> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://kenna-ai.gitbook.io/kenna-ai-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://kenna-ai.gitbook.io/kenna-ai-docs/tools/using-reference-images.md).

# Using reference images

Several tools — **Create Variation**, **Sketch to Image**, and others — let you attach a **reference image** to guide the look of your product. Here's how to get the result you expect.

### What a reference does

A reference is a **style guide for your product** — Kenna pulls its colors, materials, patterns, motifs, and finish and applies them to *your* product's surfaces. It does **not** paste the reference's photo into your render.

* ✅ The reference's **palette, textures, and motifs** are applied to your product.
* ❌ The reference's **background, scene, lighting, or floating elements** are **not** imported. Your product stays on its own clean background.

So if you feed a dark, busy moodboard as a reference to a sneaker shot on white, you'll get the moodboard's *colors and materials* on the sneaker — while the sneaker stays on the clean white background.

<figure><img src="https://728163488-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F2E3k71K5Cu60rDNfLw4d%2Fuploads%2F3zZsOFPUQURGTC0dwcgz%2FScreenshot%202026-08-14%20at%201.13.04%E2%80%AFAM.png?alt=media&amp;token=ecaa4435-b068-4846-ac51-63b606fa46b9" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Tips

* **Be specific in the prompt.** "Apply the reference's colors and materials to the jacket" steers cleaner than "add moodboard elements," which invites more than you want.
* **Two references, two jobs.** Where a tool allows two references, use one for **colorway/material** and one for **pattern/motif**.
* **Hold what matters.** In Create Variation, turn Creativity toward **Faithful** and enable **hold silhouette** when you want the reference's look but not a redesign of the shape.