About this Class:
As designers, we channel our creative energies towards making a living. We are always subtly trying to influence viewers to be favorably inclined toward buying either a product we create featuring our art or clients paying for our artistic skills. Many of us also create art for the simple satisfaction of bringing beauty into the world. And there is nothing quite as exciting as seeing our artwork in print, especially if it is on a physical object made purely for the enjoyment of the viewer. That is my motivation for bringing you this new course, Passion to Profits using the Adobe Design to Print Extension.
“The Adobe Design to Print Extension is a new tool that enables designers to create artwork for printing on a multitude of actual products… available for free download on Adobe Exchange. A new palette enables the artist to select a “blank” product from a catalog (e.g., an article of clothing), and to preview how it will look when their design is printed on it. Familiar Photoshop tools, like placing images, brush strokes, and effects can be used to easily create a beautiful design while simultaneously viewing a visualization of its appearance when printed on the finished product.”
In this course I’m sharing everything I’ve learned about using the extension. Design to Print is fully compatible with Zazzle, and everything can be done from within Photoshop. So, there is no need to switch back and forth between Photoshop and your browser. Once you post your product, it is fully available on the online marketplace.
I’ll show you my step-by-step process, from my tricks to working with the mockups and previews, to creating fully editable text template items both from within Photoshop and again on the marketplace website. You will be surprised how easy it is!
As far as prerequisite skills, I would recommend some knowledge of Photoshop with the goal of wanting to learn additional techniques. In class, we’ll talk about both design and technical aspects of creating compatible image files. I will demonstrate them at a reasonable pace so that it will be easy to follow along. This course is for all levels; I recommend being acquainted with Photoshop somewhat, and, also knowing the basic principles of creating images with text, but most steps are explained very thoroughly. I suggest pausing and repeating sections and possibly even slowing the speed in your browser when trying to work through any difficult parts. Adobe Photoshop is recommended for this class, as that is what is being featured here.
The key concepts I will include:
- review of the complete Adobe Design to Print Extension
- methods to edit and deal with specific issues like cropping and other file considerations
- making editable text templates both in DTP and the marketplace interface
- organizational considerations like spreadsheets and master files
- good examples, reference and inspiration for reinforcing the goal
This course is packed with ample amounts of information for you no matter what stage you are at in your career. Let’s set off on your learning journey together with the destination of having you creating beautiful products this week with this class. You can be benefitting from this practical knowledge in your design practice! Having products with your beautiful artwork is absolutely do-able with this small investment of time. Let’s dig in!
The Curriculum
- Intro - Create using the Adobe Design to Print Plugin (1:34)
- Lesson 1 Overview of the Design to Print Plug In (3:23)
- Lesson 2 Introduction to the DTP Interface (8:49)
- Lesson 3 The Online Interface (10:59)
- Lesson 4 Create Template Items - 2 Methods (9:42)
- Lesson 5 Organizational Insights and Stats Analysis (7:54)
- Lesson 6 Greeting Card Setup (7:46)
- Outro (1:39)