How does a MONA project fit together?

Quick answer: a project is the folder for one job, and each tab is one stage of the work. Files holds the floor plans, photos of the home and inspiration. CAD turns the floor plan into a to-scale plan you can look at in 3D. Chats and Visualize make the renders. The Products library and the Schedule hold the pieces and colors you pick. Slides puts the options in front of your client.

How does the work flow through a project?

1. Create the project. Go to Projects and click New project. Renders, plans, files and schedule lines made from inside the project are filed under it.
2. Gather the material in Files. Open the Files tab. On a new project, Create starter folders makes Inspiration, Reference Photos, MONA Renders, Studio Renders, Drawings & Plans, and Documents. Use Upload for floor plans, photos of the home and inspiration images, or Save from link to keep a web page with the job.
3. Make a to-scale plan in CAD. Open the CAD tab. From floorplan converts a floor plan you uploaded into an editable plan of walls, doors and windows. New plan starts a blank one. You can also ask MONA to do it: type / in the chat, choose Floorplan to 3D, attach the plan, and name the project in your message. See Can MONA read the dimensions and scale of my floor plan?.
4. Render design options. Ask MONA in the project's Chats tab (click New chat), or open the Visualize tab. Start from a photo of the room, an earlier render, or a view of your plan: in the plan's 3D view, Photorealize sends the view to Visualize as a photoreal render.
5. Swap pieces and colors. Change one thing at a time with Edit Region. Outline a wall to change its color, or outline a piece and attach a product photo to replace it. Everything outside the outline stays as it was.
6. Keep your picks. Save products and paint colors to the Products library, and add the ones you are seriously considering to the project's Schedule. More on this below.
7. Present the options. Open the Slides tab and click New deck, or ask MONA to make a mood board or a presentation for the project. Your renders and Library images are in the editor's Uploads panel. See client approvals and sharing for getting sign-off.

Every render made from a chat that belongs to the project, or from the project's Visualize tab, is filed under the project, so it shows up in the project's Files tab and in the Library when you filter by that project.

Should I work in chat or in Visualize?

Both make the same renders. The difference is how much control you want over each change.

Chat (Ask MONA, or the project's Chats tab) is best for exploring. Describe the room, the style and the products, and ask for a few directions. To change a render, just ask in the same thread, for example "now try Benjamin Moore Caliente on the cabinets". You do not need to upload the render again: MONA works from the last render in the thread. If the box still shows the Render task and asks for a photo, choose the render from Library, or remove the task with the x on its chip and send your message.

Visualize is best for hands-on refinement. Open it from the project's Visualize tab, click Select from Library, and pick a photo or render. From there:

• Edit Region changes only the area you outline: one wall, one chair, one light fixture.
• Photorealize turns a sketch, a plan view or a rough image into a photoreal render.
• Adjust Perspective changes the camera angle.
• Compare (hold it down) shows the previous version, and the history keeps every version.
• Turn to 3D makes a 3D model of one object. More on this below.

Why does a render get worse after several follow-ups?

There are two kinds of edits, and they behave differently:

• Whole-image edits redraw the entire picture. A chat follow-up such as "make it warmer", or the instructions and Apply Changes in Visualize, work this way. Each one starts from the previous result, so small changes in details, texture and sharpness add up over a long chain.
• Precise edits change only the area you outline and leave every other pixel of the original alone. In Visualize that is Edit Region. In chat, click the render to open the markup viewer, choose Region edit (lasso), outline the area, add a note and send.

A practical rule: explore with whole-image renders, then switch to precise edits once a render is close. If a render has drifted, go back to an earlier version in the history and make the change from there as a precise edit. See Will MONA change parts of my render I didn't ask it to?.

Where do I keep sample colors and products I like?

• The Products library is the shortlist for your whole studio. Open Library and pick the Products chip, then Add product and From URL to paste a product page, or Create manually for something without a link. The MONA Clipper saves products from any site in one click. Tag products and filter by Category, Brand, Vendor or Tags to find them again, and use Add to project in a product card's menu to file it under a job.
• Paint colors can be products too: save the paint brand's color page with From URL, or create one manually, and set the category to Paint. In a CAD plan, a paint product gets a Paint walls button.
• Inspiration images and photos of samples belong in the project's Files tab, in the Inspiration or Reference Photos folder. You can attach any of them as a reference image when you use Edit Region.
• The Schedule is for the pieces you are seriously considering. In the project's Schedule, click Add item and From the library to add a product you saved. New lines start as Draft. Set a line to Hidden to keep it off any schedule you share with your client. Filter by status, and use Views to save a filtered view of the schedule you want to come back to.
• Mood boards are Slides decks. Click New deck in the Slides tab and pick a Moodboard template, or ask MONA to make a mood board for the project.

For how the Library is organized, see How do I organize my Library?.

How do I get back to my 3D plan, or dollhouse?

Plans live in two places:

• The project's CAD tab lists the plans filed under that project. If a plan you made elsewhere is missing, click Add existing to file it there.
• CAD in the sidebar lists every plan in your studio.

Plans save automatically, so there is nothing to recreate. Open the plan and click Dollhouse for the 3D view, or Walk to move through it.

A plan is built from walls, doors, windows and products, not from render images, so a render cannot be dropped into it. To furnish the plan, open Your products in the plan and click Place product on a piece; Turn to 3D on a product card builds a model of it at its listed size. To get a render of the plan, use Photorealize in the 3D view, which opens the view in Visualize.

What is Turn to 3D for, and what is Floorplan to 3D for?

• Turn to 3D (in Visualize, in SD or HD) makes a 3D model of one object from an image: a chair, a lamp, a side table. Use a clear photo of that single piece. The model is saved to Library under 3D Models, and you can download it for SketchUp and other tools. It is not built for whole rooms: a room photo or a top-down render comes out as one lumpy object.
• Floorplan to 3D turns a whole floor plan into an editable, to-scale CAD plan with walls, doors, windows and a dollhouse view. Use it from the chat (type / and choose Floorplan to 3D), or from the project's CAD tab with From floorplan.

Related articles

• How do I change one wall color in a render?
• How do I replace one furniture piece in a render?
• Will MONA change parts of my render I didn't ask it to?
• How do I organize my Library?
• How do I use the MONA Clipper?
• How do I connect my Google account to MONA?
• Can I download 3D models from MONA?
• Can MONA read the dimensions and scale of my floor plan?

Want a hand?

Book a 30 minute call at calendly.com/mona-justin/30min and we will set up your first project with you, on your real floor plan and photos.

Frequently asked questions

Should I work in chat or in Visualize? Use chat to explore: describe the room and ask for options. Use Visualize, or the lasso in chat, to refine one thing at a time with Edit Region. Both file renders under the project when you start from it.

Do I need to upload the render again to change it in chat? No. Ask for the change in the same chat thread and MONA works from the last render. For a change to one area only, click the render and outline that area with Region edit (lasso).

Why does a render get worse after several follow-up requests? A whole-image follow-up redraws the entire picture from the previous result, so small changes add up. Make further changes with Edit Region, which leaves everything outside your outline untouched, or go back to an earlier version in the history and edit from there.

Where should I keep paint colors and products I like? In the Products library. Add them with Add product, From URL or Create manually, or with the MONA Clipper, and tag them. Give paint colors the category Paint. Add the ones you are seriously considering to the project’s Schedule.

Can I keep options on the schedule without the client seeing them? Yes. Set those lines to Hidden. Hidden lines never appear on a schedule you share with a client. Draft lines do, so use Draft for picks you are happy to show.

How do I get back to a 3D plan or dollhouse I already made? Open the project’s CAD tab, or CAD in the sidebar for every plan in your studio. Plans save automatically. Open the plan and click Dollhouse for the 3D view.

Can I put my renders into the 3D plan? Not as images. A plan is built from walls, doors, windows and products, so place furniture from Your products inside the plan. To get a render of the plan, click Photorealize in its 3D view.

What is the difference between Turn to 3D and Floorplan to 3D? Turn to 3D makes a 3D model of one object, such as a chair or a lamp, from an image. Floorplan to 3D turns a whole floor plan into an editable, to-scale CAD plan with a dollhouse view. For a room, use Floorplan to 3D.

Is there a mood board feature? Mood boards are Slides decks. Open the Slides tab, click New deck and pick one of the Moodboard templates, or ask MONA to make a mood board for the project.