Reference images

Overview

A reference image is a picture you give the model along with your words. It can be the image to change, the character or product to keep, or the look to copy.

A prompt like "A brown hare in an olive coat" gets you a different hare every time. Attach the character sheet of your hare and the model draws that one.

Add images

Select + in the composer to open the image browser. It shows your Recent references, Collections, Favorites, Generations and Uploads. Select images to put them in the tray, or choose Upload to add files from your computer.

You can also drag images onto the composer, paste them into the prompt, or point at any image in the feed and select Use as reference.

Uploads can be JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP or HEIC, up to 15 MB each.

The tray

Attached images wait in the tray above the prompt. Each model reads a set number of reference images: Nano Banana 2 takes up to 14. When the tray holds as many as the model takes, it tells you the tray is full. Remove one to add another. Models lists how many each model accepts.

Attaching an image also switches the aspect ratio to match it. If you want a different shape, change it in the image settings afterwards.

A few models, such as the Recraft models, can't use reference images at all. When one of them is selected, the + disappears from the composer.

Keep images between prompts

The tray empties after each prompt. Select the lock beside the tray to keep its images there instead. Turn it on when you are making a series, so the character stays in the tray while you change the scene.

The menu under the lock has Remove all images. With two or more images, it also has Multi-image edit, which runs your prompt once on each image instead of once on all of them together. Use it to put the same background behind every product shot. When the tray holds images that aren't in a collection yet, it also has Save as collection, which turns them into a collection in the current project. Next time, type @ in the prompt and pick the collection to attach the whole set at once.

Draw a sketch

Draw a sketch when you need to control where things go in the image. In the image browser, choose Draw sketch. Rough shapes are enough to show where the hare stands, where the horizon sits, or which way the boat faces. Choose Use sketch and it joins the tray like any other image, with the lock turned on, so you can try several prompts against one drawing.

Sketches are for images. Video uses start and end frames instead; see Create videos.

Tips

• Say in the prompt what each image is for. "Keep the hare from the first image; use the colors of the second." A reference doesn't say which part of it matters.
• Use a few good references rather than many, and crop each one to the part that matters.
• If you attach the same images every week, make them a collection and add a note that says how to use them.
• A sketch doesn't need to be neat. The model takes placement and pose from it, not the quality of the lines.
• Models differ in how closely they follow references. Nano Banana 2 Lite isn't built for several references at once, so if a character drifts there, move to Nano Banana 2 before you rewrite the prompt.