Reference Artwork lets you attach raster or vector imagery to a master as a tracing reference or visual aid. Each master can carry any number of reference artworks; they appear as rows in the Masters and Layers panel under the master they belong to. Reference artwork replaces the single-image "Background Image" concept of earlier versions.

Adding Reference Artwork

Use the Masters and Layers panel's Add button and choose Reference Artwork. You can also load an image from a file.

Pasting or dropping an image in the glyph editor does not add reference artwork: it converts the image into contours, as Import Image does.

Position and Scale

Each reference artwork has its own position and scale, so multiple artworks can sit at different parts of the design space without interfering with each other. Drag the artwork in the glyph editor to reposition it; use its properties to set numeric position and scale.

Convert to Contours

Raster artwork can be converted into vector-based contours that become part of the master's outline, providing a quick first pass of geometry to refine.

Context Menu and Order

Right-click a selected artwork in the glyph editor for its own menu: Hide Artwork, Lock Artwork, Bring to Front, Bring Forward, Send Backward, Send to Back, Properties (Windows; on macOS edit the properties from the Masters and Layers panel) and Delete. The same stacking commands, and the Up and Down buttons, work on artwork rows in the Masters and Layers panel. While an artwork is selected the editor hides anchors, validation marks, decoration markers and the curvature comb, so only the image and the outline are in the way of positioning it.

With Use single color on, the image is reduced to ink and paper by a cutoff that adapts to the image, so a sketch on grey or toned paper keeps its lines instead of turning into a solid block.

Visibility

Toggle visibility of an individual artwork through the eye icon next to its row in the Masters and Layers panel. The F9 shortcut shows or hides the panel itself.