Scan day itself is straightforward. The scanner arrives, we move through each room methodically, and the data is captured in one session. Most clients don't need to do anything complicated. But the quality of your finished tour is directly affected by the condition of your space when we arrive — and a short amount of preparation makes a measurable difference to the result you receive five days later.
Quick takeaways
- The scanner captures everything at 134MP — surface clutter, inconsistent lighting, and personal items are all visible
- The space should look as it would for a live client visit — not spotless, but presented
- The most common cause of scan delays is locked rooms and unavailable access — confirm access for every area before scan day
The week before: declutter and flag any issues
The scanner records what's there. Unlike a photographer, there is no editorial decision about what to include in the frame — a 360° capture includes the full sphere around each scan position. This means personal items left on desks, signage that shouldn't be in the tour, maintenance work in progress, or rooms in the middle of a refurbishment will all appear in the final tour.
Use the week before to remove anything that shouldn't be in the finished product. For a commercial office, this means clearing personal items from desks and tidying communal areas. For a hospitality venue, it means ensuring any areas under maintenance are either ready or excluded from the scope. For a residential property, it means removing personal photographs and staging any rooms that look sparse.
Also flag any rooms with access requirements. If a room is normally locked, arrange for it to be accessible on scan day. Returning to capture a missed room adds cost and delay — confirming access in advance avoids both.
The day before: lighting and presentation
Lighting is the single biggest quality variable. The scanner captures natural and artificial light as it actually is in the space. Inconsistent lighting — warm tungsten lamps next to cool LED downlights in the same room — creates visible tonal variations across the panorama stitches. For the best result, aim for consistent colour temperature throughout: all ceiling lights on, all the same type. If your space mixes lamp types, leave the ambient overhead lighting on and turn off the outlier fixtures. Natural light through windows is fine and generally improves results.
Dress the space as you would for a client visit. For restaurants, tables should be set. For hotels, beds should be made and side tables cleared. For offices, chairs should be tucked in and floors clear. The goal is the version of your space that you would be proud to show a new client — not a perfect show room, but a presented one.
Check external-facing windows. Curtains or blinds in inconsistent positions — some open, some closed — look untidy in the tour and can cause exposure issues. Set them uniformly before we arrive.
Morning of the scan: access and timing
Have the space accessible before the agreed start time. Waiting for a keyholder or for a room to be vacated eats into session time and can push the schedule for other spaces.
Turn all lights on across the full scan scope before we arrive. Cold fluorescent tubes in particular take time to warm to full brightness — if they're switched on just as we start scanning, the light in early rooms will look different to the light in later ones.
For spaces that are operationally active — restaurants during a breakfast service, offices with staff working — brief your team on how the scan works. We move through rooms methodically and need the scan position clear for around 30 seconds per capture. Staff moving through the space during a capture create stitching artefacts. A brief word to the team that "the scanner will be moving through offices this morning, please clear the room for 30 seconds when they arrive" is all that's needed.
What we handle
Everything after the scan is our responsibility. Stitching, colour processing, tour assembly, navigation menu, and quality review all happen on our side. The delivered tour includes a shareable link, embed code for your website, and for clients requiring it, a Google Business Profile-compatible version.
Standard delivery is three to five business days. If your space is well-prepared and access is smooth, the turnaround is typically on the faster end of that window.
The most common preparation mistakes
- Locked or inaccessible rooms — the most frequent cause of partial scans and return visits
- Lights not on — arriving to a dark space requires setting up lighting before we can begin, pushing the schedule
- Active maintenance or construction — scaffolding, tools, or contractors in shot are difficult to remove in post and may require a rescan
- Occupied spaces without briefed staff — people moving through rooms repeatedly during scanning degrade quality
- Wet floors or freshly cleaned surfaces — cleaning products leave streaks on hard floors and glass that are very visible at 134MP
A 15-minute walkthrough with your facilities or operations manager the day before is the most effective preparation tool. Run through each room on the scope, confirm access, confirm lighting, confirm the space is at its best. That one check prevents the most common issues. Get in touch ahead of your scan and we'll send a preparation checklist tailored to your space type.