# Call a reference with @

> Type @ in an image description: the reference becomes a chip, its sheet goes out with the image, and it joins “In this post.” Three at most per image.

Updated 2026-09-22

A reference only works once it’s called. You call it where the image is described, in “What the image shows,” with **@**. That way the text and what goes to the model can never contradict each other: you can’t write “the baker” while attaching somebody else.

## Before you start

You need a reference saved in the project’s library — see [create a reference from photos](/en/guide/create-a-reference-from-photos/). A draft doesn’t show up in the picker yet.

## Step by step

1. **Type @ in the description**

   A slide’s “Image” panel, a moment’s “Background photo” or a text post’s image: in “What the image shows,” type `@`. The picker opens on “In this post” — the post’s references — then “Library,” and “Create a reference…” at the very bottom. Each row shows the type, the handle and what it will attach: “sheet” or “photo.” Letters typed after @ filter the list; `↑` `↓` to choose, `↵` to confirm.

2. **Write around it**

   The reference becomes an unbreakable **chip**, with its thumbnail and its name: “@bastien takes the loaves out of the oven, low early-morning light.” Describe the scene, the gesture, the framing — not what the subject looks like: its sheet and its profile take care of that.

3. **Check the recipe**

   The recipe’s “References” row shows the chips in the order of the text, and its “+” adds a mention at the end of the description. At the top of the recipe: the number of attached images and what they add.

4. **Generate**

   “Generate image” or “New version”: each sheet goes out with the image, then the series anchor, and each reference’s profile goes into the prompt. The version keeps a record of who was used.

> **Tip**
>
> Hover over a chip in the recipe and its card opens: the sheet, the gist of the profile, what gets attached — “Attached to this image: the sheet” — the extra cost, the “Also attach the starred photo” switch, then “View profile” and “Remove from the image.”

## Three at most per image

Beyond three references, the subjects blend together — and every attached image costs something. Once three are in the description, the picker warns you: “Three references at most per image: a fourth would send nothing.” If a fourth gets written anyway, its chip flags it, and so does the recipe — “Three references at most per image: beyond that, the subjects blend together” — and nothing is attached for it.

## What it costs

> **Every attached image adds up**
>
> An attached sheet adds to the cost of the image, and the total is rounded only once. For a 4:5 image in high quality, the estimate goes from ✦ 17 on its own to ✦ 20 with one sheet, and ✦ 23 with one sheet and the series anchor. The breakdown, ingredient by ingredient, shows when you hover over the button; the actual cost, on the version.

A “Photos only” reference attaches its photo as is, slightly cheaper than a sheet. And the starred photo, if you attach it on top of the sheet, counts as one more image.

## “In this post”

A post has its **cast**: the references that appear in it, six at most. You pick it in “New post,” at the brief step — “Who appears?” — and change it in the “Post” tab, “Post images” section, under “In this post.” A reference called in an image joins it on its own; removing the mention doesn’t take it out.

It’s also what the AI reads: “The assistant and image generation use them to write the descriptions.” When it writes a post, turns a text into slides, writes an animation or answers in the editor’s assistant, it writes the @handles itself in the descriptions of the images where the subject appears, three at most, without describing what it looks like. In the assistant, a handle that matches no reference, or a fourth one, is refused.

> **See what goes to the model**
>
> Under the generate button, “See what goes to the model” shows each mention replaced by the subject’s name and the number of its attached image, then the images themselves: “image 1 · Bastien’s sheet,” “image 2 · slide 1 (series).”

## When a chip is struck through

A struck-through chip no longer sends anything. Either no reference has that handle, or the reference was archived: “Removed from the library: nothing is attached for it.” “Replace,” next to it, reopens the picker in its place. And if a reference’s handle is renamed, the descriptions of unpublished posts follow on their own.

> **Tip**
>
> Sometimes a real photo is enough: “Choose from the media library,” in the “Image” panel’s menu, has a “References” filter. A reference photo goes in as is, free, and the version says so: “Reference photo.”

## What’s next

An image with a reference is reworked like any other: [image versions, comparing and retouching](/en/guide/image-versions-compare-and-retouch/). And for the light to carry from one slide to the next, that’s the [series](/en/guide/generate-a-consistent-image-series/).

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Source: https://joli.studio/en/guide/call-a-reference-in-an-image/