Everyone knows how to save design inspiration in the sense of pressing a shortcut. The screenshot lands somewhere. The problem arrives three weeks later, when you remember seeing a checkout flow with a progress bar and have no idea where it went.
This is the method that fixes that. It has five steps, and the whole thing takes about fifteen seconds per reference once it is a habit.
Step 1: Decide what counts
Not everything you like deserves saving. Save the things that made you stop scrolling, that solved a problem you have had, or that you would show a colleague. A library of things you chose is searchable. A library of everything you saw is a second Pinterest.
A good test: could you write one sentence about why you are saving it? If not, keep scrolling.
Step 2: Capture the image and the link together
The screenshot without its source is a picture. The source without the screenshot is a bookmark that will break when the site redesigns. You want both, in the same record, from one action.
A browser extension that does this is the difference between a system you keep and a system you abandon. Our roundup of Chrome extensions for designers covers the options. For full-page captures of websites, see how to save a website design.
Step 3: Write one line about why
"Progress bar in checkout, three steps, keeps totals visible." "Empty state that actually explains what to do." "Type pairing I want to try."
This line is the most valuable part of the whole record. In three months you will not remember the site, but you will remember the reason, and the reason is what you will search for. No automatic tagging can supply it.
Step 4: Let the tool do the rest
A good reference tool reads the text in the screenshot and tags what it sees, so "Pricing" in the header, "Annual" on a toggle and "dark, landing page, SaaS" all become searchable without you typing anything. This is what folders cannot do and what makes a library scale past a few hundred items.
If your tool does not do this, you will be doing it manually, and manual tagging is the step every designer stops doing by week three. What a design reference tool does covers what to look for.
Step 5: Search by description, not by folder
When you need the reference, describe it: "dark pricing page with toggle", "onboarding with illustrations", "table with inline edit". If your library holds the text, the tags and your note, that description finds it. You never have to remember where you filed it, because you never filed it anywhere.
Where to save design inspiration
Three tools do steps two through five well. GetRef is built specifically for this workflow and is free for the first 50 references. mymind does the same for a broader mix of images, articles and notes. Eagle is the strongest choice if you would rather keep a large library on your own disk. We compared them in Eagle vs mymind vs GetRef.
What does not work past a few hundred items: desktop folders, camera rolls, browser bookmarks and Figma files. Each stores. None finds. We wrote about the folder version of this problem in when folders stop working.
The habit, start to finish
- Something makes you stop.
- One click captures the screenshot and the link.
- One line says why.
- The tool reads and tags it.
- Later, you describe it and it appears.
Do this for a month and the library starts paying you back. Do a ten-minute weekly review on top and it keeps paying for years.
Common questions
- What is the best way to save design inspiration?
- Capture the screenshot and its link together in one place, add a one-line note about why you saved it, and use a tool that reads the text in the image so you can search it later. Folders alone do not survive past a few hundred items.
- Where should I save design inspiration?
- In one private library you can search by description, rather than across a desktop folder, bookmarks and Pinterest. GetRef, mymind and Eagle are the tools most designers use for this.
- How do I save inspiration from a mobile app?
- Take the screenshot on the phone, then send it to your library through the share sheet or by syncing your camera roll. Add the app name in a note so it stays findable. There is a full guide to saving mobile UI inspiration on this blog.
- How many references should I save?
- Fewer than you think. Save the things that made you stop, not everything you scrolled past. A library of 300 references you chose beats 3,000 you hoarded.
