Method for generating a data record for the visual representation of a prototype of a film present on a three-dimensionally formed component surface on a monitor or on a display, (a) wherein, before the application to the component, the film is provided with a microstructure, in particular a grain or embossing, and, during the production of the component, is three-dimensionally stretched and extended in relation to its original dimension and thickness distributions present before the application to the component surface as a result of being laid on the component surface, possibly carried out with the supply of pressure and heat,wherein, firstly, by means of computer-aided simulation and modelling of the rheological behaviour of the film material as it is applied to the component surface, the geometric change in the film that takes place as a result of the stretching and extension parallel to the film plane and in relation to the layer thickness is determined in the correct position in that displacement vectors for each mass point and therefore each geometric location of the film that is flat and present with a predefined layer thickness before the application are determined, wherein the displacement vectors describe the change in the mass point in the "flat" state with the same mass point in the "deformed" state, and the geometric change is provided as data for the distribution and the position of the final layer thickness of the film that is present following application to the component surface relative to the layer thickness of the nondeformed film, in the form of a first data record, characterized in that a second data record representing the original topology of the microstructure or grain or embossing of the film in the nondeformed state and before the application to the component and comprising height and depth information is provided from an optical measurement of the topology, (b) in that the data calculated as a result of the simulation and output in the first data record for the distribution and the position of the final layer thickness of the film that is present following the application to the component surface relative to the layer thickness of the nondeformed film is used to change the second data record such that the height and depth information of the second data record is recalculated or adapted, while taking into account the stretching and extension parallel to the film plane in the correct location with the aid of the data determined from the simulation results for the layer thickness, to changed height and depth information that is congruent with the changed layer thickness, and is stored in a third data record,after which the height and depth information from the third data record calculated in this way is added to/superimposed on the first data record as a new microstructure of the film following the application to the component. (a) wherein, before the application to the component, the film is provided with a microstructure, in particular a grain or embossing, and, during the production of the component, is three-dimensionally stretched and extended in relation to its original dimension and thickness distributions present before the application to the component surface as a result of being laid on the component surface, possibly carried out with the supply of pressure and heat,wherein, firstly, by means of computer-aided simulation and modelling of the rheological behaviour of the film material as it is applied to the component surface, the geometric change in the film that takes place as a result of the stretching and extension parallel to the film plane and in relation to the layer thickness is determined in the correct position in that displacement vectors for each mass point and therefore each geometric location of the film that is flat and present with a predefined layer thickness before the application are determined, wherein the displacement vectors describe the change in the mass point in the "flat" state with the same mass point in the "deformed" state, and the geometric change is provided as data for the distribution and the position of the final layer thickness of the film that is present following application to the component surface relative to the layer thickness of the nondeformed film, in the form of a first data record, characterized in that a second data record representing the original topology of the microstructure or grain or embossing of the film in the nondeformed state and before the application to the component and comprising height and depth information is provided from an optical measurement of the topology, (b) in that the data calculated as a result of the simulation and output in the first data record for the distribution and the position of the final layer thickness of the film that is present following the application to the component surface relative to the layer thickness of the nondeformed film is used to change the second data record such that the height and depth information of the second data record is recalculated or adapted, while taking into account the stretching and extension parallel to the film plane in the correct location with the aid of the data determined from the simulation results for the layer thickness, to changed height and depth information that is congruent with the changed layer thickness, and is stored in a third data record,after which the height and depth information from the third data record calculated in this way is added to/superimposed on the first data record as a new microstructure of the film following the application to the component.