns, typography samples, and branding assets into a Masonry grid or individual frames. They can keep live website screenshots (created by pasting a URL) and markdown notes with client feedback pinned alongside design software like Figma or Sketch, ensuring all guidelines and inspiration are visible during the entire design sprint.

3D Modeling & Animation

3D artists and animators can load reference videos, turnarounds, and blueprint images into always-on-top frames. They can scrub through animation reference frame-by-frame for precise study and lock transparent model sheets over their 3D viewport to work directly from the reference. This enables accurate modeling and rigging with constant visual guidance.

Motion Graphics & Video Editing

Editors and motion designers can keep storyboards, style frames, and asset lists in a dedicated Refbox collection. Video references can be played, paused, and analyzed frame-by-frame in a floating window above their timeline in Premiere Pro or After Effects. This allows for direct visual comparison and ensures the final product aligns perfectly with the creative brief.

Frequently Asked Questions

What platforms does Refbox support?

Refbox is currently available for macOS and Windows operating systems. It is designed as a native desktop application to provide robust performance, system-level window management for the always-on-top functionality, and seamless integration with your local file system and clipboard.

Can I use Refbox with multiple monitors?

Absolutely. Refbox excels in multi-monitor setups. You can use the full-screen Gallery Mode to dedicate an entire secondary monitor to your reference collection. Alternatively, you can drag individual floating frames onto any screen and arrange them around your workspace on any display for maximum flexibility.

How does the pricing work? Is it a subscription?

Based on the provided context, Refbox is offered with a one-time purchase model. You pay a single, upfront fee for a perpetual license, which includes all current features and future updates. This contrasts with a recurring subscription, providing long-term value and cost predictability for professionals.

Is my data stored in the cloud?

Refbox is primarily a local, desktop-focused application. Your media files, notes, and collections are stored on your computer, ensuring fast access, privacy, and offline availability. The app does not require a constant internet connection to function, though you need one to initially add web-based content via URLs.