Creating design templates for your products

This article refers to Smart Customizer Web to Print App Version 2 (current Stand Alone version)

Before we get started

  • Design template is a predefined mockup of texts and visuals that help customers to start the customization quickly. Design template example
  • We recommend creating and assigning at least three different design templates for your product template.
  • It is possible to install and use our graphic assets library while creating a design template but you can also upload your own graphics.
  • Our app supports .png, .jpg, .pdf, and .svg file formats for graphics upload.
  • Please note that PDFs exported from Canva are not supported. Only files in .jpg and .png formats from Canva can be used.

How to create a design template

  1. Go to Design Templates and click Add New. Adding new design template
  2. Enter your Template Name. The name of a design template will be visible for your customers.
  3. Add template dimensions. We would recommend using the same dimensions as it is set for your product's print area.
  4. Click Save. Design template settings
  5. Open Design Editor. Open design editor
  6. Create your design template by inserting custom texts or graphics from your computer. Learn more how to upload your custom graphic assets.
  7. Once done, click Update Thumbnail, then click Update & Save. Create a design template
  8. To assign your newly created design template, go to your Product and locate Product Options > Print settings. Then, click Edit on the print area you want to apply your design to. Product print area settings
  9. In Print Area Setup, locate the Assign Templates field and select your design template from the list. You can also start typing its name, then click on it to add.
  10. To finalize, click Save. Assigning design template to product’s print area

Advanced tips: Locking graphic elements

When creating a design template, you may want certain elements to stay fixed—untouched, unmoved, or uneditable by customers. Our app provides three types of graphic element locks:

  • Unlocked (Default): By default, uploaded graphic elements are unlocked. They can be both moved and edited in the design editor, as indicated by the gray Lock icon. Default lock for graphic assets in the design editor
  • Move-Locked: To prevent customers from moving an element but still allow editing, click the Lock icon once (it will turn blue). This locks the position but keeps editing and manual unlocking possible. Locking graphic assets in the design editor
  • Fully Locked: To lock an element permanently so it can't be moved, edited, or unlocked by customers, double-click the Lock icon (it will turn orange). This fully secures the element. Locking graphic assets in the design editor

Advanced tips: Limited colors

If you need to restrict the colors in a design—such as for engraved items or to maintain a consistent color palette—you can create a custom Toolset to set these limitations:

  1. Go to Preferences.
  2. Click Add New Toolset. Creating toolset for color limitation
  3. Add a Title for the toolset. Adjusting toolset details
  4. Here are two color limitation options:
    • In the Color Limit field, enter a number to define the maximum number of colors allowed. Customers can use any colors, but only up to the specified limit.
    • To restrict the design to specific colors, check Use Predefined Colors Only and enter the HEX codes for the allowed colors.
  5. Save your changes. Setting color limitation
  6. Open your Design Template and assign the newly created Toolset.
  7. Click Save. Assigning custom toolset in design template settings

Advanced tips: Picture placeholders

For products that are customized with pictures, you can make the process easier by adding picture placeholders in your design template.

  • When an image is part of the template, customers can simply click on it, and a box will appear with an option to upload a new picture: Placeholder image
  • To make it even easier, you can upload a sample image with a guidance text: Placeholder image with note
  • Or use a guidelines layer with the same note. The guidelines layer won’t be included in the print-ready file and can be turned on or off by the customer. For more info, refer to: How to import guidelines layer. Placeholder image with guidelines layer

Important: templates saved with Visible checkmark enabled will appear for your customers instantly.