Wide format support
JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, TGA and PSD all drop straight onto the canvas.
Everything it does
Every part of Motherboard exists to keep you in the flow: collecting, arranging and finding references without friction.
The canvas
Motherboard is built around one idea: your board should never slow you down, no matter how many references you pile onto it.
JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, TGA and PSD all drop straight onto the canvas.
HDR renders are tone-mapped for display, so you can check your render and make decisions without leaving the board.
Animated references play on the canvas, always looping, with play, rate and frame-step controls.
Decoding and downsampling run on background threads with viewport streaming. The UI never blocks.
Opacity, flip, rotate, grayscale and z-ordering on every image.
Crop with drag handles. The original pixels are always there when you change your mind.
One command lays out your selection as a tight justified mosaic or an even grid. No gaps, no fiddling.
Ctrl+V or drag-and-drop from anywhere: files, browsers, screenshots. It all lands on the board.
Video & motion
Motion studies, walk cycles, film stills. Video is a first-class reference type, not an afterthought.
MP4, MOV, WebM and MKV play directly on the canvas. Click to play, hover for scrub controls.
Paste a YouTube link and it plays inline. No browser, no embeds, no switching windows.
Videos show a still frame until you press play, so opening a busy board never blasts you with six videos at once.
Organization
Groups, tags and search work together so the reference you need is never more than a keystroke away.
Gather refs into named containers that move as one unit. First-class objects with their own tags.
Collapse a group to a single header bar and reclaim your canvas. Huge on busy boards.
One tag pool across boards, groups and notes. Colored pills, autocomplete when you type #.
Search from the sidebar by title or tag and surface boards, groups and notes that match.
Collapsible folders, favorites, recents, board thumbnails with last-edited dates. Click to open, no dialogs.
Notes & annotation
Feedback, todos and project context live next to the work instead of in a separate app.
Freestanding notes with bold, italic, lists and checkboxes. Color-code them, tag them inline with #.
Brush, eraser, lines, arrows, circles and boxes on a dedicated layer above your refs, with its own undo stack.
Hide every annotation with one switch. They're still there when you want them back.
Structured project metadata (client, dates, plus custom fields for whatever your pipeline needs) and a freeform note below.
Files & saving
Local-first storage with continuous saves, plus portable formats that fit into a real production pipeline.
Every change is saved as you work. Close the app mid-thought; everything is there tomorrow.
Keep boards in your local library, or save them as files inside a project folder. Portable and Git-friendly.
Export a board with all its assets into a single self-contained file. Send it anywhere; nothing breaks.
Exports can downsize and re-encode for a small file, with an estimated size before you commit, or keep full source quality.
Every asset is fingerprinted. If a file moves, Motherboard finds it again and asks you to confirm.
A linked board edited outside the app? You're prompted to reload. No silent overwrites.
Cloud · coming after launch
An optional cloud tier for when a board needs more than one pair of eyes. Architected in from day one.
Send one link; the board and its assets open right in the recipient's app.
Owners choose between view-only and edit links, and can revoke access at any time.
Shared boards stay fresh automatically, with per-object conflict handling when two people edit at once.
Fork any shared board into your own local library with one click, assets and all.
Motherboard ships for Windows, macOS and Linux with a perpetual license, and early-bird lifetime pricing during the beta.