Create Your First | Virtual Products: Artwork

Create Your First | Virtual Products: Artwork

Overview


ARTWORK is a simple Virtual Product Creation routine focussed on automation and efficiency. It allows you to select one or multiple Blank Products, and upload raster Artwork images to all of them in a single operation, meaning you can very quickly create entire Virtual Product ranges to then publish and sell online.

This creation process is best suited for creating Print on Demand Virtual Products in bulk, by applying print resolution artwork imagery to a single location eg Front of a garment;

Please Note, the Artwork process is not suitable for;
  1. Controlling Artwork placement on multiple areas - in the scenario Product Designer is better suited.
  2. Offering customisation - in this scenario the Design creation process is better suited
  3. Precision formatting - in this scenario the Manual creation process is better suited.
  4. Targeting multiple Print Areas - in this scenario the Print on Demand Import is better suited.

What do I need?

  1. Access to a Blank Product in Catalog
  2. Artwork image file/s
Important Note: The Artwork files that you upload will be applied to the selected Blank Products Print Area and automatically scaled to best fit. For specific positioning / scaling, it is advised that uploaded images are sized to match the Print Size defined against the Fulfillers Blank Product - this approach ensures the Artwork fits the Product perfectly and that there is no loss in image quality from up-scaling images to fit larger products. You can get exact mm Print Area sizes from the Blank products via the Product Manager. 

Artwork Formatting Guidelines

Accepted Format: JPG, PNG, TIFF
File Size: Up to 100mb
File Resolution: 300dpi (lower resolutions are accepted)
Colour Mode: RGB
Recommended Image Size: Sized according to Fulfillers Blank Product Print Size
Please Note: TIFF files tend to have larger files sizes. Support material on how to compress and reduce TIFF file sizes is available HERE >>

How does it work?

Access Product Manager and click the '+New Product' button:
From the 'Create Product' menu select Virtual > Artwork creation process:


Now, lets take a look at the 3 steps in using the Artwork creation process:

Step 1: Select Blanks

The 'Select Blanks' step shows a pre-filtered list of any Blank Products that your user account has access to. One or more Blank Products must be selected before you can continue to the next step.
Search and filter options allow specific Blank Products to be located.
  • Select Blank Products using the tick box next to each product listing. 
Please note that you can select all available blanks by clicking the "Select All" tick which will select all of the available blanks which can be found within entire categories and fulfiller blanks.
  1. Click 'Continue' to proceed to the next step.


Step 2: Select Artwork

The 'Select Artwork' step shows thumbnails of the selected Blank Products, along with 2 Artwork upload options; 
  1. ADD ARTWORK - Upload print resolution image files (JPG/PNG). All images will be automatically re-scaled to fit the available Print Area and then processed for automated production. 
  1. ADD PRINT READY ARTWORK (VERBATIM) - Suitable for 'pre-formatted' and 'sized to fit' artwork image files only (JPG/PNG/TIFF). This option bypasses any automated scaling or processing in favour of preserving the original uploaded file and any associated data. This is typically used to retain extra layer or alpha channel information for improved print efficacy when handling complex artworks with gradient transparency.
  2. ADD ARTWORK FROM GALLERY - Suitable for Image Galleries already created within the platform. This option allows for users to filter by "Galleries" or "Image Names" and select either all gallery images or only use the selected images. 
Important Note: Uploading PRINT READY ARTWORK (Verbatim) files that are not suitably formatted and sized to fit can lead to print vs preview issues.


  1. Click to add Artwork and upload image files.
Each file can be renamed during the upload process - this is automatically appended to the name of the Virtual Product that is created. This allows easier searches and avoids duplicate product names in Catalog.


"Add Artwork From Gallery" Enhancements
The from Gallery option will show all gallery images available to the user, but this can be filtered further by searching by the gallery name or specific image name as shown below,

Images can be selected and added individually or in a group selection. Alternatively, ‘Add All’ will apply all images from the gallery folder automatically. Once added, the selected gallery images they will appear in the product review tab of the process.
Once uploaded, the routine will progress automatically to the next step.

Step 3: Product Review

The Product Review step shows preview thumbnails for every Virtual Product that will be created based on the selected Blanks and each added Artwork file.
This step has been enhanced to include new grouping options - this changes how the preview thumbnails of the Virtuals are displayed based on 2 presets; 
  1. Group By: Artwork - Sorts all Virtuals by uploaded artwork file name
  2. Group By: Blank - Sorts all Virtuals based on Blank


More Artwork can be added at this step, which will add more Virtuals Products to the review window. Any added Artwork can also be deleted to remove all associated Virtual Product thumbnails from the review window


Note: The Fit Mode option changes the automated artwork scaling behaviour between 2 pre-sets;
  1. Contain (default) - Scales the image to be as large as possible within the available Print Area WITHOUT cropping the image. Typically used for DTG graphics / logos where cropping is undesirable.
  2. Cover - Scale the image to fill the available Print Area.

Each Virtual Product thumbnail offers the following options;
  1. Delete/Cancel: Removes the Virtual Product, stopping it from being created
  2. Choose Colours: Displays the list of available colours, all of which are enabled by default. Colours can be disabled/enabled interactively to target specific ones based on the uploaded Artwork file. Only selected colours will be enabled on the created Virtual Product.

  1. Specify an appropriate Category location for the Virtual Products to be placed within, and then click to 'Create Virtual Products'.


The Virtual Products are then created and added to the specified Category within Product Manager. The following options are presented;
  1. Feeds: Generate a feed to publish the newly created Virtual Products
  2. Multi-Edit: Open all created Virtual Products to be edited / inspected in a sequence based operation
  3. List: Shows all newly created Virtual Products in an isolated list, allowing easy bulk actions, data exports to be conducted
  4. Exit: Close the wizard and return to Product Manager


Congratulations - you have just created Virtual Products using Artwork!

What's next?

We have just gone through the key steps in creating a Virtual Product via the Artwork routine. You can continue to create Virtual Products in this way to create as many Virtual Products as desired.

FAQs

Can I replace the artwork file at a later date?
Yes, simply find to the Virtual Product in Product Manager and go to Print > Print Area. Any uploaded artwork files are stored under the Artwork menu; this can be deleted or replaced.

Can I change how the artwork gets scaled to avoid cropping?
The best way to cater for this is make sure your Artwork files 'fit' the products that they are to be applied to by creating your artwork to match the Fulfillers print size. The other option is, you can change the 'FIT MODE' to change the scaling behaviour during the Virtual Creation process.

Can I add personalisation?
Yes, simply click to edit each Virtual Product and add the user functionality eg Text Area or Image Area. Be sure to Print Test to make sure you are happy with the results.