Create a customizable product

Zakeke allows you to pick a product from your store and make it customizable.

Summary

1. What is a customizable product
2. Step-by-step guide on how to create a customizable product
   • Video tutorial
3. Most common product configurations

1. What is a Customizable Product

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.

2. How to create a Customizable Product

1. Go to Customizable Products > Add a Customizable Product > Your Store

If you see other options other than "Your Store", it's because Zakeke integrates third-party Print-on-Demand services to give you access to multiple catalogs of customizable products that are fulfilled and shipped to your customers automatically. Learn more here.

2. Pick the product you want to make customizable and start the configuration process:

• The first product side is pre-configured by pulling the product image from your store (you can change it if you like). You only need to define the print-area.

• You can add extra customizable sides (e.g.: front and back of t-shirt)

Once the product is configured, you can add variations. If you don't have variations, just click on I do not offer variations, go to preview to save your customizable product.

3. Variations

Zakeke allows you to offer customizable product with variants. Read here a detailed guide or read below for quick and most useful information.

• Zakeke automatically gets the 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 the variants on the store, but you still don't see them in Zakeke, please read here.

  Please note that variations are not supported for Etsy yet.

• Import the attributes you wish to offer in the customizer.

PRO TIP: do not import variations that do not affect how clients personalize your product. Example: if you sell t-shirts and offer both color and size variants, import only colors if the print area size is the same for all t-shirt sizes.

• Once attributes are confirmed, Zakeke generates the variants. You can:

  • Change the image for each variant (as Zakeke just replicate the main product image for all variants)

  • Change the print area size for each variant.

  • Remove a variant or remove only a certain product side for a variant.

4. Preview and Save

This is a recap of the product configuration before publishing it live to your store.

You have two options:

• Save as draft: it saves the configuration but the product stays as not customizable at your store.

• Save and publish to store: a CUSTOMIZE button gets added on the product page to allow your customers to easily initialize the customizer and make their own personalization.

You can also test the product as if you were the end customer and generate test print-ready files to see if everything is ok by clicking on Test Preview and Print-Ready Files.

Video Tutorial

1.  

3. Most common product configurations

This is a list of guides that explain to you how to create specific customizable products:

• Product with only text option
• Rounded items (mugs, bottles, cups, tumblers, cans, glasses, ...)
• Sublimated sport jersey
• Double-sided product with the option to have the same design elements on each side

What's next?

Your product is now live and your customers can personalize it. All basic customization tools (text, upload image, ...) are active by default. If you need to disable or limit one or more customization tools on the entire product or each side (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. 

Other options you have are:

• Add specific price rules to charge your customers.

• Show buyers a live 3D model of their customized product and allow them to see it in their own house with the Augmented Reality.

• Add editable pre-designed templates to your product to create a pre-decorated product.

• Upload a catalog of artwork and images for clients to pick and create new designs in minutes.

• ...and much more as described in our guide.