Online Designer FAQs

Overview

• What can I do with the online designer?

  Our custom designer allows you to design and order your own custom product. There is no minimum order, you're free to order just one, individually printed product, be the designer!

  • Choose a product from our selection.
  • Choose a design. You can upload your own images, or pick one out from our large selection of clipart. To see what file types you can upload click here
  • You can also add your own text. Designs rotate and you can even add effects to your text to jazz up your designs.
  • Once you are happy with your design, add it to your cart and complete your purchase. To see our shipping guidelines, Click here
• What types of images can I use?

  You can upload JPEG, PNG, GIF, or TIFF file formats.

• Where does my design go if I save it?

  If you save your image and don't have an account, it will ask you to create one. Once you have an account, you can click on "my profile", from here you will see your saved designs.

• How do I add images?

  On the right hand side of the designer is an "add image" button. Click this and a new popup will appear. From here you can upload an image from your hard drive. After you have logged in, each time you load an image, that image is stored in your image gallery

• How do I Position elements

  Once you have selected the image, you will see grab handles appear around the image, this indicates the image has been selected.

  • You can drag and drop the image within the printable area. *Note, if you move the image outside the designed printable area for the product you are designing, your image will disappear. This will not be printed.
  • You can also move your image using the control panel. This is on the right hand side of the designer. By clicking the directional arrow, you will see your graphic move in the clicked direction.
    How easy! Just select up/down - left/right.
• How do I resize graphics or text?

  When resizing graphics, you can do it with your mouse. Select the graphic or image you wish to resize and you will see grab handles appear. Drag and drop the grab handle to resize your graphic. Text is done differently and cannot be resized using grab handles.

  To resize text, use the manage panel on the right. First select the text, then click the resize up or down arrow, you will see the text resize accordingly within the preview window.

• Can I rotate objects?

  Rotating has to be done using the manage panel area (right hand side). Use the rotate widget, and by dragging and dropping the directional line, you can see your graphic rotate in the product preview area.

• How does my uploaded images work?

  Your uploaded images store all your images you have uploaded through the system. This is very handy, as at any time you can access your images, and add that previously uploaded item again, without having to upload the whole thing again.

• What size image should I use?

  We recommend using as large a size image as possible. The larger the image, the better quality the print will turn out.

• Do you have clipart I can use?

  Yes we do. If you click the "add image" button, you will see two tabs at the top of the window. Click the right tab, which is labelled clipart.

  This will load the clipart library. To find what you are looking for, use the filter to narrow the clipart to something more appropriate.

• Tell me how to delete something I don't want anymore.

  To remove an image, you must first have it selected. Now press delete or click on the delete button.

• Can I change Products?

  Of course you can. Click the products tab. This will load all the available products you can print onto.

Advanced Features

• Can I make an object appear above another object?

  Yes you can, we call this layering. Layering is important. You may want particular elemenets within your design to appear above other elements. You do this through layering.

  Design elements are listed in order. By default, the most recent uploaded image will go to the top layer.

  To change the layer order, select the controls up or down for the layer, and you will see it move accordingly.

• Can I add effects to my images?

  Yes, in fact you can add effects to both your images and text. To add effects, click the advanced button within the manage panel.

  This will display the effects panel. Select the effect you wish to apply and you will see the result in the preview window. If you are happy with the result, click the tick and this will apply the effect to your image on the product.

• How can I add borders to my images?

  Click the advanced button within the manage panel.

  This will display the effects panel, from here you can click the border tab. Thumbnails of all the borders you can apply will load, click a thumbnail and you will see the image change on the left. Note, this may take awhile if you have uploaded a large image.

• What is the quality meter?

  The quality meter detects the quality of the image you have uploaded, and it compares it to the size you are trying to print. For instance, a small image would have a higher quality reading if you were printing onto a pen, opposed to a large poster.

  If you size the uploaded graphic beyond its capability, the quality meter will go red. This is when you will get a warning when you try to buy the product.

• I keep getting a quality warning, what is this?

  You have oversized your uploaded graphic and it will no longer print well. If you want to remedy this, down size your uploaded graphic until the quality meter goes back into the yellow.