Configuring PMWall Templates in Foto Master Cloud

Updated 2 weeks ago · 8 min readBeginner

A PMWall template holds everything about a mosaic activation: the main image, the grid, and every behaviour setting PMWall uses during the event. Because the template lives in Foto Master Cloud, you can prepare and approve an entire event before the event computer is on site.

PMWall receives the template when the operator clicks Sync Event.

Before You Start

A Foto Master Cloud account with an active event
A PMWall license assigned to the event or available to the operator account
The main image the mosaic should reveal
The intended output format: display or board aspect ratio, and approximate tile count
A few test photos so you can run a full sync and placement test before guests arrive

Create or Edit a PMWall Template

Log in to cloud.fotomaster.com.
Open Presets.
Select PMWall.
Click New Template, or open an existing PMWall template.
Give the template a clear name that identifies the client, event, or grid.
Click Save Changes when you are done.

The editor is organised into nine tabs:

Tab	What it controls
Main Image & Grid	The image the mosaic reveals, the grid, and the printed board file
Event Behavior	Duration, and what happens once the wall is full
Blending & Colorization	How strongly tiles are pulled toward the main image
Tile Matching	How PMWall chooses a cell for each photo, and how photos are cropped
Contest	Hidden winning cells and how a win is announced
Printing	The C/R wall-position label on each printed tile
Advanced Engine	Low-level ingestion and placement tuning
Simulator	A planning calculator; saves nothing
Virtual Mosaic	The online player experience

Most tabs offer a restore-defaults control that resets only that tab.

Main Image & Grid

Template Name -- Identifies the client, event, grid, or output type.
Main Image -- The image the mosaic reveals. Required; the mosaic cannot start without it.
Columns -- Tile columns across the mosaic. Default 24, maximum 200.
Rows -- Tile rows down the mosaic. Default 24, maximum 200.
Cell output size -- Pixel size of each accepted tile. Default 600 px, range 32-2400. At 300 DPI, 600 px is a 2 x 2 inch printed tile.

Columns multiplied by rows is the number of cells, and therefore roughly the number of guest photos needed to fill the wall. A 50x50 grid needs about 2,500 photos. The editor shows a live total as you type.

Main Image Framing

Tiles are square, so the wall's aspect ratio is simply columns to rows. If the main image does not match, PMWall crops it.

The editor shows the required aspect ratio and dims the region PMWall will discard. Use Adjust framing to choose the crop yourself, with Crop to drag and zoom, or Fit to letterbox the whole image over a background colour. Framing there means what you approve in the Cloud is exactly what appears on the wall.

If you change Columns or Rows after uploading, the stored image no longer matches the new shape. The preview stays honest and shows the new crop, but re-frame the image so nothing important is lost. See PMWall Main Image Framing and Aspect Ratio.

Print Board

Generates a vector PDF of the physical board from the same grid. Set Tile width, Tile height, Border thickness, Outer padding, Font size, and the border and background colours, then click Download Print PDF.

Lock the grid before the board goes to print. Changing columns or rows afterwards breaks alignment between the printed board and the software output. See Creating a PMWall Print Board File for Your Print House.

Event Behavior

Event duration -- The countdown PMWall starts when Start Mosaic is pressed. Default 180 minutes, range 1-720.
Process existing photos on start -- Processes photos already in the event's raw folder before live monitoring begins. Default on.
When the wall is full -- See below.
Minimum visible time -- How long a placed tile is protected before it can be replaced. Default 30 seconds. Shown only when the wall keeps replacing.
Allow duplicate relaxation -- Lets PMWall relax duplicate penalties, but only when it detects the wall will not fill in time at the current pace. Default off. Duplicates are never allowed from the start of the event.

When the Wall Is Full

Until every cell is taken, all three options behave identically: each photo goes straight into its best-matching free cell. This setting only decides what happens afterwards.

Option	What happens once the wall is full
Stop: freeze the finished wall	The wall freezes at its best state. Later photos are logged but not placed. Default for new templates.
Keep improving the match only	The wall keeps swapping in better-matching photos. Late guests are not guaranteed a slot.
Keep everyone visible: recycle background tiles	Late guests still get a turn. PMWall recycles background tiles so nobody is left off, which means an earlier photo is replaced.

Choose Keep everyone visible when participation matters more than image fidelity, and Stop when the finished wall must stay stable for a photo opportunity or a board build.

Older templates may still store the legacy values Best Match or Permanent. Both mean best-effort placement and are mapped onto these options automatically when the template is opened.

Blending & Colorization

Blending controls how strongly guest tiles are pulled toward the main image. Four zones are treated separately, each with a Blend style and a Portrait visibility strength.

Zone	What it covers	Default style	Default strength
Background	Areas behind the main subject	Soft light	10%
Body & clothing	Subject, clothing, hair, logo, product, silhouette	Soft light	45%
Skin	Skin-tone regions	Overlay	65%
Face	Face areas	Overlay	85%

Blend styles are Soft light (subtle), Overlay (more contrast), and Multiply (darkening).

Face strength is high on purpose: facial features have to stay recognisable from across a room, which is what makes a mosaic read as a picture rather than a collage. Values of 75-95% are recommended.

Two global controls sit on top:

Colorization -- Master dial for how much the main image influences the whole blend. Default 70%.
Alpha look -- A post-blend fade toward the main image. Default 50%. 0% is pure blend modes; 100% is a traditional alpha overlay. High values reduce tile clarity.

Use stronger blending on small grids where the main image needs to stay readable, and lighter blending on large grids where guest photos should stay natural.

Tile Matching

Placement Priorities

Weights are relative and normalised automatically, so their ratio is what matters.

Color accuracy -- Matches tile colour to the main image. Default 55%.
Detail matching -- Matches texture and structure. Default 25%.
Variety -- Avoids similar photos landing next to each other. Default 20%.
Face area preference -- Favours better matches in face and skin zones. Default 50%.

Placement Style

Mirrored tiles -- Also scores each photo flipped horizontally and places the better orientation. Doubles effective tile variety without needing more photos. Default off.
Scatter -- Adds randomness to placement. 0% puts every photo in its exact best cell; higher values choose among the top matches for a less mechanical look. Default 0%.

Smart Crop

Crop mode -- Smart (face-aware), Center crop, or Safe (upper-third bias). Default Smart.
Face crop bias -- How strongly Smart crop centres on detected faces. Default 60%. Shown for Smart only.
Upper-third bias -- How far Safe crop shifts upward. Default 15%. Shown for Safe only.

Run a test after changing matching settings. Small changes affect both how recognisable the main image is and how clearly guests can see themselves.

Contest

Hides winning cells in the grid. The guest whose photo lands on one wins, PMWall announces it live, and the Virtual Mosaic celebrates the tile online. Covered in full in Configuring PMWall Contest Mode.

Printing

Controls the C12/R4 wall-position label printed on each tile so staff know where it goes on the board. See Printing PMWall Mosaic Tiles and Labels.

Advanced Engine

Low-level tuning. The defaults suit typical events; change these only with intent. See PMWall Advanced Engine and Printing Settings.

Simulator

A planning calculator for cost, print time, physical wall size, and printer media, computed from this template's grid. It saves nothing and sends nothing to the booth. See The PMWall Event Simulator.

Virtual Mosaic

Configures the online player. This tab requires the Virtual Mosaic account add-on. See Configuring PMWall Virtual Mosaic in Foto Master Cloud.

Assign the Template to an Event

Open the Cloud event.
Assign the PMWall template to the PMWall license used for the event.
Open PMWall on the event computer and sign in.
Select the event on the Dashboard tab.
Click Sync Event.
Confirm the main image, grid, and behaviour settings before starting the live mosaic.

Pre-Event Test

Sync the event in PMWall.
Confirm the correct event is selected and the main image downloaded.
Add a few raw test photos.
Click Start Mosaic.
Confirm photos appear in sensible positions.
Stop the test and clear the test media.

Tip: Settle Columns, Rows, Cell output size, and the main image before the event. Changing any of them after the wall has tiles on it clears every placed tile on the next start, and PMWall will ask you to confirm that.