Reference Images surface previously produced assets alongside your current work, helping Photography and Post Production teams maintain consistency across products. When a user works on a Product that matches defined criteria, they are notified and can access matching reference images directly. This article covers how to configure Reference Image Alerts and how to use Reference Images at each step in the Workflow.

Setup & Configuration

Navigate to Studio Settings → Workspaces, 'Edit' the Workspace you want to configure, then scroll down to the Reference Alerts tab.

⚙️ Permissions: Reference Image Alerts are configured in Workspace Settings. Admin-level access is required to create or edit Workspaces.

With the menu, you will find separate tabs for Ecom and Editorial, as each module can be configured separately.

Within a tab, each section will be divided by Workflow Steps, and each Workflow section will show the rules currently configured, with an option to add a new alert.

Creating Alert Rules

Each alert defines the criteria used to find matching Reference Images. After opting to 'Add rule,' a slide-out menu will allow further configuration

Option	Description
Style Code	An alert will be shown when a user is working on a Product with the same Style Code, and the images from those Products will be available for them to review.
Category	An alert will be shown when a user is working on a Product with the same Category, and the images from those Products will be available for them to review.
Product Code	An alert will be shown when a user is working on a Product with the same Product Code, and the images from those Products will be available for them to review.
Job Code	An alert will be shown when a user is working on a Product with the same Job Code, and the images from those Products will be available for them to review.
Include From Ecom/Editorial	Toggle On/Off. By default, this option is disabled. Enabling this means matching criteria for alerts will be sourced from both modules (Ecom and Editorial)

Each rule can be further narrowed by Production Type. Meaning, you can control which Production Types' existing assets the system compares against when looking for a match. Select an option from the drop-down box to define the behavior:

Option	Description
Production Type → Same Type	Only alerts for matches from assets produced under the same Production Type as the Product the user is currently working on.
Production Type → Any Type	Alerts for matches across all production types, regardless of how the existing asset was produced.
Production Type → Specific Type	Restrict matching to one specific Production Type. Select a specific type from the list.

When you have finished configuring an alert rule, hit 'Save' in the bottom right corner of the slide-out menu.

Remove & Reorder

Once you have configured all the desired alert rules for each Workflow step, you can take further action on them individually:

Hover over an existing alert to remove it.

For sections with multiple alerts, drag from the dot-grid icon to rearrange the order of priority with which the alerts should be acted on.

📝 Note: If the first rule finds no match, Creative Force moves to the second rule and continues in order until a match is found.

Workspace Pooling

Reference images can be shared bidirectionally across all Workspaces in your instance by enabling the Pool Reference Image option. This allows teams working under different Workspaces to access the same Reference Image pool.

Reference Visibility

Reference images are available at the following Workflow steps once alerts are configured, and the Reference Image shown depends on which step the alert fires at:

Workflow Step	Asset Version Used	Application
Photography	Photography	Kelvin
Internal Post L1 QC	Internal Post L1 QC	Hue
Internal Post L2 QC	Internal Post L2 QC	Hue
Internal Post QC	Internal Post QC	Gamma
External Post QC	Internal Post QC or Internal Post L1/L2 QC	Gamma
Post Review	Internal Post QC or Internal Post L1/L2 QC	Gamma

⚠️ Important: If no alert rules are defined, or if no match is found, Creative Force falls back to using Product Category in E-comm, or Project Code in Editorial to find relevant reference images.

References in Kelvin

When a product matching your alert criteria is scanned in Kelvin, the team is notified that reference images are available.

Open the reference image panel to view, filter, and compare against them.

🗣 Tip: Reference images can also be downloaded and used as overlays in third-party software such as Capture One.

References in Hue

When a product with matching references is opened in Hue, you are notified in the Hue panel that reference images are available.

Open the reference image panel to view, filter, and compare against it. You can also download the reference image and open it in Photoshop for direct comparison.

References in QC

An available option in the Post QC Toolbox is the Reference Image panel. After selecting the view icon, a side panel will open, allowing you to review Reference Images and place them as overlays with your current selected asset.

Reference Overlay

Clicking a reference image opens it as an overlay on the image you are currently reviewing. The Overlay Toolbox gives you full control over how it is displayed: