Creating product templates on Zazzle is not difficult!
A couple things you should know. First, there are other methods of making templates and if you're interested in trying them, by all means do! Look around online, at Zazzle, on the Zazzle forums, etc., and you'll find instructions and tutorials for other ways of doing it.
Second, although these tutorials are long and look complicated, please believe me that they're not. I've broken the process down into each and every step, and included [optional] illustrations, so it LOOKS a lot worse than it really is. Just step through the tutorial and you'll see how straightforward it actually is.
This tutorial will show you how to create one template; its purpose is simply to illustrate how easy it is to create product templates, so we're only going to do it for one product. We'll explain how to do multiple templates in a second tutorial.
As we step through the process you're going to notice that we're ignoring certain options/choices along the way. That's intentional! Either they're unnecessary in the creation of templates (despite what others will tell you) or they're just unwanted for our purposes right now. Okay, let's begin!
If you're not already logged in to your Zazzle account, do so now. Make sure you've uploaded at least one image!
If you spot any errors or have any questions, kindly leave a comment on our blog.
Step-by-step instructions for creating Zazzle templates, with optional illustrations
NOTE: Illustrated examples will open in a new window or tab, depending on how you've configured your browser.1) Get to your My Account page, then select Public Products. (See illustrated example.)
2) Now select Quick Create and you're ready to start. (example)
3) From the "Configure your products" window that comes up, under "Choose products to create:" select use Zazzle defaults (example), scroll down under "Add a single" and select Button (example), then proceed to choosing an image (example)
4) Choose an image (example)--any image, it doesn't really matter right now--then select Create products (example)
5) You should now be looking at a single button, and it should have the image you chose on it; select Customize. (example)
6) This step is optional--it's included to illustrate choosing a particular size for a button. Select Button Options (example), and choose Colossal, then select Customize it! (example)
7) Use the tools to adjust the size/position of the image until you're happy with its appearance, then select Done (example)
8) Now you're looking at the single button again; if you're satisfied with its appearance select Next to move on to the next step. (example)
9) Fill in the mandatory fields however you like--what you enter here makes no difference! You can give it a title like "Colossal button template" to help you recognize it later on, but the name is up to you. You're forced to enter a description and tags even though you really don't want them on templates; just put a dot or 'templates' or whatever. (example)
10) VERY IMPORTANT From the "Product visibility" menu, select Hidden (only you can see it) (example)
11) VERY IMPORTANT Under "Quick Create Product Options" select Templates to reuse for quick create (example)
12) You're forced to choose a public category, so just select whatever suits your fancy. (example)
13) Under "Store category" choose new. (example) Beside "Add new category under" choose Select. (example) You're now creating a new section/category, so pick the store category you want the new one to appear under; in our example, we're adding it under "New Products;" then select Done (example) Name the category something meaningful, then select Add new product line. (example)
14) Enter the royalty you want for this product, then enter the two Captcha words. (example)
15) Now hit Post it! (example) and you're done! (example)
Now that you've created your first product template, it's natural that you want to use it! But because NOTHING happens instantaneously on Zazzle, you're going to have to be patient and wait for it to show up. (This is another exasperating aspect of Zazzle...at least in my opinion.) When it finally posts you'll find it in the section/category you put it in during the creation process. Once it's there you'll have to wait a little longer as it gets recognized as a template. THEN you'll be able to use it as a template! It will be accessible from the "Configure your products" window, under "Choose products to create," then "Use your own templates."
We'll be posting several other tutorials soon. One will illustrate how to create multiple templates at once. Another will explain how to set up sections that appear to be hidden (since Zazzle doesn't offer hidden sections yet), so you can organize your templates away from your actual product sections. Stay tuned!
Return to beginning of this tutorial or return to top of page
