PMWall Settings Guide

Updated 2 weeks ago · 7 min readIntermediate

PMWall settings live in two places, and which one you need depends on whether the setting describes the event or the device.

Event settings are authored in the Foto Master Cloud template and arrive when you click Sync Event. They cover the mosaic itself: grid, main image, behaviour, blending, matching, contest, and printed labels.
Global settings are configured locally in the PMWall app under the Settings tab. They cover this computer: cloud sync toggles, printer hardware, moderation, and storage.

The dividing line is deliberate. Anything an operator sets once per event belongs in the Cloud template so it travels with the event. Anything tied to the machine on site stays local.

Event Settings (Cloud Template)

Configure these in the PMWall template in Foto Master Cloud. See Configuring PMWall Templates in Foto Master Cloud for the full walkthrough.

Grid

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.

Tiles are square, so the wall's aspect ratio is columns to rows. Match the main image to that shape.

Event Behavior

Event duration -- Countdown started when Start Mosaic is pressed. Default 180 minutes.
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 -- The single most important behaviour choice. See below.
Minimum visible time -- How long a placed tile is protected before it can be replaced. Default 30 seconds. Only applies 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. Default off. It does not mean duplicates are allowed from the start.

When the Wall Is Full

Until the wall fills, every mode behaves identically: each photo goes straight into its best-matching free cell. This setting only decides what happens once every cell is taken.

Option	What happens when the wall is full
Stop: freeze the finished wall	The wall freezes at its best state. Later photos are logged but not placed. Default.
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 guest participation matters more than image fidelity, and Stop when the finished wall has to stay stable -- for a photo opportunity or a physical board build.

Tile Matching and Cropping

Color accuracy -- Weight for matching tile colour to the main image. Default 55%.
Detail matching -- Weight for texture and structure. Default 25%.
Variety -- How strongly to avoid similar photos landing next to each other. Default 20%.
Face area preference -- How strongly to favour good matches in face and skin zones. Default 50%.
Mirrored tiles -- Also scores each photo flipped horizontally and places the better orientation. Doubles effective tile variety without more photos. Default off.
Scatter -- Adds randomness to placement. 0% puts every photo in its exact best cell; higher values pick among the top matches for a less mechanical look. Default 0%.
Crop mode -- Smart (face-aware), Center crop, or Safe (upper-third bias). Default Smart.
Face crop bias -- How strongly Smart crop centres on faces. Default 60%.
Upper-third bias -- How far Safe crop shifts upward. Default 15%.

The weights are relative and normalised automatically, so what matters is their ratio, not the individual numbers.

Blending and Colorization

Four zones, each with a blend style and a Portrait visibility strength. Higher values make the main image more visible and the individual guest photos less distinct.

Zone	Default style	Default strength
Background	Soft light	10%
Body & clothing	Soft light	45%
Skin	Overlay	65%
Face	Overlay	85%

Face strength is high on purpose: facial features have to stay recognisable from across a room, which is what makes a mosaic read. Two global controls sit on top -- Colorization (default 70%), the master dial for main-image influence, and Alpha look (default 50%), a post-blend fade toward the main image.

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.

Contest and Printed Labels

Contest mode hides winning cells in the grid; the guest whose photo lands on one wins. Printed-label options control the C12/R4 wall-position text on each printed tile. See Configuring PMWall Contest Mode and Printing PMWall Mosaic Tiles and Labels.

When Changes Take Effect

PMWall reads event settings once, when the mosaic starts. A sync never changes a running wall.

Locked once the wall has tiles -- Columns, Rows, Cell output size, and the main image. Changing any of these invalidates every placed tile, so PMWall asks for confirmation and clears the wall on the next start.
Applies on the next start -- matching, blending, crop, event behaviour, contest, and engine settings.
Already live -- printer settings, the printed label options, and moderation.

Global Settings (This Device)

Open the Settings tab. The sidebar is About, Cloud, Printer, Runtime, and Storage. Most panels have a Save Changes button; About and Storage apply immediately and have none.

About

Shows Product, License, License Key, License Id, Environment, and the Device ID that the license is bound to. License status reads as a lifetime license, a valid-until date, or an expiry date. This panel also carries support contact details and links to the Cloud platform, this knowledge base, the Feedback Center, and the shop.

Cloud

Controls what moves between this computer and Foto Master Cloud.

Download Raw Photos -- Pulls raw guest photos from the Cloud event gallery into the mosaic. On by default, and the setting that makes booth and Selfie Wi-Fi photos appear on the wall.
Download Final Photos -- Pulls the booth's finished, branded output instead of the raw capture. Off by default.
Upload Raw Photos (if not downloaded from the Gallery already) -- Uploads locally sourced raw photos to the Cloud gallery. Off by default.
Upload Mosaic Tiles (Virtual Mosaic) -- Publishes rendered mosaic tiles to the Cloud so the online Virtual Mosaic can show them. On by default. This is the toggle that populates a Virtual Mosaic.

Printer

Output Mode -- Windows Driver prints to a printer on this machine, FMPrint routes through FMPrint, and Hot Folder writes files to a watched folder for an external print system.
Use Windows default printer -- On by default. Turn it off to pick an explicit Printer.
Hot Folder Path -- The watched directory, used in Hot Folder mode.
Label Profile -- Apply CM3500 Preset fills in the Epson CM3500 baseline. Set Label Width (in) and Label Height (in) (both default 2.0), Resolution DPI (default 300, used for the Hi-Res export), and Labels Per Minute (default 120).
Local Printer Tuning -- Orientation, Compatibility, and Padding (px) for Left, Top, Right, and Bottom.

Labels Per Minute is not cosmetic. PMWall compares remaining time against remaining cells at this rate to decide whether the event has entered Critical mode. Set it to match your actual hardware.

Runtime

Moderation > Enable moderation -- Holds new raw photos for approval before they can be placed. Off by default. Approve or reject from the Queue Management tab.
AI Models (this device) > Models Folder Override (optional) -- An explicit folder to search for the optional face-detection and segmentation models. PMWall falls back to a heuristic analyser when they are absent, so this is optional.
Debug Artifacts -- Write placements.csv (on), Write zone map preview PNGs (on), and Write score overlay artifacts (off). Useful for diagnosing placement behaviour.

Moderation is read live, so you can turn it on or off during an event.

Storage

Everything here applies immediately.

Base Folder -- Where PMWall keeps events, logs, and models. Open Folder opens it.
Auto-delete event content -- Delete folders older than a set number of days, default 30. Off by default. Leave it off until you are certain finished events have been exported and delivered.
Enable system log -- On by default, with Open Logs and Delete Logs.
Enable memory diagnostics -- Record memory every so many seconds, default 30. Off by default; enable only when investigating a problem.
Log Categories -- Startup, Crash, Settings, Network, Licensing, Cloud, Storage, and Memory, with Select All and Deselect All.