Building an online exhibition is not only a matter of uploading images. The curatorial question is how each work will sit in relation to the room and to the works around it. With Exhibily, an artist can build a virtual art gallery in a browser-based 360° exhibition space and arrange works according to the dimensions entered for each piece.
This makes scale part of the exhibition design. A small work can remain visibly small beside a larger canvas, while the artist can also choose alternative display modes when a different visual balance is needed. The draft can be walked through in 3D before publishing, so the hanging can be reviewed from a visitor’s point of view.
Why true size changes an online exhibition
In a conventional Online Art Gallery layout, images may appear as cards or thumbnails with similar dimensions on screen. That can hide an important part of the artwork: physical scale. A modest work and a much larger piece may look almost equivalent when both are reduced to the same image box.
Exhibily uses the width and height entered with the artwork information to place the work on the gallery wall at its true size. The viewer can therefore understand not just the image itself but also how large it is relative to neighboring works and to the surrounding wall.
Choosing the room before arranging the walls
The room is part of the curatorial decision because its architecture affects how a group of works feels. Exhibily provides four room types: Modern, Classic, Industrial and Church. Modern uses white walls and an even visual setting. Classic has a warmer museum-like character. Industrial combines brick and concrete with a high roof. Church uses a stone hall setting with columns and a vaulted interior.
The aim is not to find a universally better room. It is to choose a space whose visual character fits the work. An artist can consider whether the exhibition needs a neutral background, a traditional atmosphere, a raw architectural setting or a more distinctive interior before moving on to the hanging itself.
What happens after the artworks are uploaded?
The process moves from image files to artwork information and then to hanging. After photographs are uploaded, the artist adds details for each piece. Width and height are especially important because they determine the size used on the virtual wall.
Once the works are in the room, their order can be adjusted. Instead of accepting the first arrangement, the artist can move works and test how one piece leads into the next. The result can then be checked with the Walk through the draft option, which opens the arrangement as a 3D experience.
How do the three hanging size options differ?
| Display option | How it treats scale | What changes |
| True size | Uses the dimensions entered for each work. | The physical size relationships between works remain visible. |
| Enlarged together | Applies enlargement to the works together rather than keeping them only at true size. | The group is presented at a larger coordinated scale. |
| As large as the wall allows | Uses the available wall area to increase display size. | The works are enlarged according to the space available on the wall. |
These options address different presentation goals. True size is the clearest choice when physical dimensions are important to how the works relate to one another. The other modes let the artist adapt the display more strongly to the wall. During the hanging step, the scale shown beside the works helps make the effect of the selected option easier to judge.
Why walk through the draft before publishing?
A wall plan can look balanced from above and still feel different when experienced at eye level. A 360° virtual gallery lets the artist review spacing and sequence from inside the room. Walking through the draft can reveal whether a work feels crowded, whether a transition is abrupt or whether one piece dominates a wall more than intended.
This also helps with pacing. A visitor does not see the exhibition as one long page. They move through a room, approach individual works and continue to the next part of the show. Reviewing the draft in 3D therefore lets the artist evaluate the exhibition as a path rather than only as a collection of images.
What does the visitor receive beyond the 3D room?
The finished exhibition is more than a walk-through space. Visitors can open an artwork and read its information. Exhibily also lets a visitor with a question contact the artist directly. For the public side of the exhibition, the platform provides invitation and sharing images that can be used to announce the show.
The workflow keeps the main decisions in the artist’s hands: select the room, enter artwork dimensions, choose how scale should behave, arrange the hanging and check the result by moving through the draft. That gives the online exhibition a spatial relationship between artwork and wall that a simple grid of images cannot communicate in the same way.
