How Can I See What a Wall Mural Will Look Like Before Printing It?

Choosing an image for a wall mural can be exciting.

But there is a big difference between looking at an image on a computer screen and imagining that same image covering an entire wall.

Will it suit the room?

Will the important parts of the artwork be in the right place?

Will it work with the furniture?

Is the design right for a lounge, bedroom, child's room or commercial space?

This is where room staging can help.

Room staging creates a visual preview of your mural on a wall before the mural is actually printed.

You don't need complicated graphics software to do it. Mural Station provides two different ways to create a room preview depending on what you need.

Option 1: Create a Mural Mockup Using an Empty Room

Sometimes you simply need an attractive room image to display your artwork.

Perhaps you're a photographer, artist or mural seller and want to show potential customers how one of your images could look as a full-size wall mural.

You don't need to find and photograph a real empty room.

Mural Station includes a library of empty rooms that you can use for staging.

Choose a room, upload your artwork and position it on the wall by dragging the corners of the artwork into place.

You can quickly turn an image on your computer into a visual example of that artwork being used as a wall mural.

Add Furniture and Create the Right Setting

An empty room isn't always the best way to present artwork.

The surroundings help people imagine who the room is for and how the mural might actually look when the room is being used.

Mural Station therefore also includes a library of furniture, fittings and other props.

Select the items you want, drag them into the room and resize and position them to suit your scene.

This lets you experiment with different settings.

A colourful design might suit a child's bedroom.

A landscape photograph might work beautifully in a lounge.

Another image might be better suited to an adult bedroom or a different type of interior.

Instead of the room deciding how your artwork is presented, you can create a room around the artwork.

For photographers, artists and mural sellers, these staged images can then be useful when presenting mural designs on a website, online shop or other sales material.

Option 2: Preview a Mural in the Customer's Actual Room

Sometimes a generic room isn't enough.

A potential customer may like a mural but still have one very understandable question:

In this situation, they can send you a photograph of their actual room.

That photograph can be uploaded into Mural Station and used to create a much more personal mural preview.

If furniture or fittings are covering the wall, Mural Station's AI tools can be used to remove those items while you prepare the wall area.

The chosen mural artwork can then be positioned on the wall.

The furniture and fittings can be put back into the scene afterwards, allowing the customer to see the mural in the context of their own room.

Instead of asking somebody to imagine the result, you can show them a visual representation of the idea in their own space.

Give Customers Another Way to Explore a Mural Before Buying

Buying a wall mural can be a significant decision.

A customer may be considering covering an entire wall with one image, so it's understandable that they may want more confidence before committing.

One traditional option is to order a printed sample.

A sample can be useful for examining things such as the actual printed material, surface texture and colour.

But a small sample cannot easily answer another important question:

What will the complete mural look like across my wall and alongside my furniture?

That's where a room preview can help.

It doesn't have to replace a physical sample. The two serve different purposes.

A sample helps the customer examine the physical printed product.

A room mockup helps them visualise the overall mural in the space where it may eventually be installed.

Turn Room Staging Into Part of Your Customer Service

For photographers, artists, decorators and mural sellers, room staging can also become part of the way you work with potential customers.

Instead of simply displaying an artwork and hoping somebody can imagine it at wall size, you could offer something much more personal:

Now the customer is involved in the process.

They aren't only looking at a generic product photograph.

They're looking at their room and their chosen artwork together.

That can also make it easier to discuss alternatives.

Would another image suit the room better?

Would the mural work better on a different wall?

Does the artwork suit the furniture and surroundings?

Room staging gives you something visual to discuss rather than expecting everybody to picture the finished result in their head.

Take Mural Staging to the Customer

Room staging doesn't have to be done from an office or studio.

It can also become part of an on-site presentation when visiting a customer's home or commercial premises.

For example, an interior designer, decorator or mural supplier could take a photograph of the customer's chosen room, sit down with them and create the room preview while they are there.

Different mural ideas can be placed onto the wall and discussed with the customer while they can actually see the options in their own space.

Once a preferred design has been chosen, the completed room visual can be downloaded or printed directly from Mural Station. Each download or print uses one of the user's available usage allowances.

For somebody regularly visiting customers, taking a portable printer and suitable photographic paper could make this an even more personal service.

Instead of asking the customer to provide a printer, you can produce an A4 presentation yourself and hand it to them before you leave.

The customer now has something physical to keep: a visual of their own room with their chosen mural.

Why Might the Printed Mural Look Different From My Screen?

There is another difficulty when choosing artwork for a mural that isn't always obvious.

The image you see on a computer screen is produced using RGB light. Because the screen itself produces light, colours can appear particularly bright and vivid.

Printing works differently. Commercial printing commonly uses CMYK inks on a physical material, so some colours may appear less bright or vivid than they did on the screen.

Mural Station's Room Staging area includes a colour simulator to help demonstrate this difference.

It can give you a more realistic visual indication of how the artwork may change when moving from a bright screen image towards a printed mural.

This is still a simulation rather than an exact colour proof. The final result can also be affected by the printer, inks, material, lighting and other production factors.

But for visualisation, the simulator helps address another important question before production:

Useful for Commercial Projects Too

The same approach can be useful beyond people's homes.

Hotels, offices, restaurants, reception areas, shops and other commercial interiors can all involve decisions about large wall graphics.

Taking a photograph of the actual space and creating a mural preview can help everyone involved discuss the same visual idea.

Interior designers, decorators, mural suppliers and their clients can look at the proposed result together before moving further into production.

A Preview Is Still a Preview

Room staging is a visualisation tool.

It can help you judge the overall design, placement and relationship between the mural and the room, but it isn't the finished printed product.

Screens, printers, materials and lighting can all affect how colours appear.

If exact printed colour, material or texture is important to the project, discuss those requirements with your chosen printer and consider a physical print sample where appropriate.

The purpose of room staging is different.

It answers the bigger visual question:

“How could this mural look in this space?”

From Artwork to Something You Can Imagine on a Wall

A photograph or piece of artwork sitting on a computer screen can be difficult to imagine at wall size.

Room staging bridges that gap.

Use one of Mural Station's empty rooms when you need a quick professional-looking setting for your artwork.

Add furniture and props when you want to create a particular style of room.

Or upload a photograph of the actual customer's space when you want to create a personalised preview.

Whether you're preparing your own mural, displaying artwork for sale, helping a customer make a decision or presenting ideas for a commercial project, the principle is the same:

Don't just ask someone to imagine the mural on the wall. Show them.