In this episode, I’m going to discuss how you can get started in print on demand on Etsy for free. Even if you’re already selling print on demand, the tools and resources I’ll cover may be useful to you as a way to keep expenses down. Links to all the resources mentioned below are on the POD Resources page.

Preface

For new listeners, I’m an Etsy POD seller and I’ve had my shop since August 2020. So far I’ve made over 5,000 sales and $110k in total revenue. I host this channel to share the things I’ve learned in my POD journey in addition to sharing through my YT channel. I’ve stated before how I started out using mostly free resources until I starting earning regular profits, and over time I’ve added paid services that enhanced the designs I offer, my research capabilities, product mockups, etc. In this episode I’ll cover the free resources I’ve used in the past and even some that I still use. When it comes to maximizing your profits, there’s no need to pay for a resource if there is a free one that’s just as good. Of course it doesn’t always work out that way, I just mean to say that you don’t necessarily need to “graduate” to paying for something if the free version meets your needs, and it can help keep your profit margins intact. 

Before we talk about specific tools & resources, I need to provide a quick preface about opening your print on demand Etsy shop. There is no cost to create an Etsy account and open a shop. Etsy has a paid shop plan called Etsy Plus, but that’s not required. Many print on demand platforms such as Printify and Printful offer free accounts with no monthly fee. If you haven’t selected a platform yet I recommend listening to episode 2 from this season (the post right before this one) where I reviewed several aspects of many popular platforms. The one thing you cannot do for free is fulfill your orders. Selling print on demand on Etsy requires you to pay the print on demand platform up-front to fulfill orders and ship them to your customers, before Etsy pays you the revenue from the order. So while you can get started for zero monthly fees, you will have to provide a payment method (usually a credit/debit card) to your print on demand platform to pay for orders. If you’re interested in trying out selling your designs but would rather not take this step yet, consider other platforms like Redbubble and the Merch by Amazon program. That’s a topic for another episode, but wanted to get that out of the way before we move on. 

We’re going to break this down into categories: design sources and editors, mockups, shop logos & graphics, social media, and of course, keyword research. 

Design Software

First we’re going to consider tools to create and edit designs, as well as potential sources for design assets. One type of print on demand design that has great selling potential and does not require graphic assets is text-based designs. Many people who are not graphic designs (like me) or don’t have original work to use get started by focusing on text designs because you can make a lot of them pretty quickly, and don’t have to worry about licensing of graphic assets. 

If you’re a graphic designer who wants to sell your designs, you likely don’t need any of the tools I’m going to discuss in this category because you already have design software to create and edit your work. If this is you, then you will just need to be aware of the file types and settings necessary for print on demand products, and that goes for the rest of us as well so I’ll cover that first. Generally you’ll need to have PNG files of your designs in order to upload them to print on demand products. In some cases, JPG files work for things like posters, but most of the time you’ll need to have a transparent background for designs on apparel or other products, so PNG is the way to go. If you save your files as vectors currently, just export them as PNG files and you’ll be all set. A file dimension that works with most t-shirts is 4500×5400 pixels, but most platforms also have PSD templates you can download and I recommend that because it helps you get familiar with the common file dimensions for various products. Two other common settings to be aware of: 300 PPI is the desired pixel density but anything 150 or higher will work. Web graphics are usually 72 PPI which will not come out very good on printed products, it just won’t be a sharp/clear image. You also want to set your editing software to the CMYK color profile, because that is the color range printers use, not RGB. It usually doesn’t cause a big problem, but if you do a lot of custom-editing your designs you could select an RGB color that can’t be exactly recreated in CMYK so it will come out looking slightly different than you intended. 

Ok, now onto the tools. First, let’s talk about free editing software that works similar to Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is great all-around software that is not just for photos. In fact, many people use Photoshop to create text-based designs and it’s great for that. There are a couple free tools out there that emulate the Photoshop UI, making it easy to switch to Photoshop if you decide to at some point. There are also others that work great and don’t try to be similar to Photoshop. 

The first one I’ll mention is a web-based editing tool called Photopea. You don’t have to download or install anything, it all runs on the website, but you can download your finished files with no limitations. You may be wondering if a web tool has the computing power necessary to render files, but consider the types of files we’ll be working with for print on demand. You might be working on text designs only, or editing fairly simple graphics, not rendering 3-D files or anything like that. You still have the ability to insert vector files and edit before exporting as a PNG. It’s spelled like Photo-Pea, not Photopia. Using it is as simple as going to photopea.com and clicking on “new project”. From there, just set your dimensions and details and you’re ready to create a new design. You can insert existing graphics from your computer or cloud location, or create a text-based design, or a combination thereof. Editing features work similarly to Photoshop as I mentioned, with layers, layer styles, masks, and filters. Overall I think it’s a great tool for getting started if you think you might go for a paid Photoshop subscription at some point because the UI is similar. 

Another free editing software that’s very popular is called GIMP. This one is a download rather than web-based tool, and this one is a little different because GIMP is not trying to emulate Photoshop’s UI, it’s kind of its own thing. GIMP offers a wealth of features and it can be a bit surprising that free software offers as much as this, but there is a bit of a learning curve with the UI to take advantage of it. One thing GIMP does not support is editing RAW photo files, but for the purposes of print on demand we generally won’t need that since we work primarily with graphics in PNG, SVG, EPS, and JPG file types. Check out gimp.org for full details and the download link. There’s no risk here since it’s free software so if you don’t care for the interface or find it difficult to use, you can always try another. 

Now let’s consider how to add graphics to your designs without incurring any cost. 

Design Assets

One thing you can do is take advantage of the basic clipart-style graphics that some print on demand platforms offer as a way to add another dimension to your text designs. These types of graphics probably aren’t going to be the main focal point of your design, because they are going to be very basic and are available to anyone who has an account, but they can be a good addition to your unique text design. Printful offers a library of basic clipart graphics with their free account, and while Printify does not offer this full-time, they do send out some free graphics around holidays for you to use. 

You can also check out free image search engines like Pixabay. They have vector graphics available that can be great for incorporating into a design. However, make sure you review the image license information – you can see it by reviewing the Pixabay license on any image page on the site. Basically, Pixabay lets you use any of their graphics for commercial use, including physical products, as long as you alter it somehow and don’t just use the graphic by itself. For example, if you find a vector of a cat that you like, you cannot simply download that graphic, save it as a PNG, and put it on a t-shirt for sale. You would need to alter the design or incorporate it into your own design for it to be an acceptable use. Something as simple as adding text and changing the color of the cat is fine. This can be a great way to start incorporating graphics into your designs. 

You may be wondering about Canva. I’m going to talk about Canva under the category of tools to use for creating shop graphics like your logo, banners, and social media content, because Canva’s image licensing is very complicated for layperson (that’s me). They make it rather difficult to understand what is acceptable use of their graphics (even for paid accounts) when it comes to commercial use. What is simple and clear is that you can use Canva’s graphics and templates for social media and graphics that promote your business. Where it becomes messy is when you try to interpret uses that involve resale on physical products. The bottom line for me is that you can use a free Canva account to quickly and easily make promotional materials for your business, but I stay away from using Canva for any designs I plan to sell on products. 

EDIT 4/16/22: After messaging with a Canva representative and reviewing the licensing information (again), I’m comfortable suggesting that you use Canva’s free graphic content to incorporate into a design. The same licensing rules apply as with Pixabay, meaning you cannot sell a graphic as-is on a product. You need to alter the graphic by adding text or something fundamental about the graphic, but once you do that, you can use the final design for print on demand. You still need to be aware of Canva’s export settings (PNG only exports at 96PPI).

Ok, so we’ve got software to create and edit designs. Now we need to create some mockups of our products for our Etsy listings that feature those designs. 

Mockups

One of the most common areas that I see Etsy sellers making mistakes is with mockup images. Do not underestimate the importance of good mockups, especially the one that will be your primary thumbnail that appears in search results. 99% of the time, the first image a customer will see of your product is the primary thumbnail appearing in search results. What’s the other 1%? That could be a range of things like someone seeing a mockup on your social media account, pictures on a blog, etc. The point being that most customers are going to see that thumbnail in search results and make a split-second decision to either click on it or keep looking. Even if you do all your SEO research and have great keywords in your title and tags that match what they searched for, that first image is the biggest impression you have to make and if price is equal among listings, it’s that picture that decides who gets clicked on and who doesn’t. So, please don’t use the default mockups that Printful, Printify, or other platforms provide for you as the primary mockup. It’s fine to use those to show the different color options for your product, but your first few mockups and especially the first one should be higher quality, realistic looking mockups. You want your mockups to say “I’m a professional seller who cares how my products look”, not “I just got a free Printify account and want to put in minimal effort”. 

So how do you get more professional looking mockups without paying for a mockup service? Well, the answer to this one is pretty simple. Placeit is my favorite mockup service. I’ve had a paid Placeit account for over a year and I love it because they have a huge catalog of mockups (even video mockups) but also have graphics you can customize for social media, a logo maker, even tools for YouTube and twitch. But, they also have a free account that gets you access to a sampling of their mockup library. They rotate which ones are free so it’s not always the same ones, and that’s a good thing. Generally you can always find some very usable t-shirt, sweatshirt, hoodie, and mug mockups for free. Just create an account, no credit card required, and start creating your mockups. 

Another way you can improve mockups for items that may not have templates available on Placeit’s free account is to edit them yourself. Let’s say you’re selling stickers of your designs, but Placeit doesn’t have sticker mockups available with the free account. You can take the basic flat mockup from Printify and use your photo editing software to create your own mockup. For example, find a photo of a laptop on Pixabay. Then create a new file in the photo editor of your choice. For mockup images, 2000×2000 pixels is a good size. Insert the photo of the laptop, then insert your flat sticker mockup from Printify. If the background is not transparent, delete the background using the magic want or color selection tool. Now resize the sticker image and place it so it looks like it’s on the laptop – just don’t make it so small it’s hard to see in the final image. There you go – you’ve got a more realistic mockup than the original image on a white background. 

Canva also offers a library of background photos that can be good for mockups, and their text editing is very easy so if you need to add text to mockups you can do that very quickly. This is an acceptable use of the free graphics on Canva because you’re not going to sell them – you’re just using them to promote your product. 

Now that you’ve got some better mockups for your product, don’t waste that time and effort by not making sure the primary thumbnail is saved correctly in your listing. Your primary thumbnail (the first image uploaded) should be the best mockup of your product, meaning it’s the best color option (for apparel) where your design stands out well, and it’s a professional looking image. Just underneath all the uploaded images in your Etsy listing, they give you a chance to edit how the primary thumbnail will appear in search results. Take advantage of this by zooming in so your design is very clear and centered in the image. Now you’ll be lightyears ahead of any seller who is using a plain white background or “fake” looking mockup and doesn’t center the design in the thumbnail. Don’t worry about it if you can’t see the full product, for example, if zooming in means you can’t see the sleeves of the t-shirt, that doesn’t matter. The customer knows they searched for a t-shirt, what they’re looking for is a design they like, so show it to them! 

We’ve mastered mockups so let’s talk about some more types of graphics that you need to improve the appearance of your shop. 

Shop Graphics & Social Media

There are a few more types of graphics that you need to improve the overall appearance of your Etsy shop, but you can create these for free as well. Ultimately you want to convey a professional image and having a consistent theme to your shop’s appearance is one way to do that. I’m talking about things like your shop logo, a banner image that appears on your shop page, and some graphics that might appear on your listings like size charts or images that provide information like coupon codes for volume discounts, etc. If you plan to promote your shop on social media with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest accounts (and I recommend that you do), you’ll need similar graphics for those platforms as well. 

This is the category where Canva shines as a very easy to use and flexible tool for your business. Sure, you can use the same photo editing software you use for designs, but Canva has a whole catalog of assets and templates to use, even with the free account. And because we’re not planning to sell these graphics at all, we are safe to use the resources that Canva offers. 

Canva also makes it easy to maintain a consistent them across the graphics you need for your shop. For example, you can create a banner image for your Etsy shop page using a template, and then copy/resize the same file for use as your Facebook page banner. You can then use the same design elements to create size charts for products that appear in your listings, and for images that list any coupon codes you offer. Canva’s social media templates are great for making Instagram or Facebook posts look more professional as well. And of course, you can upload images of your products and insert them into any of these graphics. 

Don’t skimp in these areas either, put some time and effort into it. If you need inspiration, just search Etsy for some type of t-shirt design and look for a seller on page 1 of the results who has at least few thousand sales. Then click on their shop name to see their shop page. Take a look at a couple of their listings. Chances are, they have created a consistent theme across their shop page and each listing, with professional looking graphics, size charts, and logo. Check out a couple of those and then head back to Canva to come up with your own style. Just try not to create graphics that all look different. It’s fine for your social media posts to feature different themes/styles depending on the message, but your main graphics like a shop banner, logo, etc. should have a similar style to them. I still use Canva for this kind of stuff because it’s so quick and easy. 

Keyword Research

Our last topic for this episode is how to do keyword research for free. Well, I won’t lie to you, the best keyword research tools I’ve used are ones that you have to pay to use. But did I make sales on Etsy before I started paying for a keyword research tool? Yes I did. You definitely can do research without a paid service, so let’s talk about a few things you can do. 

First, the most general tool is Google Trends. Just google “google trends” to find it (or click the link since you’re reading). That sounds funny to say out loud. I say it’s general because it’s not specific to Etsy. It’s just data on what everyone on earth has been searching for. Using Google Trends is something you can do regardless of the platform you sell on, so it’s a useful tool to be aware of. Of course, I recommend you filter it to the country you plan to sell in. You can use Google Trends a couple different ways. You can shorten the timeframe down to the last 24hrs or last 7 days to check for “hot” items that are “trending”, meaning possible topics you could create a quick design for to jump on a trend before it dies down. To do this you would enter “shirt” or “t-shirt” as the search term and then look under “related queries” for long-tail searches that included your base word. I’ve actually found a couple design ideas this way, got a design published immediately, and made sales the same day. It’s kind of a roll of the dice though and of course you cannot create designs with trademark or copyright issues, so it’s not what I would recommend as your only sales tactic. You’re better off doing this as something you do in addition to your “evergreen” designs. Those are designs that can sell at any time, regardless of trends. 

Google Trends can also help you plan in advance for seasonal designs. If you enter a search query like “mom mug” and change the timeframe to the last 5 years, you’ll see which times of year had spikes in search volume for mom-themed mugs. Spoiler – it’s about a month before Mother’s Day and a month before Christmas (in the US) every year like clockwork. This tells you when to focus on creating mom-themed mugs throughout the year. You can identify trends like this for many types of designs and make yourself a kind of design-cycle calendar. It can help give you ideas for designs to work on if you’re wanting to create new items but are short on ideas. 

“Mom mug” 5-Year Trend (U.S.)

Moving on to something more specific to Etsy, you could start with Etsy itself. When you start to search for something on Etsy, a drop-down will pop up and start to suggest some search phrases that are popular. Even before you start typing, it will show you “popular right now” phrases. If you have an idea but want to know related phrases that people really search for on Etsy, this is a very quick & easy way to check that out. It does not, however, tell you actual search volumes. We just know that Etsy’s own data says people are searching for these things, so they want to suggest them to more people. Remember the one thing that sellers will always have in common with Etsy is that we both want more sales, so you can trust their data when it comes to that. 

The last method is going to be the most specific, and that’s eRank. It’s an Etsy keyword research tool that happens to offer a free account. They also have paid accounts, so the free account has some limitations with it, but it’s going to be one of the most helpful free keyword tools you can get. Just go to erank.com and click on “plans” to see what you get in the free plan. Right now it includes 50 keyword lookups per day and up to 100 listings analyzed. You can sync your Etsy shop to eRank and have it analyze listings to let you know if there are missing keyword tags, misspellings, etc. Even just using the 50 daily keyword searches is helpful because it’s specific to Etsy, not the whole internet. The most helpful thing about keyword research tools is that they not only provide you with monthly search volume for the keyword phrases that you enter, but they also tell you how much competition shows up in the search results. So instead of constantly having to check the search volume in the tool and then go back to run the same search on Etsy to see how many search results are there, the tool tells you both. This allows you to more quickly assess whether a niche is worth pursuing. If you see a very high search volume but 50k competing listings, it will be very difficult to break into that market without paid advertising. But if you find a long-tail keyword phrase that has 500 or fewer listings, you have much better odds at making some sales, and if you do make a couple sales you can find yourself on page 1 a lot quicker. Ultimately if you start to make profits on Etsy and decide to stick with print on demand for the long term, I recommend that you invest in a paid keyword tool like Sale Samurai because it unlocks more data and features that the free eRank account doesn’t offer. I’ve done a couple videos on Sale Samurai on the YT channel so check those out if you want to see how it works. But since we’re sticking with free stuff in this episode I won’t go into detail. While the free eRank account is limited, it’s definitely better than not doing any keyword research and it 100% helped me make some early sales when I started my Etsy shop. It’s definitely a great tool to help you get started and save on expenses until you’re making regular profits. 

Conclusion

If you’re still reading at this point, now you know just how much is out there to help you as an Etsy print on demand seller that won’t cost you a dime. I hope all of these resources are helpful if you’re just starting out. Or even if you’re already selling and looking to keep costs down these can be great tools. As I mentioned, I still use a few of these resources today and my shop has done over $100k in sales. Maintaining your profit is all about managing expense, so remember, only pay for something if it will enhance your business. Sometimes that’s true, sometimes it’s not. It’s just important as a business owner to always as yourself that question. Don’t forget to check out the POD Insights YT channel and subscribe to the podcast to be notified of future episodes. 

Thanks for reading.