Design EyeQ™ Visualization Experience Tutorial
Step 1: Getting Started
The Design EyeQ™ Visualization Experience from Owens Corning helps you make your dream home a reality. This tool allows you to upload a picture of your home or choose
from a range of popular home styles. Try out professionally designed color palettes or create
custom color combinations. When you’re done you can print your design, show it off, or forward
it to a contractor.
This tutorial is designed to help make the most of the Design EyeQ™ experience. To get started
click “Start Designing.” Once, you’ve entered the interface, you are asked to enter your zip code.
By entering your zip code, the tool will provide products that are available in your area of the
country.
First, let’s choose how you would like to start.
Step 2: Find a Home
Step 2a: Choose a Model Home
If you choose to select a model home, you will be taken straight to the step where you can pick
different products for roofing, siding, stone, and more.
If you decide to select a model home, please jump to Step 4 of this tutorial.
Step 2b: Upload a Photo of Your Home
If you upload your own photo, you will have to define each product area on your home in order to
visualize different products correctly. You will be taken to the area selection view, which has all
the tools you need to define areas like roof, siding, trim, etc.
Uploading your own photo is easy. Simply select a photo from your computer and you’re ready to
begin.
Tips On Taking a Good Photo of Your Home
It is best to take a straight­on image of your home, or at least as straight on as possible. Your
image should be free of obstructions such as trees or flagpoles, and use as much natural light
as possible.
Choose a time of day to take your shot where the house can be seen in its best light, with as few
shadows as possible. If you can, remove any items that lean against your home. These can be
masked over, but they may leave unusual shadows or blurs on your final image. (Masking refers
to the process of defining the sections of your house, where products will be placed.)
Be sure to include some of the scenery around your house, so you can get a better vision of
what your revitalized home will look like in its natural setting.
Take a look at this image for an example of a good home photo.
If your image is larger than 1400x1400 pixels in size, or takes up more than 5MB (five
megabytes) of space on your computer, you should shrink it down to those sizes if possible. To
do this, use an image editor (like Adobe Photoshop Essentials), or use a free online service. Use
your favorite web search engine (Yahoo, Google, Bing, etc.) to search for “image resizer.”
Step 3: Prep Your Photo
In this step, you will define areas on your home photo for your roof, siding, masonry,
accents, and trim. The more time and care you spend on this step, the better you’ll be
able to visualize the new look for your home.
Step 3a: Getting started with your photo
As referenced earlier, use the menu at the left to select an area to create. Each of the options
“Roof,” “Siding,” “Masonry,” and “Accents & Trims” will allow you to specify the particular area
you intend to define on your photo. In short, you are applying a virtual layer over your photo that
will be used to apply a product image as an overlay on your existing photo.
Tip: The areas selected will correspond to how the application applies the products you select in
the next step.
The Zoom Controls
On the bottom­right of the screen, you’ll see these two buttons. Use the button with the plus
symbol (”+”) to zoom in. Use the button with the minus symbol (”­”) to zoom out.
The Hand Move Tool
Once you’ve zoomed in some, you can use the Hand Move Tool to move around the
photo. To use the tool, select the Hand icon from the upper right. Then, hold down the left mouse
button over the photo while moving the mouse to drag around the photo.
On a touch screen device, activate the Hand Move Tool by zooming in once. From there, slide
the image around the screen as needed to manage specific areas.
Step 3b: Adding a Region
Now that you’re comfortable moving around your photo, let’s walk through using the tools you’ll
need to define the various areas on your house.
Start by selecting an area to create. Once you have selected your area, click or tap the “Add
Region” button. As a result of having added a region, you will see the first region available in your
left panel menu as well as a series of tools displayed on the right.
Tip: The areas selected will correspond to how the application applies the products you select in
the next step.
Available Tools & Controls
Now that you have added a region, it is available for you to edit. Use the tool bar on the right to
establish the first region.
Add/Erase Tools Overview
To define your roof area, you’ll need to create an overlay selection using the tools listed below.
Once you’ve defined your main areas using the Polygon Add Tool, you can use the other Add
and Erase tools to refine your selection.
The Polygon Add Tool
Starting at the top­left corner of your first roof area, left­click or tap each corner of the
current roof section to outline it. As you tap, points will be applied to the photo.To finish the region
shape, click on the starting point. Once your shape is completed, the shape will be shaded.
Don’t worry too much about fine details, you can add those later. Once an area
has been specified, you can modify its shape by clicking and dragging the corners.
The Paintbrush Add Tool
For a more free­form selection, you can use the Paintbrush Add Tool. Click anywhere on the
image to add to the current section using the Paintbrush Tool.
Modifying the Paintbrush Shape
Once you’ve selected the Paintbrush Tool, these options at the bottom of the tool list will become
available. Use the + and ­ keys to increase and decrease the size of the paint brush.
If at any time you wish to undo an action, click the Undo button. You can undo several actions if
necessary. If you want to redo an action, click the Redo button.
Step 3c: Modifying Areas
Now that you’ve got your basic selection, you can use these other tools listed below to refine that
selection.
The Polygon Erase Tool
This tool will allow you to erase parts of your current selection. Apart from removing from the
selection rather than adding, this tool functions exactly as the Polygon Add Tool.
The Eraser Tool
This tool will allow you to erase parts of your current selection. This tool is most useful for
removing parts of the current selection covered by shrubs and the like.
Apart from removing from the selection rather than adding, the Eraser Tool functions exactly as
the Paintbrush Add Tool.
Step 3d: Setting Pitch & Angles for an Area
Understanding Pitch & Angles
Setting pitch & angles is the final step for your current selection. This will help make your
product look more realistic once you’ve gone on to apply products in Step 4. Select either the link
on the left or the button in the right hand toolbar to set the pitch and angle of the area you are
working on.
Applying the Pitch & Angles for Your Current Section
Click the “Set Pitch & Angles” button. You will see a grid appear over the section you’ve selected.
By holding down the left mouse button over one of the four inner corner points and dragging the
mouse around, you can set the perspective to match the angles of the current selection. To
make the products appear at the correct scale, you’ll want the squares to match an area of 1
foot by 1 foot each, as best you can.
To make the grids better match the 1’ x 1’ requirement, you can use these tools on the right to
increase and decrease the number of up­down and left­right lines.
If you are using a touch screen device, drag the corners of the grid tool to align to the angle of
your surface.
Using the height and width controls, you can increase or decrease the size of the grid to most
accurately represent your surface area.
Step 3e: Adding Other Surface Areas
To define another area on your house photo, simply click another area button with the menu on
the left. Follow the instructions listed in Step 3 to define this next area. Once you’re satisfied with
all your selections, move on to Step 4.
Step 3f: Saving Your Progress
Throughout the Design EyeQ™ Visualization Experience you can save your design by selecting
the “Save” button. If you don’t have an account, you will be asked to create one in order to save
your design.
Logging Out
Before logging out, we recommend you save your design. You can come back and retrieve your
design at any time once it is saved.
Restarting Your Project
To delete your design and start from scratch, click the Restart button. If you click the Restart
button, any progress you haven’t saved will be lost.
Step 4: Apply Products
In this step, you will apply products to areas on the model home you chose in Step 2, or areas
that you prepped on your own photo in Step 3.
You can select color palettes professionally designed for Owens Corning products, or you can
choose to create your own custom design.
If you begin a custom design, you can start with any surface and select products to apply to your
design. As an example, start with Roof.
The left menu is now updated to present you with all of the available roofing products and the
ability to sort by color family or product line. To apply a roofing product to your design, simply
click or tap a product and it will be applied to your design. You’ll notice the regions you previously
outlined will be highlighted and the application will begin processing your request.
To apply different products to different regions, use the “Next Area” button to progress through
your remaining surfaces. You will be returned to the main menu with the product you selected
listed under the appropriate surface category.
If you decide you’d like to apply designer­recommended palettes to your home instead of a
custom design, you can do so by scrolling down the main menu to the Recommended Color
Palettes section of the menu. Tap the Recommended Palettes button to see the available
combinations. Then click or tap the combinations to apply them to your design.
Step 5: Share
In this step, you can Save, Print and Share your design. On this screen you can also see an
overview of the products featured in your design. To learn more about each product highlighted
in your design, click the product and additional details will display on the screen.
Step 5a: Save
With the Save feature, you can save up to ten designs. Simply choose a Save Slot and
name your design, then select the Save button. Saved designs can be retrieved at a later
time.
Step 5b: Print
The Print feature allows you to print a quick overview of the products featured in your design.
Step 5c: Send to Friend
Send to Friend allows you to forward your design to a friend via email. Simply enter your friend’s
information and an email will be sent to them, where they can view your home image and
product selection.
Step 5d: Send to Contractor
You are encouraged to share your new home design with a professional contractor. Send to
Contractor allows you to request a consultation with an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor.
Thank you for using the Design EyeQ™ Visualization Experience!
Toolbox Reference Sheet
Let’s review the names and functions of the various tools you’ll be using to prep your photo:
Polygon – Lets you select areas using a point­to­point freehand drawing system
Brush – Allows you to mask areas freehand, like using a paintbrush to paint over
surfaces
In addition to these masking tools, there are erase tools, to allow you to erase areas you may
have masked over.
Polygon Erase – Similar to polygon select, this allows you to remove masked
areas using a point­to­point freehand drawing system
Eraser – This allows you to erase areas of the mask freehand.
Brush & Eraser Forms allow you to determine if the freehand brush or eraser is circular or
square. This will allow for more detail around corners or circular objects.
These buttons allow you to increase or decrease the size of the freehand brush or eraser. This
is particularly helpful for masking or erasing in great detail around shapes or objects.