Overview
Zakeke allows you to set a maximum number of colors that your customers can use in creating their personalization designs. The limit works on the whole design, which means that all the elements (texts and images) that make up the design cannot have a number of colors higher than the one you defined.
In addition to being able to define a number limit, you can also define which colors the customer can use (limited palette of colors).
Enabling the limit
Go to your Zakeke back-office > Printing Methods > select or create a Printing Method;
Check the "Set a limit for the number of colors customers can use in a design" option.
You'll be required to set the limit and, if you want, create the limited palette (this is optional -- if you do not make it, your customers will be able to pick any colors from a color picker).
As an extra option, you can make it that Zakeke generates a print-ready file in PNG for each color in the design instead of a single print-ready file with the full design.
How it works for your customers
Once the feature is activated, your customers will be forced to create designs with a maximum number of colors.
If they upload an image with a higher number of colors than allowed, Zakeke automatically converts the image to reduce the colors used and shows a new color mapping to the customer with which the image will be converted. They're still able to change the colors, but they can't exceed the number of colors allowed. The colors used for the image will become the colors of the limited palette for all other elements.
If they start from a text, the color they choose for the text will be one of the colors of the limited palette.
If they add any other elements, be it an image or text, that element will be converted into the colors already in use.
They can use the palette "Colors in use" to still change the colors used to any other color. Color gets changed on all elements in the design.
Special case: limit set to 1 color (Monochromie)
When the color limit is set to 1, the customer’s UI changes slightly for image handling (the text UI remains the same).
The uploaded image is automatically converted by Zakeke:
some parts become transparent;
the remaining parts are recolored into a single color.
This approach ensures that logos or complex elements remain recognizable instead of becoming a solid block of color.
Customers can adjust the transparency threshold, invert transparent and colored areas to optimize the result, and, of course, change the final color of the image (unless the merchant has locked it).
This combination is especially powerful for companies that want customers to work on clean, vector-based images and use printing methods with limited color options — such as monochrome or screen printing.
For a smoother experience, we recommend setting the Background Remover and Vectorizer tools to Automatic Mode. This way, both actions happen automatically when the image is uploaded, ensuring a seamless workflow without breaking the design flow between multiple modals.