VizRef 4+

I’ve been really enjoying using VizRef. I’m a comic creator and when I use writing apps I always delight in a nice virtual free form cork board filled with index cards, and now VizRef has provided me with that feature for visuals. As much as I’m using it to pull up specific references and look at them while drawing, I’m also using it as much or more to build inspiration and idea boards. I’d like to see the addition of some form of cloud backup & sync. I like cleaning out my overburdened camera roll and pushing all those materials to VizRef but worry about the risk of losing a large reference collection. I also use an old iPad for reference while at my drafting table so that I can keep all the screen real estate for drawing on the primary iPad, yet when on the go, split screen is the way to go... hence the desire to sync VizRef boards in the cloud for multi device use. A very simple markup tool would also be of interest. I frequently want to drop a reminder note or a quick circle on areas of interest from a reference. It’s doable now by copy pasting into Notes, marking up & re-importing, but it would be nice within the app. It’s a fine line to not over clutter a streamlined and conceptually simple app, but I wonder if these are already on the roadmap or if others have interest in such features. Either way, keep up the great work!

Have a project you need reference for? This is the place to save it. Open up your browser side by side with VIZREF. Choose a pic from your browser. Hold the pic with one finger and drag it to VIZREF. Once you have one pic, or many pics, open VIZREF fully. Now you can resize and move your saved reference pics. Want a giant board with thousands of tiny pics. No problem. Not only can you change the size of the pic you want at any time (within reason- make it much larger than the original file and it gets blurry, you’ll have to play around with the app to get the ins and outs) you can also move it anywhere on the board AND THEN you can zoom the board in and out with the pinch gesture. Yes this app cost you some money, but it’s well worth it. Create the board anywhere you have internet, save it and when you are away from home (or just don’t have internet access) you can access all your photo refs you saved in this app. It’s not Pinterest, yes you can save photos, but this is JUST the pics you save. No suggestions, no ads. Just you, your reference pics and your imagination. BUY IT RIGHT MEOW...seriously though, it’s great.

Don’t get me wrong. This app is really useful when it comes to pulling up references for drawing, piecing together pictures, and helped me out in class one time. It’s simple and easy to use, however that’s the app’s downside. You are very limited when it comes to how you mess with your boards. I couldn’t even draw on the boards when I was presetting pictures in a group forcing me to open up Procreate. There is a lack of transform tools to mess with your image forcing you to edit in a photo editing app even if it’s minor. The rotation tool only rotates the image 90 degrees one way and that’s all you can do and why is it in a briefcase icon with the flip-vertically tool while the rest of the tools are out on the small bar? The flip-horizontally tool is on there so why can’t the rest as well? You can’t even drag them out. Another thing that annoys me is there is no way to auto-sort your boards or put them in folders. You can drag them in between each other one by one while the board doesn’t tell you if it’s going to do so cause it flickers like crazy.

I think app has potential but it’s not there yet. It’s hard to recommend this $3 app when your paint app can do better on the side of the canvas in a folder with layers. Hope the app gets the improvements it needs.