What we built in the first half of 2026

The art world doesn’t stand still, and neither do we. In the first half of 2026, we kept building a platform that supports art professionals, lets collectors connect with the art, and helps build the relationships that make a difference when it comes to sales. 

Every feature, every improvement, every community initiative this year was a step in that direction. We shipped across every layer of the product: new ways to visualize art, new ways to experience it, a new way to grow, and a platform that keeps getting easier to navigate. Here’s what that looked like.

Cinematic, immersive videos ready to share

In March, we launched Room Mockup Video Generation. Room Mockups are a powerful tool for helping collectors imagine art in their lives, and video takes it further. Using AI, we transform any Room Mockup into cinematic five-second clips, where the camera moves the way a collector would: toward the art. Because discovery happens on social media, this feature was built for exactly that context. One mockup, one click, one video ready to share.

The ArtPlacer community has embraced Room Mockup Videos, and responding to their feedback we recently enabled credit add-ons. They can now generate as many videos as they want, either as a recurring monthly extra or as a one-time pack, with flexible billing that adapts to how different users actually work.

A Room Mockup video makes you feel like you’re there in the room with the art, as the camera moves towards the art and centers. Smooth and subtle, the focus is always on the piece.

The right space for every piece

At the beginning of the year, we started releasing seven new Room Mockups every Wednesday, shaped by direct feedback from our community. Incorporating different styles and aesthetics, we keep building a library that reflects what artists and galleries actually want to show their collectors.

Behind the scenes, the search experience for finding those spaces got smarter, too. In April, we introduced a semantic search engine for Room Mockups. Semantic search better understands what users are looking for and makes exploring the vast catalog of spaces much smoother, so that everyone can find the perfect space for their art.

Recently, Personal Spaces became meaningfully more powerful with improved wall setup and automatic perspective mapping. This aims to improve quality of life for art dealers, advisors, gallerists, and artists working on commissions, who sometimes have to work with client photos that are less than ideal. Now, they don’t need to spend time with adjustments because the art maps to the room automatically and at scale, regardless of the perspective or angle of the photo.

Add music to your Virtual Exhibition and invite your visitors to take an automatic tour for the ultimate immersive online show experience.

Virtual Exhibitions are the place to be

A great exhibition is about the art and also about the experience of being in the room; the sound, the pace, the feeling of moving from one work to the next. 

That’s exactly what we wanted to bring to our Virtual Exhibitions, and we started by adding music. Users can choose from a curated track library and set the tone of their exhibition the same way a physical space would, through atmosphere, not just imagery.

Then, we introduced the automated tour, a guided walkthrough where the camera moves through the space and pauses in front of each work, giving visitors a path through the show rather than leaving them to wander. 

Combining sound and the guided tour helps further the vision of the curator and provides an immersive experience for visitors that was, until now, reserved for in situ shows.

Our Instagram Community Channel is a place where artists, photographers, gallerists, dealers, and all kinds of art professionals gather to share, discuss, and uplift each other.

With our community, for our community

ArtPlacer exists because of the artists, galleries, and art professionals who use it; and staying genuinely connected to them is central to how we build, how we think, and how we show up. 

We want our community’s work to be seen. Every month, we spotlight a Virtual Exhibition and an Online Viewing Room created by our users, because what they make deserves a wider audience. Through the “Voices of Our Community” program, we sit down twice a month with a different artist to hear their stories: how they work, what they’re building, what the art world looks like from where they stand. And our Instagram Community Channel has become an ongoing space for exactly that kind of exchange: members’ work, real conversations, and the kind of back-and-forth that keeps us close to the people we’re building for.

We also made it easier for that community to expand. In March, we launched the Referral Program. Users can share ArtPlacer with their network, give new members a discount, and earn cash rewards for every successful referral. The art world has always moved through trust and personal recommendation, and we wanted to build something that reflects that and rewards the people who are already part of it.

We added the highly requested folders inside My Designs so you can organize according to collections, projects, clients, shows, or however best fits your workflow.

A platform that keeps getting better

Providing outstanding service to the people who trust us with their business is a commitment that guides us every day. What that looks like for us is making sure ArtPlacer runs smoothly, that every interaction is a little clearer, and every tool a little easier to reach and use.

The most visible expression of it was the new look we rolled out in February, with a redesigned interface built to make navigation simpler and more intuitive. We also updated My Designs with a folder system that’s a game-changer; enabling users to organize their work by client, by artist, by project, or in any way that makes the workflow simpler. And the less visible changes compounded too: new crop formats for social platforms (Instagram Stories, TikTok, YouTube Shorts), improved artwork shadows for greater realism, a mat board frame option, more size options for Artwork Labels. Together, these add up to a platform that feels more considered every time a user opens it.

Arteo fits into the same thinking. Our in-house AI-powered chat assistant gives users instant answers on usability and art marketing as they navigate ArtPlacer. We want to make sure users can find what they need without breaking their focus, so we keep refining Arteo based on how people actually move through the platform and what they ask when they get stuck.

Building together to build better

None of this happens in isolation. Every improvement we make starts with something our users tell us through how they work and through what they ask for. That conversation doesn’t stop, and neither does the building. 

Thank you for going on this journey with us, and stick around to find out what we do in the second half of 2026. And if you haven’t yet, this is the perfect time to join ArtPlacer; click here to begin your free trial.