Reference images let you show Seelab what words describe poorly: a specific product, a setting, a lighting, a style. You can add up to 10 per generation and combine them: three products and a setting, a character and an outfit, your product and the mood of a campaign.

What references let you do

• Bring several products together in one scene: add your products and a setting, and Seelab brings them together in a single image, lighting included.
• Place an object in a setting: import an object, then describe where and how to place it ("the perfume in a modern bathroom").
• Apply a style or a mood: one image provides the lighting, palette, grain or composition to reproduce on another subject.
• Keep a character consistent: the same face or object in different poses, framings or outfits.
• Dress or equip a subject: "Apply the shirt to the woman"; a garment, an accessory or a pack worn or held by a model.
• Iterate on an existing image: change the setting, the framing or the season of an image you have already generated.

Adding reference images

1. Click the image button, left of the prompt. The Reference Images panel opens.
2. Drag in your images, or click to open the Resource Hub: your imports, your Seelab model datasets, your collections and your latest generations.
3. Add up to 10 images. The counter shows where you stand. Remove imported images clears the list in one click.

From your feed, Reuse image (three-dot menu of an image) also sets a generation as a reference.

Writing the prompt

• References are numbered in the order they are added: Image 1, Image 2… The number is shown under each thumbnail.
• Give each image a role: "the bottle from image 1", "the setting from image 4", "the lighting from image 2".
• Say what must stay the same: the shape, the label, the framing, the position.
• Name the elements rather than using pronouns: "the woman in red" rather than "she".

Example: three products in the same setting

Three product photos from the datasets and an empty setting generated beforehand, with Nano Banana 2.1 in 16:9.

Place the three products from images 1, 2 and 3 side by side on the travertine shelf from image 4, well spaced: the mist from image 1 on the left, the serum from image 2 in the center, the oil from image 3 on the right. Keep their shapes and labels exactly. Keep the setting, the lighting and the leaf shadows from image 4, with realistic cast shadows under each bottle.

With your Seelab model: product from the model, mood from the reference

References also work with your Seelab models. The model guarantees product fidelity; the reference brings the setting, the lighting or the composition.

1. Choose your Seelab model in the model selector, under Custom models.
2. Add the reference: an image that carries the mood you want.
3. Describe the scene, not the product: the model already knows its shape, its logo and its label.

The open cream jar on a moss-covered rock by a stream, in the mood of image 1: same forest, same soft light filtering through the trees, same palette of greens and same depth of field.

More ideas with your model:

• Campaign mood: your product model + an image from the campaign, for the same lighting, the same palette, the same setting.
• Set composition: your product model + a sketch or a layout photo; the product takes the planned spot.
• Product in hand: your product model + a photo of a model ("the woman from image 1 holds the bottle").

Editing an image with a single reference

With a single reference image, the prompt becomes an editing instruction. A few examples:

Change an element

Change the yellow car to red.

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Change the time of day or the style, keeping the rest

Change it to broad daylight while keeping the same painting style.

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Replace a text

Replace "RENAULT" with "SEELAB".

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Put a logo on an object

Add this logo, embroidered, on a white cap.

Evolve a character, step by step

Reuse each result with Reuse image, then give one instruction at a time: "Remove the hood, short hair. Don't change anything else." then "Now she is taking a selfie in the streets of Paris on a sunny day."

When the result isn't right

Good to know

• Cost: references increase the cost of a generation. The amount is shown above the green button before you launch.
• References stay attached to the prompt until you remove them. Remember to remove them before moving on to another subject.
• A prompt is still needed, even with references: it tells Seelab what to do with each image.

Glossary

• Reference image: an image added to the prompt to guide the generation.
• Resource Hub: the image picker panel (imports, datasets, collections, recent generations).
• Dataset: the training images of a Seelab model.
• Reuse image: the action that sets an image from your feed as a reference.

Updated on: 31/10/2026