I can’t find the background images panel in the toolbar like in 2.79…where is it? Do I need to import images as planes like in other programs like maya?
Also, the mirror modifier is not working in edit mode! Is it happening for just me?
I am using the latest release.
Background image was removed, now you have to add a background image with an empty and modifiers are still WIP
1 Like
oh ok! Thank you 
Personally, I feel that the current implementation of image empties isn’t a suitable replacement for the old background image system. Images in the old system were only visible in the tile you added the image to, and could easily be configured to show only in specific orthographic views.
The images were also aligned properly as they were added. You were forced to use sliders to adjust the size and position, but they were at least facing the direction you wanted from the start.
Hopefully, they’ll add this functionality before 2.8 becomes stable.
5 Likes
Dang I had no idea ! Why did they do this ? Background images were so handy !
3 Likes
Cambo gave his reasons, mostly it is easy to maintain for devs. Look here https://developer.blender.org/T52668
Now just realized that my feature request was not implemented, Make it invisible when in perspective view, and the aspect that it interacts with the mesh make it so unpleasant to work with. 
It was also a limitation to these views. An empty image can be aligned to any view.
Come on. You just have to enable Align to View option at empty creation to obtain same result.
Currently, what can be problematic is the way X-ray is working for the whole scene but not per object, yet.
But empties are objects that you can put inside a collection and this collection can be easily hidden/revealed by using Ctrl H, now.
We can easily imagine that an addon could hide/reveal such collection at ortho/perspective switch.
I find image empties pretty unpleasant to work with and that is why I never really made any use of them in the current versions of Blender.
How does this work when you have a front and back or top and bottom view like you often have with car blueprints. Are we going to have to dance some weird H, ALT-H dance all the time. I also don’t want images when I am in perspective view.
Every day I am getting this feeling that 2.8 is not for me
3 Likes
I’m not against these being objects that can be seen in all views, that is the one of the advantages image empties have. What I’m saying is the current implementation lacks this functionality from the old system.
What I am saying is that the current image empties system is harder to configure. We have to do more to adjust them for use as references. Ideally we shouldn’t need an addon to make them quick to setup and only visible in specific views/editor tiles (can collections even be hidden per tile?).
No, there is no more 3DView specificity inside a window.
Collections can only be hidden/visible per ViewLayer.
Currently, the only way to have different 3DViews showing different ViewLayers is to create another workspace and use it in another window.
2.8 is capable of more things than 2.79. But yes, at its early state, it means more manipulations.
We should not be afraid of actual complexity.
What I mean is that workflow could be speed-up by add-ons or future polishing if functionality is there.
It is more problematic if an essential feature is lacking.
There is also a task for presets about display options and overlays. Maybe management of Image Empties could be included in this task.
That is mostly what I am saying, only I don’t feel we should have to use an addon for this polishing. I personally feel that the current image empties system isn’t suitable for use as references. I personally feel it needs those features before 2.8 hits its stable phase.
My reply to zanzio made me realize that current state is not that far away from background image in 2.7x.
In 2.7x, you are placing an image per view and will spend time fighting with sliders.
In 2.8x, you are creating easily one empty per image and will spend time creating one workspace per view with its viewlayer with its display restriction. Then, instead of switching views with numpad keys, you can cycles through workspaces.
The old system was faster, super handy, efficient…
quick background images available and align in all ortho views!
no need for planes, emptys, objects, etc.
One of the things that used to made Blender better than Max and Maya.
Truly a really bad decision from the developers, lets hope they reconsider. 
1 Like
i don’t know what’s the fuss people are making about, the empties will have the same functionality like the old system, u can drag and drop and everything only the settings changed from the N panel to the properties panel also you’ll be able to have them in perspective which was not possible before… and with the new Asset Manager this will be even faster.
1 Like
the old method was better, now you have it on the viewport all of the time.
2 Likes
Background iamges are not something that really is in the scene. People shouldn’t have to use scene empties that, as mentioned, appear not only in the ortho views, etc., no matter how many cumbersome, absurd workflows you can come up with in order to try to make it equivalent.
It is pretty obvious that some people decide first that they are going to defend literally anything that comes from 2.8, and then try to come up with reasons to defend it. If tomorrow they announced that 2.8 is going to remove cubes, these people would defend it saying that you can just create a cylinder with 4 sides and same height as radius.
1 Like
You can disable the Image empties for perspective view, and only make them visible if viewed from the front or back. So basically it is the same as in 2.7, just a different way to set it up. In my opinion, even easier to align.
But apart from that, I cant even figure out how to show an image in the empty, it worked for me in a previous 2.8 build.
1 Like
If you already perfectly aligned all your views befor adding as a background I agree. Bute aligning the images with the sliders was really annoying in 2.7.
I am pretty sure that each and every time I have ever brought a background image into older version of Blender I have been annoyed. Every single time. It was insanely frustrating to scale and position them. It often involved swearing. There just isn’t enough control of size and position when working with images which are intended as reference for small objects.
1 Like
Well it wasnt that much of a torture for me, but it was annoying for sure 