Moodboards give you a visual canvas right inside your Project where you can pull together images, shapes, notes, and colors to bring your design concept to life. They bridge the gap between early inspiration and final specification. Use a Moodboard to set the look and feel of a room, get your Client’s buy-in on a direction, and then turn the products on your board into Project Items you can propose and order. Because your Moodboards live inside the Project, not in a separate design tool, your concept, your Client’s approval, and your purchasing all stay in one place.
Here is an example of a Moodboard created in Design Manager
Create a Moodboard
1. Open an existing Project, or create a new one.
2. In the Project, click the Moodboard tab.
3. Click the green New Moodboard button.
4. Choose whether to start from scratch or from a template you previously created.
5. Enter a name for the Moodboard.
6. If it applies, select a location or room for the Moodboard.
7. Click Create Moodboard. The Moodboard canvas opens, ready for you to add content.
The Moodboard's name appears at the top left, next to Back, which returns you to the Project. The canvas controls sit in these spots:
• Menu (three-line icon): top left
• Toolbar: top center
• Pinterest, Print guides, and Save: top right
• Zoom and Undo/Redo: bottom left
• Help (? icon): bottom right
Canvas menu
Click the menu icon (three lines) in the top-left corner of the canvas to export your Moodboard or change canvas settings.
Export Image: Saves the Moodboard as an image file on your computer
Export to PDF: Saves the Moodboard on your computer as a PDF to share or print
Snap to objects: Aligns items to nearby objects as you move them
Toggle Grid: Shows or hides a grid on the canvas to help with layout
Center images: Centers the images on the canvas
Reset the canvas: Clears the canvas so you can start over
Set background image: Places an image behind everything on the canvas to act as a background
Canvas Background: Changes the canvas background color
Toolbar
The toolbar runs across the top center of the canvas. Most tools have a number-key shortcut, shown as a small number beside each icon.
Keep selected tool active (lock icon): Keeps the current tool selected after you draw, so you can add several items in a row
Hand (panning): Click and drag to move around the canvas
Selection: Select, move, and resize items on the canvas
Rectangle: Draws a rectangle or square
Diamond: Draws a diamond shape
Ellipse: Draws an oval or circle
Arrow: Draws an arrow to point to or connect items
Line: Draws a straight line
Draw: Draws freehand
Text: Adds a text box for labels or notes
Insert image: Adds an image to the canvas. You can also add an image to canvas by using your computers copy and paste functions
Eraser: Removes items from the canvas
Tip: To move around the canvas without switching tools, hold the mouse wheel or spacebar while you drag.
Image options
When you have added an image to the Moodboard and select it, an options panel opens on the left side of the canvas.
Edges: Square corners will shows the image with sharp, square corners and rounded corners will soften the image’s corners
Opacity: Drag the slider to make the image more transparent (toward 0) or fully solid (100)
Layers: Use these when images or shapes overlap to control which one appears on top
Send to back: Moves the image behind all other items
Send backward: Moves the image back one layer
Bring forward: Moves the image up one layer
Bring to front: Moves the image in front of all other items
Actions
Duplicate: Makes a copy of the image on the canvas
Delete: Removes the image from the canvas
Link: Adds a link to the image
Crop: Trims the image to show only the part you want
Shape and text options
When you select a shape, line, arrow, drawing, or text box, an options panel opens on the left side of the canvas. Along with the Edges, Opacity, and Layers options described above, you can set:
Stroke: Picks the color of the outline, line, or text. Click the swatch on the right to choose a custom color
Background: Fills the shape with a color. The checkered swatch leaves it transparent
Stroke width: Makes the outline thin, medium, or thick
Stroke style: Makes the outline solid, dashed, or dotted
Sloppiness: Controls how hand-drawn the shape looks, from clean and precise to loose and sketchy
Arrow type and Arrowheads: Select the type and style of arrow
Font Family: Select the type or style font
Font Size: Select the size of the font
Text Align: Select left, middle or right align
Other canvas controls
Pinterest: Connect your Pinterest account to browse your boards and drop pins onto this Moodboard
Print guides (top right): Shows the printable area so your layout fits the page when you print or export. You can select the print layout you want: Letter (8.5x11), A4 (8.3×11.7), Legal (8.5x14), Portrait or Landscape
Save (top right): Saves your changes to the Moodboard
Zoom (bottom left): Click − or + to zoom out or in. The current zoom level shows between them
Undo and redo (bottom left): Reverses or restores your most recent changes
Help (bottom right): Click the ? icon to see the available keyboard shortcuts.
Tip: Save often as you work, especially before exporting or resetting the canvas.
Create Item
After you have added images to the Moodboard, you can select an image and add it as an item into the Project by clicking on the Create Item button (top right).
Manage your Moodboards
After you create a Moodboard, it shows as a card on the Project’s Moodboards tab. Each card shows:
A preview of the Moodboard
The Moodboard name (click it to open the canvas)
A status badge in the top right corner that shows where the Moodboard stands with your client (for example, Not Set before it’s been reviewed)
The room it’s assigned to, or No room assigned if a location wasn't selected when first creating the Moodboard
The date it was last updated
Click the three-dot menu on a card to:
Edit: Opens the Moodboard canvas so you can make changes
Duplicate: Makes a copy of the Moodboard, which is handy for creating a variation on a design option
Delete: Removes the Moodboard from the project
Use the Search bar at the top of the tab to find a Moodboard by name, or click Template Library to see the templates you’ve saved.
Share a Moodboard on the Client Portal
On the Project’s Moodboards tab and in the Moodboard card, click on Share to Portal to add to the Client Portal.
You can view the Client Portal to see what the Moodboard looks like by going to Settings in the Project and clicking on Launch Portal,
When your client logs in to the Client Portal they can view the Moodboard. Each Moodboard shows a preview, its name, and its review status, such as Pending Review.
Your client can:
Open the Moodboard: Click the name to view the full Moodboard. They can zoom in or out using the − and + buttons at the bottom left, and click Back to return to the list
Leave a comment: Click the comment icon in the top left corner of the Moodboard and click on an image to share feedback
Approve or Reject: Click Approve if they’re happy with the design, or Reject if they’d like changes
The client’s response updates the status badge on the Moodboard card in the project’s Moodboards tab, so you can see at a glance which options have been approved. Any comment a client adds can be seen by going into the Moodboard.
You can remove the Moodboard from the Client Portal by clicking on Shared to Portal on the Moodboard card.
Managing Moodboards
Each Moodboard appears as a card on the Project’s Moodboards tab. The card shows a preview, the board’s name, its assigned room (or “No room assigned”), the last-updated date, and a status badge showing where it stands with the client. The card also shows an option to Share to Portal. The three-dot menu lets you edit, duplicate, or delete a board. Duplicating is the quickest way to build a variation, since you can copy Option 1, swap the chair and pillows, and rename it Option 2. A search bar finds boards by name, and the Template Library button opens your saved templates.
Moodboard Templates
You can create a template to use for MoodBoards by going to the Settings or gear icon in the main navigation to the left. Then select Moodboard Templates.
Click on New Template and build your Moodboard template with the tools explained previously.