Ktlyst is a web-based reference canvas for concept artists, illustrators, and visual creators. You gather references on one canvas — drag in images, GIFs, or video frames, or import a whole Pinterest board in one click — and Ktlyst explores new concept directions guided only by the references you chose (a feature called Catalyze). It runs in any modern browser on desktop and tablet, with cloud sync and a free plan.

What is the best PureRef alternative for iPad and tablet?

Ktlyst is a web-based reference board that runs in any browser — including Safari on iPad — with cloud sync so your boards follow you between desktop and tablet automatically. Unlike PureRef, which has no iOS or iPad app, Ktlyst is designed for cross-device creative workflows from the ground up. No installation needed.

Is there a PureRef that works on iPad?

PureRef does not have an official iOS or iPad app. Ktlyst fills that gap: it runs in any browser, syncs your reference boards to the cloud, and works on iPad, tablet, and desktop with the same canvas — so your references are always with you wherever you create.

How does Ktlyst compare to PureRef?

PureRef is a desktop-only overlay tool for keeping reference images visible while you paint or model in other apps. Ktlyst is a cloud-synced, browser-based alternative that adds: iPad and tablet support, Pinterest board import in one click, smart organisation with tagging and collections, freehand sketching overlaid on references, the ability to grab specific frames from videos and GIFs, and a concept-exploration layer (Catalyze) that explores new directions guided by your own references. No installation required — it works in any modern browser.

Do I need to learn prompts or any special tools?

No. You work the way you already do — gather references, sketch, note what you're after. Ktlyst handles the rest behind the scenes, so you stay focused on the vision, not on tooling.

Is this just an image generator?

No. Ktlyst is a reference-driven canvas for clarifying YOUR direction — built around how you already work, collecting references and browsing Pinterest. What it surfaces is an exploration of your own references, for you to take forward.

Can I bring in my Pinterest boards?

Yes. Connect Pinterest and pull an entire board onto a canvas in one move — every pin laid out and ready, instead of saving and re-uploading each one. (Free: 1 board · Pro: unlimited.)

Can I use videos or GIFs as references?

Yes. Drop an MP4, WebM, MOV, M4V, or OGV video — or a GIF — and a frame picker opens so you can scrub through and grab the exact frames you want. Only the frames you pick are saved as reference images; the source video or GIF never leaves your device. (Frame-by-frame GIF picking needs a recent browser; older ones add the first frame instead.)

Can I reuse the same character or element across projects?

Yes. Distil a group of references into one clean, typed element (a character, a costume, a prop), then save it to your Elements library. Drag it onto any canvas to reuse it, merge it with other elements, or paint it into a composition sketch — build it once, use it everywhere.

Can I correct a generated image?

Yes, with Redline (a Pro feature): draw your corrections in red straight on the image — arrows, circles, and handwritten notes — and Ktlyst applies them beside the original, non-destructively, so your original stays put.

Who owns what I create?

Ktlyst claims no ownership over your canvases or the directions you explore — they're yours to take forward into your own work. You're responsible for clearing any rights you need before using output commercially. (How copyright applies to generated images varies by country, so we don't make legal guarantees about that.)

Do you use my images or art to train AI?

No. Ktlyst never uses your uploads, canvases, or prompts to train AI models, and never sells them. Your references and prompts are sent to our AI providers only to generate or analyse images at your request. OpenAI does not use data submitted through its API to train its models; fal.ai processes your content under its own terms to run the generation.

Does it work on tablet?

Yes. Your canvas is cloud-synced, so you can collect on desktop and refine on tablet — or anywhere you work.

What devices and browsers does Ktlyst support?

Editing works on tablets and desktops (iPad, Windows, Mac) in recent versions of Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox. Phones get a view-only experience. Ktlyst runs in the browser and needs an internet connection.

Is there a free plan?

Yes — the free plan gives you 5 canvases (each with as many references as you like) and 15 Catalyze runs a month. No credit card required.

August 6, 2026

How to Use AI for Concept Art Without Losing Your Own Style

AI concept artart styleconcept artistsreference boardideationAI ideationvisual development

Using AI for concept art doesn't have to mean losing your style — the risk mostly comes from prompt-based generators that impose their own visual habits on your work. If you start from your own references instead of a text prompt, the output stays anchored to choices you already made, and you stay the one deciding what's good.

Why Artists Worry About Losing Their Style to AI

It's a fair worry. Type a prompt into most AI image generators and you get back someone else's idea of what "cinematic lighting" or "painterly fantasy art" looks like — an aggregate of the training data's habits, not yours. Use it enough and your concept sketches start to drift toward a generic "AI look": the same skin texture, the same rim lighting, the same default composition, regardless of what you were actually going for.

That's not a failure of discipline. It's a structural issue. A text prompt is a blunt instrument — it can't carry the specific visual language you've built up over years of looking at references, mixing influences, and making small, deliberate choices. When the tool's only input is words, the tool ends up filling in everything you didn't say.

The Real Difference: Starting From a Prompt vs. Starting From Your References

This is where it helps to separate two different workflows, rather than two tiers of "AI power":

Prompt-first tools (Midjourney, most Stable Diffusion interfaces, ComfyUI workflows) ask you to describe what you want in words, then generate from that description.
Reference-first tools ask you to gather the images you're already collecting — inspiration boards, your own past work, photo references, mood pins — and generate from those.

Neither approach is objectively "better AI." They're different starting points for the same creative task. If your process already begins with a wall of references (which is true for most concept artists, illustrators, and visual development artists), a reference-first tool has a natural advantage: the output is grounded in choices you already made, not in whatever a prompt happens to conjure up.

Ktlyst is built around this second workflow. Instead of writing a prompt, you gather references onto a canvas, group them into sections, and let the tool read the visual throughline you're already pointing at — what the site calls Auto essence extraction — before exploring a new direction from it. No prompt to write, and no generic default aesthetic filling in the gaps, because there's nothing left unsaid for it to fill in.

How to Keep Your Style Intact While Using AI

A few concrete habits make the difference between AI as a shortcut around your style and AI as a tool that reinforces it:

Feed it your own work, not just inspiration. If you only ever collect other people's art as references, you'll get echoes of other people's styles back. Mix in your own past pieces — even rough sketches — so the "essence" the tool picks up on includes your own visual habits.
Curate ruthlessly before you generate. A reference board with 40 unrelated images produces a muddy, average-of-everything result. A tight section — one mood, one idea, one place — produces something you can actually recognize as yours, refined.
Treat every output as a draft, not a final. The fastest way to lose your style is to ship what the AI hands you unedited. Use generated concepts the way you'd use a thumbnail sketch: as a starting point you redraw, repaint, or redirect by hand.
Reuse the elements that make your work recognizable. If a character design, a costume silhouette, or a prop keeps showing up across your projects, save it as a reusable, typed element instead of re-describing it every time. Consistency compounds — the tenth time you reuse a defined element looks more like you than the first attempt from scratch.
Correct in your own hand. Sketching over a reference or drawing a redline correction on a generated image keeps your intent — and your linework — in the final decision, instead of leaving it entirely to the model.

What "Staying the Artist" Actually Looks Like in Practice

Ktlyst's own framing puts it simply: you stay the artist, the tool just helps you see where it's headed. In practice, that shows up as a specific division of labor. You do the parts that require taste — choosing references, grouping them into Sections, deciding which direction is worth pursuing, sketching corrections, finishing the piece. The tool does the part that's mechanical but tedious — noticing the common thread across a pile of images and generating a rough new direction from it with a single Catalyze run, so you're reacting to a concept instead of staring at a blank canvas.

That's a meaningfully different claim than "AI does your concept art for you." It's closer to a very fast studio assistant who's only allowed to work from the references you hand over — never from its own imagination, and never from anyone else's uploaded art. If you've read our piece on locking in a visual style with an AI mood board, this is the same principle applied to the ideation stage specifically: the tool amplifies a direction you already pointed toward, it doesn't invent one for you.

A Simple Workflow: Reference In, Direction Out, Your Hand Finishes It

Gather — drag in references, screenshot frames from video or GIFs, or pull in a whole Pinterest board.
Group — sort them into sections by mood, idea, or location, so each cluster represents one clear intention.
Distill — turn a section into a reusable, typed element if it's something you'll want again (a character, a costume, a prop).
Catalyze — run a single generation pass to explore a new concept grounded in exactly what you collected.
Redirect — sketch over the result, leave notes, or draw a redline correction to pull it back toward your intent.
Finish by hand — treat the output as a reference for your real work, not the final deliverable.

This is the same reference-gathering instinct most concept artists already have from tools like PureRef — it's just extended one step further, into a rough direction you can react to. If you're coming from a pure reference-boarding background, our comparison of prompt-free AI image generation walks through that transition in more detail, and our guide to character consistency without LoRA training covers the reuse habits that keep a specific character looking like itself across a whole project.

FAQ

Does AI copy my art style if I use it for concept art? Only if you let it generate from a blank prompt with no reference to your own work. Feeding it your own pieces and curated references — and treating every output as a draft you finish by hand — keeps the result anchored to your choices rather than the model's defaults.

Can I use AI for ideation without writing prompts? Yes. Reference-based tools like Ktlyst skip the prompt entirely: you arrange the images you're already collecting, and the tool explores a direction from that arrangement instead of from typed instructions.

Is AI-assisted concept art still "real" art? The exploration step is assisted; the judgment isn't. Choosing which references matter, which direction is worth pursuing, and how to finish the piece all stay with the artist — the same way a thumbnail sketch or a mood board has always been a tool, not the artist's replacement.

The Bottom Line

Losing your style to AI isn't inevitable — it's usually a symptom of using a tool that was never looking at your style in the first place. Start from your own references instead of a blank prompt, curate before you generate, and treat every output as a draft your hand finishes. That's the whole idea behind Ktlyst: you stay the artist, we just help you see where it's headed.

Start exploring concept directions from your own references — free, no prompt required.