I have a tip! At 6:20ish in the vid you are giving good advice about how sizing up loses your quality. True. A trick to not lose quality as you go up and down *after making the biggest file to begin with* is turn your file into a smart object. That's one of its features is you can go up and down and up again without harming your quality. That trim tip of yours was gold to me. TX!
Your videos are so good! I get bored real easy when people him haw around and never get to the point. I constantly tap the arrow key to get thru them, but not with yours! Your voice is nice and you are a good teacher. Thanks for this informative video.
This was very helpful! I was driving myself crazy using those printify templates. The design being in a huge pixel format to begin with will probably help with my blurry text I received on a sample.
Thank you for this tutorial, I’ve been struggling a little with print placement and this has answered my questions - and I love your videos, they’re clear, concise, informative, no waffling on and no background music!! Thank you so much :)
I am just starting POD and am making my first designs using the t shirt dimensions. I will be expanding into mugs, the 11 and 15 oz. sizes, plus tote bags, etc. I am particularly interested in knowing the sizes I need to input for mugs. Thank you!
Seriously my HERO!!! I am barely starting to do POD, and with Printify, but happened to find this about mugs which I had no idea of the better margin and popularity. Thank you so much!
If the file is large the file size will be large too. If your collage has 2 or 3 mugs the px will be different 600x300pc for 2. 300x300px for 4. For small items like mugs, phone cases dpi should be 300. Tutorials can be confusing @ times.
Hi, thank you so much for this video!! I just deactivated a bunch of my mugs because after receiving a sample, I realized I was not centering them properly.... but I am super confused. When I figure out the middle of my design and place the middle between the dotted lines, one side will have space between the safe area and the edge of the design and the other side will not have any space between the safe area and the design or will have a lot less.... I am so confused. :( My designs do look pretty good in the preview when I put what I measured (literally got out measuring tape lol) to be the middle in the dotted line, but I can't wrap my brain around why there is space on one side but not the other, and not sure if I should publish them or not. Hope I explained this in a way that makes sense and hope you can help!! Thank you so much!!!
Do you have a suggestion on how to handle adding copywrite or website URL information on the coffee mug? The POD service doesn't seem to have an option for printing on the bottom, I was thinking just put it on the bottom edge of the mug or something.
I just signed up for Gelanto and see their downloadable mug templates don't have center lines. They only have the printable dashes. Is there an easy way to figure out where the two outside centering lines should be in photoshop? Thanks.
Good video and very helpful. I've been using MyLocker and their 15oz black, and now they've disappeared from Printify. I guess I'll go with white 11oz mostly with District. Do you have a preference for WHITE vs BLACK mugs? Many thanks. Good body of work.
I have created a lot of mug listings using MyLocker in the past for the 11oz and 15oz white mugs and the 15oz black too, and all my existing listings still show as "in stock" so I was curious and messaged Printify support. They said they are piloting a new feature where a product will temporarily be removed from the catalog if the quality score goes below a threshold, until the provider resolves the issue. So they actually didn't get rid of the 11oz and 15oz white mugs from MyLocker, they are hiding them until the quality issue is resolved. However any customer orders for listings of the product will still be fulfilled, and they also said if you want to continue creating new listings of that product you can copy an existing listing, edit and publish that way. I had no idea they were testing this feature so this is very interesting! Now to answer your questions: I prefer to list mostly the white mugs because the pricing is more competitive, however I do list black mugs if the design just looks better on the dark background - I just have to price them a couple dollars higher for the same profit. Regarding the size - I like to include both the 11oz and 15oz sizes in my listings (it was easier with MyLocker since they are together in the same listing by default) because my orders are split pretty evenly between the two. You can pretty easily add the 15oz variant into your listing of the 11oz size from District by creating the 15oz draft listing in Printify and then copy/paste the SKU over into the Etsy listing after adding a 15oz variant. Orders will sync automatically that way and it's pretty quick to do. Lastly - I don't sell the Latte size from Spoke. I might be missing out, but just never felt the demand was as strong compared to classic mugs. I've actually had customers message me to ask if I could make the camp-style enamel mugs before, but I haven't yet had anyone ask about the Latte-style mug. Sorry for the length of that reply but thank you for the questions!
@@PODinsights Wowszie! So very nice of you to send me this information. I am breathing a bit easier, as I have a LOT of mugs with ML. So, Thank you very much. I have switched over to District Photo, for a "trial" period. I went back and looked at my sales (which is not a lot, yet) and you're right. It's about split evenly between 11oz and 15oz. Also, I have been doing more black mugs, but am starting to do white 15oz mugs, also. Honestly, I sell very few LATTE cups, and have never sold a design on a "Camping Mug" that is enamel. You're awesome. I watch every video you have. Keep them coming. I'm a Big Fan. Best Aloha Wishes to you!
Seems like Printify is now experimenting with a 3D view in the design editor, which is available for District Photo's 11oz mug. I was able to use it today, but it slows my computer to a halt as it seems to be a memory hog. Works better in Firefox than Chrome from my experience.
I checked and it was there for my existing District Photo mug listings! Seemed to work ok for me but the view is a little small if you're not on a full size monitor. Hopefully this evolves into a nice feature to check the placement accuracy. Thanks for sharing!
My compliments to you on this video, it is really informative and helpful. Being a new starter in the process of preparing my online store I have a question regarding the mockups. Is there any reason why you are using separate software to format and position your Mug design templates for Printify? Having prepared literally hundreds of mug design templates can I not position and format them directly in Printify? Or is this simply your preference to do it this way.
hey may i know other than photoshop is there any free app can work the same ? i have downloaded the template but was struggling on where to modify my deisgn
Thanks for the tutorial, I’m relatively new to design and pod but I thought that you take the design right out to the bleed but keep important parts within the bleed otherwise you get a white gap at the edge
Hi! You are correct if your design is intended to cover up the full print area with a solid design or pattern. You can scale the design out to the bleed area if you have a design that is that style. However with a "standalone" graphic like the ones I show in the video - the type of graphic you would use on a t-shirt - you want the whole graphic inside the safe area because there is no part of it that you want to risk getting cut off. I hope that helps!
Thanks! I do use some mug mockups from Placeit. They have a big selection but I've found that not all of them are easy to center the graphic. There are a few that I use that graphics fit nicely on and I basically just put one of the default mockups from Printify side by side to get the alignment close enough. You only have to get the graphic aligned on one side for the mockup so it's not too much work. I've been using them a bit less recently though because Printify default mug mockups have improved over the last year and now there are a couple pretty good ones included.
Hi! Your videos are very helpful. Thank you so much. I recently opened an only mug store on etsy. My first order was a black and white accent mug with black and gray simple text on it. I created the text design in canva and saved it as png with transparent background. I uploaded it to printify and everything looked great on preview. District photo fulfilled the order. But when my customer received the mug, the text color was different shades of blue instead of black and gray. What did I do wrong? I am nervous about the future orders now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again
Thanks! you gave the answers I was looking for as the mockup pictures in printify drove me crazy with the different placements. The 3D option, is that only for a paid account as I can't find it.
Thanks so Much, and this video is so important. I have not started selling yet, but I let my Print Providers know they should have at least 2 Coffee Mug Displays, one with the Coffee Mug Handle pointing directly to the Right (EAST) and one Coffee Mug Handle pointing directly to the Left (West). This way, when we position our Text or Graphic, we will see exactly how it is placed on the Coffee Mug. Some of the Mock ups are pointed in all different directions and it is hard to figure what view is the correct view. In a chat, an employee kindly said to me, "It is always recommended to order a sample." I kindly let them know it would be nice to have a Coffee Mug display showing "What we see, is what we get." Long of the short, I would not want to order a "Sample," find out the Text or Graphic is off and order again. With that said, your video was a huge help, and once we know how to position correctly, we will have confidence that we don't have to always order a sample. However, unless it is just TEXT, I'm sure you will agree, it might be a good idea to order at least one sample. Thanks a bunch.
Thank you! I totally agree. Design placement on mugs is definitely not very easy on many print on demand platforms. At the very least, I wish Printify would add a 3D view like Gelato and Printful have because at least that lets you move it around to the angles you need. I also agree that it's not reasonable to order a sample for every design that you want/need to verify the alignment for...I'd have over 150 mugs sitting around at this point and have incurred all that expense, and some of those mugs didn't make many sales unfortunately. I definitely think it helps to get samples when you don't have a good feel for how a print will come out or what the product quality is, but with most mugs the materials and print methods are the same so we should be able to trust the mockups. Appreciate your support!
@@PODinsights The good news, people out there printing on Mugs and I'm sure shirts, know they aren't alone when they encounter such a situation. And again, video's like yours are such a warm welcome. Thanks again and I hope things only get better for you.
How do I use a seamless file and get the image to line up at the meeting point on the back? I have seamless files that line up with itself but in the software, the image doesn't end where it lines up.
Anyway you can do this with Canva instead of photoshop? Being a newbie I have only used canva to make my designs. I don't have merch by amazon i was declined for an invite but I still do my designs in 4500 x 5400.
Hi! Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that Canva doesn't allow you to do the free-transform of images or elements where you can stretch or squeeze to change the aspect ratio. You can do everything else in Canva (except open the Printify templates), but if you need to take an existing design and squeeze it to make it more narrow for a mug, I don't know of a way to do that with Canva. You can do it with just about any other design software including free ones like Photopea if you want to give it a try.
Thank you so much! If you are making the design with both sides of the mug in one file, I use 2475x1155 pixels because that is the Printify recommended dimensions from District Photo. But if you are going to do one side in the file and duplicate it in the Printify editor, then you can make it a square file with half the width. You can also make them larger and then scale down in the Printify editor if you're going to use the design on larger items.
That's correct! You may need to update your mockup photos if the design placement was changed significantly with the edits that you made, but if not, then you just need to save it on Printify and your orders will use the updated design settings.
Hi! Placeit does have a very basic design creator with templates for t-shirts, tote bags, and posters. They don't have mug design templates from what I could find. They do have a "blank canvas" designer where you can create a design with their elements, but it does not let you set a specific file/canvas size, you can only select from some presets which appear to all be for social media. You could use the t-shirt design templates/editor to make designs for mugs though, it's just pretty limited when compared to design software or sites like Canva and Kittl.
Glad it was helpful! I may need some help from a Canva expert, because I don't believe you can do one important thing in Canva - transform shapes by their heigh and width independently. I have not found a way to stretch or "pinch" images in the Canva editor, and that's an important part of how I adjust my designs for mugs to make wider images better centered on each side of the mug. I know you can do this in some other free image editing software like photopea, which works a lot like photoshop, but I can't seem to get Canva to transform shapes or images like that. I will keep looking though!
@@PODinsights Ok, that makes sense, thanks for the explanation and hope I will be able to figure it out with canva for now as I use canva but the others yet. Thanks a lot
Hi! As far as I know, all print on demand mugs are going to have a "safe area" where they recommend you keep your design inside. However if you have a full wrap-around style design, you can stretch it out to the full bleed area and they will apply it as close as they can to the edges, there are just no guarantees that it won't be cut off. I don't know of any providers that offer a mug where they expect you to have a design that fills up 100% of the mug's surface. If anyone else knows of a provider that offers mugs made to be "full print" I would love to know!
Hey Jeff! I'm a newbie at all of this design stuff and trying to do what you're doing is frustrating me. I mean, in my mind, it sounds easy enough but for some reason my screen doesn't look the same as yours. I'm at the "11oz. Template Method" and my screen looks nothing like yours. What platform/site are you using? Nothing that I look on looks like your screen. Please help, if you can. Thanks.
Hi! I am using Printify to create the products, and that is where the templates come from. Templates can be edited in Photoshop or any software that can edit PSD files. I also show a quick view later in the video of Printful and Gelato's listing editor because they provide a 3D mockup of the mug and Printify does not.
Hi! Sorry I didn't mention that specifically - there are lots of features and tools in Photoshop that I couldn't cover in one video but I should have mentioned how to add guides. You can add guides in Photoshop by going to View > Guides > New Guide Layout and then add the number of vertical & horizontal guides that you want.
H!, thank you for this tutorial. The only question I have is whether selecting RGB or CMYK color is the same when setting up the Photoshop file. I'm asking because it's a printable image, but I'm not sure if one or the other should be selected. One thing that has caught my attention on Etsy is that there are designs with images made based on existing products, for example I have seen a t-shirt with the design: SuperDaddio, in reference to SuperMario Bros. Do you know if the companies require a license or it is Is it possible to use this on Etsy without problems?
Hi! If you are using Printify, they recommend that you upload your print files in RGB color space. You can preview what your designs will look like when printed by changing them to CMYK in your design software but then still export them in RGB. They mention that here: help.printify.com/hc/en-us/articles/4483625994513-Which-color-profile-should-I-use-for-my-files- On your other question - I would not suggest offering that particular design. While you might technically be able to argue fair use/parody design if you only use the phrase with similarly-styled text and no graphics that mimic copyrighted characters (like Mario), it's still too risky in my opinion. Anything that is a fairly obvious use of copyrighted characters or styles may attract attention from the platform or representatives of the copyright holders and result in your listings being taken down - if that happens enough, it will result in your account being banned. Fair or not, this happens on some platforms more than others - Amazon's algorithms mostly catch the obvious stuff and reject it before it's even posted (at least in the merch program) and on Etsy it's very hit and miss. I've had a few listings reported & taken down even though they were not directly infringing on copyrighted content or a trademark, while other sellers' listings with very similar designs have stayed up. Ultimately I recommend staying away from designs that stray into this territory as you never know which one might be the one that gets reported (or stays up forever inexplicably). I hope that helps!
@@PODinsights Thank you very much ! That technical aspect was unknown to me. As for the second question, I had a similar feeling about what you say. I think I'll stay away from that terrain. Thanks again!
Hi Jeff, I know this is 1 year on but on the Printify editor, there is no download symbol, only a little hand symbol to view the mug in PAN which I presume is panoramic view. They must have change the editor since you used it a year ago.
To download the mockup, you need to switch from the "edit" view to the "preview" view. There is still a button in the bottom left corner once you switch over to "preview".
Hi, Jeff. Great stuff as always. I ordered a sample of the black 11 ounce mug from District Photo recently. I used the side center guides to center everything, and kept the design elements inside the safe area. But on the actual mug, the design elements weren't centered. They were closer to the front of the mug than the handle - on both sides. And there was a LOT of empty space between the design and the handle area. It almost looked like the print had been shrunk before being applied to the mug, which seems like an unlikely print error to me. Or that the "safe area" is so small you would need to leave a huge space between the handle and the design. I wonder if some of their templates are not accurate to the mugs they're using (a different mug - the color morphing mug - did not have this problem at all and looked great). Have you ever encountered this? I'm reluctant to add these mugs to my shop if they're going to turn out like this. I'm not sure how to compensate for this issue.
Hey! I have not seen that issue specifically with the black mugs from District Photo. I actually got a sample from them of an 11oz black mug earlier this year for my mug review video and the centering on each side came out pretty good - not 100% perfect but not bad enough to request a reprint. I went back and looked at how I uploaded the print file and I had it a little off from center on each side - towards the inside of the print area, so I probably could have pushed it out towards the edge a little more too. Based on that, I would have to guess that your sample is print error. If you want to test the theory you could request a reprint because it sounds like they should be able to tell pretty easily from a photo that it's not right. In general I have a feeling the mug production line moves pretty quickly so they (meaning all providers who do mugs) might miss more things like this vs. apparel printing where each garment has to be loaded, prepped, printed, dried, removed, folded, etc. I know they automate parts of the process depending on their equipment & setup but my assumption is there are more eyes on each shirt than there are on each mug. Let me know if you do get a reprint, I'd be curious to know how it turns out!
@@PODinsights Will do. I've redesigned it slightly anyway, as I think the images were a bit small. One other thing I've noticed is that the print area and safe areas are different on the black vs. white mugs. I find that surprising.
Is etsy realy work in pakistan bczz these days i heard that itd not working i wsnt to start handmade bags but have no idea where to sell these bag plz guide
I believe Etsy does not allow opening a shop unless Etsy Payments is available in the seller's country. There is more information about the countries available to open an Etsy shop in this article on Etsy's site: help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500006519562-Why-Can-t-I-Open-a-Shop-in-My-Country-?segment=selling
Do you know why the center guidelines aren't actually centered on the mug template in printify? It makes placing the image so difficult and I find that if I want the design to truly be on each side of the mug and not inching towards the middle of the mug that I have to put my image all the way to the very edge of the design box and sometimes it still isn't centered! The preview mocks they show you are horrible to see placement too! I have no idea if there is an easier way to do this but it's very frustrating. Do you have any insight? I checked a few other mug print fulfillment companies on printify (besides district photo) and all the templates are the same. Since when do customers want mugs with designs that aren't truly centered on each side of the mug!?
It’s because there is a gap in the graphics where the cup handle is. The template appears off-centre but it is accurate. Follow the dotted guidelines or your final product will be out of whack.
Hi! The templates are in PSD format, so you can use them with any editing software that opens that type. I use Photoshop, but you can also use Photopea, GIMP, Affinity, and several others.
Actually, if you look at the guidelines and also the placement icons at the bottom of the template, you will see that this print provider has the template set to not position the design at the center of each side of the mug, but off center, for whatever their reasoning is. I have used other POD providers such as Printful, whose templates place the design at the actual center of each side of the mug and their guidelines on their templates are set as 25% 50% and 75% of the width of the template, so that you can easily center your design properly. I have no idea why District Photo and some other print providers used by Printify does it the way they do. As long as your design is within the safe area of your print area, you should be able to set your guidelines as I have stated above and your designs should print at the actual center of the sides of the mug. Now that I think about it, I see what they are doing. They have accounted for the width of the handle plus space from the handle. I suppose using their guides, even though the placement will look different than the traditional design placement, it would still look ok, but truthfully, I have purchased many mugs over the years from retail stores, including gift shops and Walmart and others, and almost all of the mugs have the design placed at the actual center of the side of the mug, not like the template District Photo displays, but I guess it's up to the designer as to how he/she wants the mug to look.
That is an excellent observation! Makes a lot of sense why I have to adjust the design placement significantly in the editor for certain providers if I have to switch for a couple of orders. I personally also prefer my designs to be centered on the side, not centered with the handle exactly in the middle. I feel like there is a difference in the "center" guides on Gelato as well because it doesn't seem to match others - I use Gelato for some international mug orders because their shipping prices are pretty low. But tinkering around to find the center of the side every time definitely feels like it takes more time than it should. Would be great if we could just have a toggle switch like "center left", "center right", or something simple like that to take the guesswork out like you said. I'm going to make a note of that to make sure I include it the next time any of these sites send me a feedback survey. Maybe someday!
@@PODinsights I have tested how it looks using the Guides provided by the District Photo template by resizing my design and comparing it to using the 25%, 50% and 75% guides I use for Printful and others and I found that by resizing my design and placing the center of my design on the guide lines provided it actually looks good in the mockups, so I may just do that with District Photo and others that use the same alignment configuration. I use Affinity Designer and sometimes Photoshop or Affinity Photo and I set guides and set to snap to guides and it works great.
I’ve been a professional designer/illustrator for nearly 40 years. I had to stop watching your video after you recommended “squishing” your design. It screams “amateur,” and it is very noticeable. Notice how your bicycle wheels are no longer round? Fonts are particularly vulnerable. They are designed with mathematical precision, and any artificial “squishing” or expanding to fit a space is lazy and unacceptable in professional work. You may think it’s nothing because it is a quick, easy fix . . . but trust me, the viewer will notice something is “off.” In an absolute pinch, I will scale 2 or 3% (97 or 98% scale) but only if there are no tell-tale elements in the design. If something will not fit, redesign it. Look at it from a different viewpoint. The extra effort is ALWAYS worth it. Remember, your design and illustration work is not for you, it is for your customer. Lazy shortcuts will bite you in the end, while a little extra effort is almost always rewarded.
I have a tip! At 6:20ish in the vid you are giving good advice about how sizing up loses your quality. True. A trick to not lose quality as you go up and down *after making the biggest file to begin with* is turn your file into a smart object. That's one of its features is you can go up and down and up again without harming your quality. That trim tip of yours was gold to me. TX!
Your videos are so good! I get bored real easy when people him haw around and never get to the point. I constantly tap the arrow key to get thru them, but not with yours! Your voice is nice and you are a good teacher. Thanks for this informative video.
I absolutely LOVE the details you give! I have become overwhelmed learning about POD because so many derails, that matter, are left out. 😢
This was very helpful! I was driving myself crazy using those printify templates. The design being in a huge pixel format to begin with will probably help with my blurry text I received on a sample.
Hi, you're such a wonderful, clear, demonstative teacher...thank you very much :>)
Thank you! I appreciate your support!
I agree, 5 Star Communicator and Teacher.
Thank you for this tutorial, I’ve been struggling a little with print placement and this has answered my questions - and I love your videos, they’re clear, concise, informative, no waffling on and no background music!! Thank you so much :)
WOW, good to know! Thanks so much!
Thank you so much!
Thank you for the video, I don't know how to use Photoshop, do you know how to make a mug design with Canva? TIA x
I am just starting POD and am making my first designs using the t shirt dimensions. I will be expanding into mugs, the 11 and 15 oz. sizes, plus tote bags, etc. I am particularly interested in knowing the sizes I need to input for mugs. Thank you!
Seriously my HERO!!! I am barely starting to do POD, and with Printify, but happened to find this about mugs which I had no idea of the better margin and popularity. Thank you so much!
I'm so glad that it was helpful!
If the file is large the file size will be large too. If your collage has 2 or 3 mugs the px will be different 600x300pc for 2. 300x300px for 4. For small items like mugs, phone cases dpi should be 300. Tutorials can be confusing @ times.
Brilliant video as always
Thank you!
Woo, your channel and contents are amazing! Very helpful for me as a beginner of POD! Thank you so much!!❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉😊😊😊
I got some really good tips in this video. Thanks!
the 3d preview app was really useful.. thank you!
Thank you for this tutorial! How watercolor designs with transparent areas look on mugs please?
Thank you for this. Total newbie but yhis helps with my designing and picking images.
I really appreciate your videos! You are detailed, transparent, and super helpful. Thanks for providing this and other great videos!
Thank you so much!
So helpful and easy to follow - thank you
This video has helped me so much. Thank you! Thank you!
I appreciate your tutorial!
Hi, thank you so much for this video!! I just deactivated a bunch of my mugs because after receiving a sample, I realized I was not centering them properly.... but I am super confused. When I figure out the middle of my design and place the middle between the dotted lines, one side will have space between the safe area and the edge of the design and the other side will not have any space between the safe area and the design or will have a lot less.... I am so confused. :( My designs do look pretty good in the preview when I put what I measured (literally got out measuring tape lol) to be the middle in the dotted line, but I can't wrap my brain around why there is space on one side but not the other, and not sure if I should publish them or not. Hope I explained this in a way that makes sense and hope you can help!! Thank you so much!!!
Thank you 😊
Great video! Thanks so much!!!
This was very helpful! Thank you so much for this video!
I'm glad it was helpful!
Thank you.😉
Very detailed & professional. Good work!
Thanks brother
Thanks dudeman.
You are awesome. Thank you sir. 🙏🏽
Thank you!!!!
Do you have a suggestion on how to handle adding copywrite or website URL information on the coffee mug? The POD service doesn't seem to have an option for printing on the bottom, I was thinking just put it on the bottom edge of the mug or something.
Hi, any chance you know if these similar functions exist in canva rather than adobe?
Excellent tutorial! I will certainly watch your other videos. New subscriber! ❤Shirley
Thank you so much!
I just signed up for Gelanto and see their downloadable mug templates don't have center lines. They only have the printable dashes. Is there an easy way to figure out where the two outside centering lines should be in photoshop? Thanks.
Thank you so much, this video helped a lot 😊
I'm glad it was helpful!
Great video
Thank you ,this was very helpful
Is there a trim feature in canva? And can we "s 7:35 quish" our designs in canva?
Good video and very helpful. I've been using MyLocker and their 15oz black, and now they've disappeared from Printify. I guess I'll go with white 11oz mostly with District. Do you have a preference for WHITE vs BLACK mugs? Many thanks. Good body of work.
Also --- do you prefer 11oz over 15oz? Do you sell the LATTE cup by SPOKE??
I have created a lot of mug listings using MyLocker in the past for the 11oz and 15oz white mugs and the 15oz black too, and all my existing listings still show as "in stock" so I was curious and messaged Printify support. They said they are piloting a new feature where a product will temporarily be removed from the catalog if the quality score goes below a threshold, until the provider resolves the issue. So they actually didn't get rid of the 11oz and 15oz white mugs from MyLocker, they are hiding them until the quality issue is resolved. However any customer orders for listings of the product will still be fulfilled, and they also said if you want to continue creating new listings of that product you can copy an existing listing, edit and publish that way. I had no idea they were testing this feature so this is very interesting!
Now to answer your questions: I prefer to list mostly the white mugs because the pricing is more competitive, however I do list black mugs if the design just looks better on the dark background - I just have to price them a couple dollars higher for the same profit. Regarding the size - I like to include both the 11oz and 15oz sizes in my listings (it was easier with MyLocker since they are together in the same listing by default) because my orders are split pretty evenly between the two. You can pretty easily add the 15oz variant into your listing of the 11oz size from District by creating the 15oz draft listing in Printify and then copy/paste the SKU over into the Etsy listing after adding a 15oz variant. Orders will sync automatically that way and it's pretty quick to do. Lastly - I don't sell the Latte size from Spoke. I might be missing out, but just never felt the demand was as strong compared to classic mugs. I've actually had customers message me to ask if I could make the camp-style enamel mugs before, but I haven't yet had anyone ask about the Latte-style mug.
Sorry for the length of that reply but thank you for the questions!
@@PODinsights Wowszie! So very nice of you to send me this information. I am breathing a bit easier, as I have a LOT of mugs with ML. So, Thank you very much. I have switched over to District Photo, for a "trial" period. I went back and looked at my sales (which is not a lot, yet) and you're right. It's about split evenly between 11oz and 15oz. Also, I have been doing more black mugs, but am starting to do white 15oz mugs, also. Honestly, I sell very few LATTE cups, and have never sold a design on a "Camping Mug" that is enamel. You're awesome. I watch every video you have. Keep them coming. I'm a Big Fan. Best Aloha Wishes to you!
Seems like Printify is now experimenting with a 3D view in the design editor, which is available for District Photo's 11oz mug. I was able to use it today, but it slows my computer to a halt as it seems to be a memory hog. Works better in Firefox than Chrome from my experience.
I checked and it was there for my existing District Photo mug listings! Seemed to work ok for me but the view is a little small if you're not on a full size monitor. Hopefully this evolves into a nice feature to check the placement accuracy. Thanks for sharing!
@@PODinsights Yes, definitely small, but a good start, agreed. :)
My compliments to you on this video, it is really informative and helpful. Being a new starter in the process of preparing my online store I have a question regarding the mockups. Is there any reason why you are using separate software to format and position your Mug design templates for Printify? Having prepared literally hundreds of mug design templates can I not position and format them directly in Printify? Or is this simply your preference to do it this way.
hey may i know other than photoshop is there any free app can work the same ? i have downloaded the template but was struggling on where to modify my deisgn
Thanks for the tutorial, I’m relatively new to design and pod but I thought that you take the design right out to the bleed but keep important parts within the bleed otherwise you get a white gap at the edge
Hi! You are correct if your design is intended to cover up the full print area with a solid design or pattern. You can scale the design out to the bleed area if you have a design that is that style. However with a "standalone" graphic like the ones I show in the video - the type of graphic you would use on a t-shirt - you want the whole graphic inside the safe area because there is no part of it that you want to risk getting cut off. I hope that helps!
@@PODinsights thanks for your reply.
Thank you! Really straightforward and useful 🙏
Is it safe to say that going into the bleed area on the far left and right is safe? Seems most of the issues with the bleed area is top to bottom.
Very helpful video. Just what I needed. Out of curiosity, do you buy separate mockups? I'm wondering how alignment works for those mockups.
Thanks! I do use some mug mockups from Placeit. They have a big selection but I've found that not all of them are easy to center the graphic. There are a few that I use that graphics fit nicely on and I basically just put one of the default mockups from Printify side by side to get the alignment close enough. You only have to get the graphic aligned on one side for the mockup so it's not too much work. I've been using them a bit less recently though because Printify default mug mockups have improved over the last year and now there are a couple pretty good ones included.
Hi! Your videos are very helpful. Thank you so much. I recently opened an only mug store on etsy. My first order was a black and white accent mug with black and gray simple text on it. I created the text design in canva and saved it as png with transparent background. I uploaded it to printify and everything looked great on preview. District photo fulfilled the order. But when my customer received the mug, the text color was different shades of blue instead of black and gray. What did I do wrong? I am nervous about the future orders now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again
What computer do I need for photoshop or the busissness for etsy? Because the laptop I have now is super slow.
Nice Job. Thanks much!!
Thanks! you gave the answers I was looking for as the mockup pictures in printify drove me crazy with the different placements. The 3D option, is that only for a paid account as I can't find it.
I'm glad it was helpful! The 3D view is only available currently on Printful and Gelato, if you're using Printify sadly they don't offer that view.
Thanks so Much, and this video is so important. I have not started selling yet, but I let my Print Providers know they should have at least 2 Coffee Mug Displays, one with the Coffee Mug Handle pointing directly to the Right (EAST) and one Coffee Mug Handle pointing directly to the Left (West). This way, when we position our Text or Graphic, we will see exactly how it is placed on the Coffee Mug. Some of the Mock ups are pointed in all different directions and it is hard to figure what view is the correct view. In a chat, an employee kindly said to me, "It is always recommended to order a sample." I kindly let them know it would be nice to have a Coffee Mug display showing "What we see, is what we get." Long of the short, I would not want to order a "Sample," find out the Text or Graphic is off and order again. With that said, your video was a huge help, and once we know how to position correctly, we will have confidence that we don't have to always order a sample. However, unless it is just TEXT, I'm sure you will agree, it might be a good idea to order at least one sample. Thanks a bunch.
Thank you! I totally agree. Design placement on mugs is definitely not very easy on many print on demand platforms. At the very least, I wish Printify would add a 3D view like Gelato and Printful have because at least that lets you move it around to the angles you need. I also agree that it's not reasonable to order a sample for every design that you want/need to verify the alignment for...I'd have over 150 mugs sitting around at this point and have incurred all that expense, and some of those mugs didn't make many sales unfortunately. I definitely think it helps to get samples when you don't have a good feel for how a print will come out or what the product quality is, but with most mugs the materials and print methods are the same so we should be able to trust the mockups. Appreciate your support!
@@PODinsights The good news, people out there printing on Mugs and I'm sure shirts, know they aren't alone when they encounter such a situation. And again, video's like yours are such a warm welcome. Thanks again and I hope things only get better for you.
How do I use a seamless file and get the image to line up at the meeting point on the back? I have seamless files that line up with itself but in the software, the image doesn't end where it lines up.
Anyway you can do this with Canva instead of photoshop? Being a newbie I have only used canva to make my designs. I don't have merch by amazon i was declined for an invite but I still do my designs in 4500 x 5400.
Hi! Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that Canva doesn't allow you to do the free-transform of images or elements where you can stretch or squeeze to change the aspect ratio. You can do everything else in Canva (except open the Printify templates), but if you need to take an existing design and squeeze it to make it more narrow for a mug, I don't know of a way to do that with Canva. You can do it with just about any other design software including free ones like Photopea if you want to give it a try.
Amazing video... your'e Seriously the very best. BTW what will be the dimension if I make the designs in canva?
Thank you so much! If you are making the design with both sides of the mug in one file, I use 2475x1155 pixels because that is the Printify recommended dimensions from District Photo. But if you are going to do one side in the file and duplicate it in the Printify editor, then you can make it a square file with half the width. You can also make them larger and then scale down in the Printify editor if you're going to use the design on larger items.
@@PODinsights oh thank you so much for replying in such detail. It helped me so so much
I have another question :) If you edit your design on Printify and safe it, that's enough right? You don't have to publish it again?
That's correct! You may need to update your mockup photos if the design placement was changed significantly with the edits that you made, but if not, then you just need to save it on Printify and your orders will use the updated design settings.
Hi, can't we create mug designs on placeit? Is it possible or not? Thanks in advance.
Hi! Placeit does have a very basic design creator with templates for t-shirts, tote bags, and posters. They don't have mug design templates from what I could find. They do have a "blank canvas" designer where you can create a design with their elements, but it does not let you set a specific file/canvas size, you can only select from some presets which appear to all be for social media. You could use the t-shirt design templates/editor to make designs for mugs though, it's just pretty limited when compared to design software or sites like Canva and Kittl.
When selling tahirt mockups how would u sell them to people who want to download the files in their Google drive?
Another great video! I was wondering if you could do a Gelato video and how to set it up with Etsy? Thanks for all you do and share!
Thanks! I definitely need to do some more videos about Gelato! I don't have a full setup video for them yet but I will put that on my list!
@@PODinsights Thanks so much!
I am trying to write something on the bottom of the mug, under the mug is that possible ?
How about picture size 3:4 or what?
It was very helpful, thank you for sharing. How would this work if using canva instead of PS?
Glad it was helpful! I may need some help from a Canva expert, because I don't believe you can do one important thing in Canva - transform shapes by their heigh and width independently. I have not found a way to stretch or "pinch" images in the Canva editor, and that's an important part of how I adjust my designs for mugs to make wider images better centered on each side of the mug. I know you can do this in some other free image editing software like photopea, which works a lot like photoshop, but I can't seem to get Canva to transform shapes or images like that. I will keep looking though!
@@PODinsights Ok, that makes sense, thanks for the explanation and hope I will be able to figure it out with canva for now as I use canva but the others yet. Thanks a lot
Does the design have to be transparent?
Can you tell me which print provider allows you to print designs on a mug which extend vertically from the brim all the way to the bottom of the mug
Hi! As far as I know, all print on demand mugs are going to have a "safe area" where they recommend you keep your design inside. However if you have a full wrap-around style design, you can stretch it out to the full bleed area and they will apply it as close as they can to the edges, there are just no guarantees that it won't be cut off. I don't know of any providers that offer a mug where they expect you to have a design that fills up 100% of the mug's surface. If anyone else knows of a provider that offers mugs made to be "full print" I would love to know!
Hey Jeff! I'm a newbie at all of this design stuff and trying to do what you're doing is frustrating me. I mean, in my mind, it sounds easy enough but for some reason my screen doesn't look the same as yours. I'm at the "11oz. Template Method" and my screen looks nothing like yours. What platform/site are you using? Nothing that I look on looks like your screen. Please help, if you can. Thanks.
Hi! I am using Printify to create the products, and that is where the templates come from. Templates can be edited in Photoshop or any software that can edit PSD files. I also show a quick view later in the video of Printful and Gelato's listing editor because they provide a 3D mockup of the mug and Printify does not.
How come you re not explaining how you did things in ur video? How did u get the scaling likes on the photoshop? Where do I find the lines?
Hi! Sorry I didn't mention that specifically - there are lots of features and tools in Photoshop that I couldn't cover in one video but I should have mentioned how to add guides. You can add guides in Photoshop by going to View > Guides > New Guide Layout and then add the number of vertical & horizontal guides that you want.
H!, thank you for this tutorial. The only question I have is whether selecting RGB or CMYK color is the same when setting up the Photoshop file. I'm asking because it's a printable image, but I'm not sure if one or the other should be selected.
One thing that has caught my attention on Etsy is that there are designs with images made based on existing products, for example I have seen a t-shirt with the design: SuperDaddio, in reference to SuperMario Bros. Do you know if the companies require a license or it is Is it possible to use this on Etsy without problems?
Hi! If you are using Printify, they recommend that you upload your print files in RGB color space. You can preview what your designs will look like when printed by changing them to CMYK in your design software but then still export them in RGB. They mention that here: help.printify.com/hc/en-us/articles/4483625994513-Which-color-profile-should-I-use-for-my-files-
On your other question - I would not suggest offering that particular design. While you might technically be able to argue fair use/parody design if you only use the phrase with similarly-styled text and no graphics that mimic copyrighted characters (like Mario), it's still too risky in my opinion. Anything that is a fairly obvious use of copyrighted characters or styles may attract attention from the platform or representatives of the copyright holders and result in your listings being taken down - if that happens enough, it will result in your account being banned. Fair or not, this happens on some platforms more than others - Amazon's algorithms mostly catch the obvious stuff and reject it before it's even posted (at least in the merch program) and on Etsy it's very hit and miss. I've had a few listings reported & taken down even though they were not directly infringing on copyrighted content or a trademark, while other sellers' listings with very similar designs have stayed up. Ultimately I recommend staying away from designs that stray into this territory as you never know which one might be the one that gets reported (or stays up forever inexplicably). I hope that helps!
@@PODinsights Thank you very much ! That technical aspect was unknown to me. As for the second question, I had a similar feeling about what you say. I think I'll stay away from that terrain. Thanks again!
Hi Jeff, I know this is 1 year on but on the Printify editor, there is no download symbol, only a little hand symbol to view the mug in PAN which I presume is panoramic view. They must have change the editor since you used it a year ago.
To download the mockup, you need to switch from the "edit" view to the "preview" view. There is still a button in the bottom left corner once you switch over to "preview".
@@PODinsights Thanks Jeff, much appreciated.
why does it keep telling me that the pictures are to small and i need to make them bigger it keeps saying images are poor and wont let me use them ?
Hi, Jeff. Great stuff as always.
I ordered a sample of the black 11 ounce mug from District Photo recently. I used the side center guides to center everything, and kept the design elements inside the safe area. But on the actual mug, the design elements weren't centered. They were closer to the front of the mug than the handle - on both sides. And there was a LOT of empty space between the design and the handle area. It almost looked like the print had been shrunk before being applied to the mug, which seems like an unlikely print error to me. Or that the "safe area" is so small you would need to leave a huge space between the handle and the design. I wonder if some of their templates are not accurate to the mugs they're using (a different mug - the color morphing mug - did not have this problem at all and looked great).
Have you ever encountered this? I'm reluctant to add these mugs to my shop if they're going to turn out like this. I'm not sure how to compensate for this issue.
Hey! I have not seen that issue specifically with the black mugs from District Photo. I actually got a sample from them of an 11oz black mug earlier this year for my mug review video and the centering on each side came out pretty good - not 100% perfect but not bad enough to request a reprint. I went back and looked at how I uploaded the print file and I had it a little off from center on each side - towards the inside of the print area, so I probably could have pushed it out towards the edge a little more too. Based on that, I would have to guess that your sample is print error. If you want to test the theory you could request a reprint because it sounds like they should be able to tell pretty easily from a photo that it's not right. In general I have a feeling the mug production line moves pretty quickly so they (meaning all providers who do mugs) might miss more things like this vs. apparel printing where each garment has to be loaded, prepped, printed, dried, removed, folded, etc. I know they automate parts of the process depending on their equipment & setup but my assumption is there are more eyes on each shirt than there are on each mug. Let me know if you do get a reprint, I'd be curious to know how it turns out!
@@PODinsights Will do. I've redesigned it slightly anyway, as I think the images were a bit small.
One other thing I've noticed is that the print area and safe areas are different on the black vs. white mugs. I find that surprising.
Is etsy realy work in pakistan bczz these days i heard that itd not working i wsnt to start handmade bags but have no idea where to sell these bag plz guide
I believe Etsy does not allow opening a shop unless Etsy Payments is available in the seller's country. There is more information about the countries available to open an Etsy shop in this article on Etsy's site: help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500006519562-Why-Can-t-I-Open-a-Shop-in-My-Country-?segment=selling
@@PODinsights ok thanks
Do you know why the center guidelines aren't actually centered on the mug template in printify? It makes placing the image so difficult and I find that if I want the design to truly be on each side of the mug and not inching towards the middle of the mug that I have to put my image all the way to the very edge of the design box and sometimes it still isn't centered! The preview mocks they show you are horrible to see placement too! I have no idea if there is an easier way to do this but it's very frustrating. Do you have any insight? I checked a few other mug print fulfillment companies on printify (besides district photo) and all the templates are the same. Since when do customers want mugs with designs that aren't truly centered on each side of the mug!?
It’s because there is a gap in the graphics where the cup handle is. The template appears off-centre but it is accurate. Follow the dotted guidelines or your final product will be out of whack.
but where do u design smth in this video ?
What software you use for the template design?
Hi! The templates are in PSD format, so you can use them with any editing software that opens that type. I use Photoshop, but you can also use Photopea, GIMP, Affinity, and several others.
@@PODinsights Thank you
4500 x 5400 what? Px?
Actually, if you look at the guidelines and also the placement icons at the bottom of the template, you will see that this print provider has the template set to not position the design at the center of each side of the mug, but off center, for whatever their reasoning is. I have used other POD providers such as Printful, whose templates place the design at the actual center of each side of the mug and their guidelines on their templates are set as 25% 50% and 75% of the width of the template, so that you can easily center your design properly. I have no idea why District Photo and some other print providers used by Printify does it the way they do. As long as your design is within the safe area of your print area, you should be able to set your guidelines as I have stated above and your designs should print at the actual center of the sides of the mug.
Now that I think about it, I see what they are doing. They have accounted for the width of the handle plus space from the handle. I suppose using their guides, even though the placement will look different than the traditional design placement, it would still look ok, but truthfully, I have purchased many mugs over the years from retail stores, including gift shops and Walmart and others, and almost all of the mugs have the design placed at the actual center of the side of the mug, not like the template District Photo displays, but I guess it's up to the designer as to how he/she wants the mug to look.
That is an excellent observation! Makes a lot of sense why I have to adjust the design placement significantly in the editor for certain providers if I have to switch for a couple of orders. I personally also prefer my designs to be centered on the side, not centered with the handle exactly in the middle. I feel like there is a difference in the "center" guides on Gelato as well because it doesn't seem to match others - I use Gelato for some international mug orders because their shipping prices are pretty low. But tinkering around to find the center of the side every time definitely feels like it takes more time than it should. Would be great if we could just have a toggle switch like "center left", "center right", or something simple like that to take the guesswork out like you said. I'm going to make a note of that to make sure I include it the next time any of these sites send me a feedback survey. Maybe someday!
@@PODinsights I have tested how it looks using the Guides provided by the District Photo template by resizing my design and comparing it to using the 25%, 50% and 75% guides I use for Printful and others and I found that by resizing my design and placing the center of my design on the guide lines provided it actually looks good in the mockups, so I may just do that with District Photo and others that use the same alignment configuration. I use Affinity Designer and sometimes Photoshop or Affinity Photo and I set guides and set to snap to guides and it works great.
Why not just do all that on Printify?
I’ve been a professional designer/illustrator for nearly 40 years. I had to stop watching your video after you recommended “squishing” your design. It screams “amateur,” and it is very noticeable. Notice how your bicycle wheels are no longer round? Fonts are particularly vulnerable. They are designed with mathematical precision, and any artificial “squishing” or expanding to fit a space is lazy and unacceptable in professional work. You may think it’s nothing because it is a quick, easy fix . . . but trust me, the viewer will notice something is “off.”
In an absolute pinch, I will scale 2 or 3% (97 or 98% scale) but only if there are no tell-tale elements in the design. If something will not fit, redesign it. Look at it from a different viewpoint. The extra effort is ALWAYS worth it. Remember, your design and illustration work is not for you, it is for your customer. Lazy shortcuts will bite you in the end, while a little extra effort is almost always rewarded.