How to show the real size of an artwork online

Why buyers hesitate

A screen shrinks every artwork to the same size. A 30 cm print and a 150 cm canvas fill the same phone screen, so the buyer has to imagine the rest.

The Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2023 asked people who had not bought art online why. The most common reason, at 70 %, was the worry that « the artwork will look different in real life than it does on the web ». That figure was 78 % in 2022. The second reason, at 66 %, was not being able to see the piece before buying. The survey asks about how a work looks in general, not size alone, but size is a large part of what a screen hides.

Put the dimensions where buyers look

The simplest fix is also the one most often missed. Make the size impossible to overlook.

• Put the size in the product title or right under it, for example « Harbour at Dawn, 60 × 80 cm ».
• Give both centimetres and inches if you sell abroad.
• State whether the size includes the frame, and give the framed size separately.
• Give the depth for canvases and framed works, since it changes how a piece sits on the wall.

Avoid size names on their own, such as « Large ». They mean different things to different people.

Offer sizes and frames as options

If a work comes in several sizes or frames, list each as an option of the same product, with the dimensions in the option name. A buyer can then compare sizes in one place. On Shopify, these are product variants. Note that Shopify does not allow 3D models as variant media, so a single AR view on a Shopify product page shows one size unless the page is built to switch between them.

Show the work in a room

A room picture tells the buyer more than any number, as long as the scale is right. The trick is to place the artwork beside things whose size everyone knows.

• A sofa, a sideboard or a bed. People know roughly how big these are.
• A door frame or a person, for very large works.
• An armchair or a desk lamp, for small works.

The scale must be true. A mockup that makes a small print look like a wall-sized canvas sells the work once and then brings it back. If you make mockups, place the artwork using its real dimensions against furniture of known dimensions, and use the same room for every size so buyers can compare.

Show each work in two or three settings, such as above a sofa, above a bed and in a hallway. Buyers are rarely furnishing the room in your picture.

Common sizing guidance

Buyers often ask what size fits above their sofa. Interior and art retailers repeat a common rule of thumb. Fine Art America’s guide and Montcarta’s sizing guide both suggest art about two thirds of the sofa’s width, with Montcarta giving two thirds to three quarters. For an 84-inch (213 cm) sofa, Montcarta works this out to roughly 56 to 63 inches (142 to 160 cm) of art.

For height, Fine Art America’s guide suggests hanging a work so its centre sits 57 to 60 inches (about 145 to 152 cm) from the floor, and leaving 6 to 10 inches (about 15 to 25 cm) between the top of the sofa and the bottom of the frame. These are retailers’ rules of thumb, not standards, but they are a helpful starting point to share with buyers.

Let buyers see it on their own wall

Wall AR is the most direct answer to the size question. AR, short for augmented reality, shows the artwork on the buyer’s own wall through the phone’s camera, at its real size. No app is needed.

Here is how it works. The artwork becomes a thin 3D model with the image on its front, built at the exact width, height and depth of the work, with its frame if it has one. The phone finds a flat surface and places the model on it.

Both phone systems can place a model on a wall. Apple’s documentation for its AR files lists a « vertical » placement that anchors an object « on a wall, door, window, or other vertical surface ». Google’s Scene Viewer, the AR viewer on Android, has a setting that lets users « place the model on a vertical surface ». model-viewer, a free web component many shops use to show 3D, has an ar-placement setting that defaults to the floor and can be set to « wall ».

Three details make wall AR trustworthy.

1. The model must be the exact size of the work. The file format used on Android measures in metres, so a wrong unit makes the work far too big or too small.
2. Turn off pinch-to-resize. On both iPhone and Android, shoppers can resize a model by default, which defeats the purpose. model-viewer’s ar-scale="fixed" stops it.
3. Test on a real iPhone and a real Android phone, and measure the result on the wall with a tape measure.

A simple checklist for each artwork

Before a work goes live, check these points.

• The size is in the title or just under it, in centimetres and inches.
• The framed size and depth are stated.
• Each size and frame is an option with its dimensions.
• At least one room picture shows the work beside furniture, at true scale.
• A wall AR button shows the work at its real size, without resizing.

In short

• Buyers worry that art will look different in real life, and size is a big part of that.
• Put exact dimensions, framed and unframed, where buyers look first.
• Use room pictures with furniture of known size, at true scale.
• Two thirds of the sofa’s width is a common retailer rule of thumb for art above a sofa.
• Wall AR shows the work on the buyer’s wall at real size, if the model is exact and resizing is off.

Roomhero sets up wall AR at true size for artists, galleries and print shops, at €29 a month for up to 250 artworks. If you want it set up for you, try it free with one artwork.