The Customizable Product is the core of the Visual Product Customizer. This is where you define how a product can be personalized, setting up its structure and the area available for customization.
In this guide, you’ll learn what a customizable product is and how to set it up step by step.
Summary
1. What is a Customizable Product
In Zakeke, a customizable product works like a configuration template that you link to an existing product in your store to make it customizable. You are not creating a new product inside Zakeke; instead, you create a configuration that transforms an existing store product into a customizable one.
It is also possible to create a product entirely from scratch in Zakeke. However, if you want to publish it online, you still need to link it to a product in your store. Otherwise, the product can only be used in the back office to create manual orders (custom orders that do not come from an online store).
In Zakeke each customizable product is composed as follows: product > side(s) > print area(s).
It means that for each product you can offer one or multiple customizable sides (think about front and back of a T-shirt) and one or multiple print areas on each side.
If you have product variations, the hierarchy is valid for each product variation that you wish to make customizable. You'll get a print-ready file for each print area customized by your customer.
Resizable Products
- If you sell printable or laserable products where customers can not only create a design but also define the dimensions (e.g., width and height), the setup process is different.
- These products are called Resizable Products in Zakeke and typical examples include canvases, posters, boards, signs – basically anything printable or laserable that can also be customized in its base size.
- 👉 To set up Resizable Products, you need to follow this guide instead.
2. How to create a Customizable Product
Go to Customizable Products > Add
Step 1 - Selecting the product source
When adding a product, you have three options:
Pick a product from your store: start directly from an existing product in your store's catalog and turn it into a customizable product via Zakeke.
-
Create a product from scratch: create a product template that can later be linked to a product in your store to make it customizable.
The first two options are very similar in terms of configuration. Differences and step-by-step instructions will be explained in the next steps below.
-
Start from a Print-on-demand (POD) service: Zakeke integrates with third-party POD providers, allowing you to pick a product from their catalogs and sell it as a customizable product and have orders fulfilled and drop-shipped to your customers automatically.
This option is currently available only for certain eCommerce platforms and you need to follow the dedicated guide for proper setup.
Step 2 – Configure the first side of the product
Select the product that you wish to turn into a customizable product to start the configuration process. The process begins by configuring the first side of the product, which could also be the only side.
Zakeke automatically pulls the product image from your store. If you are creating a product "from scratch", you will need to upload an image manually.
-
You can still change the image if desired.
This is the image that your customers will see in the customizer and on which they will create their personalization.
Zakeke automatically reduces product images to 1024x1024 pixels to avoid issues such as increased loading times for the customizer and problems with output file generation. Remember: the images you use as sides will not be included in the print files, so there is no need to use print-quality images. If you prefer to use the original image dimensions, you can disable automatic scaling by going to Settings > General Settings and unchecking “Automatic resizing of product images (1024x1024)".
-
On this side/image, you need to define the print area — the area you want to grant the customer as a personalization zone. This area is also used to generate the print-ready file.
The standard way to define the print area is by using the ruler and drawing tools, as explained here. However, there are also alternative methods suited for specific configurations, such as using PNG masks or PDF files. For a complete guide see here.
Optional settings:
Side Rotation in UI: allows end customers to rotate the product within the UI canvas. Rotation occurs in 90° increments, which is ideal for products that can be customized in both vertical and horizontal formats.
Make Customization Mandatory: this setting forces the customer to personalize this side before being able to purchase the product. This option is only visible if you add more than one side, as it is enabled by default for products with a single side.
Once the first side is configured, you are technically ready to go live. However, you can also choose to:
Add another side and repeat the process (for example, if you sell t-shirts that are customizable on the front and back).
Add product variants to offer multiple options in the customizer (for example, if your customizable product is a variable product with attributes such as size, color, material, etc.).
Step 3 (optional) – Add product variants
After the main product is configured, you can add variants.
Case 1: Product from your store
-
Zakeke automatically pulls product attributes and variations from your store.
If your product has no variations in the store, you can't add them in Zakeke. Make sure that variations are properly set in your store first.
If your product has variants in the store but you still don’t see them in Zakeke, please check here.
Import the attributes you wish to offer in the customizer. If you import all attributes and options, Zakeke will also import the related variant images (this does not work on every platform and might not work with your integration). If you decide to import only specific attributes, the default product image will be used instead and can be manually replaced. Non-imported attributes will still be available on the product page but will not be visible or managed in Zakeke. They will still be passed to the cart.
After confirming the attributes, Zakeke generates a variants matrix that allows you to manage each variant independently.
Read this detailed guide on how to manage product variants in Zakeke.
Case 2: Product created from scratch
You can define attributes and options directly in Zakeke, just like you would in an e-commerce platform. Alternatively, you can import variants from an existing product in your store. In this case, you will be asked to associate the configuration you are creating in Zakeke with the product in your store, and you will need to integrate your Zakeke account with the store if you haven’t already done so.
When you publish the product to make it live, you will be required to link it to an existing product in your store (if this hasn’t been done in the previous step). At that point, you must map the variants you created in Zakeke with the ones already existing on the corresponding product in your store.
Read this detailed guide on how to manage product variants for a "created from scratch" product.
Step 4 – Review and Save
This is a recap of the product configuration before publishing it live to your store:
-
Save and Publish save your configuration and make the customization option live on your website. Customers will see a "Customize” button on the product page, allowing them to open the customizer and personalize the product before purchasing.
This works slightly differently for Etsy and Amazon, where customers will first buy the product and then receive a link to access the customizer. Zakeke cannot be launched directly within these marketplaces due to platform limitations.
-
Save will only save your configuration as a draft, which you can make public later.
Remember that in order to test your customizable products and generate print-ready files for test you don't need to publish your product live, but you can use the internal test customizer.
Video Tutorial
Creating a customizable product starting from your store
3. What's next?
Once your product is live, your customers can personalize it by creating a design on it. All basic customization tools (text, upload image, images gallery, ...) are active by default. However, you may need to limit the way your customers can personalize your product:
If you need to disable or limit one or more customization tools on the entire product or each side (for example: allow customers to add text but no images or accept images only in PNG format) or you wish to customize the print-ready file options, you can create a Printing Method.
If you want your customers to start from pre-made design or you need them to have strict rules on design elements positions and editing options, the best option is to create a Pre-designed template.
Other than that, Zakeke offers dozens of tools and options such as adding specific price rules to charge your customers based on the personalization they do, showing buyers a live 3D model of their customized product and allow them to see it in their own house with the Augmented Reality, and much more as described in our guide.
4. Some detailed guides on specific configurations
This is a list of guides that explain to you how to create specific customizable products: