Design in an hour, mockups for a day
A new design takes an evening. Then the mockups start. The T-shirt in black, white, navy, heather grey and sand. The hoodie in three colours. The mug. A lifestyle shot for the hero image. Each exported at the size Etsy likes, again at the size your Shopify theme uses, and again square for Instagram. Then renamed so you can tell them apart and uploaded to each listing.
By the end of the weekend you have made mockups for four designs. The dozen designs sitting in your 'ready' folder will have to wait.
Mockups multiply with every choice you offer
The number of mockups grows with every product, colour and channel you add. Tools help, but most still work one design at a time.
- Each product needs a template with the print area placed correctly.
- Each colour needs its own render, and dark colours may need the light version of the design.
- Each channel has its own preferred image size and order.
- Images need consistent names so listings get the right ones.
- A design revision means redoing every mockup made from the old version.
So the mockup step, not the design step, sets how fast you can list new work.
What slow mockups cost
Designs sit unlisted. Seasonal designs miss their window because the mockups were not ready. Listings go live with fewer colours shown than are available, so buyers do not realise their colour is offered. Mockup subscription fees and hours add up. And inconsistency creeps in: slightly different placement between colours makes a shop look less professional.
The biggest cost is that the owner's best hours go into repetitive work.
The mockup pipeline we build
- Your chosen mockup templates, from your own photos or licensed template files, are set up once with the print area, perspective and shading for each product.
- When a design is added to the file library, the pipeline places it on every template for the products it is meant for, using the dark or light version as each colour needs.
- Every colour variant is rendered, plus any lifestyle or hero templates you choose.
- Images are exported at each channel's size and named consistently by design, product, colour and view.
- Images are attached to the matching listings on your shop and marketplaces through their APIs, in the order you set, or packaged for upload where an API does not allow it.
- When a design is revised, its mockups are regenerated and replaced on the listings.
| Output | Made for | Named by |
|---|---|---|
| Colour variant images | Each colour offered | Design, product, colour |
| Hero or lifestyle image | First image on the listing | Design, product, scene |
| Channel sizes | Etsy, Shopify, Amazon, social | Channel suffix |
| Size chart or detail shot | Every listing of that product | Product only |
The templates are the part that needs care. We set them up with you so the placement looks right on each product, and after that the renders are consistent.
Listing new work in an evening
You finish a design and add it to the library. Mockups for every product and colour are ready shortly after, named and sized, and waiting on the draft listings. You review them, change the hero image if you like, and publish. The designs waiting in the 'ready' folder go live as fast as you can review them.
When you tweak a design, the mockups follow, so listings never show an old version.
Signs mockups are your bottleneck
- Designs wait in a folder because mockups are not done.
- You make mockups one colour at a time.
- Listings show fewer colours than you offer.
- Placement looks slightly different between colours.
- Seasonal designs have missed their window.