What you can reference
- Objects: a specific product, prop, or item that should look the same each time
- Locations: a room, a street, a set you keep returning to
- Poses: a body position you want repeated
- Outfits: clothing that has to stay the same across a series
Setting a Reference up
- Open References on mage.space and add a new one.
- Upload the image. Crop it so the thing you want referenced is the main subject.
- Pick the type: object, location, pose, or outfit.
- Name it. This becomes the @ handle.
- Save.
Using References with Characters
Reference limits by model
References and Characters share one pool of reference images on each model. The models that support Characters support References, with these limits.
Some models take input images without the named References feature: Flux 2 takes up to 3, Qwen Image Edit Plus up to 4, and Seed Audio one image reference.
Limitations
- More references is not better. Past a handful the model starts averaging them and the result gets muddier. Add references one at a time and check what each one changes.
- A reference constrains, it does not command. If the prompt asks for something the reference contradicts, you get a compromise between the two.