Reference boards for artists · from the P12 pipeline

The reference tool we always wanted. So we built it.

We're an independent CG studio. For years we wanted a reference board that could hold video, cull the real files, and hand a client a review page without a server in sight. Nothing did all of that, so we built it for ourselves. BoardStack is the first tool we're releasing from our own pipeline.

macOS · Apple silicon
BoardStack Spread view: the P12 Master Board, 53 studio renders as one contact sheet
The real app, our real work: 53 studio renders on one board, dealt out in Spread view.
01 · The canvas

Drop everything on it

Drag a few hundred images and videos straight onto an infinite canvas. Marquee-select a cluster, snap it into a mosaic grid, and the camera glides over to frame it. Double-click a card to fit it, again to punch in 4x toward your cursor, once more to snap back. Rotate, flip, crop, undo. It stays fast because the canvas runs on lightweight display proxies while your originals stay untouched on disk.

02 · Import

Folders become boards. Sequences become clips.

Drop a project folder on the canvas and it splits into boards automatically: one for the stills, one for the videos, each saved as its own .brd file. And if the folder contains a numbered image sequence, BoardStack notices, transcodes it once, and gives you a single playable clip card instead of two hundred tiles.

03 · The stack

Every board, one flick away

Every board lives as a small circular thumbnail in a panel you can dock to any edge or float wherever you like. Three views over the same library: Stack is a dense grid with your pinned boards first, Timeline is a Cover Flow style carousel you scrub with arrow keys, and Spread deals the active board out into a full contact sheet. Cyan ring means it's on the canvas. Amber glow means it's focused.

04 · Cull mode

Cull the weak takes, for real

Most reference tools let you hide an image. Cull Mode moves the actual source files out. Toggle cull, click the takes that didn't make it, hit Delete: the files move to a _Culled staging folder, the cards leave the board, and a toast gives you a few seconds to undo. Nothing is ever hard-deleted, and your folder ends up as clean as your board.

05 · PDF export

PDF decks with a real slide sorter

The export modal renders live page previews with a strip of numbered, draggable thumbnails down the side. Drag page 5 ahead of page 2 and the deck reshuffles in front of you. Cover sheet, label options, quality presets, and a smart filename that auto-versions itself. Exports always pull your full-quality originals, never the on-screen proxy, and the finished PDF pops up in Finder.

06 · Client review

Client review in a single file

One click builds one .html file with everything embedded: your stills two-up, your videos playing inline, and Approve / Needs changes buttons with a note field under each item. Your client opens it in any browser, no server, no login, marks it up, and sends their feedback back with one copy button. The whole review round trips as a single file.

A BoardStack HTML review open in the browser: branded header, option grid, approve and note controls
07 · Merge

Merge boards, and the folders come along

Drag one board's circle onto another and they merge into a single board: the cards mosaic and the camera frames the lot. Then BoardStack offers to consolidate the two source folders on disk too. Files move into one named folder, companion dirs like tex and cache merge along with them, and every path in the board is rewritten to match. The merge itself is undoable.

08 · Rename

Rename once, everywhere

Click the board's name, type a new one, hit Enter. BoardStack renames the source folder on disk, rewrites every file path inside the board, and updates its own library, all in the same beat. Put Finder side by side and watch the folder rename itself.

09 · Web

Put a board on the web

The Stage 3 panel turns a board into a clean web page: title, description, an optional YouTube hero, and an image carousel. It publishes to your own GitHub Pages or Netlify using your token, so it's your hosting, your URL, your rules. Per-card exclusions keep the rough takes private, and heavy formats like EXR are blocked from ever reaching the web.

The Stage 3 publish panel: boards, export settings, GitHub Pages and Netlify targets
10 · FolderForge

File the mess while you're at it

The built-in FolderForge panel is how we keep project folders sane. Browse any folder as a tile grid sorted by type, tap Finder-style color labels onto files (red for AEPs, green for images, blue for C4D, grey for archive, remap them however you like), then commit: everything files itself into the right folders in one pass.

The FolderForge panel: color-labeled assets staged into a project folder structure
11 · Themes

Ten looks, one click

Overcast, Hollow, Abyss, Bloom, Canopy, Acid, Void, Mirage, Phosphor, Static. The whole app re-skins in under a second per click, and the active theme name sits in the status bar. Pick the one that disappears behind your work.

Honest comparisons

We use these tools too. Here's where BoardStack fits, and where it doesn't.

vs PureRef

PureRef is excellent and it's pay-what-you-want; we used it for years. Where BoardStack earns its $29 is video playing on the canvas and file-level muscle: culling to a staging folder, renaming the folder on disk, merging two project folders, and shipping client-ready PDF and HTML exports. If you only pin stills, honestly, PureRef is plenty.

vs Eagle

Eagle is a searchable library with tags and smart folders. BoardStack deliberately isn't: there's no search or tagging inside it. It's the working surface for one job at a time, plus the exports that get the job out the door. Plenty of people will want both on the same Mac.

vs Miro

Miro is a collaborative whiteboard in the cloud. BoardStack is local files on your machine: no account, no browser tab, no subscription, and no realtime multiplayer. Client feedback travels as one self-contained HTML file instead of an invite link.

Your files, readable

Boards are plain JSON files (.brd) sitting next to your work, not rows in an opaque database. You can read one in a text editor, version it, back it up, or write your own tools against it.

Questions, answered straight

How much is it, and is it a subscription?

$29 at launch, one time. No subscription, no account. Join the waitlist and you'll lock in launch pricing when it ships.

Mac only?

Yes, macOS on Apple silicon for now. Under the hood it leans on some Mac-only plumbing, so Windows isn't a toggle away. It's on the wish list, but we won't promise dates we can't keep.

Does it actually handle video?

Yes, properly. Videos are cards like anything else: they play on the canvas, numbered image sequences collapse into single playable clips on import, video boards can export as GIF sheets, and review exports play video inline in the browser.

Where do my files live?

On your Mac, full stop. There's no cloud sync and no account, and each board is a plain JSON file saved next to your work. One honest catch: boards store absolute file paths, they're snapshots of your project, not portable containers. Move the source files and the board needs them back.

How do updates work?

BoardStack is pre-release, so right now updates mean the waitlist hears from us as we close in on launch. Once it ships, the plan is free updates through 1.x. We use this tool every day on client work, so it doesn't sit still.

What if it's not for me?

Email us within 14 days of buying and we'll refund you. No forms, no interrogation.

Why not just use PureRef?

Use PureRef! It's great. BoardStack exists because we kept wanting things it doesn't do: video playing on the canvas, culling that moves the real files, renames and merges that reach into the actual folders, and client-ready exports. If those aren't your problems, save the $29.

Where it's headed

Planned, not shipped. We'd rather under-promise.
A signed, notarized installer. The downloadable build is the last thing we finish before launch, and the waitlist gets it first.
Bridges to After Effects, Cinema 4D, and Houdini, so a board can follow you into the tools where the work happens.
Provenance search: click any card and trace where the file came from.
Per-item captions baked into PDF and review exports.
More ways to view a board: list, calendar, and graph modes are on the sketchpad.
Windows is on the wish list. No dates until macOS 1.0 is out the door.

Be first in line.

Join the waitlist and you'll lock in the $29 launch price, hear the build notes as we finish, and get the download link before anyone else.