How do I create a photorealistic render from a floor plan?

Quick answer: Open Ask MONA, click +, choose Render, attach an image of your floor plan, and tell MONA which room, what style, and where the camera stands. A photorealistic render comes back in the chat in a few minutes. Prefer to drive it yourself? Drop the plan into Visualize and click Photorealize. Each render costs 1 credit and is generated at 2K resolution.

Designers call this a floor plan rendering, a 2D to 3D render, or a plan-to-photo visualization. In MONA it is the same idea: your plan goes in, a client-ready image comes out, and every revision after that is a quick edit instead of another round with a render freelancer.

Before you start

• Use an image of the plan. A crisp JPG or PNG with legible room labels and dimensions gives the most faithful result. If your plan lives in a PDF, SketchUp, Revit or CAD file, export the page you want as an image or take a clean screenshot. See Can MONA read the dimensions and scale of my floor plan? for export tips.
• Every plan includes renders. They draw from your team's shared credit pool: 1 credit per render.
• Work inside the project. Starting the chat or the Visualize session from a project keeps the renders filed with that client in your Library.

How do I render a room from a floor plan with Ask MONA?

This is the fastest path, because you describe the view in plain words and MONA writes the render prompt for you.

1. Open Ask MONA in the sidebar, ideally from inside the client's project.
2. Click the + button next to the message box and choose Render under Create. You can also skip this and just type your request.
3. Attach the floor plan. Drag it into the chat, paste it, or use +, then Upload from computer or Choose from Library.
4. Describe three things: the room, the look, and the camera. For example:
   • "Eye-level view of the living room from the kitchen island, looking toward the windows. Warm minimal, white oak floors, linen sofa, late afternoon light."
   • "Top-down 3D rendering of the whole plan with furniture, oak floors throughout and tile in the bathrooms, on a white background."
5. Review the render. It appears in the chat, usually within a few minutes. Click it to open the full-size image.
6. Ask for a variation without re-uploading: "now the same room in a darker palette." MONA works from the newest image in the chat.

If you name specific products or finishes ("Phillip Jeffries grasscloth in Seafoam"), MONA looks up the real swatch and uses it as a reference, or tells you when it has to approximate, so the color is not silently guessed.

How do I render a floor plan in Visualize?

Visualize is the hands-on render studio. Use it when you want to control each change yourself.

1. Click Visualize in the sidebar.
2. Add the plan. Drag the image onto the canvas, click to browse, paste it, or click Select from Library. Visualize accepts JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF and HEIC up to 10 MB.
3. Click Photorealize ("One-click photorealistic render"). MONA writes a detailed prompt from your image and renders it.
4. Refine it in the Edit Image tab:
   • Subject (Recommended): what the image shows, such as "an open-plan living room."
   • Instructions: click Add and pick Add, Remove, Modify, Replace, Change Color or Reference Image, then describe the change. You can draw on the image to point at the exact spot.
   • Overall Style (Optional): type a look or pick a suggestion like Scandinavian Design, Mid-Century Modern or Japanese Zen.
   • Additional Instructions: anything else, like "make it sunnier."
   • Click Apply Changes.
5. Set the camera in the Adjust Perspective tab. Drag the orbit preview or the Rotation, Vertical Angle and Zoom sliders, then click Apply Changes.
6. Download. Click the download button in the top right and choose Image (jpg).

How do I revise a render without starting over?

Refine with targeted edits rather than fresh renders, so the parts your client already approved stay put.

• In chat: click Mark up this render on the image. Draw with Red pen, Rectangle, Text, or Region edit (lasso), type a note in Add a note for the agent, and click Send to Mona. See Can I mark up a render to show MONA where I want things placed?.
• In Visualize: click Edit Region, lasso the area, and describe the change. Only that area is regenerated. See Will MONA change parts of my render I didn't ask it to?.
• Compare and go back: hold Compare in Visualize to flash the previous version, and use View history to jump to any earlier step. Nothing is overwritten.

Common one-change revisions have their own guides: change one wall color and replace one piece of furniture.

How many credits does a render use?

Revisions are unlimited; each one is a new version that costs its own credit. Render times are covered in How long does a render take in MONA?.

What size are the downloads?

Renders and whole-image edits are generated at 2K resolution and download as a full-size JPG. In Visualize, use the download button and choose Image (jpg). On any image page, click More options, then Download. Images also live in your Library, so you can drop them straight into a Slides deck or proposal.

What it does not do (yet)

• It is not a measured drawing. A render shows the design; it does not prove clearances. For a to-scale plan with a 3D view, see How do I turn a 2D floor plan into a 3D model in MONA?.
• PDF and CAD files are not rendered directly. Export the sheet as an image first.
• One view per render. Ask for each room or angle separately; they can run in parallel.

Want a hand?

Book a 30-minute setup call and bring a real plan. We will render your first room together and set up the project so every render files itself.

Related articles

• How long does a render take in MONA?
• Can MONA read the dimensions and scale of my floor plan?
• Will MONA change parts of my render I didn't ask it to?
• How do I change one wall color without affecting the rest of the room?
• How do I replace one piece of furniture and keep everything else the same?
• Can I mark up a render to show MONA where I want things placed?
• How do I restyle a photo of a room with MONA?
• How do I make a fly-through video of a room?

Frequently asked questions

Can MONA turn a 2D floor plan into a photorealistic render?

Yes. Attach the plan in Ask MONA and describe the room and view you want, or drop it into Visualize and click Photorealize. You can ask for a top-down 3D rendering of the whole plan or an eye-level view of one room.

How many credits does a render cost?

A standard render or image edit is 1 credit, a Region Edit is 1 credit, and a camera angle change is 1 credit. When you ask through the MONA agent, the chat itself also uses a small amount of credits. Every plan’s credits pool across the whole team.

What file types can I upload for a floor plan render?

In Visualize: JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF and HEIC up to 10 MB. In Ask MONA, images up to 50 MB. If your plan is a PDF or a CAD file, export the page you want as a JPG or PNG first, or take a clean screenshot of it.

What resolution are MONA renders?

Renders and whole-image edits from Ask MONA and Visualize are generated at 2K resolution and download as a full-size JPG, which is plenty for client decks, proposals and screens.

How many revisions can I make?

As many as you like. Every revision is a new version, each costs its own credit, and the full version history is kept so you can go back to any earlier step.

How do I choose the camera angle for a render?

In Ask MONA, describe where the camera stands and what it looks at. In Visualize, open the Adjust Perspective tab and use Rotation, Vertical Angle and Zoom, then click Apply Changes.

Will the render match my plan’s exact dimensions?

A render is a visualization, not a measured drawing, so treat it as a picture of the design. For a to-scale model you can measure and walk through, use Floorplan to 3D, which draws the plan in MONA CAD at true scale.

Can I render every room of a plan at once?

Ask for one room at a time. You can queue several in the same chat, for example the living room, then the kitchen, then the primary bedroom, and they run in the background while you keep working.