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How to showcase your art in a room mockup and increase your reach

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Your latest art piece is ready and now the time has come to share it online with your audience: collectors, art lovers, colleagues, and like-minded people interested in your artistic vision. Is there a creative way to do it beyond just photographing your artwork? Well, that’s where digital room mockups open up a new path to explore.


From living rooms to halls, hotels, and galleries, ArtPlacer offers a variety of customizable room mockups in different styles. This is a unique way to present your art that lets potential collectors know how your art pieces will look in a certain room, with a particular style reflecting your personal aesthetic. Keep reading to find easy ways to create mockups of your art in place for social media and other digital channels!

Example of an artwork by Vicky Barranguet showcased in a digital room setup. Use this room.

Choose the right room mock-up to showcase your art

There are many styles and options available that will highlight your art,  but you can make a quick and smart choice following these tips:

-Take into account the type of room, whether you’d like to hang your art in an office or in a living room.

-Pay attention to the style of that space. Would you rather go with a luxury approach or a minimalistic one?

-Keep an eye on the size of the wall. Is your piece big or small? If you do prints in several sizes, there’s no need to take this item into account. 

-And then check the wall color. The background color has a big influence on the overall look of a mockup. If you select a space with no wall color editing capabilities, make sure that the shade is a good match for your piece. If you select a Smart Space, you’ll be able to choose any wall color and even use an eyedropper to extract a matching hue from your artwork.

Pick the right wall color for your room mockup: if you have selected a Smart Space, you have endless possibilities when it comes to playing with wall colors. Choose a palette that will capture the viewer’s attention.

Wall colors give an overall feeling to the space. Are you looking to convey a calm yet cozy vibe? Go with monochromatic palettes of warm off-whites or earth tones. Are you going for a more luxe approach? Use deep blues and maroons. Check for current color trends and palettes to achieve the desired result.

If your room is not a Smart Space, make sure to pick one with wall colors in a hue that goes well with your artwork. There are over 2800 room mockups of varied styles, you’ll be able to find the right fit for your creation.

Pro tip: If you start this journey with a clear idea in mind, browse our curated categories, use the left-hand filters, and look for particular settings using the search bar to narrow your search.

How to frame your artwork in a room mockup

There is a frame for every piece. This detail can both highlight your piece and give a real sense of how it will look hung on a wall in real life.

Inside ArtPlacer’s web app, click on the Frames button to see a variety of ready-to-use frames. There are natural wood and painted frames, with a variety of mats from floating to single mount and even mat–less or canvases.

The options don’t end there: these frames are fully customizable. Start with the one you like and tweak it to match your design or, if you are feeling creative, you can build your digital frame from scratch. If you are placing several framed pieces, try to create a theme to make your selection cohesive

Framing 4 watercolors and a photograph. Use this room.

For the watercolors, we’ve created a mix of delicate woods that make the greens and natural tones of the paintings look radiant. To display the photograph we chose a canvas print. You can achieve this same look, just choose the following characteristics in the Frame Builder:

  1. A natural cherry thin frame (1.4 cm)
  2. A white, flat wooden frame of similar dimensions (1.6 cm)
  3. A natural ash wood frame (1.8 cm) with a cool off-white floating mat (5 cm)  
  4. Another wood frame, this time cherry wood, of the same dimensions of the previous one (1.8 cm) with a smaller and less cool white mat (2.5 cm)
  5. Canvas 

Pro tip: Use your frames wisely to easily give a hint on the medium of your artwork.

In this picture, the light source is not visible but you can get a hint of having a big window to the left from the objects in the room and the shadow they cast. Use this room.

How to customize the lighting in your room mockup

Once you have selected a room and a frame for your piece. Go to the bottom panel, click on Lighting and you’ll see the following options: “no shadow”, “center shadow”, “left shadow”, and “right shadow”. 

To choose the right option, look for the main light source in the room. Is there a curtain or a window on the left? Then choose “right shadow”, for the artwork to cast a darker shade towards the right. If there isn’t a visible light source, look at the shadows the objects of the scene project on the surroundings and imitate it.

In the dining room example above, there is no visible light source but one can tell that the furniture looks brighter on the left and darker on the right. Hence, we can imply that there’s a window on the left of the room casting the soft white light. Then, the best option would be to select “right shadow”. Use the shadow “spread” and “opacity” handles to find the perfect look.  
Take this note into account: If you didn’t take a professional-looking photograph of your artwork, your piece might appear a bit desaturated or not bright enough. In that case, to match the overall lighting settings of the room, play with the “brightness” and “contrast” values.

Create a subtle balance amongst pieces by placing them in a grid of 4. Use this room.

Select the right placement for your artwork in a room mockup

Evaluate the type of piece or pieces you are working with. If you have a big statement artwork, make it the main protagonist and place it in the center of the room. Tap on the “position” button to align it to the wall. 

Another good solution is to create a focus on a particular area of the room according to the available wall space and surrounding items. For example, if you like how the composition looks with specific furniture and objects in the space or you want to leave outside an object that you think doesn’t go well with your creation, use the Crop Space option.

Look for the 3-dotted button at the bottom right of the panel to access the Crop Space tool. You’ll find popular presets like Instagram Stories and Etsy listing images, but you’ll also be able to create any custom crop you desire.

If you have a pair of artworks that have the same size and relate to each other, creating a well-aligned “perfect pair” is the way to go. If you happen to have 3 pieces of the same size, creating a triptych could be the best option. In order to distribute the pieces evenly on the wall, tap on the “space evenly” icons.

Follow these templates to place your art in a room mockup in a creative way.

If you have a decent amount of pieces, and love gallery walls, evaluate the following placements:

  1. A simple grid of 4
  2. A classic grid of smaller pieces (we recommend at least 9)
  3. An eclectic set with internal axes
  4. An asymmetrical set 

Find the Crop and Share options at the bottom right. Use this room.

How to save and share a mockup of your art in place

In just a few minutes you have created a real-life-looking digital room mockup of your art in place! Make sure to click on Save new setup, this way you can come back later to the same room mockup, make small tweaks, and obtain a brand new image with the characteristics you like. Find all of these options by tapping on the 3-dotted button at the bottom right.

With your final setup ready is time to click on the Share button on that same menu. Choose the social channel of your preference, scan the QR code, and publish a social-media-worthy image in a matter of seconds. Your creativity has no end just like the options to share your creation with the world.

We know a picture is worth a thousand words, but when it comes to creating a successful social media artist profile you have to think of each post as an opportunity to share your particular vision with the world. You already took care of the visual aspects by creating a mockup of your art in place, now share it with the right caption, and let people know what goes on during your creative process.

Use this fill-in template to create a social media post caption that will engage your followers:

Here’s a view of (artwork’s name), my latest piece on (subject or theme), created with (medium). This is my vision of the space where it should be hung. What do you think about it?

You can also get help from AI tools: use these prompts to generate an attention grabbing caption.

Use the following hashtags to complete the post:

#art_we_inspire #artlovers #artofvisuals #inspiration #artplacer #artplacerapp #collectart #artcollector #artlovers #visualart #artgallery #artcollection

With your final setup ready is time to crop it in the right size for your desired social media post format. Click the “Share” button and you’ll find different options to post it directly on your channel of preference. Your creativity has no end just like the ways to share your creation with the world.

Make sure to use the hashtag #artplacer and to tag @artplacer.app on your creations to get featured on our Instagram.

Now that you have all the insider tips you are ready to create attention-grabbing mock-ups of your artwork in different spaces! Get the Art Marketing tools you need today. Log in to your ArtPlacer account or start your free trial today.

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