Photorealistic imaging has become a powerful tool for interior designers. What’s the catch?

Dumb question: If there was a sales tool so simple and powerful that all you had to do was attach it to an email and send it to a client, and they’d immediately call you, breathless with excitement about spending money—you’d use it, right? Nicole White, a South Florida–based interior designer, describes a phenomenon she has seen happen over and over in her practice: “I’ll send it over, and like clockwork, a few minutes later, my phone buzzes and it’s the client. They’re like, ‘I’m going to live there?!’”

It, of course, is a digital rendering—a computer-generated 3D model that White and her team labored over for hours (and hours) to approximate the design transformation planned for the client’s home. She began using the technology as a regular part of her process in 2015, and has never looked back. “You can show them all the concepts you want, but when people see your design in their space, they really see the value,” she says. “It gets them enthusiastic about the project at a crucial phase, because the next phase is when they need to start writing checks.”