Mark out where artwork belongs on a product photo, and check it with a real design before you publish.
The mockup designer is where a product photo becomes usable: you mark the patch that gets printed, shape it to the product, and try a sample design on it.Open it from Assets → Mockup, click a library, then click the mockup you want to work on.
What's on this mockup · 2. The product photo · 3. Settings · 4. Tools and zoom
The left panel lists everything on this mockup: the clip masks you’ve drawn, the design areas you’ve added, and the product photo itself (labelled Base mockup). A fresh mockup says No clip masks yet and No design areas yet, which tells you exactly what there is to do.The bottom toolbar holds the tools:
Tool
Shortcut
What it does
Arrow
V
Move and reshape whatever you select
Eye
Preview: see the mockup as a shopper would, with nothing selected
A design area is the rectangle where artwork lands. Until a mockup has one, artwork covers the entire photo and hides the product.
Design Areas in the settings sidebar.
1
Click Add design area
Name the area and give it a size in pixels.
Area ID is a short name for this patch of the product. Use something plain that describes the position, such as front, back, sleeve or handle, because you’ll be choosing it from a list later.Width and Height are the size of the artwork this area accepts, in pixels. Match the print size you design at, so what you see is what gets printed.
2
Put it where the printing goes
The area appears on the photo as a box with handles. Drag the middle to move it, drag a corner to resize, and use the handle above it to rotate. Line the box up with the printable patch of the product.
A design area on the photo, with its grid and handles.
The left panel now lists the area with its size, a rotation box, and Flip 180° for a product photographed upside down.
3
Shape it to the product
If the surface curves, drag the grid points inside the box so the grid follows the product. See Warp and realism.
4
Save changes
Click Save changes. Every design template that uses this mockup picks up the new print area.
Add an area per printable surface: the front and back of a shirt, both sides of a mug, the inside of a card. The Active area dropdown under Add design area chooses which one you’re working on, and the grid handles and effects always apply to the active area.
Name areas by where they are on the product, not by what you plan to print there. back still makes sense next year; christmas-logo won’t.
Guessing whether a print area is right is a waste of time. Upload something and look.
Preview Artwork puts a real image into the design area.
Click Choose artwork from device and pick any image. It drops into the active design area, scaled to fit, so you can check the placement, the warp, and the blending against something realistic.The sample is only for your eyes while you work here. It isn’t saved with the mockup and no customer ever sees it.
Preview with your busiest design, the one with edge-to-edge colour and fine lettering. A pale, sparse design flatters a mockup that isn’t actually lined up.
