A BeeRef alternative that also finds your refs
BeeRef is a free, open-source board for arranging reference images while you work. It is small, it keeps the interface out of your way, and each board is a single .bee file with the images stored inside it. What it doesn't do is help you find an image again once your refs are spread across many boards.
BeeRef and Maki side by side
| BeeRef | Maki | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A light board for laying images out | A board plus a searchable library of every board |
| Finding an image later | Open the right .bee file and look | Search file names, notes and the words inside images, offline |
| Always on top while you paint | Yes | Yes, reference mode |
| Notes, tables, arrows | Text notes | Sticky notes, rich text, tables, arrows, frames |
| Pinterest and the browser | Drag or paste images in | Save to Maki extension, whole Pinterest boards, article to board |
| Updates | Latest release 0.3.3, May 2024 | Checks for new versions once a day |
| Platforms | Windows, Linux, Mac | Windows and Mac |
| Price and licence | Free, open source (GPL-3.0) | 30 days free, then $19 once; closed source |
When BeeRef is the better pick
Stay with BeeRef if you want a free board, you care that the code is open, you work on Linux, or one board per project is all you need. Maki has no Linux version and costs money after the trial.
When Maki is the better pick
Move to Maki if you lose time hunting through old boards, you collect from Pinterest and the browser a lot, or you want notes and tables next to the images. You can drag your existing image folders straight onto a Maki board; Maki doesn't import .bee files.
Tested with 5,000 images
A board that holds a whole project gets big, and that is where a reference app either keeps up or stalls. We filled one Maki board with 5,000 images and timed it.
| The board | 5,000 JPEGs, 900 to 1,600 px wide, 903 MB in total |
|---|---|
| Open from launch | Under 5 seconds; 1.8 seconds when the files were already in the disk cache |
| Search across all 5,000 | 3 to 14 ms to find matches; about 0.7 seconds from typing to results on screen, including a short pause so it doesn't search on every key |
| Panning into parts not yet opened | 95% of frames drawn in 7.4 ms or less (a 60 Hz screen needs 16.7 ms) |
| Zooming out to the whole board | 95% of frames in 28 ms or less |
| All 5,000 on screen at once | 35 to 60 ms per frame, so about 20 frames a second; the first time, the small previews take about 30 seconds to fill in |
What Maki is
Maki is a desktop reference board for Windows and Mac. You drop in paintings, pose refs, screenshots, Pinterest pins and whole folders, arrange them on an endless board, and find any of them later by typing a word. Maki reads file names, notes and the text inside your images, all offline. There is no account, and your boards stay in a folder on your disk. See what it does or read the guide.
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